And so, for many weeks, WY and WF had been counting down to Good Friday. R and I discussed and we felt that a picnic, by itself, may seem a little 'dull' for the energetic little ones. So, we 'brainstormed' for a while on what could keep the children occupied while the adults sipped on our drinks (Edward - Andrew's father, had said that he would bring some beautiful red wine).
After much deliberation, we decided that we will let the children have a go at kite-flying! Afterall, WY and WF have never tried to fly kites before, and it would probably be a very refreshing experience for everyone, including R and myself (since we also have never tried flying kites either).
We intitially wanted to keep it a surprise for Andrew's family. But about week before Good Friday, Andrew's mother, Anne, called to check with us what we had planned to do at the picnic. So I told her about the plan to fly kites, after which R and I went about sourcing for the kites.
Surprisingly, there are not many shops selling the easier-to-fly diamond/square kites which we used to see commonly on sale at mama-shops when we were young. Most shops, including big toy departmental stores like ToysRus, carry only the bigger and more elaborate fabric/canvas type. And of course, these are more costly, too.
But being the very resourceful persons we are (ahem, we really are!), I eventually found some 'simple' kites at a rather inconspicuous HDB shop at Chinatown. This shop carries a small range of designs but for us (novices), I decided that they would be good enough. The shopkeeper was very helpful, and after a little sales talk, I paid a total of $16 for 5+1 kites - 4 diamond/square ones (clear plastic, not paper) and 1 fabric/canvas one. They all came with strings twined onto easy-to-grip platics holders.
Later on, we checked with Anne again on the picnic menu and this was our final list: buns, watermelon, cookies and crackers (kerokpok). Our plan was that we would meet at 4:30pm at the Barrage and then after our picnic and kite-flying, we would go for dinner together.
Also, another family of WF's another 文化艺术团 classmate, Zhi'en had agreed to also join us for the picnic and kite-flying. So, the picnic was to be for 12 persons.
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On Good Friday, the skies were relatively clear in the morning. We got a surprise call from Anne, however, at almost noon. She said, "Ay, how ah? It is drizzling quite 'heavily' now at our place leh. What shall we do if it rains later at the Barrage ah?"
Andrew's family lives in the central/western part of Singapore, Ghim Moh. Anne went on to ask, "Er, how about Kallang Leisure Park? Will the children be interested, you think, in maybe ice-skating or bowling or something?"
"Erm, I don't know, actually. The skies look ok here now," I told Anne. Then I tried to reassure her that it was still a good 4 hours or so from our picnic time, so we could see how things go first.
At almost 3pm, R and I brought WY and WF out. Our plan was to go to Raffles City to pick up the cookies from Subway, then proceed to Marina Barrage. WY and WF were especially excited; they both voluntarily carried the kites and crackers (keropok) for our picnic.
We arrived at Raffles City rather early. So we roamed around a little, looking at the new shops that have sprung up since the mall underwent some upgrading 1-2 years ago. We also went to Robinsons, where I bought a UFO gadget for WY. (WY has been tsked to master the gadget and perform for us the UFO show when he's ready.)
At Robinsons, R looked outside the glass windows and saw what he said was a drizzle. Later, we went to MPH at the basement and whilst we were browsing the books, R received a call from Zhi'en's mother, Wendy, telling us that it was raining cats and dogs, so we probably have little choice but to cancel our picnic! After much conferencing over the phone amongst R, Edward and Wendy, it was finally decided that we would give the picnic a miss this time. But we would all still meet for dinner at 6pm at Suntec City.
"Oh, man...." groaned WY and WF when they heard the newest development. WY was rather upset but said in an upbeat voice, "Mum, Dad, maybe the rain will stop before 4:30pm? Perhaps we should still check out the Barrage."
WY was very persistent and it soon rubbed off us. R and I decided, ok, we'll still check out the Barrage and see if the skies would clear by then.
However, we all got a big, rude shock when the car moved out of the basement carpark - it was not raining only cats and dogs! It was more like the tornado had come - the rains were lashing mercilessly and streaks of lightning intermittenly flashed across the sky! I think visbility was about 10m, so I kept reminding R to go slow on the accelerator as we climbed the Benjamin Sheares Bridge.
