Tuesday 29 March 2011

Sape - A Sarawak Music Instrument




The sape is a traditional lute of many of the Orang Ulu or "upriver people", who live in the longhouses that line the rivers of Central Borneo. Sapes are carved from a single bole of wood, with many modern instruments reaching over a metre in length.

Initially the sape was a fairly limited instrument with two strings and only three frets. Its use was restricted to a form of ritualistic music to induce trance. In the last century, the sape gradually became a social instrument to accompany dances or as a form of entertainment. Today, three, four or five-string instruments are used, with a range of more than three octaves.

Technically, the sape is a relatively simple instrument, with one string carrying the melody and the accompanying strings as rhythmic drones. In practice, the music is quite complex, with many ornamentations and thematic variations. There are two common modes, one for the men's longhouse dance and the other for the woman's longhouse dance. There also is a third rarely used mode. Sape music is usually inspired by dreams and there are over 35 traditional pieces with many variations. The overall repertoire is slowly increasing.

Sapes are still being made in Borneo, and modern innovations like electric sapes are common.


Area: Sarawak and Kalimantan, Borneo
Country: Malaysia / Indonesia
Region: Asia
Type: boat lute
Collection: Randy Raine-Reusch
Groups: Randy Raine-Reusch

Friday 25 March 2011

Kamek ke Kuching bah!

Sebelum cerita jadi basi dan dengan masa terluang yang ada sekarang ni, mari kita bercerita tentang perjalanan Jasmin sekeluarga ke Sarawak. Ekceli dah plan this family trip last two month +- but unfortunately not all family members turut serta. Akak with her own matters and abang will follow mommy and babah to Cambodia.

Our vacation to Sarawak is on the 18th March and the same week earlier, mommy and babah has gone to Cambodia to attend a wedding. Suppose my earlier plan memang nak ikut ke Cambodia but as my Along advise and my preggy condition, it is decided to go somewhere around Malaysia only. Hurm, maybe next time~~ InshaAllah....


Flight ke Sarawak memang pagi buta, 0725pagi so pukul 0530pagi dah tercegat depan LCCT. Jasmin a bit cranky pagi tu sebab dia kena bangun pukul 4pagi and memang tak boleh lupa sampai bila-bila when she ketuk my nose with her giant watermelon-lollypop. Ouuchhh! bengkak hidung nak ke Sarawak.....sigh~~

As it was Jasmin's first time travel naik "loplen" so memang dia sangaaaaat teruja. Especially bila flight dah ready nak take off, she was non-stop talking until 0900am sampailah dia tergolek tertidur sendiri. Legaaaa~~

And I remember dia ada nyanyi satu lagu pelik masa atas "loplen"
'.....ibu......ibu...... naik loplen'  lebih kurang macam tu lah. Heeeee....


And we touch down Kuching around 0920 macam tu and terus check in ke Basaga. Great thing when we reached Basaga, we don't have to wait until 0200pm to check in, the time we arrived, register and terus masuk bilik. Apa lagi, terus recharged dulu.


Touch down Kuching at 0920, fine weather
Check In at Basaga at 1000
Nak makan-makan di Kuching memang tak susah. Sama saja macam di Semenanjung but of cos lah the taste is a bit different. Kalau nak makan masakan orang Melayu dan nak rasa specialties orang Sarawak; macam mee kolok, bolehlah pergi ke Pasar Saratok. Kalau nak makan seafood yang fresh-fresh with affordable price, boleh ke Taman Kereta, dekat je dengan Waterfront. 

On our fisrt day, disebabkan we all tak breakfast lagi dan memang semua dah kebuluran, so restaurant terdekat menjadi sasaran. We had our brunch at Tok Janggut Cafe, specialize in Nasi Beriyani. Boleh tahan rasanya, boleh tahan harganya, manis-manis orangnya (macam En. Hubby kata...)

Having Nasi Beriyani for Brunch at Tok Janggut Cafe just nearby the Basaga, 5-10mins walk
Chili Crab, Taman Kereta. Sodap!
Yeay! Kamek tak sabar tak pergi jalan-jalan!

In front of Water Front, Kuching
Tak sah kalau ke Kuching kalau tidak singgah sight seeing di Water Front. Rasanya inilah tarikan utama di Kuching. Kat sini kita boleh enjoy scenery from the river and the most tarikan di sini adalah bot penambangnya. Kalau nak view pesisiran sungai dan enjoy sunset boleh lah naik Sarawak River Cruise. Kami tak naik sebab harga mahal sangat but the fees includes dinner atas cruise. 

