The Borneo Broadcast: Entangen, The Original Datak Taste.

Hi, welcome to the Borneo Broadcast.  As I promised a while back, I was bringing this blog of mine back to life after taking a rather prolonged hiatus.  I blame it all on fatigue but mostly on work. My day job had become more....what's the word I was looking for here, more convoluted and time consuming.  I still like being a broadcaster but the atmosphere and situation was changing and it was taking up so much of my time.  Something had to give and unfortunately it was my blog.  I said that if I could not give this blog my full attention then I would stop and unfortunately I did.

I stopped and took a long break but the situations at work have changed yet again.  So I find myself with the desire to come back to my blog and here I am.  Okay let's get to our topic which is Entangen, The Original Dayak Taste.

Entangen is a name of a cafe located in an area called Padungan in Kuching.  Padungan is part of Kuching's Chinatown.  It is one of the busiest streets in Kuching.  It's a place where you can find just about anything and everything.  First and foremost there's food from traditional Chinese cuisine to coffee houses and food and beverage outlets.  The entire street is a foodie paradise.  It doesn't hurt that since tourism became a major attraction for the city and state, B & B's and backpacker hotels are mushrooming.  As I'm writing for my blog, a new hotel is under construction as we speak.  There's a department store nearby, shops that sell fresh fruits, shops that sell local confectionery and snacks, fresh buns and cakes, chicken rice, barbecue meats and so on and so forth.  

I usually frequent a shop that sells barbecue meat for lunch on the weekends.  Each time I would see this place called Entangen and I always wondered what this is is selling, it looked some what different from the other shops in the area.  Then I saw the signage and posters and so on, it's a cafe!

 This is Entangen's brand new signage.  Unique.

Now, each time when I walked by the place I became curious.  Well one day curiosity finally got the better of me and I decided to try this place out.  I sat down and ordered some food and I liked it. A lot.  I've been back there a number of times.  When I look for a place to eat, I usually look for a place that's nice with good service, fair price and of course great food.  Well, I'm happy to say I found it in Entangen.

Let's have a look at some of the dishes served by Entangen.

After eating at Entangen numerous times, I finally met the owner of the establishment.  A very friendly young lady who's juggling her studies, helping her father in the family business and running a cafe serving traditional local cuisine.  Her name is Lianny Bujang.  

I then decided to ask Lianny if I could interview her for my blog and podcast.  She was receptive to the idea.

After working out our time table we set a date for our chat and it took place just outside Entangen.  I could on and on about the food, the ambience and the food (did I say food already?) but I thought it'd be better if Lianny herself tells you about Entangen.

To listen to my interview with Lianny, click on the link below and have a listen to my podcast.

https://soundcloud.com/the-borneo-broadcast/entangen-ruai-the-original-dayak-taste 

Okay there's the link, have a listen to my conversation with Lianny about Entangen.

If you'd like to find out more about Entangen, check out their Facebook page, look for Entangen Ruai.

That's it for this edition of the Borneo Broadcaster.  Thanks for dropping by.  I hope you'll take some time and also listen to my Podcast on Soundcloud.  Big thank you goes out to Lianny and everyone at Entangen.  Thanks for the use of the photos.  Thank you for agreeing to the interview.

I'll be back soon with more for you about.....well just about everything.

See you on the next edition of the Borneo Broadcast!!

The Borneo Broadcast is coming back!!

Greetings from Borneo
When I started this little blog of mine, I planned to keep it going for as long as I can but I let things get out of hand with work commitments and other things in my life.  I made the mistake of taking on too many things at once and before I knew it, I was overwhelmed.  Totally overwhelmed.

I almost came back last year but I decided if I could not give at least 99 percent to this blog, I decided I wouldn't, I shouldn't do anything half way.  I told myself it isn't right, it isn't ethical.

Well it's now 2017.  I find myself literally hungering to come back to the Borneo Broadcast.  I fully intend to give my full attention to my blog.  So, with that said, I am making plans to revive this blog of mine.  So if you have been following the blog (all three of you, hahahaha....please be more than three).........The Borneo Broadcast is coming back.

Watch this space.

As you can no doubt see, I am hard at work right now.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, The Borneo Broadcast is coming back.

The Borneo Broadcaster's Interview with Vicki Treadell British High Commissioner to Malaysia Part 2

As promised, part 2 of my interview with Her Excellency Vicki Treadell is up on soundcloud.