Meanwhile, WF kept asking earnestly, "Where will Andrew and Zhi'en be? Are they at Marina Barrage already?"
When we arrived at the Barrage, R was able to find a parking lot close to the path leading to the main building. The storm was still very relentless and as we sat in the car waiting for the rain to subside a little before we went out, WY noted how quickly the winds were blowing the clouds westwards towards the land.
After a while, the rain did seem to ease off a little, so we quickly got out from the car and managed to get into the building relatively dry (with the help of 2 giant and one small umbrellas). WF was still asking me, "Now, where is Andrew?"
I had to tell him several times over that the picnic was off, and that we would be meeting his friends only for dinner later. Poor WF was so disappointed, he said indignantly and with his eyes reddened with disappointment, "But we are supposed to have the picnic! And our crackers!"
Fortunately, we had brought the cookies out with us and so we munched on these as we waited the rain out.
R took some photos and video clips of the currents at the crash gates at the Bridge. In the video clip, the currents look 'normal' but they were really quite 'rushy' that afternoon.
We stood around amongst the scattered groups of visitors also forced indoor by the heavy rain. Later, we decided to take a stroll through the Gallery once again. When we arrived at the hall showcasing the model barrage, WY suddenly pointed out to us excitedly, "Mum! Dad! Look! The rain has really stopped!"
After some hesitation (on my part), WY was allowed to go to fetch 2 kites from the car so that he and WF could try flying them. Then we all proceeded to the green roof.
We opened the bags holding the kites and after some fumbling tying the strings to the kites, WY and WF started on the layangs.
To everyone's surprise, WF's kite went into the air in no time! And to WY's 'relief', his also flew up into the sky and was gliding high up there soon after. R and I were quite surprised that the gentle breeze was sufficient to bring and keep the kites up!
While flying the kites, WY and WF met a couple of siblings who seemed very keen to try their hands at flying the kites, too. So WY and WF let them try the kites intermittenly. It's quite amazing how easy it seems to make acquaintances when we are having fun.
Then, later, while flying WY's kite, the boy caused the kite to be gone - it fell into the water. And was eventually washed out into the sea (because the crash gates were still flushing out the water from the reservoir). Although I tried to subtly 'console' WY about his lost kite, I was actually a little put-off by the boy's failure to apologise for the loss. After a while, they left.
R also enjoyed the kite-flying. I saw him tug gently at the remaining kite with (or was it for?) WF. WF gestured to me to join them in the field, but looking at the puddles at its edge, I just smiled and said, "No, no. I take pictures for you!"
We left after another 10 minutes or so, for Suntec City. R and I agreed as we walked towards the car - we will definitely make time for this simple pleasure again some time soon.
The boys were all very excited when they saw one another at Crystal Jade where we were to have dinner together. Dinner was a simple selection of some dishes (mainly for the children) and rice. It was rather noisy that day, so chatting amongst the adults across the big, round table took some effort. I forgot to take any pictures at this light but enjoyable meal.
After dinner, we adjourned to Swensen's for ice-cream. Since R's birthday is in April and he holds a Swensen's VIP card, we also ordered an ice-cream cake for all to share. Coincidentally, Edward's birthday is also in April, and so the cake became the celebration for these 2 April 'boys'.
WF sat with his friends and had a whale of a time 'experimenting' on the dry ice in his 'Volcano' ice-cream. WY shared a chocolate fondue set with R and I. But R hardly ate it because he was too busy taking turns with Edward to 'saw' the ice-cream cake. WF and his friends also came by intermittenly to ask for a marshmallow here and wafer there, depleting the fondue items more quickly than it would otherwise have been. Eventually, I ate only about 10% of the fondue.
We stayed on until about 9:30pm. Just before we parted ways, I gave a $1-dollar coin to each of the 3 boys (WF, Andrew and Zhi'en; Andrew's sister, Lynette didn't want any) to let them get themselves a toy each from the capsule-machines just outside Swensen's.
Edward and his wife, Anne as well as Vincent and his wife, Wendy, agreed that we will try to meet up for an outing again during the June school holidays. This time, we hope the skies will be clear and we can really have a go together at the kites.
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