Liyana's Wedding Week

My cousin Liyana is getting married next Sunday and yesterday was the ceremony to kick start the week. The groom's family came over for the "Hantaran" which I best describe as the exchange of gifts. The groom party (minus the groom) come over with gifts for the bride which is usually jewellery, clothing, fabrics, toiletries. The bride's family then return the favor with gifts though never more than what the groom party has brought. There's usually clothing, toiletries and more food which nowadays is cakes and chocolates but on previous times was special meat dishes and traditional cakes. After the exchange, the groom's party departs and the bride will normally come out of her room for the bedak-bedak mandi - a ceremony which involves older family members to paste a liquid powder mix onto the brides palms. The bride is now in her wedding week and must follow the rites. This is not followed so strictly by the younger generation but 15/20 years ago brides were not allowed to leave the house the week leading up to the wedding. She only wore white clothing and every day was treated to a rigorous body scrub!

THE Crab Place in HCM

We met Ella, a friend who used to live in Brunei for lunch and she brought us to this very local place. Not a place we would walk into ourselves but were very happy to go there with her as the food was so good. We had spring rolls with crab, soft shell crab, crab noodles, crab fried rice, crab claws.... I think you all get the picture.

Chilling Out in Ho Chi Minh

I'm back in HCM for a short trip with the two ladies below. The last time I was here in December we were passing through en route to Hoi An. So far our impression is that its a very very busy city with plenty of shopping which has been good so far. Today was only Day 1 and tomorrow the other two will plow on while I go to the War Museum. Although busy HCM is a pleasant city with a huge Mediterranean feel to it especially with the cool spring/European summer air. Very cool and bohemian and we're lovin' it!

Double Celebration = Double Walk

It was a long evening at hash yesterday. Diplo's always a pleasure to walk and run except it was a shock to see the driveway immediately leading up to the site was trimmed back - never a good sign and we just hope they are not going to start building in the area.

It was the National Day / Chinese New Year run so we were expecting it to be a good one. The run started fairly straight forward going into a part we have been to before. 15 mins into the run we came across the two veteran ladies hashers both in their 70s and 80s. From there we proceeded to run what I thought was the whole jungle - I found the first two checks and after what seemed to a never ending run we eventually came came out after 1:20 mins. But before we got too comftable we relised that the two veteran hashers were still inside including a couple others and we figured out they were still a long way away. So at 7:15pm I voluntered myself with the two hares to go back in.

It's not the first time I've been in the jungle in the dark (and it won't be my last) but this evening maybe because the two ladies were a pressing concern, fear had no chance of creeping in though I did have a flash back to this incident which seems to be a recurring theme for Diplo. After 15 mins walking we eventually got to the first lady who was doing pretty much ok but tired but it was the other lady we were worried about who was tired and dehydrated. But we were still very far from the exit. Both hares were experienced hashers especially one who knew the jungle like the back of her hand. Despite Diplo having 1001 trails this lady was able to take us on a shorter route out - not too many can do that during the day!

So with a shorter trail laid I helped the more able lady out - I am grateful another hasher lent me her better torch cos mine was absolutely useless - mental note to change batteries! We were eventually out just after 9pm with the group behind coming out an hour later. Only the two ladies involved know why they did not turned round when they were supposed to but we guess they thought the run was shorter than it actually was. It's a lesson leant for all of us and a big relief that we all came out safely. Still it was an excellent run - thanks again hares!

Wasai Bedanu

On the way back from Tasek Merimbun we went on the Laminun road and saw some sign pointing to a recreational area so we drove into the simpang until it eventually became a gravel road. Although very unsure of where we were actually going, we were determined to get to the end of the road so we drove on and eventually after 15 minutes got to Wasai Bedanu.

Not only did it feel like we had driven into the Heart of Borneo but my phone also told us we were very close to the Malaysian border with the Maxis welcome messages! It was a short walk down and below in the cool valley was a very brown deep looking rock pool which would have a better waterfall during wetter times. There were a couple of families down there having a splash about and doing some fishing for little fish and prawns. Donncha ventured further up from there with trails leading off - another area to explore!

Back up by the car the kids checked out the huts using the traditional steps and played the traditional musical instruments in the hut which was pretty cool. The kids would love to have one of these huts in the garden and it would be a great spot to chill out. The one we checked out even had a small barbeque pit enclosed.

Then Ayden figured out that going down was not as fun as going up and needed a helping hand!

A gem of a place to stumble upon and we will be back here to do some walking and continue exploring the area!

Tasek Merimbun

With half of us recovering from colds and coughs we thought it best to stay clear of our usual Sunday hangout and go on a little excursion. Donncha and the kids have never been to Tasek Merimbun, the back water lake in Tutong so that was where we headed with a little picnic. We walked around just for a bit going across the lake to the small island but the kids didn't like the crossing and Jack maybe because of the black water around us said the place was "spooky". Being midday it was too hot to hang about and even the thought of going out onto the lake in a small boat was too much with hot bothered kids so after our little walk we found a shaded spot and had our picnic. After which we drove up to the visitor centre with information about the lake and wildlife around. There were also several walking trails around the lake which we must come back to at a cooler hour and without the kids. Great half day outing and really not that far at all.

Welcoming the Year of the Tiger

We kept our Chinese New Year visits to a minimum this year so that we may get to this particular house in time which we did. I think the last time I saw a full lion dance at a house for Chinese New Year I was a child so I found the whole thing fascinating. Luckily Iman had plenty of friends there which made her "brave" enough not to have to cling on to me especially with the endless fire crakers. Poor Ayden was so terrified that he clung on and eventually fell asleep! Jack chose not to come with us instead accompanying my parents (excuse us...!).

I never realized that the lions actually go into the house to bless the home.

The team supporting the lions

Pinkie and Blackie I guess!

Iman bravely fed Pinkie a red envelope!

And Pinkie got fed many!

So much that I think they needed a rest...

...so that Pinkie could go for the big one which was skill for a guy who's probably been on the go the whole day! And my guess was they probably went on after this!

Getting into a bit of a frenzy here....

And the evening finished off with some great fireworks - fab evening and amongst friends and very welcoming hosts!

Chinatown

In Singapore we made a very very quick trip to Chinatown to check out the decor and ended up in a street market (as you do..) Iman spotted an Indian stall and went for a henna "tattoo" which was opposite an Indian temple and next to a mosque. (I had to make a double check we were really in Chinatown). We weren't in the busiest part of the town but there was still plenty of red decorations and everything RED.