So, it was our one year anniversary and also my first in kite flying at Marina Barrage. It gets really embarrassing that at 23 years of age, I have not really seen a kite up close, much less fly it. We got one from a nearby provision shop at SGD $2.90 and were on our way.

As it was my first actually driving out to Marina Barrage, we had a slight difficulty getting there. It didn’t help that the navigator in the Picnic had no record of the location in its database.

At one point, we even ended up at the Marina South Pier but that was due to me missing a turn. After some calls, reaching Marina Bay station with the help of the navigator and following some road signs, we finally arrived at our destination.

We had problems fixing up the kite initially. Thanks to the nice gentlemen who helped and provided us with some scotch-tape to secure the kite.

Some quick hand work and it was done. The knot was looking mightily strong and we are ready to take flight. Unveiling our beautiful bat in broad daylight:

It wasn’t always easy to get the kite up high in the sky, many times we would get a “Dead Bat” instead. And as you would have guessed, it actually refers to our kite lying face down on the ground.

Attempting to bring the kite up

This is one of the moments to savor. She was flying the kite up high. But she got her legs and feet covered with spots of mud for her troubles. The field was not in the most driest of conditions though I do not recall any downpour the previous night.

Flying the kite up high

Xinyi

It would eventually come to my turn to actually try to get the kite up in the sky but I was definitely not getting onto the muddy field. I did not know where to begin until she showed me how it was done. I wondered to myself,

“How do I even get this thing up from the ground?”

In my first few tries, I always got a “Dead Bat”. It was actually more amusing than frustrating though.

After awhile, I got a hang of it and for the fun of it, I got my bat to float in one stationary spot. Despite flying the kite on the concrete pavement, I somehow managed to get a mud stain on my shorts. Sometimes I amaze even myself.

There was no real reel to play with. To loosen the string, we had to rotate our wrist and sometimes the string would be stucked. Very different from what the others were doing.

I had to succeed after all that trying and I did. The kite was flying up high but even after exhausting the entire length of the string, it was nowhere near how high the neighboring kites were flying at. That’s what you get for SGD $2.90.

Marina Barrage Ground Floor

I used to think kite flying was boring (that’s probably because I never tried it) but after today, I had a totally changed opinion of it. It is good fun trying to get your kite up in the air and then staying there.

I would certainly want to have another go at it. Only this time, I would be dealing with a kite with a longer string length and a proper reel.

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