Harvest Festival

Friday, May 29, 2009--Kinabalu National Park to Kota Kinabalu

The best way to visit Borneo would be in a rental car. Malaysia has one of the better infrastructures in Asia. The highways are nice, and the drivers are not wild. With a rental car, so many more places could be reached so much more easily than waiting for the private mini-buses or the few large buses that connect places. With a car, I could have also visited Poring Hot Springs, built by the Japanese during WWII and now a part of the same Kinabalu National Park (but in another area), while here. But the only way there is by taxi from here at a rather high cost. I met two Chinese visitors yesterday who were frustrated when quoted a price for a taxi there and back.

I stood outside my hotel for 40 minutes waiting for either a bus or a mini-bus going to KK. The first mini-bus that passed was full and would not stop. The next one had no passengers. On the trip back into town, we picked up one person for a short trip. So my return trip to the city was like being in a taxi since I was the only passenger most of the way. The driver went much faster than the one in the large bus had gone coming up here, but the trip was downhill this time.

I ate pork with noodles for my lunch today. It was a big bowl with slices of pork, pork dumplings, slices of pork loaf, and fish balls in it. It was very filling and refreshing.

I needed to get my laundry done. I had tried to leave it before going to the park, but the laundry near my hotel wouldn't open until long after I needed to be on the bus. When I returned today, I went there only to discover that it will be closed over the weekend due to the Harvest Festival. Giving up, I went to 7-ll and bought a small package of laundry soap and did my washing myself. Fortunately, my hotel has a bathtub, and the floor is tile with a drain. That makes it much easier than doing the laundry in the sink and having to worry about everything dripping as it dries. I did a pair of pants, some underwear, some socks, and several shirts.

I was tired, it was hot, and I just wanted to relax. So I stayed in the room the rest of the day and relaxed.

Saturday, May 30, 2009--KK and Penampang

It's the Harvest Festival here in Sabah today and tomorrow. Most people go home to their villages to celebrate, but there is a large festival held for the public in the suburb of Penampang. I got up early today and caught a bus to it.

I really did not know what to expect. For some reason I thought it would be in a big hall. Instead, it was on what we would call a fair grounds at home. In fact, the festival seems to be a bit like the combination of the Folk Life Festival in San Antonio and the State Fair in Dallas.

As I entered the grounds, there was a large contingent of young people dressed alike in polo shirts and dark pants/skirts. They are students of tourism who were there to welcome foreigners and guide them through the grounds. Two of them, a young woman and a young man, approached me and said they would like to be my guides. Like most Asian people having contact with westerners, they have adopted western-style names to make it easier for the visitor. My two guides were Sherry George and Devyn Dalfoeun.

The festival grounds really have three major parts. One consists of examples of the native houses from various parts of the province. There, each tribal group has sent singers, dancers, and musicians dressed in native costume to perform for the public. Another consists of tents that have exhibits by companies that hope to sell their products, both large and upcoming corporations. The third section consists of a row of tent restaurants serving foods.

My guides took me to each of the houses. They made sure I got photos of the performers in their costumes and that I understood where they were from. They explained about the costumes and the culture. The sad part was the answers I kept getting to my questions: Did they make their costumes? No, their grandmothers made them for them. Do they have a silver coin belt buckle like I have seen in the museum? No, but their grandfather does. In other words, it is obvious that the traditional culture which is still being represented is dying out. The young people are not learning to weave or to sew the costumes. They are not making the traditional ornaments. So when their grandparents die and the present costumes wear out, what will they do?

I was happy that the tour was just to orient me to the festival. After seeing each of the native houses and having questions answered, my guides left me. I then spent another 3 hours at the festival grounds going back to see the dancing, the singing, the playing, etc. One unusual house has a cut-away section of the floor. Inside the cutaway is a floor that is suspended on giant cross logs. People go onto the floor and start to bounce. The logs give to the pressure, and the people jump high into the air. Above, there is a suspended toy that goes to the one who jumps high enough to grab it. One of the guides took me into this section. It was surprising to experience the degree of the bounce! I came out wobbly!

One of the tribal groups had a dance similar to the Filipino dance called the tinikling. It was performed only by men or by women rather than together. And it was a bit more complicated using defining squares as well as the bamboo sticks clicking together. At the same time, it was not nearly as fast as the Filipinos dance their dance.

Everyone was friendly at the festival. Many people spoke to me. One dancer insisted that I join her in one of the dances. I'm happy I happened to be here at the right time to experience it.

It was a hot day, however. I had trouble finding ways to stay out of the sun and to stay cool. Some of the raised houses had nice breezes once I was in them. And I drank three glasses of fresh fruit drinks--one of coconut and two made with limes.

When I returned to town around 15:00, I ate lunch. Today, I had sweet and sour fish sprinkled with hot sauce. It was about 4 chunks of boneless fish about the size of a biscuit and about 1/2 inch (1.5 cm) thick. They had been fried and then cooked in the sweet and sour sauce which had nice fresh slices of onion in it. I cannot believe that the meal of all that fish, a plate of rice, a bowl of soup, and a glass of Chinese tea only cost me $1.12 U.S.!

My guides at the festival gave me my dinner which I will eat in my room tonight. It's a small container of inawah, the Malaysian version of ceviche. I had a taste, and then they insisted that I take the rest for having later by myself. It is quite delicious.

Tomorrow, I will leave KK. The Harvest Festival will continue, but one day of it was enough. The buses are running everywhere, so I will catch the early morning bus for Tenom. I am going there to take one of the great train rides of the world between there and Beaufort.