I always carry a minimum of 3 liters of water with me when I hit the jungle. Doesn’t matter if it is just a day trip, I drink loads. As for food, I usually buy something like nasi lemak, cake (‘kuih’) and tapau into the jungle. Other food stuff already in [...]]]>

My kind of food!

I always carry a minimum of 3 liters of water with me when I hit the jungle. Doesn’t matter if it is just a day trip, I drink loads. As for food, I usually buy something like nasi lemak, cake (‘kuih’) and tapau into the jungle. Other food stuff already in the minimum kit are a few sachets of drinks and soups.

Though I have some chlorine tablets to treat water, I wanted to start fire and use that to boil my drinking water. There were enough dry materials around (mostly above ground) to start fire. Some dry bamboos provided shavings as fire tinder.

Bamboo shavings

Started fire using lighter and some small pieces of inner tire tube. Dry wood was plenty, so had no problem keeping the fire going. I boiled water and kept at it until I filled my Nalgene 1.5L water bottle. With the hot weather, my body is loosing water through sweat and I have to drink lots.

Boiled as much water as possible while there is still light

Food was my biggest concern. I had some ‘kuih’ towards the evening and left with some pieces of bread for dinner with mushroom soup. No breakfast for following day (wasn’t planning to overnight), so I decided that perhaps exploring the stream for some food would be a good idea. Manage to catch some river prawns. Cooked them in boiling water.

The river prawns were breakfast on day 2

By day 2, the little amount of food I had throughout was starting to get to me. Worse still, friends around me were starting up their stoves to heat up the MREs and cooking instant noodles. So…with a gurgling tummy and blown ego…I caved in and shared food with my friends. Lesson learn? Bring more food next time!

Cooking food in the jungle

‘E’kak’ is a container, made of bamboo is used by the Bidayuhs in Semban to keep their smoked food (game meat usually) for months, at times up to more than a year. Here, local guide Glen lets me have a closer look at the ‘E’kak’.

This bamboo food container is [...]]]>

E’kak stacked together with split bamboos

‘E’kak’ is a container, made of bamboo is used by the Bidayuhs in Semban to keep their smoked food (game meat usually) for months, at times up to more than a year. Here, local guide Glen lets me have a closer look at the ‘E’kak’.

This bamboo food container is stacked together with an entire rack of dry split bamboo, ready for use as fire wood in the kitchen inside Glen’s house. Below the rack is actually the fire place. This design of stacking firewood above a fire seems to be quite common in Borneo. The first time I seen this was in one of the villages in Miri. Not only is it convenient (just take from above to feed the fire below) but it is also a very effective way to be efficient. The heat from the fire below helps to dry and keep dry the wood above.

Now, I found out that the design also helps to keep the E’kak dry and the constant smoking probably make it unattractive to ants etc that would otherwise finish the food. The bamboo used for this purpose is rather large in diameter. The open end is plugged with either another bamboo or by using a ‘cork’ like wood that is shaped to fit the main piece.

Two E’kak, both using different style of lid

It seems that most of the meats stored in the E’kak are rather ‘dry’ meat. Meaning they are not fatty kind of meat. That way, the smoked meat will last longer. Meat in E’kak can last up to a year or even more and villagers usually use them to make soup. So…I decided to take a peek into one of the E’kak to see what in there.

Some of the ‘items’ inside the bamboo made E’kak

Glen with a piece of meat from one of the E'kak

Would love to see for myself how the food is dried and then kept in the E’kak for future use but my visit to Semban for the second time is only for a few days. Visit to Semban never cease to amaze me.

We were walking Sox in the bush one weekend when we stumbled upon what looked like wild chestnuts (berangan liar) on the forest floor. I looked up and the trees are all rather tall. Scattered around are the fruits, some still in the pods. I have [...]]]>

Found these while walking in the jungle near KL

We were walking Sox in the bush one weekend when we stumbled upon what looked like wild chestnuts (berangan liar) on the forest floor. I looked up and the trees are all rather tall. Scattered around are the fruits, some still in the pods. I have seen chestnuts fruits in Malaysian jungle before but these ones do not have spiny shells.

Most of the berangan that we collected on the jungle floor are not ripe. But out of curiosity, I brought back as much as I can, just to ‘play’ with them.

The berangan fruits scattered all over the jungle floor

Most of the fruits have been partially eaten by wild animals

The fruit itself is contained inside a shell like pod. Unlike some wild berangan I have seen with needle like shells, the berangan I collected had really hard rough shells.

