BBQ Bhutan and Singapore - Anchorpoint, 20 December 2014

Bhutan & Singapore BBQ Gathering - 20 December 2014

Just a week ago suddenly Promod sent me messages asking if I was free on 20th December. He would like to hold BBQ gathering with his fellow Bhutanese and inviting me to join them. It's been his dream to hold BBQ at East Coast Park. However, it was too last minute as the BBQ pit had to be booked at least one month earlier due to the high demand.

Dawa checked if he could rent the pit at the condo where he stayed and yes, he managed to book it with no hassle. There are quite number Bhutanese staying and working here in Singapore and most of them are working as doctor. Only Promod himself works in IT department. Through Facebook chat group we communicated each other and discussed on what to bring on that day.

So, the awaited day was finally coming! December is a wet month and it's inevitable that rain would come. At first, Dawa said there was a roof at the BBQ pit area, therefore we were not worried at all even if it's raining. However, he then clarified that there was a roof framework there, but not the roof itself, and yesterday evening, it was raining.

Yalama kheno!!! How were we going to BBQ if it was raining then?

They were thinking of plan B in case the rain wouldn't stop. However, Lama had heard our prayers and in an hour time, it finally stopped. The area was wet and we tried to make it comfortable despite whatever situation it was in. Once we confirmed that the rain stopped and we were able to BBQ, they then headed to the nearest supermarket and bought the necessary food, drink, and utensils required.

Bhutan & Singapore BBQ Gathering - 20 December 2014

We only started cooking at 8pm. There were two pits rented. One side for non-veg, and another one for vegetarian, as Kuenza ate vegetarian food. There were plenty of food. It was in fact, a bit overstock. Cheese pork sausage, chicken satay, enoki mushroom wrapped with bacon, marinated chicken cutlet, lamb sausage, Portobello mushroom, corn, sweet potato, ema (chili), pepper, cheese Paneer, roasted chicken, and so on.

Tang Yuan or balls of glutinous rice symbolizes get-together or reunion on Dongzhi Festival

Jambay and Uden brought a pot of pork pa (Bhutanese pork curry), while Kuenza brought a bottle of Ayzey all the way from Bhutan. Chien Hua, another Singaporean who is fond of Bhutan, made balls of glutinous rice (Tang Yuan or 湯圓), which symbolizes get-together or reunion as to celebrate Dongzhi (Winter Solstice) Festival, one of the most important festivals celebrated by Chinese during or around 22 December. It's her first time making it and we had it with a soup made of brown sugar, ginger, and pandan leaves.

Bhutan & Singapore BBQ Gathering - Anchorpoint, 20 December 2014

So, it's mixture of Bhutan and Singapore kind of BBQ. A little bit different as they cooked all the food first and then ate it together while sitting down. Usually for Singapore style, few people would man the BBQ then the rest could start eating. So the food would usually be fresh and hot (as didn't have to wait for everyone to finish cooking), and they would take turn in BBQ-ing and eating.

Not bad la. We all finally could sit down together and slowly enjoyed our meal. Peck, a Singaporean who works at One (Singapore) - NGO that concerns in stopping human trafficking - chit chatted many things related to Bhutan, Bhutanese (including the recent case of Bhutanese getting cheated when trying to get employed in Singapore, Korea, and Macao), fellow high Lama, etc.

The after-rain weather resulted in cooling weather. We had a sip of Vodka with Sprite, Johnnie Walker, white wine, or orange juice while chit chatted warming up our bodies and heart :)

Before going back home :)

At around 10.30pm we all started going back home with a packet of "un-lucky draw" - the leftover food that we couldn't finish and it's all wrapped with aluminum foil so we didn't know what was inside. Hahahaha....

Overall, we really had a great time. Thank you Promod for organizing this and everyone for your time and effort to make this gathering possible. It's a great chance to know more Bhutanese who stays in Singapore and widen up our friendship :)