let lemons be angry

Yesterday my family joined the ranks of Jurong's kite flyers. My father and I were perched on our bicycles looking at the rain sadly, like little kids thinking they can stare it away. Then the sun came out, and you should have seen my dad beam. We gave up the bicycles, and my mother came along in the car. A never-before family park event!

I started flying an eagle, but it wasn't high enough.

Then our kites got high,

and higher!

My mother's a pro. Actually, she got help from a charming stranger.

We met this little boy on the field, about ten years old. My dad said, "How did you get yours so high?" and Kite Boy replied, "You help me hold mine and I'll do for you." 

Kite Boy ran up and down between us, helping us launch kites and untangle strings, and keeping an eye on all our flight statuses with commands: "Forward! Forward! Let go! Backward!"  We couldn't move an errant hand without his swift correction; that boy had us covered. On how to untangle string: "Follow the lines." On the amazing equipment the pro kite-flyers held: "You can buy in Malaysia." On seeing me fumbling with my Spiderman who wouldn't sit upright for his launch, "You'd better go help your daughter." At one point he told me, "You go take photo." while he worked out my hopelessly tangled spool.

Hence me being handsfree and taking all these photos.

We spent the rest of the time being very impressed by the regular kite-flyers, with their night kites with wingspans larger than a man, and their professional spools that they proudly told us cost hundreds of dollars.

Mr Blue Polo on the right there is the residential kite master, and his kite got so high that he anchored it to the floor and walked around surveilling other flights. He invited us to tug on the kite's string, and tug we did. Our body weights couldn't bring the kite even an inch down. His kite was timed to light up automically at 7:30 pm. Mr Orange Polo on the left is the owner of this massive lighted kite, and he turned on its lights just for this photograph. He said, "With this hobby, I don't need to think about eating, just sit here!" He also pointed out other regular lighted kites aross the field: "Later Fish will come out, and Star is going up now"--like a sage mapping out constellations.

So we, newbies on the kite playing field, got our eyes full of the more charming side of Singaporeans yesterday. Now when the rain stops, we look towards the field and see the triangles pop up almost immediately, and I know. They must have all been waiting with their kites, gazing up at the rain like children, waiting for the first moment to fly.