The rough hard shells

I asked the Orang Asli women I met there (she was collecting bamboo) and she told me they can be eaten. So, at home, I slowly and carefully peel through the hard rough shells to get to the seeds.

After having done all of them, I noticed a few pieces were ripe, displaying a darker brown color.

Some of the berangan are darker brown color

Having boiled them for a good 10 minutes, I then let them cool down and then tried them. True enough, the ‘raw’ ones, while eatable were mostly bitter. The darker color brown pieces were nice to eat.

My task now is to try to identify the name of these wild Berangan/ chest nuts.Any help?

Some survival books talk about getting drinking water from a banana tree trunk in a survival situation. Though I rarely see any banana trees in the jungle, I reckon it would be a cool thing to try. So, with a [...]]]>

An opportunity to test out if I can really get water from a banana tree

Some survival books talk about getting drinking water from a banana tree trunk in a survival situation. Though I rarely see any banana trees in the jungle, I reckon it would be a cool thing to try. So, with a banana tree to be chopped down, I put this ‘survival tip’ to the test.

Well, if my memory serves me right, getting water from a banana tree trunk involves decapitating the entire tree. Only about a foot (off the ground) of the trunk is kept. A ‘bowl’ like depression is then dug into the trunk (the part that is still connected to the root). Cover it with a plastic or banana leaves (to keep insects of other foreign materials) from falling in and there ought to be drinkable water in the ‘bowl’ the following day.

Dug a ‘bowl’ in the tree trunk

So, I did exactly what I remembered. I wasn’t planning to drink the water, so I decided to leave it uncovered overnight.

In the mean time, I decided to slice through the banana trunks just so that it will leave a nice patina on the blade. After some chopping and slicing, I noticed the blade got darker, stain like.

Decided to continue chopping to ‘patina’ my blade

Blade turns darker, like stained

With the entire tree trunk down to pieces, I left the remaining tree till the following day (overnight).

The next morning, true enough the ‘bowl’ in the tree trunk has water in it. Not full but probably a good half full. Well, in a real survival situation, I guess every little drop counts. I decided not to ‘taste’ the water as I did not cover it the previous day. Good to know that water can be obtained from bamboo and banana trees.

Water accumulated in the bow in the trunk of a banana tree

Ah!…clams…but this time around, they are fresh water clams. I believe the locals around Sungai Perak calls them Kepah. After a short ‘test run’ on our kayaks on day one, I decided I would try to look for these bivalves. At the water edges, I can see [...]]]>

Many many clam shells at the water edges

Ah!…clams…but this time around, they are fresh water clams. I believe the locals around Sungai Perak calls them Kepah. After a short ‘test run’ on our kayaks on day one, I decided I would try to look for these bivalves. At the water edges, I can see many of the shells lay open (dead ones), so there must be some live ones around. I was right.

Me collecting the fresh water clams

Being burried inside the mud in the riverbed, I let the clams soak in a tub of water for a night at least. This would allow them to spew out sand or mud that’s inside them. Well, that is what locals advised me to do anyway. There can’t be any better advise than local advise I reckon. Asking around, I found out that the local folks do eat them but doesn’t seem to have a liking towards them.

The flesh inside the Kepah – pic by Meun

The following day was our paddling day. So, I decided to prepare and cook the clams after we return from paddling. In case the clams would send us sitting on the ‘throne’ for relief, at least none of us would miss the paddling part.

Preparing the clams was a slimmy affair. I decided against boiling the entire clams as I don’t have a pot big enough and it would probably take forever. Using my Mora, I slit the clams open and dug the flesh out.

Used me trusty Mora to do the work- pic by Meun

The flesh inside the Kepah – pic by Meun

Opening the clams wasn’t all that hard. But I have to say that the slimmy flesh inside came with a rather strong ‘muddy’ smell. Nadir took a sniff and he has his mind made up about eating them. I don’t blame him really.

With the water boiling, I poured all the clam meat in. Let it boil for a good 5 minutes before taking them out. The verdict? Well, I can understand now why the locals don’t really fancy them. Without spices, the clams are not all that tasty. In fact, the smell could kinda of put you off. The most difficult part of the clam meat is probably it’s stomach (I think it is the stomach). It’s like a sac of something….one of us (not going to name him!) described it as probably a sp#@m sac!

Okay, the freshwater clams or Kepah from Sungai Perak would probably tastes better cooked as rendang or in some sort of curry. Boiling them ain’t really the best way to eat them…now we know.


