Monday, January 09, 2006

On that rainy night

On that rainy night......

We held a BBQ. How lame. Guess it comes as no surprise we had a pretty difficult time getting the fire started on the water-logged (yes, u read right -WATER-LOGGED) bbq pit.


Boy, was I glad that I got in the right mind to occupy part of the large pavilion there. Just dump the bags and lay out the picnic mat I brought. True enough, I rained-HEAVILY. We were at area D1 and two of the guys heard wrongly and told the cab driver to drop them off at B1 instead. Do you know have any idea far Area B is from where we were? And in that kind of rain???

It sure doesn't help that they're the ones bringing the snacks and charcoal. Before they arrived, the rain subsided and bless Khama - he brought the fire-starter and a small bag of charcoal. We're lucky we got a fire-fighter amongst us who know just how to start a fire despite the wetness and all. And boy! Does the procedure take VERRRRY long! We finally got the fire going and barely 15mins into some sorta' barbecuing... we heard some rumbling, then drip... drip... drip....

Oh dear. We sort of 'braved on' but the droplets soon became more constant. We gave one another a knowing look before making a mad dash to get all the stuff back into the pavilion. One guy faithfully held onto the umbrella, holding it over the pit, fearing that the precious fire might be extiguished in the rain. It became a heavy downpour by the time we got everything in.

We noticed some boys barbecuing from an aluminium tray and we decided to do the same and pour out Khama's macaroni & cheese (yes, HE prepared that AND potato salad, which was an absolute YUM!) and dump the burning charcoal inside. A little fanning on the glowing ambers and the fire lit up again. In fact, it burned better in THAT tray than in the pit. Shhesh! IT wasnt long before we got some REAL babecuing going. Phew!

It was some experience, I admit but the idea that I got to meet some old mates from my poly days was PRICELESS. It was all worth it. Maybe this weather mishap may just etch the memory deeper in our minds and it won't be long before we recall this day with much snickering, even laughter.

Thank you Meng, Bas, Sheng Leong, Kai, Khama, Rui Hao and Wengyi for making this happen. And to Sri for accompanying me despite having knocked-off from work and even following me to Sheng Siong the day before, to buy the food stuff and preparing that delicious Truffle Pudding.

TRIVIA: Do you know that despite me bringing most of the food, deciding on the time and location besides BOOKING the bloody under-used pit, it WASN'T me who organise this gathering.

2 of the guys (I won't mention who) came up with this idea and set the date. And did NOTHING else. 3 days to the event and I heard NO news about any planning going around. In fact, one of them sheepishly told me, he was unable to book a pit at the initial locatiom. THREE days before the event. Can you just believe that??! So I had to rush down to the nearest AXS machine to book a pit at ECP. And it wasn't long before I eventually made the decisions on what food there will be and who will bring/prepare what.... Sheeesh!

Moral: Never believe SOME guys when they say they wanna plan something. A 'bbq' planned by them could easily end up with a dinner at MacDonald's at the way they 'organise' things.

TRIVIA II: Got the guys to buy some satay sticks (for the marshmallows), since they were shopping for the hardware at Carrefour.

Guess what they bought?? Satay sticks that had a length of at least 30cm, had a nice sheen to it and is made in Taiwan. It comes nicely packaged, too.

Now, GUESS how much THAT Satay sticks bamboo skewers cost...??

...A wholesome $8.50. Tell me, just who in the right mind would pay THAT much for mere Satay sticks bamboo skewers ???

Moral: Never trust SOME guys with grocery shopping or ANY shopping dealing with cooking stuff. They never know/understand the value of such things.
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Anyway my brother fetched me afterwards and we sent Sri to Changi to meet her beau. Since my bro was hungry then, we went for supper at our fav. Western food stall there.

After the hearty meal, we went to look at the he-women walking around with their dainty umbrellas. After that, while turning out of the famed carpark, my bro said, "Ti, since you brought the camera, why don't we go to Changi Hospital and take some shots there? Who knows if we 'caught' something (on camera)???"

I got all excited on hearing that. All I replied was, "Lets!!!"

I took two shots of OCH. The flash on my cammie was so darn bright that it actually lit up the pitch-dark area. Cool! I refused to snap a pic of the glass house, though. I just had a bad feeling bout' that building. Dunno why. My bro took shots of the other building further upfront.



FYI, the lit-up balls are not orbs. Just raindrops. My bro later told me that when I was struggling to take pics at OCH (I tried taking thru the windscreen but end up with our reflection instead, so I finally stuck out my hand out the window), the door of the small shack that was right BESIDE him actually OPENED. Haha! He was kinda freaked out, then.

Was pretty happy that our crazy antic didn't come out pointless. I saw a figure in the photo of one of building which my bro took a shot of. It was was at the window. The outline was pretty clear though the 'body' seemed 'transparent' but that doesn't come as a surprise, doesn't it...?

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