A Barbecue with My Host Family

Last Saturday, March 27, 2010. I went to my host family and had a wonderful barbecue with them. They were very friendly and kind to me and my friend and they even invited their neighbors to join us.

        At about 4 o’clock, we set out for our destiny-----Bishan MRT Station. After arriving at the City Hall station, we transferred to North-South line and headed for Bishan. After about 40 minutes, we finally got there. Having received a phone call from the elder brother of the host family, we straightly made our way to the taxi stand next to the bus station to meet him. He picked up us there and then drove us quickly to their home. Well, at first I thought we were going to have a barbecue in their back garden, but actually they were driving us to their friend’s apartment where there were a big swimming pool and many barbecue spots. We helped carry all the raw materials onto a table next to the barbecue grill. Then our first step was to start a fire, we put one piece of charcoal on another just like building toy bricks and inside each pile we put a combustible ball to start the fire.

After finishing 6 piles, we began to fan them with a big fan to make a bigger fire. The charcoal started giving out a heavy smoke which hurt my eyes and I could not even open my eyes until my tears appeared to moisturize my eyelids. Then another 40 minutes passed and we finally began our barbecue. We laid chicken rings and chicken chips on the hot grill to cook our starting dishes. I also learned to apply oil and honey on the food and it was really gratifying when I smell the scent of the cooked rings and chips.

         After all the hard work, we finally had a chance to taste the delicious food cooked by ourselves! With the cool drinks, we gobbled the shrimps and the chicken to fill our empty stomach. That kind of feeling really drove away our tiredness when we were enjoying the feast with cool breeze drying our sweat after a sweating work with the fire.

        That night, we had a pleasant talk with our host family and we began to feel more comfortable and less nervous fitting into this new country. I was really impressed by their kindness and really thanked them for treating us to such a feast. They even promised us a safari in the Singapore zoo next time and I am looking forward to that exciting journey now!