Taking a walk @ Bulatan Park

It ^^^^^gets dark earlier now @ 5.30pm. The newly completed flyover taken from the jogging path.^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

D talking his daily walk.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>^Did you know that a 30mins walk done every day is good for your heart.????So,what are we waiting for? Let's go...walk..jalan..bejalai..berjalan...jalai-jalan aja.^^^^^^^^^

New Tanjung Seafood Restaurant

Fish lips soup <---------

Butter chicken^

<------Steamed Fish with soya sauce

Crispy Sweet & Sour Pork ^

Boiled prawns with soya sauce..............................................^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

New Tanjung Seafood Restaurant offers a variety of Chinese food. The price is reasonable compared to other eateries. It is usually packed during the weekend. A favourite place for Anglicans to welcome guests,celebrate birthdays,family dinners,etc. Without fail,one can meet an Anglican family dinning here on any given day.The restaurant is opposite Marriot Hotel,near to St. Joseph's Secondary School.

My friend - si Kurus

My friend si Kurus ( the skinny) was in town so we had breakfast at (where else?) 2020's. It's been a while since we last met together with si Pendek at Ming's. I shall write about si Pendek later. Si Kurus has been a friend since early 90s and is also a friend to Mang. We somehow 'click' and can talk about everything under the sun and no matter how serious the topics of conversations are we can still find the "humour" in them.
When Si Kurus got married to Mrs. Si Kurus , Mang & I together with a few others went to an island for the wedding. We made a big mistake by not going a day earlier for the wedding. The 8am flight to the island was delayed and we were given an alternative, to fly to a city and then get the connecting flight to the island. By the time we reached the island, the church wedding was over.Too bad,we missed it. Mang had to miss the wedding dinner because she was only allowed a day trip by the Home Minister. The rest of us stayed a night & attended the wedding dinner.
Si Kurus has 3 children,the eldest son is bigger than him. I noticed a few 'worried' lines on his forehead already. Si Kurus likes travelling and his latest destination was Laos with the airline that says"Now everyone can fly".I thought I saw some grey/white hairs before this mtg. Could it be possible that he had his hair dyed? No cheating here...we must not hide/colour our white hair..we must age gracefully. Actually,the grey hair is not a result of him getting old but caused by 'wanting to go travelling'.

My friend- the super Mang Part 1

My friend,let's call her the super Mang. Why call her SUPER? She is a lot of things;first, a wife to You(her hubby),mother to Nang,Tin,Em & Wa,a daughter to Apai & Indai Mang & a sister to Ray, a 'deaconess' lately,a frequent traveller on MAS & owns a minority share with Minyaknas. I haven't got a photo of her in my computer because when she was still in Miri,we hardly took any photo together. (I might have a photo of4 of us ( +Jul+Ree) taken in the early 80s when we drove to Bandar Seri Begawan, stayed at Razak Plaza's apartment and really having a great time. You see, back in the 80s, Miri was not well stocked with the good things in life.When Mang & You first started a family, they "were not that into church";did not go to church until yours truly point- blank told them about going to church. Now,the whole family is spending a lot of time serving the Lord,because whenever I spoke to Mang (once in a blue moon 'cos both of us are 'saving' on our phone credit),without fail she'd mention about being back from/to church,church seminars,etc. Praise God.
Mang travels a lot. She gets in and out of the planes like no body's business. One would think she's either the pilot or the air stewardess..( I'd be nice and not mention about her being the plane cleaner cos she hates housework).One day she'd be on her way to Mynamar,next Ho Chi Mihn,Uzbekistan ( all the oil producing countires) I don't know the spellings or even the names. You see, she's a minority shareholder of Minyaknas and hence, she has to WORK HARD FOR THE MONEY! What else is there to say about Mang?..very into "GLOBALISATION"..GLOBAL...no boundaries. Dunia Global,munyi ko Mang. (so said Mang)

Buah anggur...grapes & beer

D undecided which wine tastedbetter?The one on the right or the one on the left?

Mayoh indu orang putih,nda nemu wine ni nyamai.

Cheers! Cheezs!Ngirup! Minum!Kampei!Yamseng!

Bah!BAh!Bah!

The innocent looking grapes before they turn into wine and make you 'mabuk'.(tipsy) Yesterday's preaching was about setting a good example.. elders of the church should set a good example for the young ones to follow. Try not to drink to get drunk..when one gets drunk and misbehaves,the young ones would think that would be the right thing to do. Respect yourself as well..because by being drunk you get to make a fool of yourself and probably embarass your loved ones and also when you make a fool of yourself,people would have a low opinion of you. What else did Alf say?...I remembered all he said yesterday..seriously..I..I was awake. Never mind, I shall ask him for the text and write further on this topic. Stay tune!

