Barbecues

Here's a photo I found of my dad recently setting up his barbecue at Jason's Bay in about 1966. Barbecues seemed very popular back then. Dad would carry this home made barbecue with him if we were going out for the day. It weighed a ton!

We were always having barbecues in the garden, sometimes in the evenings, watching the chit-chats run up the walls while the crickets started to chirp. Sometimes dad's friends from work would come around and there'd be a bit of a party or a game of darts. It seemed at the time that everyone owned a barbeque and everyone was invited.

Even when we went to the nearby restaurant, George's, at Johore, there would be a barbecue going with all you could eat. The trouble with being outside eating was that the mozzies always got you (my dad more than most!) but the smoke seemed to keep them at bay. I remember sitting at the front of our house having a barbecue and the Flintstones being on. So, whatever time the Flintstones was on must have been the time when we had our tea! Adults used to enjoy the Flintstones then too and it wasn't seen as a cartoon just for kids.

Incidentally, I was pleased to find this picture because years ago, it somehow got thrown away. Then, a few months ago, I was scanning some slides that I'd taken in the 1970s and I found that I'd photographed the missing picture! I'm glad it wasn't lost forever because it really reminds me of having barbecues in Singapore and Malaya. I know that people still have them today but somehow it doesn't seem quite the same (and I'm a vegetarian now).