You can listen to the interview by clicking on:

https://soundcloud.com/the-borneo-broadcast/my-interview-with-vicki-treadell-british-high-commissioner-to-malaysia-part-2

Thank you for dropping by for The Borneo Broadcast.  I hope you enjoyed the 2 part interview I had with Her Excellency Vicki Treadell, British High Commissioner To Malaysia on The Borneo Broadcast.

Thank you.

The Borneo Broadcaster talks to The British High Commissioner To Malaysia.

Thanks for dropping by for another edition of The Borneo Broadcast.  Wow, It's been a busy few days for me, I was involved in an event the other day, an International Conference on City With A Soul and before that I had an opportunity to interview The British High Commissioner to Malaysia, Her Excellency Vicki Treadell. 

Her Excellency the High Commissioner Vicki Treadell and her team were in Sarawak for 5-days of engagements on politics, business, education and environment with key figures and opinion leaders in the state's capital, Kuching. Despite her busy schedule she was able to give me a few minutes of her time for a quick chat.

We covered a wide range of topics from food, education, business to the strong ties that exists between Malaysia and the UK.  You can listen to our conversation right here:

https://soundcloud.com/the-borneo-broadcast/my-interview-with-vicki-treadell-british-high-commissioner-to-malaysia-part-1

This is the first part of our conversation, the second part will be uploaded very soon, so be sure to catch it on The Borneo Broadcast.  Thanks again for dropping by for The Borneo Broadcast.

Memories of the 18th Rainforest World Music Festival

Wow, the Rainforest World Music Festival is 18 years old this year.  This festival really started from very humble beginnings.  The RWMF started with one stage, can you imagine that just one stage.  At the time the number of people who attended the festival was around maybe 300 plus.  I was told that most of the audience were the crew.  Today the festival has grown by leaps and bounds.  From one stage, there are now three stages namely Jungle Stage, Tree Stage and the new addition Theater Stage.  Theater Stage was added just last year.  From 300 festival goers, the number has increased significantly, how many you might ask?  Well, I was told that on Saturday night, the tickets were sold out!  That's a huge difference.

I was fortunate to be a part of this festival again this year.  I feel a certain pride when I say that, mainly because this is an International Event that's held here in my home town.  Each year the RWMF brings together different musicians and bands from all over the world for a three day festival.  Over the three days, we all get a chance to listen, enjoy and experience the music and culture of each band.  As they take to the different stages, they share with us their music, some passed down from their ancestors, some they fused with modern compositions and many with the hope that their music will continued to be enjoyed for years to come.  This is something I've mentioned many many times leading up to this festival, about how unique this festival truly is.

I usually try and take as many shots as possible during the festival but this year the festival was a little busier than usual for me.  I did take a few shots here and there but I think the majority of the shots came from Theater Stage.

However, I did have a few minutes to take in the beautiful view that greeted me every morning before the day got underway and I have said it before, it's not a bad way to start your day.

This is the view that greeted me each and every morning.  I loved it.  Truly lovely.  Like I mentioned, it's not a bad way to start your day.

Yeah one could get really comfortable with all this but I had work to do, after a quick breakfast, I was off to meet the bands and interview them.  I had a few short hours to talk to the bands and then get ready to go to Theater Stage.  Theater Stage was first introduced last year to give festival goers a concert hall performance, a more intimate experience, different from the Jungle and Tree Stages.  Theater Stage would be the stage for you if you wanted to really soak in an afternoon of music in a more intimate atmosphere, hence the concert hall setting.

The first band to perform at Theater Stage this year was a family band led by by multi-instrumentalist Jan Mailsz. The band is inspired by the traditional music of Beskid Niski and Pogorze, in South Poland.  For their performance Jan was joined by his children Casper who is 16 years old and Zuzanna who is 12 years old.  Together they are Kapela Maliszow.

Now you may be wondering, why am I using a pic from the RWMF website?  Well, this is what happens when you become enthralled with a performance, yep you forget to take pictures.  For the entire performance I was a festival goer and I sat down with the audience that Friday afternoon to enjoy the music from this very talented family and to see such young musicians on stage performing traditional  music from their homeland was quite an experience.  

