'basa kita'

(Title means Our Language / 'Bahasa kitani') 'Bahasa Tutong' is the language for the Tutong community in Brunei. My parents were born in Tutong, but I am not as fluent as one should be. So Ive decided that whenever i get back home for summer, I have to start collecting bits and pieces from the dad, grandma, and old folks at local kopitiam; and share them here. This is dedicated for my family back home, I miss you all

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Location: Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand

Fulltime Dentist Part-time traveller Life's Good, Alhamdulillah~

Friday, January 26, 2007

kisah ayam berkokok.

managed to record them during my visit to tasek merimbun. there's a tale behind it, according to grandma. Back in the old days, they use the sound as their 'alarm' to get up in the morning; also for the dawn prayer. and amazingly, it 'was' quite accurate. For me, its a 'was' because clearly the video was taken around 2pm (morning's over babeh)...huhu so i believe the 'modern roosters' are no longer reliable as the morning alarm, or is it because the modern 'us' dont really need them..?





cheers everyone, Salam.

Nakalai~

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Thursday, January 25, 2007

tuyor. gilang-gilang.

courtesy of my grandma. thanks *hugs*

tuyor (too-your) - purun. ratan.

i dont know if i should verify this with the dewanbahasa ppl or not. According to my grandma, purun is actually 'tali' that's made from 'ratan', to make the 'tikars'. (=ratan-carpet??)
So 'balai purun' as you can see from the picture, is actually a place meant for people to gather and make those 'tikars' together. oh ofcourse, the one in picture is not in use, plus i dont think there's such thing as the working 'balai purun' nowadays. grandma said; only afew old folks left who actually know how to make the 'tikars', and they should be really-really old by now. ;)




gilang-gilang (ghee-lung ghee-lung) - rumput sundal.

the 'flowers' will stuck on your pants and you'll be irritated-slash-annoyed by them.sheesh. enough said. try walking through a field full of the 'rumput sundal', you'll take 24 hours* to clean the pants. *nah kidding~...huhu





*for more pictures on the visit to the 'tasek merimbun'*

2 words for today, Salam.

Nakalai~

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a visit to the 'Taman Warisan Tasek Merimbun'

thanks to my grandma for being my (tourist)guide this afternoon..huhu

The purpose of my visit today was to get few shots of Tasek Merimbun. The scenery was simply breathtaking, as usual. Have a look on them here. or here for more shots. So yes, I dont do reviews but you can always read from either of these sites: (they are good btw. quite accurate i would say..huhu)

Sultanate - Tasek Merimbun
Asiatour.com
Brunei Travel Information
Kayaking in Tasek Merimbun (besides walking along the wooden walkways or having picnic, you can go for kayaking too!)
Dom, Becca & Ellie in Tasek Merimbun









Honestly, at the moment i dont think Tasek Merimbun is ready to be visited by anyone (esp the tourists). the wooden walkways are being removed at the moment so you cant actually go across to the 'Pulau Labi-labi' (more on this turtle-shaped island in the next post). Ahhh well... i'm guessing they are getting new planks and hopefully the walkways will be back soon, since next year will be the Visit Brunei 2008. N/theless, Tasek Merimbun is still a must-go-and-see heritage park when you come to visit Brunei/Tutong. (=

nahh enjoyy the pictures. as usual, click 'em to enlarge. and appreciate..huhu






cheers everyone, Salam.

Nakalai~

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