Barbeque at Western Springs

Saturday, November 12 2005. My family and I was invited to Western Springs lakeside, a sanctuary for both people and wildlife, for a barbeque. It was quite a last-minute decision. We were "assigned" to bring nasi lemak, and we topped up with vege salad and potato chips. Preparations started at 7am that morning. Ashraf was enthusiastic to meet his dear friend Ariff Zharfan. Asiah was engrossed in preparing the nasi lemak and vege salad, while my Humaira and me are Ummi's life time "pom-poms". We were expecting Br. Faiz, to come that morning. I've sent him a text very early in the morning, to confirm his arrival time. We receive a text from him that stated his arrival time. Before we knew it, Br. Faiz was already at the parking lot. Actually, Br. Faiz, a ever-smilling Kelantanese, parks his mercedes (mata belalang) at our second parking spot. As tenants of the apartment, we were given 2 parking spaces, and since we only have 1 car, we have agreed to allow Br. Faiz to utilize the second space. Parking at Br. Faiz's apartment (in the city) costs NZ$70 a month. Afterall, he will be going back to Malaysia this summer. Hence, it is more economical for him to park at our place, since it is free. Anyway, after have breakfast my family and Br. Faiz set out to the Auckland city, via the Harbour Bridge, heading towards Br. Zulkarnain's apartment in Hobson St. From there, the 2 vehichles rolled down to the Western Springs. Br. Zul's family brough Sr. Zaidah along with them.

Western Springs surrounds a natural spring-fed lake, one of Auckland's early water supplies. The lake is a refuge for the native orea (eel), who can be seen trailing the swans and ducks. Along with the birds, the orea are tame and can be coaxed to take food. The eels are an original part of the cultural and ecological heritage of Western Springs Lake - a fact that is reflected in the lake's Maori name 'Te Wai Orea', which means 'waters of the eel'. No one attempted to catch the eels out of water as it is prohibited.

We headed towards the space closest to the children playground and city zoo. After awhile we were joined by Br. Fitri, Br. Khairul and Sr. Fara. The 2 blokes are chef at a restaurant in Auckland city. They brought with them a back full of marinated lamb meat. Wow, it was time for BBQ! Chef Fitri made his speciality sauce, the mushroom BBQ sauce. The BBQ pits there are public properties. To ensure that our lamb meat stays halal, we have laid pieces of aluminium foil before BBQ-ing the meat. Aroma of the chef-marinated lamb meat, caught the attention of most visitors of the park.

As for the 2 lads, Ashraf and Ariff, they were having a heaven-of a good time, patronizing the playground. Occasionally they were seen holding hands running from one station to another, while their engineer-daddies put their talents into good use by figuring out how to start the electric BBQ pit. And voila! we are in business.

We stayed there till almost 2pm, and decided to call it a day.

ps. I'll post some pix soon.