In front of the Sarawak River Cruise
Tapi kami lagi suka naik bot penambang sebab lagi terasa keunikan Sarawak ni. We hired one boat dengan harga RM30 and dapat pusing-pusing sungai Sarawak dengan mencabar sekali. Jasmin sangat tak takut naik bot penambang ni, siap celup-celup tangan main air lagi. Nak naik bot ni, kena pandai seimbangkan badan dan bot tu sendiri, kalau tak duduk diam, silap-silap boleh terbalik jadinya. Kalau badan saiz besar, memang senget la jadinya. Hehe!


Weeeeee! The whole fam on the boat!

Meeeeeeeee...........

Jasmin yang sangat tak reti duduk diam di atas bot!
And you can found him on Sunday at the Water Front. Layan die main Sape siap cucuk kat Amp. lagi!
Cat Statue
Razi's family in front of the Cat Statue
First nite at Basaga, we spend our late evening mandi swimming pool aje. Memang tak risau nak biar Jasmin lama-lama kat pool sebab pool kat depan bilik je. Mandi sakan sampai kecut-kecut, kena paksa baru nak naik.

Swimming at Salt-pool Basaga
Jasmin dengan bibiknya! Ngehehe! Ekceli Jasmin with her Su-Cha!
The 2nd day, we hired Unser jalan-jalan sekitar daerah Kuching. Early morning, we had our breakfast kat area Pasar Saratok dulu makan mee kolok Sarawak. Then heading ke Semanggoh Wild Life Park. By the time we reached there around 1100am++, orang ticket counter cakap feeding time dah habis. So it is not recommended to get inside as the orang utan dah balik masuk dalam hutan. Kalau nak tunggu pun pukul 0300pm nanti. So we off la pulak ke Matang sebab kat sana pun ada Orang Utan. Siap sosek-sosek masuk hutan keluar pekan lalu jeram one way two way highway naik bukit turun bukit masuk kampung keluar kampung masuk hutan balik, baru jumpa Matang Wild Life Centre. *never trust ur GPS!

Fees masuk RM8 tetapi that day orang ticket counter lump sump bagi semua orang masuk RM50.
Orang utan yang ada di Matang Wild Life Center ni semuanya ada dalam kandang. Tetapi mengikut ceritanya ada 2 ekor orang utan terlepas dan tak dapat nak tangkap balik, so orang utan ni bebas di sekitarnya. Tetapi jaga-jaga sebab 2 ekor orang utan ni sangat garang kerana ada kes orang kena gigit. Dekat Matang ni juga ada jeram tempat mandi-manda dan berkelah. Tak sempat singgah pun sebab nak kejar pergi Muzium Kuching pulak.

Orang Utan di Matang Wild Life Center

Anak menakan teruja nengok orang utan

Boleh jungle trekking enjoy the flora and fauna.
Atas rumah tinjau. Rilek ambik nafas sebab penat jalan-jalan dalam hutan.
Muzium Kuching memang tak boleh missed singgah kalau datang ke Kuching. Terdapat pelbagai jenis patung  dan gambar kucing di pamerkan di sini tapi kucing hidup takdelah. Masuk free je tapi kalau nak bawa masuk camera kena charge rm3 kalau tak silap. Muzium ni terletaknya di atas bukit di Sarawak City Hall. So, selain tengok kucing, kita boleh view Kuching town dari atas bukit ni. Memang cantik.



My Tommi and Tippi    o.O
Stranded kat muzium Kuching sebab hujan lebat
Iklan: Single and available. Sebarang pertanyaan boleh G mail dot com saya!
Okaylah, last but not least, aktiviti yang paling best sekali (kaum wanita terutamanya) adalah SHOPPING! Ada macam-macam benda especially craft thing kat Kuching ni. Memang I adore all the woods craft kat sini and sempat beli tiga ekor kucing kayu dan dua perisai Iban dari kayu berlian katanya, so boleh jadi my wall deco. Boleh dapat harga murah kat pasar Saratok dan kena pandai bargain. 


FYI, orang Semenanjung biasanya lebih gemar ke Serikin iaitu sempadan Malaysia-Kalimantan sebab barang-barang kraf di sana lebih murah. Contohnya macam tikar Sarawak saiz 3'X6" dekat Kuching RM120/140 tapi kat Serikin harganya separuh dari tu. It takes 1 1/2 hour drive to go there. Better go early morning cos pasar Serikin will close around 2/3pm. We all tak sempat gi sana sebab last minit dapat tau dari brader teksi. Maybe next time!


