Hot Air Balloons are what childhood dreams are made of!
 |
| Fly me to the full moon |
Since it's the time of the year again for the annual Hot Air Balloon Festival at Clark, we decided it's the best time to get a mini-vacation, an advanced Valentine's Day celebration and get a really good view of all these flying objects (and people!) up close!
We left Manila a bit late (by Hot Air Balloon Festival standards), just enough to get off the MMDA's number-coding radar last Friday :) If you are able to see the schedule of activities for the 4-day festival, you'll easily see that being early has it perks - like seeing the balloons in flight at dawn - but due to the late nights I had in the previous days, I couldn't quite get myself to keep up with the ideal 3:30 AM schedule to Clark; you wouldn't even be able to drag me out of bed.
We chose the easy-breezy-laid-back schedule, with basically no itinerary in hand. Anyway, I liked it better that way as we still had time to enjoy our Chowking Almuchow breakfast (mine consisting of Yang Chow Fried Rice, Tocino and Egg...yum!) and get cinammon rolls for the road trip.
After around 2 hours driving time, we reached Clark Airfield at 9AM and from the highway, we could already see the exhibitions in the sky. It was really hot (smoldering hot), thankfully I was able to bring my 'girl scout' stuff provisions for this kind of weather. Parking is not a problem except that it is kind of an off-road and very dusty lot. If you want to get around Clark without leaving your precious parking space, you can coordinate with the organizers on shuttle services to and from SM Clark where most of the jeepney terminals are in.
When going to festivals, say Coachella or Glastonbury, people would busy themselves planning wardrobes - like which shorts or boots to wear. I guess it's the same for the Hot Air Balloon Festival except that there are really no cold winds here in the Philippines so you have to really give this a thought. Most of the people were clad in shorts, jeans, thong sandals, sneakers, slippers and a couple of girls were even in 3-inch wedges (!). Fashion or comfort, that is the question. Well, regardless of your attire, if you can wear it well and if you can clean up all the dust later, people won't really mind. But I hope for the sake of your feet, you'll choose comfy footwear.
We were pleasantly surprised that aside from the scheduled flights and exhibitions in the air, there were also a lot of activities on the ground - from booths selling food and souvenirs and fun sponsors' booths, hangars were also converted into mini-museums with military personnel showcasing their battle gear and guns. They let us wear their uniform and camouflage but I politely declined their offer to put face paint :)
 |
| Feel na Feel! |
 |
| Hunk Team Leader and Cute Tail Scout |
While you may initially see this unique photo-op as a fun thing, once you give back the gear they let you try on, you'll realize how hard their job really is and that we should be more thankful.
In the picture below, you can see the helicopters and the big plane (what's its name?) which they so kindly let us explore.
When the heat was too much to handle, we decided to head to SM Clark to try our luck in getting a halo-halo, a delicacy Pampangga is famous for (aside from Sisig of course). Unfortunately, the one recommended to us is at the foot of Mt. Arayat and it will probably take us close to an hour to reach Kabigting's Halo-Halo (sigh!).
We just waited it out at SM and at a Duty Free shop and returned in the afternoon to see a nice kiddie view of kites. Not one to get bored, I found a parachute-type of contraption to get my photo-op in full mode. Ain't the superman colors lovely?
It was getting dark and I was getting scared because I know my point & shoot cam is not very powerful in the night shot department. I tried experimenting with different settings so I won't end up with just black shots. If you also have a p&s, I recommend not using flash in the evening because you'll just end up capturing the micro-particles of the dust in the air.
 |
| Kites at Sunset |
 |
| Paraglider Troops |
 |
| Lighting up at Twilight |
 |
| 2012 Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Festival |
All in all I had a really fun time, I just wish we were able to see more of the Hot Air Balloons. :) We capped off the night with a hearty dinner of Mechado, Tocilog and Halo-halo at Razon's.
For those who still want to catch up on the last day of the festival, here are some things you should definitely bring:
What should be in your bag:
- Sunblock (face, body, lips)
- Shades
- Cap / Hat
- Umbrella
- Wet Wipes / Facial Mist
- Alcohol
- Camera
- Blotting Papers
- Towelettes
- Schedule of Activities
- Mat (they sell kid's mats at PHP 100.00)
- Water (I downed 3L for the whole day)
- Gatorade or 100Plus or Pocari sweat
- Take Vitamin C
- Anti-histamine (I developed hay fever from the dust in the area)
- Some snacks (I brought almond nuts with me)
- Jacket or pashmina for the cooler temp at night
- Eye drops
- change of clothes
No comments:
Post a Comment