Day #02(15 March 2010): Sarawak cultural village and Mount Santubong nature walk

Group 1: The longhouse is built using wood while HDB flat is built using cement and concrete. The longhouse and HDB flat  are simliar as they accomodate large number of people. Secondly , both type of houses divide their space for different purposes such as living room , toilet , bedroom and etc in a similar way. The people in Sarawak respect one another and they have strong bonds within the community.
              During the musical workshop , we learned that the basic dance steps between the malay cultural dance in Singapore and Sarawak are simliar.  However , the hand movement is slightly different. Instruments like the Gong and Bonang are the same as the Gamelan in Singapore.
              In the forest , we heard sound of the cicada , cricket and the flowing river. We saw sparse land and also tall trees such as the Kapur. During the night trail , I felt that it was exciting , informative , interesting but tiring. :)

Group 2: Firstly the longhouse are built using different types of materials and the most commonly one are wood and bamboo.Inside, their interiors are very traditionally designed, each tribe having different interior decoration which symbolize different things.The similarities are the buildings are built high to prevent floods.It also has living rooms and individual bedrooms.We learnt that the people there are very bonded together in a community.
             The dance steps and music there are similar with the time signature that we use in our school.And one must enjoy when they are performing to the public.However they have a slightly different style of dancing and their intruments are more traditional.
            During the walk, the sound of river flowing,cicada or cricket could be heard with various type of  trees and plants showed there.In my opinion, although the walk was a tiring experience for me, it was educational and fun with friends accompanying you.

Group 3: At the Sarawak Cultural Village,the difference in the structure of the longhouse from our HDB flars are that the longhouse are built horizontally,while our HDB flat is built vertically. For similarities,both places have different rooms for different uses and can accomodate a large number of people. Lastly,the people living in the longhouse and our HDB flats share the same values like community spirit,though this is stronger in the longhouse community.
            Through the musical and dance workshops,they have the same dance style and similar Gamelan instruments with our own,and we also have the same time signature. The differences are the tone of the instruments are different.
            At Mount Santubong Nature Walk,we heard th cicadas's sounds,the river flowing as well as cricket sounds. We saw dilapidated bridges and fallen trunks among the sparse ground. At the end of the trail,we felt rejuvenated to reach Damai Beach Resort,as we were not used to this vigorous nature walks.

Group 4: The structure of their longhouse is very different from the HDB flats in Singapore. It is very spacious and dark. The ceilings are high and they have alot of high staircases. The longhouse is build high up so as to avoid annimals and enemies attacks. Also, the toilets is not build in in their house, it is placed outside. But they have individual rooms like us. They live together, communicate with each other very often. At the musical workshop we attended, the instruments and dance steps are very similar to our Gamelan and Malay dance respectively. The difference is that, the music they used is very traditional. We had a walk at Mount Santubong. It is very peaceful. We could hear the chirppings of the birds, river flowing, cicadas sounds. We learn some survival skills from the intrustors. Main thing to take note other than looking for water is to have self confidence and faith in ourselves. We were not used to the environment and was really glad to reach Damai beach resort.