Show of Beads

Kuching is a melting pot of ethnic identities. Being the capital city of Sarawak it offers a potpourri of cultural crossroads where you can sample the various artistic traditions of the diverse ethnic groups throughout Sarawak converging in one rich cultural milieu, which is Kuching today. One tradition shared by the 'Orang Ulu' group , consisting in majority the Kayans, Kelabits and Kenyahs, is the art of beadsmaking and beads craftwork.
Today I paid a visit to one wholesale trader of Sarawak beadswork at her home. On the floor ( as shown above) was laid a variety of items like table mats, tissue paper boxes, small round bags, necklaces, head bands and key chains.

Bags used by native ladies while shopping or during ceremonial functions

The design motifs of the Orang Ulu beadswork ranges from mythical birds and animals, plant life ( e.g. twirl of ferns, shapes of leaves, flowers etc) . The flowing and moving patterns are characteristic of their design just as the choice of many colours which today can be very varied and contemporary due to the importation of more modern beads from all over the world especially China.


Table mats are favourite among modern households where they can be placed on tables overlaid with glass or transparent plastic. For many modern homes table mats are also framed up as travel mementos.

I saw varying sizes of the table mats from small square pieces ( 30x30cm) to large rectangular pieces ( 60x150cm). Below are samples of other beadswork items.

Key chains with spider motifs.

Purse

Kuching's Multi-Layered Cakes ( Kek Lapis)

It is interesting to see nowadays how the multi-layered cakes here are gaining popularity as an 'export' item being souvenier bought by tourists especially from Peninsular Malaysia to bring back home to remember of their Kuching sojourn. They are reasonably priced and packed in thin transparent plastic. You can buy them easily at the rows of shophouses or small kiosks along the sidewalk of the shophouses at the Kuching waterfront area.
In the local Kuching Malay dialect, it is called 'Kek Lapis'. It is made of flour, eggs, butter, sugar, jam and flavoured in varied tastes like nescafe, cheese, mint, chocolate, haw flakes and others. The colouring is up to the imagination or creativity of the chef and the same holds for its diverse patterns and layering. A small packing costs between RM 10-RM 15, which can come in 2"x2"x6" size or in smaller portion of about 2" long ( as shown in the picture above).

Rattan Handicrafts of Sarawak

In Kuching there are plenty of Sarawak handicrafts that one can buy as sovenier.  One particular favourite of mine is the 'tambuk', which is a Bidayuh word to mean a carrying basket.  At many of the local sovenier shops along Kuching Waterfront, these are made into mini shapes and sizes to fit the varying budget of tourists and visitors to this beautiful city.

Sovenier shops along Kuching Waterfront

A CU View of varying colours and sizes of tambuk on sale at Serikin, a thirty minutes drive by road from Kuching city.

This morning I had the occassion to make a floral arrangement using the tambuk as a display container. But what I thought was a simple display became of particular interest to my heroic cats who are well on their way to create the Malaysian record of the most travelled cats in Malaysia.

So here's the two admirable cats :

Einstein with his killer moustache.

Macy Grey, the story teller.