Day 2 and 3 (Grp 4)

Group 4 – games and handicraft demonstration

This post includes:

• Malay Dance
• Malay Instruments
• 
  
  Handicraft
• 
  
  Games (Eg. Coconut bowling, Passing rubber bands, Walking w/ wooden planks)

TO BE CONTINUED! (CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW FOR MORE! :D )

Day 2
On the second day, after we had reached Kampong Pelegong and had taken our lunch, we had some activities! Firstly, we did some handicrafts, followed by learning a Malay dance, and finally learning how to play Malay instruments.

Handicraft
A few ladies from the Kampong gave us rattan sticks to make into a hat. We were given 7 short rattan sticks and 2 long ones.

Next, we were supposed to put the 7 short rattan sticks in to a cross and weave 1 long rattan stick through it. After awhile, we were finally able to get a brief shape of the hat.

Thereafter, we were told to bend it to form a more ‘square’ shape for the top of the hat. Then, we were told to weave the second long rattan stick through it again, but this time, we had to make it flat. Many of us failed in this and we ended up having just a round hat without the base. Some of us ended up getting a basket instead of a hat.

FAIL 1!

FAIL 2!

However, some of us succeeded and made a pretty hat!

ABIGAIL'S PRETTY HAT!

Malay dance
Firstly, two young girls demonstrated how the dance was performed. They were holding plates in their hands and they twirled with them without dropping them. We were all amazed at how
they were able to have such good hand coordination despite their relatively young age.

TWO GIRLS IN THE MIDDLE: AWESOME DANCERS!

Now it was our turn! Two ladies formed us into two groups, each of us with a partner, and gave us the plates. You could see people trying their best to twirl the plates without dropping them just like how the young girls did.

Thereafter, they played the music and told us to follow what they were doing. We were all scrambling to follow their steps and keep in time with the music. When it was time to twirl the plates, you could hear the ceramic plates dropping on the floor, one after another! All of us kept laughing and giggling!

After the dance, the ladies taught us one of the more complicated moves of the dance. It included stepping in time with the music and turning along with your partner. The lady there personally taught us the dance steps. We were confused for awhile but later we got the hang of it.

We tried the dance a second time and it was much better as we were getting the hang of turning the plates and keeping in step with the young girls.

Malay instruments
We headed to the stage area for our next activity. The teachers started out by playing the piece for us once. They were able to produce such beautiful kampong music with simple malay instruments which they made from materials like wood and tin. Then, they called people out to try the instruments. Half the class ran up and chose which instrument they wanted to learn. Some people chose the drums (gendang, kompang), some chose the gongs (benang)

kompang

benang

gendang

We were taught the basic melody of the tune that they had just played and we spent the next 15- 20 minutes practicing. The instruments were rather easy to master as the melody was simple but yet they can create such nice music out of them.

After that, we showcased our new found talent and we successfully played the whole song well! After that, the next half of the class took over and it was their turn to learn the musical instruments!


Day 3
On the third day, we played some traditional kampong games after lunch. There were a total of 3 games. Firstly, the coconut bowling game, then passing the rubber bands, and lastly walking with wooden planks.

Coconut bowling
Each group was given a coconut and we were supposed to knock down as many pins as we could. However, if we knocked down another team’s pins, the other team will get the points.

Bowling, how hard can it be? It'll be a breeze. That was what all of us thought. However, once we started playing, we realized that we could not control the coconut. We didn't expect the game to be so tough! The coconut was of irregular shape, and did not role in a straight line. If it was perfectly round, most of us would probably score well. We were all so eager to just score for once! Everytime we thought our coconuts would strike, it ended up going side-ways! Many of us rolled the coconut into another group’s pins.

Passing the rubber bands

Each of us was given a straw and a rubber band each. We were supposed to pass the rubber bands from end to end of the court until all the rubber bands were with one person. We were not allowed to use our hands and could only use the straws. Also, once any rubber band drops to the floor, we were not supposed to pick it up. This game was a tad easier than the previous one.
However, because of the height difference, if was difficult to ‘connect’ our straws to make the rubber bands go down onto the next straw. Many of us had to bend down and many of us had to tip toe in order to reach a suitable height so that we can successfully transfer the rubber bands to the other party. Especially people who are extremely tall!
Although it was challenging, we had a lot of fun!
Walking with Wooden Plank
This, in our opinion, was by far the most challenging game of all! Teamwork, strength and co-ordination were required!

Firstly, each team was split up into 2, with 4 people on each side. The first sub-team was to walk across the court to where the second sub-team was. The second sub-team was then to walk back to where the first sub-team started. Though the distance of where we were supposed to walk to and fro seemed short, it was tough for everyone to move in sync with one another on the wooden planks!
When the game first started, everyone did not expect the planks to be so heavy. We had difficulty trying to even lift one side up. One person from the team had to co-ordinate everyone by telling them to lift their left foot, and then their right foot. The game obviously would not work if everyone lifted their different foot at one time.

Look at the determination!

Balance was also required, so everyone put their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them. They had to support each other in order for them to avoid falling.

However, they still fell!

domino effect! (p/s look at the people cheering them on!)

The game was so noisy with screamings and shoutings! There were many people trying to cheer their friends on! This shows that everyone was full of enthusiasm. Despite countless failures in trying to move just one step on the wooden plank, they persevered and made it to the end!!

This trip was indeed fun and helped the class bond! The class definitely became closer to each other. Through the handicraft and games and other activities, they class constantly cheered each other on and helped each other out.

2I da BOMB!