Tough Bario Woman : Aunty Tagung

Cultural night, the day before we left

It has been a great night bonding with my aunty at her place. (Yes, she likes people to call her aunty, tepu' sounds too old for her she complained. Haha just like my dad) Instead of joining the others at Tepu' Sinah Rang's place, she invited me to check out her house. She brought me on a tour at her homestay, her home stay is amazing! I am not kidding, the design of her homestay looks exactly like a chalet. She hugged my waist and introduced me to her neighbours and relatives next door. Later on, she invited me to her house and told me about her life stories and her family as well. I love listening to one's life stories, especially the elderly. They remind me of my grandmother.

At aunty's kebun (what she usually does in the morning)

I was really surprised to know that she lives alone and every single morning she wakes up to her radio alarm without anyone's company. She told me about her sinah(mother) who just passed away a few weeks ago which I have heard about before I landed in Bario. At that moment, I felt really bad and I wish I could do something for her in the remaining 14 days to make her feel better. I held her hand and told her that everything will be fine. She looked at me emotionless which made me blush and wondered if I had said something wrong. Haha I guess not.

My favorite fried chicken! She asked me if I wanted fried chicken or steam soy sauce chicken, so obviously I still went for fried chicken even though I had been eating it almost everyday. She fried it and I asked her why didn't you eat the chicken and she said: "the chicken is too hard for me to bite, my teeth may break if I eat them but since you like fried chicken, you can finish them all :)" ahhh, aunty :'))

Funny thing is that she asked me whether or not I'm her daughter in law's sister. I asked her why and she replied, both of you are tall and fair so I assumed you're her sister, are you?" She pointed at her daughter in law's photo. (yeah, she speaks good English :)) Not to mention, one of the most interesting things about Bario is that most of the locals have blood relations and they are all related. So it is not surprising for the locals to ask questions like this.

I have to say that she is such a wonderful lady and the toughest woman I have ever met. I couldn't imagine how my life would be without my family members but she made it. As a single mother, she made it for her children. She did anything for her children to make sure they are well educated and able to live a better life. They are now grown up and are successful in their lives. She taught me that life may seems really hard but if you want to make a good change, go and fulfill it. But, before that, learn to overcome life obstacles and challenges with positive thinking. Believe in yourself, believe in God.

Xara, Jia Yi