Selamat Ari Gawai

Ah, so the harvest celebration is just around the corner. I just could not wait to be on leave and drive back to our longhouse.

In spirit of Gawai, I dug out this very (very, very, very) old photo of me donning the Iban traditional costume in our very old longhouse.

That was really the last time I wore a complete Iban costume. The process of getting yourself all dolled up is so tedious (especially if you are a quirky nerd and non- beauty- pagent material, like yours truly). You better make sure you have done your last toilet run for the hour before you put this on, because once you have all 6-7kg of silver and copper 'ware' strapped unto you, you will have to jinggle-janggle( is there such word? But you catch my drift, right)  your way to the toilet.

A few years after this picture was taken, my grandmother lost it all in a burglary. It broke her heart, because that corset thingy belonged to her grandmother. And there is no way, you can replace the old silver shillings belts. At least not the real old shillings.

I am glad I had the honour to have my picture taken wearing our family heirloom.(And I am glad that I wore it, while I could fit into it as well.. lol!)

Every Iban girl will feel like a princess the moment they don this traditional costume.

It makes me smile recalling how my grandmother and aunties asked me to hold my head straight and smile. I had problem doing just that because the silver headgear was so heavy and I have never been corseted, nor had silver and copper ware strapped heavily unto my torso before. Hence, the strained smile. :D

Anyway, fast forward to the present, I would like to wish everyone who celebrates this harvest celebration,

 'Selamat Ari Gawai, Gayu Guyu Gerai Nyamai'

Woooohaa!