Let's talk about food!

Fried noodles wet with fresh water prawns @Selanggau. Salted veg soup with seafood at Kwantung Rd

...from my window

Good morning. How are you? I'm fine,thank you.And you? It's raining outside and it looks like the sun is not going to come out today,letting the clouds cover its existence. The stray dog is still barking continuously into space,at the rubbish collector and at just about every living thing that cares to pass by my house. I have informed the council people to get rid of the dog..so cruel,you may say. Be the rescuer,take the dog for a day and you tell me whether you want to keep it.
Well, each morning when I wake up and look at my gate, I would find rubbish brought by the dog; bottles,sticks and stones thrown at my gate by angry victims of his barkings & chasings. I don't see Rose walking past my house anymore ( back from the hair salon) & hardly see Pak Agus & Dan walking by to get Dan's school needs.. Once, I saw Audrey,before reaching the junction of my house,turned back after seeing the dog standing on guard. Nowadays,she drives to get "THE STAR"( a must) because the newspaper is so semananjung.(west ms'an lah..a lot of news from KL & Penang,I guess). The only person who is not terrified or rather who does not want to feel intimidated by the dog is Philip's housekeeper. Often I see her,swaying her plastic bag at the dog and at times, I would dash out to help her by 'shooing' the dog/ukoi/udog. (orang putih Iban call a dog, UDOG). That's all for this morning,folks. It's still raining outside.

Where have all the rich men gone?

One of the sermons/teachings preached some sundays ago that caught my attention was about:
Rich men,while on earth should be helping the poor men because by doing so, the poor men could be helping them to get to heaven. Logic?
Another one was about how little we give to the church and the new church building fund is nowhere near the targeted amount. Should I quote about the widow who gave whatever money she had to the church? Isn't that what most people are doing?..3/4 of the" poorer" church congregation giving all they can and 1/4 of the church "poor" congregation giving all they can also,but still it's not enough because there's so much to 'cover up/top up for the poorer congregation.. Confused???so am I!There's just ain't enough ringgit,uang,wang,duit..to go around. Money..money..money..if I had a lot of money.(please sing to the tune of ABBA's song, Money,money..da..da..da.) What then? Divine intervention,said somebody. If God wants His church to be built,so it shall be built,said another.
Forgive me,Lord...for putting my thoughts into words.
A question from an archdeacon (then) some years ago, put to us during a seminar,"What would be the first thing that you do if you had RM1,000,000,000.? Most people answered that they would clear all debts,go for holidays(mine was to go to England) and a list of other things before giving to the Church. HO..HOO.HH0000! "No wonder,nobody has RM1m,"said the archdeacon. Why? ...because we did not put God,Our Lord, Our Saviour,Our Father at the top of our list.We forget about him when we're rich;we should be giving 1/10 of the RM1m as thanksgiving and then & only then,people,can we think about settling our mortgages,going for that Europe tour or visit the "1000" must see places before one kicks the bucket (to put it crudely) or before Our Lord calls us. Amen. Hey,do not forget to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar & to God what belongs to God.Already,I can see Caesar's men waiting to pounce on the RM9,000,000 rich man/men. Think how much they 'squeeze' from ya. Like,30% for every RM100,000..Hard to swallow? Quite an earful to travel up to the brain and HEART.
Another priest would say giving money doesn't guarantee one gets to heaven. Faith..FAITH!!!!!even as small as a mustard seed...be back after makan. Aku ka makai. Nuan ka makai?
Give til it HURTS..BLEEDS, after all,Our Lord died on the cross for our sins. Give>>GIVE>>GAVE>>GIVEN,GIVING,GIVE AGAIN!

Gawai at church

Taken during a Gawai do at the Parish Hall. Sir Paul doing his version of the ngajat. The event,the first,was indeed a success. The hall was packed...wish I could upload more photo but I accidently deleted most of them. Sorry!

(L - Shayna M- Brenda R- Sheryl) wearing Iban costumes.

Ming Cafe

<....... A contented customer of mamak food.

Ming Cafe is abuzz with people from all over the world;a lot of mat sallehs,filipinos,mat salleh wannabes, locals, aiburn(ibans),the 3H enthusiasts and lazy housewives who do not want to cook, taking their families to eat there. Last Saturday,3 families (the ning,the rod & the ngum) all from Wisteria Lane,Pujut ,actually were seen stuffing themselves there with western food,mamak food and hawker food. The beef soup noodle is worth a try;roti tissue,roti pori & kaki babi. Oh ya,they serve filipino food as well now and their waiters & waitresses are mostly from the Philippines.