The second band to perform on Theater Stage that Friday afternoon was from Georgia. This band was founded in December, 2014. Consisting of four members, the ensemble is specialized in authentic Georgian traditional folk music. They are also members of ethno jazz band Iriao, and independently they work as conductors and leaders in different male folk choirs.

The ensemble repertoire includes traditional musical masterpieces and church chants from different regions of Georgia, starting from the very east to the west, and differs significantly according to its complication. Besides, the ensemble performs on the most traditional folk instruments including string, wind and percussion instruments.

To listen to Alaverdi was just mesmerizing.  For their performance all four members were impeccably dressed in what I would guess is their traditional Georgian wear.  They looked regal and their performance was just absolutely mesmerizing.  Before they went on stage, I mentioned that Georgian Polyphonic Singing was one of the items included in a Capsule launched into space a few years ago.  If there are other lifeforms out there, one of the many things they will experience first will be Georgian Polyphonic Singing from Alaverdi.

That afternoon, apart from the workshops taking place throughout the various houses ie: The Iban Long House, The Malay house and so on, the Theater Stage was packed almost to capacity.  You could tell that the people who came to Theater Stage really enjoyed the performances from Alaverdi and Kapela Maliszow.  When you're sitting in a crowd, immersed in beautiful music and you forget to take pictures, then you know you're listening to something..special.  Each performance ended with the crowd showing their appreciation with a thunderous applause and shouts of Bravo! Bravo!  It was a unique afternoon on the first day of the 18th Rainforest World Music Festival.  

It was a really surreal experience for me to be sitting in a concert hall setting in the rainforest listening to such beautiful world music and that was just the start of Day 1.  The evening performances would start later that Friday at 7.30pm on the Jungle and Tree Stages.  

The performances on Day 1 started with the traditional Miring Ceremony from the Iban Community of Sarawak.  The ceremony is a traditional blessing ceremony followed by a performance from the Sarawak Cultural Village.  It was a great start to the evening, just wish I had taken more pictures of the whole thing but I was a little busy.

The evening performances, the workshops, all the side events were all highlights of this truly unique festival but when I walked out of the Theater Stage that afternoon, I felt they did the right thing, which is adding another highlight to this festival.  I was looking forward to the performance at 7.30 the next evening but also the Theater Stage the next day.

Many thanks to the Sarawak Tourism Board for the use of some of the pics featured here on the Borneo Broadcast.  for more on what took place this year for the RWMF, go to rwmf.net

A Sarawak Original

It is good to be back.  I've been away from the Borneo Broadcast. Again. But I have a good reason, I had a great experience being at the 18th Rainforest World Music Festival.  This festival is just an experience that is just describable.  You have to be there in order to know what I felt in the seven days I was there.

The festival was held at the Sarawak Cultural Village from the 7th to the 9th of August.  I was there earlier because I was hosting the performances for the festival.  It was a great experience enjoying music from around the world and this year the bands were just outstanding, I'm going to share my experience with you in my next post but for this post, I wanted to share something with you, something I call A Sarawak Original.

A few days leading up to the festival, I met up with an old friend of mine named Ricky Sia.  It had been a while since we last met but it's always a pleasure seeing old friends again.  When we met, he was wearing a really unique T Shirt.  I thought that it was different and it really had a local Sarawak design and motif.  A real Sarawak Original.  It had slipped my mind that earlier this year Ricky had told me that he was printing and selling these T Shirts.

It occurred to me that since I was going to be at the RWMF this year that having these T Shirts would be cool.  If nothing else, it would be a great way to promoting Sarawak and Borneo to people at the Festival.  So we arranged to meet up and I bought 2 from Ricky.  Ricky also threw up a few other T Shirts as well.  (Thanks Ricky)  Through out the entire Festival, I wore these T Shirts with pride, being someone from Sarawak, from Borneo.  Here's a look at the various designs Ricky has.

There you have it, the T Shirts from Amazing Borneo.  If you're wondering, yeah they also come in white and grey as well.

While I like the black T Shirts, I think the white ones are cool as well.  I guess what I really like about T Shirts like these is the simplicity of the design and also how original they are.  The fact that Ricky thought of using the famous Empurau, the orangutan and also other motifs that are uniquely Sarawakian makes these T Shirts a must have for me.  I'm glad I bought these T Shirts, they're another unique way of introducing Borneo to the world.

