Jan's Day 48: Go fly kite

Day 48 Happy Trigger: Supporting dad at the World Kite Festival

Dad has been making his own kites for as long as I remember, and I'm not referring to the small paper or plastic ones you learn to make in primary school. 

This man takes DIY to a whole new level. He picks the materials he uses carefully, manually paring down bamboo strips to make supple yet sturdy frames, trying out different shapes and designs that would be aesthetically-pleasing yet aerodynamically-sound. 

Dad's earliest kite designs feature the dragonfly a lot, and it has grown to be a sort of trademark over the years.

So on 23 Feb, the family (sans bro, who'd unfortunately fallen ill) took a road trip to Pasir Gudang in Johor, Malaysia, to accompany dad who was participating in the annual World Kite Festival.

Sad to say, the event sees more "air bags" and inflatable hot air balloons than real kites, which IMHO defeats the purpose of calling it a "Kite" festival. But let's not get started on that since this is about happy moments.

Dad has his fair share of admirers, including a Korean photographer who has been a "fan" since he first spotted my old man a few years back at a similar event. This year, his works caught the eye of an Austrian gentleman, who approached us and quipped that, "I knew I have to take a photo with him when I saw the kite".

I'm a proud kid.

Lovely chap Ronald with the folks. Spot the airbags in the background.

Dad's grinning in the background, so I don't think he objected to my ang moh boyfriend. Well, for all of 5 minutes at least. =P