July 26, 2010
The Sarawak Cultural Village, in Borneo, was a replica of tribal rainforest life among the 7 tribes of Malaysian Borneo. Ken was humiliated by Griffin, in blow dart shooting. He then let Griffin get his own blow dart and all the kids have been practicing dart shooting since we've returned to KL. The kids want to show anyone video-calling us on skype their dart shooting skills. They explain that usually dart shooting was used by jungle villagers to shoot monkeys, etc. Then, the kids turn and shoot a pink balloon with their blow dart.
With the blow dart, we may actually have some real competition for the lure of Wii video games at the kids' friends' homes in Park Slope.
The village showed us how they grind and sift their rice, what sort of housing people lived in (palm tree shacks to long houses with lots of houses up on stilts, all attached to each other -- a vilage on stilts, really), and their ceremonial dancing and music. Having visited a real longhouse, this replica village was a stretch from reality. It's even popular for people to stay overnite in the replica longhouses. Sometimes it's more comfy living in a replica than reality.