Music is good here..oldies lah for people like me. Miri has quite a sizeable population of Filipinos working here.

The Busy Township Of Selanggau

Buah kepayang Sweet oranges ( buah limau)

Wild boar for sale

Shophouse in Selanggau

It is generally a must to make a stop at Selanggau if you are travelling from Miri to Sibu and beyond. Most people stop here to fill their cars with petrol,others stop to eat at the various coffee shops where one can get 'exotic" food like wild boar,turtle soup,deer meat,fresh water fish and prawns. Jungle produce are in abundance here like paku,miding,buah kepayang,etc.,.

Bennet @Apai Lenny,the longhouse baker from Nanga Geremai,Kanowit

The 5oth anniversary cakes baked by Bennet and which he later donated for the function. He runs a bakery at his house which is by the Kanowit Road. Years ago,when Bakun was just opened for business,he supplied bread and buns to the workers there. Bennet's the one wearing blue batik shirt and his wife is behind him.

HAPPY BAKING! So, Kanowit people,giga meh Apai Lenny ti kita beguna ke roti paun & kek.

The 5oth Anniversary of Rumah Panjai,Nanga Geremai,Kanowit

TR Joanis Giri seated in between James & Md Bulan Jarit ^

Robert & Jok posing.

Food served by Rimbo @ Indai Stanley and others. .......................................................................>

Kadir Nsali 'officiating' the anniversary prayers.

There was certainly a cause for celebration for not only Malaysia was formed in 1957, Rumah Panjai Nanga Geremai was also constructed the same year. To all who built the longhouse(dead or alive),thank you for the place where we can proudly say,we come from.

HIP HIP HOOORAAY, Nanga Geremai. MERDEKA! MERDEKA! mERDEKA! mALAYSIA..

Nanga Gremai,Kanowit,my mum's birth place.

Residents and visitors to Rumah Panjai Tuai Rumah J Giri,Nanga Gremai have to use the 'perahu'(boat,sampan') or 'PEHaHu as the locals pronounce it. Cars are parked on this side of the river bank. All one has to do is to stand on the jetty to be identified by the longhouse folks. Say, if you are a relative of Indai John,Indai Mikal or popularly known as Ini Ibu,Indai Inggu,then a perahu plus boat driver from anyone of these families would fetch you. Most times,you can easily hitch a ride from people who are already on this side of the river.First timers and non swimmers like me would be quite scared of the river and sitting on the perahu,no safety measures taken,just leaving it all to the Lord!

Children as young as 12,13 & 14 years of age already know how to operate the outboard engine. This brings to my mind about Inggu's son,aged 14, about 21/2 years ago took us across the river that Gawai. A few months later,while riding a motorbike,he was knocked down by a drunk driver. Oh,how we grieved for him. May his soul rest in peace.

Nanga Geremai/Gremai/Gehemai (which ever you would like to call it) is midway along the Kanowit (Cannot wait) road to Kanowit Bazaar. Some of the longhouse folks tap rubber for a living. Praise Be To God,the price of rubber is good.Some are teachers,government servants,while others are in Miri making a living here.

Nanga Geremai Longhouse joining in the 'beauty' competition

My mum & I went back to our longhouse on sunday,21st October, because the longhouse was selected to join in a 'beauty' competiton organised by a government department. The Tuai Rumah,Joanis Giri requested all the tuai bilek ( head of each household) of the longhouse to come back for the occasion. You see, most of the tuai bilek are away in Miri seeking a livelihood and hardly return to base. Names of tuai bilek of Rumah Panjai TR Joanis Giri,Nanga Geremai, working and living especially in Miri were broadcast over WaiFM,to make sure that the request to head back to "Home Sweet Home" was loud and clear,I suppose.

Upon our arrival,never had I seen such a breath taking environment of the longhouse. The compound was cleared of all debris,unwanted plants that were an eye sore were nowhere in sight. As we stepped on the 'tanju' we saw pink curtains on every windows throughout the 50+ door longhouse and all the walls of each bilek were painted the same colour(greenish blue). Only then, we realised the seriousness of the request to be present. Cousins and relatives (everybody is somehow related in the longhouse) related the scenes,pains(body ache, painting,clearing&spring cleaning) and the short notice given by the officials of this competition.

Well, to all those involved in the "beautification" of Rumah Panjai TR Joanis Giri,Nanga Geremai, we say,"WELL DONE".