Maranjak Homestay - Bavangazo Rungus Longhouse in Kudat, Sabah

Hola hola superhola!!! Hahaha.. How you doin? I am good...  Anyway, as you can tell I am really bad with introduction, so let's cut the blahs and let me tell you about the Maranjak Homestay. Maranjak Homestay is probably the world's longest house, okay I'm exaggerating but it's really long. Originally, it was a long house of the Rungus tribe at the Bavanggazo Village. Nowadays, it's a homestay open for public who would like to experience a unique lifestyle. You can stop by and visit without staying if you want to, just pay the fee entrance that will be use for the long house maintenance.

As you can see from the picture, there's a watchtower at the entrance. I imagine in the past, the men would take turn to guard the entrance from enemies. Unfortunately I was only able to take a few pictures of the long house exterior due to heavy rain :(

As soon as we enter, we can see a few women selling handmade items.

Don't forget to register your name in the guest book =)

I love the long house, in the past 'one family' consist of as many as fifteen families would live together and hang outside their respective rooms. The wooden sticks sparsely fabricated along the veranda gives open air ventilation.

The roof is made of dried Nipah leaves, folded over a rod and stitched together to form shingles called atap. These shingles are used for roofing that can last up to five years.

Rain falling off the edge of the atap.

The walls are made from patches of tree skin. I just love the beauty of its architecture. There are not many long houses nowadays, and Maranjak is one of the last few.  Looking up close, I noticed there are some traditional items hanging on the wall for display. Looks like water bottle and a rock. I do not know the significant of the rock but the water bottle looks interesting? Is it handmade as well? I thought all Dusun people drink from the bamboo container?

Wait a minute, it says here bla blah blah Amsterdam! Sorry I can barely see what's written there except Amsterdam. Clearly this doesn't belong here... Perhaps a tourist as a gift left it behind?

Traditional music instrument, this two-string lute called the Timpalan.

Hmm... I don't know what this is, can someone tell me what this is? Please?

Inside one of the rooms, I asked Kak Liau and Famulan to pose for me. Heheheee... The room is provided with mattress and mosquito nets.

The only furniture inside the rooms. Looks like the previous visitor was having an instant noodle, hahaha.. Muslim visitor rest assured, the Maranjak Homestay provide halal food prepared by Muslim cook, so no need to worry and shy away eating your instant noodle soup in your room secretly. Hehehehe...

Very happy guests, Kak Liau and her son Faiz. Maranjak Homestay has 75 rooms available for rent at RM75 per room for foreigners and RM55 per room for locals. The longhouse is 818 feet long. Hmm... I wonder what Famulan is searching for? Perhaps the rorizan, which is used as a place to hide the most beautiful girl in the longhouse until she is wed. Thank God I wasn't born here during that era, I don't want to be trapped inside a room!!! Hahaha... =P

 

Very happy Famulan, found the rorizan?

After dinner, the women and men of the Maranjak long house will dress in their traditional wear to perform the mongigol samundai dance in this area.

Common music instrument of all the Dusun ethnic, the Gong.

I found a video of the Rungus traditional dance on Youtube uploaded by RadioRungus.

Here's another video I found on Youtube of a Rungus traditional song, it is not a ritual song but a song. I have heard the ritual song before and it's different.

Hopefully one day someone will translate this song.

Aiso and Charles chilling out at the veranda.

Irfan and Faiz relaxing on the hammock. I didn't inspect the jar but I think it's tapai (the local rice wine).

Fermented rice wine inside of a jar. I understood that there is a tapai session which the guest may participate in.

Well, look what I found. A commercialized local rice wine called Montoku. The process is different from making the tapai.

Kak Liau found something interesting.... "oooooh what's this?" she probably said while examining the thing hanging on the pillar. It's a traditional puzzle game of the Rungus tribe.

In the past it is custom for the Rungus tribe to test a future son in law with this puzzle. If the man (groom to be) is unable to solve the puzzle within the length of time the future father-in-law takes to smoke his sigup (a local cigarette which the tobacco is wrapped inside a young Nipah leaf); the proposal will be turned down. This puzzle was used to test the suitor's problem solving skills and capabilities in bringing up a family well. Kak Liau and the boys were trying to solve the puzzle but failed, lucky for us the friendly lady then shows us how to solve the puzzle :) 

Aiso checking out some of the handicrafts and souvenirs.

The handicrafts here are a lot cheaper than those you can get at the market. I bought quite a few and gifted a bracelet made of stone (don't remember the name) to Famulan.

Famulan looking at the sigar with full concentration, handmade by the women of Maranjak long house. See, she's wearing the bracelet I bought for her =)

Sigar is hand woven into a piece of cloth using kapok fibers (silk cotton) from the seed of the kapok tree or scientifically known as Ceiba pentandra. This cloth later will be folded into a headgear uses by the men.