More on our kayak trip to Sungai Perak:

• Yau Kee Chicken at Kampar
• Paddling along Sungai Perak & beyond
• Wild water buffalo on Sungai Perak
• Lotus lagoon along Sungai Perak

Its been a while since we been kayaking anywhere. So, with plans made as early as two months before, we headed to Sungai Perak for a kayaking adventure.On the way there, we decided to stop and try the famous Kampar ‘Chicken in Bread’ at a restaurant called Yau Kee. How did we [...]]]>

The herbal chicken

Its been a while since we been kayaking anywhere. So, with plans made as early as two months before, we headed to Sungai Perak for a kayaking adventure.On the way there, we decided to stop and try the famous Kampar ‘Chicken in Bread’ at a restaurant called Yau Kee. How did we know which restaurant to go to? We don’t, the GPS did!

Turns out we had two choices. Either go with the curry chicken or the herbal chicken. We thought to be on the safe side, the herbal chicken is the way to go. In less than 2 minutes, smiley aunty got our ‘bread’ and started ‘dressing’ it. In style I would say.

Aunty 'preped' our bread profesionally

The bread being peeled away to reveal the inside

Yummy!

Walaaaa...the herbal chicken is 'contained' inside a paper wrapper INSIDE the bread

Not bad these 'Chicken in Bread' stuff at Kampar, though a bit pricy

Well, the entire dish tasted better than I would imagine but a little bit pricey I suppose. After we had our makan, we continued on our way to Sungai Perak. Halfway, we made a quick toilet break, a good opportunity to take the picture below.

Our kayaks on our new 'old' pajero

A few hours later, we arrived at our launching place. Somewhat near lenggong area. After checking into our homestay place and all, we got our kayaks down, can’t wait to hit the water.

Meun by our boats...ready for a 'test' drive

All of us went for a ’short’ paddle on day 1. Did not go far, just to get the feel. Jim (our expat friend) too took the opportunity to paddle out his canoe. All in anticipation for day 2, paddling day.

Jim and his canoe

More on our kayak trip to Sungai Perak:

• Paddling along Sungai Perak & beyond
• Tasting the fresh water kepah clams
• Wild water buffalo on Sungai Perak
• Lotus lagoon along Sungai Perak

The hospitality of the Bidayuhs in Semban is overwhelming. They shared with us the bountiful produce of their land, made sure we saw & experience all the things we wanted to and even had the doors of their home open for us to spend the nights.  [...]]]>

Never felt more at home in a stranger’s house

The hospitality of the Bidayuhs in Semban is overwhelming. They shared with us the bountiful produce of their land, made sure we saw & experience all the things we wanted to and even had the doors of their home open for us to spend the nights.  We totally enjoyed our visit to their village. It was also our first encounter with the Bidayuh’s traditional bamboo smoke pipe, Tepui and fermented pork called Kersam (or Kersem)

Walking on the steep trail towards the Semban village, we noticed that there were numerous fruit trees along the way, especially Rambutans. The skin of the fruit is littered along the trail but surprisingly many of the fruits on the ground were never even eaten. These fruit trees became sort of ‘energy’ boosters for the locals who climb the trail. Back at the village, we were presented with all sort of fruits harvested from within the village. We had Langsat (Lansium domesticum) at Sagen’s place as soon as we dropped our packs, followed by ‘Pisang Liat’ (tough banana) later in the evening. This is followed by Cempedak, young coconuts and Pomelo on the following day.

This Pomelo or ‘Limotan’ (in Bidayuh) we had at the waterfall

Really sweet this Cempedak- pic by Meun

Even the vegetables are harvested from the garden plot behind the house!

Not only does the Bidayuhs of Semban plant and harvest their own rice, but they also rely on their traditional methods of food preparation to store food, especially meat. We were served with a particular type of fermented pork called ‘Kersem’ during our first dinner at Sagen’s house.

Kersem is wonderful!

Sure it tasted salty but what amazes me is that according to Sagen, Kersem can be kept for months if prepared right. Cleaned meat is mixed with salt and cooked rice and left fermented in an urn for months. We asked to see the urn, though he warned us the smell is rather strong.

The urn containing the fermented pork…yup, smell strong indeed- pic by Meun

Before dinner, we all tried Hookah, a traditional water pipe for smoking tobacco. Made from bamboo, the pipe is half filled with water and the smoke passes through the water before being inhaled by the smoker. Not wanting to offend our host, we all tried and coughed without fail each time we inhaled, enough to make our hosts burst into laughter.

Local guide Nyun enjoying Hookah

Meun trying the Hookah

Go Danny go! So much more tobacco to finish!