 

 

 I like this one, a friend of mine on the RWMF Production Team noticed this shirt and said: "Really Cool Design.  I like it."  Often times, you get a lot of generic shirts being made out there but these are definitely not generic.  They're comfortable and they look really nice.

I wore this one to the RWMF preview show that was held on August the 5th.  I really like how it looks and the fact that the word BORNEO is boldly written on the T Shirt made it really stand out.  Again a nice design which attracts attention and it is indeed a Sarawak Original.  I'm particularly happy and proud of Ricky for designing and producing these T Shirts.  

If you'd like to know more about Amazing Borneo and their beautiful T Shirts, then just visit their facebook page, just look for Amazing Borneo, you won't miss it because you'll see all their T Shirts on display.  They also have posters for sale and remember all their T Shirts are all handcrafted.  

That's Ricky right there hard at work with another T Shirt design featuring the Orangutans of Borneo.  Go visit their facebook page and you'll be able to keep track of what Ricky is doing with his T Shirts and what other Unique Sarawak/Borneo Originals he's got coming up.  Thanks Rick for these great T Shirts, I love them.

Now that the RWMF is over, will I stop wearing these T Shirts?  No way, they're too cool not to wear.  See you again next time for another Borneo Broadcast.

The Music of Africa at the Rainforest World Music Festival RWMF 2015.

We're getting closer and closer to the Rainforest World Music Festival in Borneo.  The dates are August 7th to the 9th 2015 at the Sarawak Cultural Village!

The Rainforest World Music Festival has always been a favourite of festival and music lovers for bringing the enchanting music from Africa that has all these years mesmerize thousands of weekend revelers.

This year, the festival will parade the uniqueness of the group calling themselves Ndima which represents the people of the Aka Pygmies from Congo Brazzaville.

Ndima, representing the native African tribe, will present their traditional African music allowing audience to have an insight into their unique endangered culture. This nomadic tribe which lives in the forests of Africa between the Atlantic Ocean and the big Lakes, particularly in Baka, Bambuti, Batwa, Babongo, Efé and other regions, can be easily recognised by their physical stature.

Their language is called the Aka language and their life is consistently altered due to the increasing influence of the modernization within their natural habitat in the forest which are being continuously destroyed by farmers and foresters.

As the life of the Aka people centered on the natural surroundings, the tribe takes great care of their environment for their daily source for food and medicinal purposes.

Apart from their surrounding influences, music plays an important role in the life of the Aka Pygmies with song dedicated to the spirits of the forest and events associated with their surroundings. The characteristics of Aka Pygmy music are complex and the interspersed with the “jodel”, which is describes as the change between the “voice of head and of the breast”.

The varied rhythmic formulae supported by traditional Pygmy dances is also an evidence of their rich culture of the endangered tribe.  

Joining Ndima taking the stage is Sona Jobarteh from Gambia bringing with her traditional “Kora” virtuoso.  Sona is considered to be a modern pioneer rebelling against the male-dominated hereditary tradition between father and son playing an instrument which is exclusively designated to men.  The “Kora” is a 21-stringed African harp which is one of the main musical instruments of the Manding peoples of Gambia, Senegal, Mali, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau.

It can only be played by male members of West Africa family, thus making Sona an exception for being the first woman in her family to break the ancestral line of playing the sacred musical instrument.  

The music style of Sona Jobarteh differs from other West African music genres due to her innovative stance singing about social issues, cultural identity, gender, love and respect that roots herself in her traditional cultural heritage of her people.

Sona’s ability to captivate audiences around the world with her expressive voice, catchy melodies and strong rhythms that allows her to represent her African culture and tradition.

The artist developed her singing ability when she featured her vocals in the Hollywood blockbuster movie “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” which was released in 2014.

On top of that Sona is the composer of the film score to the Multi-Award winning documentary film “The Motherland”, and released her latest album “Fasiya” in 2011.

To join the festival, you can now book your entrance tickets online and for more information on the festival, please log on to its website at http://rwmf.net/.

Event-presale Tickets are priced at RM 110.00 for single adult  and child is priced at RM 50.00 while the three-day entrance is priced at RM 300.00 for adult and RM 130.00 for a child.

Family package of two adults and two children entrance is also on sale at RM 220.00.

See you at the RWMF 2015!!