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".

Chef Wit ala K Floyd

A satisfied chef with his dish..pork cooked in bamboo.