A Walk To Remember [Gawai 09]

Hari Gawai: Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai - I have no idea what that means. But anyway, ashamed as I am for not knowing much about my culture and language, who's up for some exotic food? Here are some sago worms for you!

We had quite a lot of visitors on the first day of Gawai when my family drove to Kampung Seruit. The ride from the main road up the hills and plains for a good 7 or 8 miles was terribly bumpy becaue of road contruction, so I doubt that any of the city dwellers who came to visit had much fun on the road. For example, my very pampered cousins from Kuching who never tasted the rough side of life.


On the other hand, my other cousins staying at the kampung know the area like the back of their hands, and I'm pretty sure even the youngest of them are a lot more hardy than all of YOU.




Some of them really had no clue where they were: They came for the ride, expecting jungles, rivers and insects; they are surprised to see technology far more advanced than their initial expectations of primitive sticks and stones; they then happily seat themselves down to watch TV. Below are the two said city kids.


Then, of course, there's my darling [bitch] Baby, who's growing all the fatter every year, but still loves my family so very much although we abandoned her, left her at the kampung, and only visit her twice a year. That, my friends, is called loyalty, that only a dog can give. "Dog look up to us, cats look down on us, and pigs treat us as equals." XD XD



On the second day of Gawai, my family went to other kampungs to visit people; somehow everyone around the area are related in some way, so my dad kind of knew most people there. There was this cute baby whom Esther (my sister) came to adore. Later my mom commented that the baby looked quite like how Esther herself did when she was that age. Especially the curly hair and cute chubby face. XD


Lastly, to reconcile the strange title and the content of this post, the following picture is a boy who has Down's Syndrome. He's actually my age. He was a part of my mom's research for her PhD, so I can't show his face nor his name due to ethics and confidentiality whatnot, but I must tell you that these special children are really, really friendly and cute. I hope the society can view them as human beings who just need extra care and attention, for they deserve a normal life like you and me.