Monday 9 April 2012

Monsopiad Cultural Village, 10th March 2012

Well hello there, readers! :)

On a beautiful, sunny Saturday, we got the chance to visit Monsopiad Cultural Village, the historical living museum of the Kadazandusun tribe. Our guide for the day tour was Ben, one of the senior staffs at Monsopiad. He was dressed in the traditional warrior costume, with headgear and all.

Ben in the center, acting all gangsta' ;p

We were treated to a cultural dance performance, where the Monsopiad music and dance troupe performed several traditional dances. The well-known 'Sumazau' and 'Magunatip' dance were among the dances that were featured. For each performance, the dancers transformed into various traditional costumes.


'Sumazau Penampang'
'Sazau Papar'


Those are just some of the variety of 'Sumazau' dances that you can expect to watch while at Monsopiad. The opening performance was the 'Sumazau Penampang', whereby after they have performed, the audience are invited to do the 'Sumazau' as well as the 'Magunatip'. It was hilarious as we tried the 'Magunatip', I panicked and stopped dancing as the music got faster. LOL moment



Slowly becoming 'dogo', as you can see. haha

After the cultural dance performance, we were given a tour of the 'House of Skulls'. This house showcases the skulls collected by headhunter warrior, Monsopiad, as well as other traditional Kadazandusun artifacts. Here, Ben explained to us how Monsopiad began his career as a headhunter and the story of his life. According to Ben, the village was built on the same land that Monsopiad lived and roamed about three centuries ago by his direct descendants, the 6th and 7th generations.


The tour continued as we proceeded to make the rounds at the traditional games site, Kadazandusun house, rice wine making station and so on. There is so much to see here, the tour just gets better and better!


Monsopiad's skull collection
A replica of the Orang Utan skull
Listening to the Kadazandusun tribe stories
Traditional Kadazandusun house
 
A variety of some of the traditional games
Ben explaining the uses of rice wine and its benefits

As usual, no tour to such places as these would be complete without a visit to it's souvenir shop... so here it is! ;)
How it looks inside ;)
waiting on the world to change, teehee
Signing the guest book.

As per customary, a tour is incomplete without the final group photo. *rolls eyes* KIDDING!

An awe inspiring place, with rich histories of the Kadazandusun tribe, definitely a must-see for all locals and tourists alike. So go on, click this link Monsopiad Cultural Village, you know you want to. *winks*

INQUIRIES
Monsopiad Cultural Village Sdn. Bhd.
Kampung Kuai Kandazon
Penampang, Sabah, Malaysia
P.O Box 153, 89458, Tanjung Aru
Sabah (East Malaysia)
Tel: +60 88 761336
Fax: +60 88 761680
Email: info@monsopiad.com

6 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. The last time I visited the Monsopiad house, it was about 14 years ago! It's fantastic to see how well the house is being maintained and constantly kept alive!

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  2. oooo... interesting ...dog nye ini mandak .. haha.. good learning experience.. the last time i was there... was prolly 3 years back? during kaamatan.. good times with good peeps ...

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  3. EVIE!!! Kau juga la paling manang!! Hahaha, I like ur job!!

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  4. vivie: the house is very much alive, indeed. be sure to visit when your back! :)

    mothurum: I see, last I was there was also 3 years ago. Definitely a lot has changed, the place is still as historical I must say. hehe

    wiwin: I like my job too! :D

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