Local fruits, tobacco and then rice with fermented pork. Just as we thought we have finished dinner, Sagen’s wife brought a bottle of Tepui to us. I have heard about Langkau and Tuak and their reputation as very strong local brews but I can’t start to describe how lovely this Tepui drink is. Made of sugarcane juice, this alcoholic drink is both smooth and soothing.

The Tepui is surprisingly a very nice drink

Aside from the instant noodles for breakfast, the rest of our meals at Semban village are all 100% local produce. The local fruits, rice, homemade Tepui and fermented pork isn’t only about good food and drinks, they are also a true sign of our host’s hospitality and generosity in sharing whatever good things they have with their guests. Truly amazing.

We were ready to head back when some of the Kenip villagers asked us to join them for lunch. This ‘detour’ gave me a firsthand experience with the Semai’s hill rice, blow pipe and traditional fire starter.

It is impolite to decline so we made our way to [...]]]>

‘No nails’ step ladder into the villager’s hut

We were ready to head back when some of the Kenip villagers asked us to join them for lunch. This ‘detour’ gave me a firsthand experience with the Semai’s hill rice, blow pipe and traditional fire starter.

It is impolite to decline so we made our way to the hut. Already, the hut was buzzing with activity. I took small, careful steps climbing up the stairs. The last thing I wanna do is to break parts of the hut.

Inside the hut, we were followed with curious eyes. We took pictures of them and shared it with them, a sure way to put smiles on their faces. The stale rather vacuum stage suddenly came to life with laughter and giggles all around.

Semai children enjoying pictures- pic by Jan

As the atmosphere warmed up, we were handed a plate of cooked hill rice. The rice tastes a bit sweeter than the normal rice I am used to but I like it. I can get used to this I told myself. On one side of the house, I noticed sacks of unprocessed hill padi. I can imagine that it is really hard work to plant, harvest and process the padi.

My first taste of Semai hill rice

Sacks of unhusked hill rice waiting to be processed

As we were enjoying the rice and the company of the Semai children, Pak Dollah stood and reached out to the shelves in the hut for what looks like a long piece of wood. Turns out it is the hut owner’s blowpipe. This is a genuine Semai blowpipe, still in use for hunting. It was more than a hunting tool to me. It is a work of art! The entire length of the blowpipe is at least 3m. It is made from Temian bamboo and has intricate carvings on it. What a wonderful piece of art!

The carvings on the blowpipe

The hole in the mouthpiece is covered to prevent insects like spiders from entering

The joint of two pieces of Temiang bamboo

Pak Dollah then dismantled the blowpipe into two. He removed the smaller diameter piece from the ‘outer’ shell. The outer larger diameter Temiang bamboo gives the inner piece (where the dart actually travels in) more rigidity and protection.

The inner piece of blowpipe and the outer one

I also noticed a blowpipe dart container hanging on the wall of the hut

I was even more curious now. I wonder how much of their traditional knowledge and skill still remains. So, I asked one of the men in the hut if he knows how his people started fire before the introduction of matches and lighters.

“Tak tahu la…ada peninggalan datuk tapi saya tak tau guna”- “I don’t know but I have something that has been passed down to me but I have not used it before”. Soon, he took out two pieces of object from a bag. Turns out it’s a piece of metal and a piece of rock, possibly river rock. He showed us how the two pieces are held. I guess it is the percussion method, striking the two pieces together to produce sparks that will then be caught in some sort of tinder which will eventually grow to a fire.

The two pieces, one metal and one stone to start a fire, possible?

This is how it is done

It a shame we did not have the tinder, otherwise we would be able to try striking the two pieces together. Something of a heirloom, I sincerely hope he will not sell or trade the two pieces together. He said he will try to get it going again and when he is successful, he will send word for me. Now THAT is a good reason to come back.

Continue reading previous parts…

Part I – A visit to Semai’s village at Pos Betau

Part II – The remote Kampung Kenip

Part III – The walk to Kenip Falls

Part IV – The waterfalls at Kenip

I have heard a lot about harvesting the heart of palm, locally known as ‘Umbut’ as jungle food. This umbut has often been listed as one of the survival food in the jungle. In my years of traveling, I have not come across this Umbut, [...]]]>

Our guides harvested the palm heart for the group’s dinner

I have heard a lot about harvesting the heart of palm, locally known as ‘Umbut’ as jungle food. This umbut has often been listed as one of the survival food in the jungle. In my years of traveling, I have not come across this Umbut, up until recently. During the trip to Sarawak in August 2009, I had my first encounter with Umbut.

