Kaansayan Sumaang Ra Orou Pantutunan Ru Papag Ri Rundi

My mum's side of the family was the host of the Rundi's Family Day on the 6th December 2008. Rundi was my great-grandfather's name, who happens to the father of my grandmother, Kinsiu. On that day, all of the living Rundi's offspring and their offsprings, with their spouses and offsprings gathered and joined in with the merriment.

The gathering was a trip down memory lane for me as I sat with my cousins and exchanged childhood stories. Here are some of the memories captured :

There's Bob, watched by Titi and Amoy, putting up the finishing touches on the banner.

Some of my uncles and aunties and arus (that's grandmothers in Murut) as well as akis (grandfathers) enjoying the local alcohol affectionately known as tapai.


Us cousins posing on the verandah where we always gather whenever there were family gatherings. It seems like the verandah is now too small for all of us. This is just a fifth of Kinsiu's grandchildren.


This is one of my second cousins. She is from Ampawi Rundi's side of the family. I tried asking her name but she didn't respond clearly. One of her cousins told me, "Dia pandai cakap Inggilis saja tuh." Patutlah...

This is some of my second cousins as well. Yang singlet biru tu lah yang kasitau sia pasal cousin dia yang di atas tu.


Do you still remember ada satu jenis ice-cream yang paling murah...harga dia 20sen seja. Just concoct your favourite juice and pour it in a cylindrical plastic. Dulu-dulu, when we were small, we used to buy this ice-cream. My late grandfather, Tulas also used to "bribe" us little children with this ice-cream. It felt so good to taste it again and that it's comforting to know that the price is still 20sen.

Back when we were kids, we used to play masak-masak and we plucked all the flowers available around our grandparent's house. Our mums used to scold us, but our grandparents always said "Biarlah dorang..." The tradition continues ;-) I asked my cousin, Clare (the sweet little girl in the pink dress), "Apa ko buat, Clare?" "Masak..."she answered. "Masak apa?" I asked again. "Ini bungalah,"she replied, matter-of-factly. I couldn't help but wonder...where is this kid's imagination? hehehe


While we were hanging out on the verandah, this happened at the "backyard", a dewan where all maginums were held. We Murut Timugons are loud people and we do know how to rock the house!! Luckily our grandparent's house is strong enough to handle parties like this!! HAHAHAHA

All in all, we had a great time. By the end of the party, I was exhausted but happy. It's nice to get to know your extended family once in a while.

Paringkuanangan for reading my post.