Green Green Grass By The River

The ultimate goal of a civil engineer. To live on something that you designed and built by your own bare hand. Vincen't s friend from China invited him for a BBQ session at his soon-to-be-ready house. This guy is a weirdo. He sold his house in UK. Bought a piece of land. Live in a caravan for few years while trying to calculate how many beams and columns for his dream house during that period. It was a simple yet meaningful structure. Sitting beside the river, the structure stands on steel frame and the wall and floor comprises of wooden plank. He'll will be very disappointed if I told him only villagers in my country are living in wooden houses (kampung house).

In Malaysia, you have road or even unluckily highways in front of your house. But not for his case. He has a river in front him! Water disruption? No problem. Plenty of water in front. Hot summer? No problem. Dip into the river. Forgot to go market? No problem. Ducks and fishes are aplenty. Stress with your life? No problem. Just jump... (ok too much already)

We have a sumptuous meal that day. The list begins with chicken wings, beef patties, lamb steaks, beef steaks, meatballs, sausages, sweet potatoes, trouts, salmons, red chili, green chili, onion, chips, green bean with seaweed dessert, soft drink and 5 liter keg of Heineken (nope, not even a single drop for me)
Guess what? We went there empty handed. Initially I thought we gonna share the cost but to my suprise everybody just left after the BBQ. I was like, "Wow, this guy is so generous!". If only I knew it, then I will at least contribute something to the food. To make thing worse, we gorged down quite a lot of the expensive stuff. I bet Vincent and Jeff filled up their stomach with half gallon of beer. Eventually, I guessed we redeemed ourself in a correct manners of appreciation. To say "thank you" and left.

I bet you never see a sunset like the one I saw here. Why? This picture was taken at 8pm!!!

When the light goes out, it's camp fire time. With all sort of wooden material left over from his house construction, we have more than enough burning material to last for 2 days! They burnt almost everything. At one stage, I was thinking, "Will this guy tear of his house and throw into the fire?". Mom and teacher says don't play with fire or else you will catch one. Yup. It's true. But don't worry, his house is still intact. Just that the neighbour began to complain . A brief heated argument nearly spoiled the warm and relaxing atmosphere we were enjoyng. Well, how he gonna live with a troblesome neighbour in the future. But rest assured. The neighbour is an old couple in their 70s.

After 4 solid hours of heat bathing, it's time to go. One of the problem was the way to go back. The road was so bumpy. I guess the next time, I can offer him my advice for a flexible pavement design. No charge. Just another free BBQ will do.