STAY ALOFT

This kite costs RM500. It's awesome!

Tiger, Tiger burning bright

Toy Car racing down the hill

The luminous orange coloured gold fish kite

Yusuf trying to fix the kite he finally chose

A friendly shark that lives in the sky

The Kite Runner packing for home

With the kite vendor and his bountiful kites

In the woods with Winnie andEyor

Soar like an eagle

With a kite seller on Bukit Layang-Layang

I am not Madame Butterfly

The black eagle has landed

The kites welcoming their visitors

The tattered fringe kite must be graceful up in the sky

The shape of the kites reminds me of Townhouses

The wau kites displayed in the museum

At the entrance of the museum

The Bukit Layang-Layang Museum

FREEDOM TO SOAR

He has been bitten by a bug called 'kite-flying' and we ended up as his victims. My brother is currently crazy over kites (don't k now how long this craze would last) and he is searching every nook and corner for a perfect kite to suit his pocket and budget. In simple economics, a perfect kite has no budget. In fact it stretches and bust your budget because your expectations and specifications for the kite are so difficult to meet.

To lay our hands on a perfect and huge kite, we drove to Johor Bharu searching for one. One place to head for is the Muzeum Layang-Layang at Pasir Gudang. The museum has an array of kites and a variety of materials related to kites. The place was built as an appreciation towards the contribution of Malaysian and International kite fliers. It was first opened to public in February 2002 during the 7th International Kite Festival. About 200 traditional Wau kites which once hailed as the kings of the sky are on display. The museum has been built in an effort to preserve and uphold the cultural heritage and crafts of Malaysia.

It was almost closing time when we reached Bukit Layang-Layang. The hill has a panoramic view of the green surrounding and the air is cool and refreshing, especially after the rain that fell before we reached it. Judging by the many number of cars parked at the lots, Bukit Layang-Layang is a favourite haunt for families and children to fly kites or simply tuck in the 'celup-celup' for tea. Celup-celup is like having steamboat on satay sticks.

We climbed up the hill. Doraemon, Hello Kity, Sponge Bob, Donald Duck, Astro Boy and Sharky were waving and calling me for a fun time. Actually a kite-seller was hawking his colourful and cartoon characters kites. He had hung his kites on poles and with the breeze caressing the light-weight nylon kites, they seemed to come alive with their flapping and movement. It must be a bewitching site for any kid to be surrounded by so many characters from the square box.

We tried a few kites before purchasing one. Every kite was screaming at us to be picked and flown. There were too many to pick. The vendor was kind enough to wait for us to choose even though it was getting dark. I ended up with a sting ray fish kite with a long tail and a fearsome body.

My brother fell in love with a huge bright orange gold fish kite. It was a perfect kite for him - it suited his budget and his pride of owning one of the biggest kites being sold that evening.