The Umbut is actually the inner core of the palm’s growing bud. I was expecting it to taste very blend and dry but it turned out to be extra crunchy and tasty. A pleasant surprise indeed. Harvesting the Umbut is no easy task. For a big tree, the growing bud is usually located at the top where the bud is growing. This means the tree has to be chopped down and then only the Umbut can be harvested.

The heart of the growing bud or Umbut

Yes, the process probably kills the tree. But according to our guide in Sarawak, the practice of harvesting Umbut is done only when they are traveling deep into the jungle when they have limited food supply. Furthermore, on a hunting trail, a felled palm tree for Umbut will be revisited weeks later for it’s palm grubs. The grubs are a favorite local delicacy.

I manage to follow and witness a Penan guide harvesting Umbut. Will upload the video once I have compiled them together.

Lok, a Penan busy harvesting Umbut

Lok with his harvested Umbut

Oh…the Umbut is so tasty! I was expecting it to be fibrous and yucky but it is totally the opposite. It was crunchy and tasted very sweet. It was awesome! Now I am beginning to think that the Umbut is a luxury food rather than a survival food.


Continue reading other parts of this adventure below:

• First time in Miri Town, Sarawak
• Wild durian & Kolok mee at Miri.
• 5 hours on a 4WD into interior off Miri.
• Unique local houses in Sarawak interior.
• Smoked wild boar…nice!
• Loooong hike to look for an elusive waterfall.
• Sarawak river boats and a raging river.
• Jungle vines and rattan used in the jungles of Sarawak.
• Umbut or heart of palm tasting, first experience.
• Harvesting of the umbut by the Penan.
• Malat & Penat; the Penan’s blades.
• Kitchen in a traditional house.
• Video on jungle kitchen & feather stick making.

Click here to read about another rainforest adventure in Semban, Sarawak.

I got my first taste of wild durian and Mee ‘Kolok’ or simply Mee ‘Kolo’  in Miri. Both of these foods are familiar to me yet uniquely different. I am beginning to love this town even more now. A Sarawak jungle food and local delicacy all  in [...]]]>

My first encounter with the Miri wild durian

I got my first taste of wild durian and Mee ‘Kolok’ or simply Mee ‘Kolo’  in Miri. Both of these foods are familiar to me yet uniquely different. I am beginning to love this town even more now. A Sarawak jungle food and local delicacy all  in one evening. Awesome!

I have tried my fair of wild durian in Peninsula Malaysia. I have tried durian kampong, durian cengkih and a host of other versions of durians that claims to be ‘wild’. But perhaps none comes close to this particular yellowish durian from Sarawak.

A pile of these wild durians are sold at RM20

Now, this durian is small by all means. Not only is the fruit itself is small but the flesh and seed inside are small as well. The fruit is not as aromatic as one would expect but the flesh definitely taste awesome.

The fruit is no bigger than my palm

The yummy wild durians from Sarawak

Like the fruit, the flesh is intensely yellowish.

I shared the fruit with Pak Abu and JC. Paid RM8 for a fruit and I think I can safely say that we all enjoyed the fruit.

The wild durian seeds are small

Now the Kolok Mee and Peninsula’s Kuan Lo Mee or Wanton Mee is quite similar. Just that there is no black soya sauce and the noodles seems…flatter & tastes a bit more ‘eggy’. My bowl of Kolok Mee came with a bowl of soup and some slices of pork. All in all, very nice and for less than RM3 per bowl, who can complain?

The Kolok/Kolo Mee of Miri

So…what else is good in Miri town. Many! Perhaps a bit too many. The toilet bowl became my closest companion a couple of times. Thank God for them Smectas and Charcoal pills. Two must have concoctions when trying new food in a new place. I suspect that perhaps the street food are the main culprit, nevertheless their calling is just too much for me to resist. At the end of my first two days in Miri, I felt that I have piled on enough local food to start my jungle trip the following day.

Click to read Part I


Continue reading other parts of this adventure below:

• First time in Miri Town, Sarawak
• Wild durian & Kolok mee at Miri.
• 5 hours on a 4WD into interior off Miri.
• Unique local houses in Sarawak interior.
• Smoked wild boar…nice!
• Loooong hike to look for an elusive waterfall.
• Sarawak river boats and a raging river.
• Jungle vines and rattan used in the jungles of Sarawak.
• Umbut or heart of palm tasting, first experience.
• Harvesting of the umbut by the Penan.
• Malat & Penat; the Penan’s blades.
• Kitchen in a traditional house.
• Video on jungle kitchen & feather stick making.

Click here to read about another rainforest adventure in Semban, Sarawak.