Haaaa..... jangan lupa ole-ole untuk para lelaki kalau ke Sarawak!
Wanita ini adalah penyumbang terbesar ekonomi negeri Sarawak!
Oooppp.... Jangan lupa singgah ke Kampung Boyan untuk membeli kek lapis sarawak pelbagai warna, pelbagai rasa di rumah Dayang Salha. Very femes one and kalau masuk rumah dia ni, rasa macam hari raya pulak sebab dia jamukan dengan varieties of tester kek lapis. *Teringat kat abang promoter setia duduk depan tester kek lapis yang tak jemu-jemu menjawab soklan dari customer, berulang-ulang kali.

Kalau nak kesana, dari waterfront, bole naik bot panambang dengan tambang 40sen selama <5min, boleh naik di jeti depan riverside mall/Hilton. Atau jika anda baru balik dari Muzium Kuching, boleh naik kereta terus ke Kampung Boyan selepas melalui 2 roundabout. For me better naik kereta sebab boleh angkut kek lapis sarawak berkotak2, tak perlu risau bot senget sebelah kalau naik bot panambang. Trust me, u'll spend at least 10buah kek lapis sarawak kalau dah sampai ke situ. Kat situ juga ada jual fresh terubuk masin dengan harga ikut saiz.   


Kami tak pergi ke Taman Budaya Sarawak pun kerana masing-masing semua dah pernah pergi. Lagi pun feesnya agak mahal dan macam kami yang datang dalam group with anak-anak, rasanya better we spend our money to something else. 


Fiuhhhhh.... kisah yang panjang lebau. Seronok dan puas hati dapat bawa Jasmin jalan-jalan tengok negeri orang. Lepas ni Ibu kena struggle pula untuk our new baby and our new house and of cos a new financial arrangement. So perancangan utk naik "loplen" lagi akan dipertimbangkan untuk 4/5 tahun yang akan datang. HOWEVER, like Air Asia said, "Now, Everyone can fly!" So, tengoklah, kalau ada rezeki lebih, kita jalan-jalan naik "loplen" lagi with our new baby! Amin.




P.s. Selamat mengundi kepada semua penduduk negeri Sarawak!

Thursday 24 March 2011

Basaga Holiday Residences, Kuching

"Simple pleasures that really matters"
"Discover a unique stay at Basaga Holiday Residences. Basaga is set amongst a few acres of luscious tropical gardens which offer you a peaceful and comfortable environment.

The sound of cascading water from the tiled wall, flows directly into our landscaped salt-water pool, surrounded by tall shady trees, creates a nice and relaxing ambience or find yourself taking a quick and inviting dip in the pool to cool off from the heat of the day.

Basaga’s 33 rooms and 1 suite, which offer reasonable rates, are spacious, spic and span clean and tastefully furnished with a host of modern amenities for your comfort.

Located just about 10 minutes’ drive from the Kuching International Airport (KIA) and a mere 7-minute drive away from the City center, it is within walking distance of one of Kuching’s largest shopping mall and some of our local eateries and restaurants. You can also spend your dinner time experiencing a range of delicious foods in our courtyard restaurant overlooking the garden.

The Basaga Holiday Residences offer a comfortable and affordable accommodation for today’s value conscious traveller."


Okay, dah baca description awal-awal tadi, teruja tak?
Nak teruja lagi?
Let the pictures tell the thousand stories!

We stayed here for 3 days 2 night and indeed it was the best B&B hotel I've ever stayed! The place is osem! the service is osem! the people is osem! The rate is affordable! The accommodation is perfect!


Main entrance

Waiting area

Greenery view

Nature value
At the main lobby

Kids with Basaga Black Cat

One of the interior design

The best place to lepak-lepak sambil mimun kopi!

Washroom waiting area

The Bar and Cafe with beautiful landscape arrangement


Water fountain

The salt water pool


Our rooms


We are staying at the poolside terrace

My room!

From the inside!

Jasmin buat inspection at the pool!






Mandi time!

Basaga Suites




Rumah atas; Verandah rooms!

The courtyard room

The courtyard terrace
Splendid place to stay!
Me and hubs at the main entrance!


P.s. 
Wait for more entries to come on our activities in Kuching!

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