A Barbecue Party In Port Moresby

The last few weeks in Port Moresby have been, as what most responsible media would call, intense. There has been a few standoffs between the authorities and students of UPNG. Like any other democratic country, it is a common knowledge that every once in a while, incongruity between the citizen and the government can become temporarily highlighted. As an armchair observer with no specializing degree in political science, I find myself to be fundamentally unfit to comment on such a delicate matter and it is best left to those who really breeze through the complexities of politics. 

However, my views stand still that in general, Papua Guinea is a peace-loving country.

But having preceded this post with such substance, I’m now having a hard time finding the right words to swiftly transition my ideas from the intricacies of governance into the joy of cooking barbecue in a Barbecue Party.  I guess it’s easier to begin with finding out what’s on the menu today? 

One of the perks of being an employee in the company that I work with is to attend a social gathering intended for the managers courtesy of company owners. Some say that this is a result of having a good sale in a year and the owners are just returning the favour.

My personal theory is that no matter how the year turns out to be, the owners are giving the managers a chance to socialize with each other and by doing so extendedly promotes camaraderie in the process.

Everyone’s friendly mood is enhanced at the sound of the sizzling hotdogs and barbecues, more importantly because they are free.

Remember to always compliment those who volunteer to do the grilling on their techniques. According to psychology, compliments are the most extraordinary components of social life. If given right, they can create so much positive energy that they make things happen almost as if by magic.

This seems to be true for our lady volunteers here who went preoccupied with the grilling throughout the occasion.

There are those who volunteered with the grilling. There are those who volunteered with keeping our drinks cold.

Then there are the rest…

Perhaps a Filipino barbecue party is different from a PNG barbecue party. For when we place barbecue into the scene, what we’re thinking of is a marinated pork meat, sliced into smaller sizes and placed into a bamboo stick usually by six pieces with the fatty tissues placed at the bottommost part.

What a barbecue in PNG barbecue party lacks in stick, the gargantuan serving of meat makes up most of the plate.

The guy wearing a black shirt is Arnold and the guy wearing a yellow jersey is Harold, my cousin. I’m not sure what they were carrying in this photo but they were probably comprised of more drinks and foods. Apparently, to keep a large group of party goers fed in the event is a bit challenging. It should require a slightly large amount of cash to spend, a few willing volunteers to run the errands and someone who can prepare food short enough to keep everyone from eating cereals.

The areas in the venue have a variety of views to nicely pose alongside with. Here’s ate Des posing for my camera near a carefully chosen background. The weather that day was favourable and the unhindered sun provided the much needed light although we were not exactly in a nice angle.

If there is a hybrid barbecue party, this is what it must look like. In this photo, the party has now regressed from a single large group into few smaller groups of 4 or 5.

 As the saying goes, “Birds of the same feather flock together.” Not in a bad way though.

While these gentlemen on the right await for their song to appear on the LCD screen, Justin seemed to be oblivious of what was going on around him and continued to eat his share.

We did not drink much beer but a bottle of beer was enough to boost ones self-esteem. Hernan looks like he can take on any song at the moment.

The small swimming pool in the venue provided an alternate choice if one was not fond of singing. Here’s Emerson and kuya Arnold on a race towards the edge of the pool obviously on a different set of skill level.

While I find kuya Arnold’s swimming technique to be stylish, it is virtually no match against Emerson’s freestyle that impeccably describes what a fusion of Dyesebel and Dugong should look like.

Here’s Aeron, Win, Thuya, Pyi Soe and Myo. All of them are from the former Burma now officially called Myanmar. I have come to learn that in a barbecue party, not everyone would rather have somebody around to chat with. Seemingly, a small percentage of attendees can choose to be silent all the time. In a good way because that seems to be their nature, like our good friend Myo here.

If we think of the barbecue party as a court room hearing a case, Myo would be the presiding judge.

And I will be the guy who mops the floor at a distance.

Here’s a lovely couple, Thuya and Win, taking advantage of the short-lived romantic view of sunset for themselves. They were just actually chatting there until I interrupted and asked if they wanted a picture of the sunset with them.

To which they complied with smile.

At the end of the party, there were gifts to be given away to the managers. Here’s Pyi Soe, our branch manager. I joked around and asked if I could get mine ahead of time. Those two hands were in the defensive stance but the killer smile was just so apologetic. I definitely learned a good way to turn down requests.

Smile and say no.

This is it for this weekend.  Have fun and be safe everyone!