My brother Aiso took a memorable photograph with the friendly lady, Mrs. Maranjak. The wife of the long house coordinator. Sadly Mr. Maranjak wasn't there that day so we didn't get the chance to meet him. By the way, to whom it may concern, Aiso was actually sitting behind her not beside her, as the picture seems to portray. Heheheee...

Goodbye Maranjak Homestay, it was a pleasant stay though only for a short while. I had fun  =)

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if you are in Api-Api Center and looking for a place to eat... why not try Aeza Cafe ;)

Hi there hungry people. Today post is about food... yummy!! So if you happens to be in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah and somewhere nearby Api Api Center.  I recommend you to try Aeza Cafe. It's facing Marina Court. Food is good, price is moderate but nothing comes cheap nowadays. Menu? Scroll down and take a look... I spent three days trying almost every single thing.

That's only to name a few, there's lot of dish you could try out. Happy eating... this post makes me hungry..

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Alfresco markets aka tamu in Sabah ;)

Hello dear readers and friends. It's very nice of you to stop by my little blog. Today I'm gonna blog about alfresco markets. In Sabah we call alfresco market as tamu. Alfresco or open-air markets are usually held every Sunday and the most popular tamu is the one held every Sunday in Gaya Street.  I would blog about Gaya Street in later post but today I would like to share my experience at the tamu of two small town, Kota Marudu and Pitas. Let's see.... These pics were taken in a tamu in Kota Marudu.

Women from the villages around the hills selling their own fresh planted and picked produce.

This child is helping his mother to pick the chili peppers, chili in Asia originated from Mexico and was brought by the Spanish colony and trading... or so I was told.

Freshly picked veggies, some of them are wild plants. The woman who sold the wild veggie to us taught how to prepare it. Later my sister Famulan made vegetable soup mixed with shrimps, it smells and tasted really good.

I'm not sure what is the scientific name or the English name for this purple thing (I am not talking about the eggplant obviously...), it is a banana heart or inflorescence that will later develop into banana. It is cooked by stewing it with coconut milk, some like to add additional ingredients. This dish is called gulai lemak jantung pisang. Emm....

Sometimes people go to tamu to mingle or socialize besides shopping.

Little eggplants girl... She's either helping her older sister with the sales or there's in no one to look after her at home so she had to come along. Or maybe she's such an angel who wants to help out... awww... she was looking kinda bored so she probably had to come along... hehehe...

Okay, you are probably thinking "I am only seeing veggies...!! Can I really find something else besides veggiessss....." Well yes... yes... more pictures some of the stuff you can find at the tamu and they are non-veggies... Hehehe...

A man is selling cucur badak and murtabak. Cucur badak is made using flour and shrimp as ingredients while murtabak has meat shreds, eggs, onions and vegetables as filling,  folded into a thin skin of wheat flour.

Roasted corn is one of my favorite, yummmmmmy..... I also like roasted sweet potato. I love local cuisine like penjaram, kuih pasung, wajik, kuih piring (I don't know it's real name but it is round and flat so I called it piring.. lol). Sorry no pics, I'll try to get pictures of this local cuisine later.. hehehe...

Now let's take a look at some of the photographs I took during the tamu in Pitas :)

Fabrics of various patterns and colors are laid on a mat on the ground, you can only see this style of fabric display at the tamu in a small town.

Sling bags, some come in fake brands, of course the quality is not the best. I bought a sling bag here for my camera. Though the outside still in good condition but it's already ripped apart at the inside. Lol. I was actually looking for a green sling bag that was very commonly used by students in the 80s in Sabah. The man who was selling me the bag said I could no longer find it in the market... Sob! I wish I have it, it's really classic :)

Toys, glasses, tomatoes, dried fish, sandals..

Clothes, bag, belts, sunglasses and mobile phone covers.

Dried salted fish, prawns and anchovies. It's very tasty but the process is terrifying for me..

That's all the good pics I have from the tamu at both towns. There is much stuff you can find but it would be crazy to try to photograph all of it and upload it here. So I just chose a few that I like. Hehehe.. It is common to do some shopping for fresh produce and other essential household items at the tamu. Shoppers and traders came from various places and gather during the tamu to sell what they have or get what they need that usually can't be bought in daily supermarket or perhaps trying to get at cheaper price. It could be livestock, fruits, vegetables, clothes, toys, local crafts, local food, traditional medicines or even wild fruits. The price is reasonably cheap. Next time you need a cheaper napkin, you might be able to find a good one at the tamu.. 

Tips : Always bargain at the tamu ;)

Well, until then have a great time. Hope u enjoys my ramblings for today. Ciao :D

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