10th Philippine International HotAir Balloon Fiesta

I've just recently been to the most awesome event that I've ever seen to date. I've been looking for out of town adventures for sometime now and this really hit the spot. I'm talking about the 10th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta that was held at Clark Field Pampanga. They've been holding this event for some time now and just recently was I aware that there was such an event here in the Philippines. Thanks to my friend, I got to go.

Although it was a four day event, we just went there last saturday. We were hoping to leave early but 5:30 AM is much too early for us to handle. So we set off from Manila to Pampanga at around 9:00 AM. This was also my first long drive on my Mazda 3 and it was fun and a bit tiring. We got to Pampanga at around 11:00 to 11:30 AM. It was hot that day but windy at the same time. When we got there, we were hoping to see Hot Air Balloons (it is, after all, a Hot Air Balloon Fiesta) but sadly there weren't any. We asked around about those big things and they said that the Hot Air Balloons flew as early as 5:30 AM. Bummer. Even if we did leave at 5:30 AM, we still wouldn't have seen the damn things and it would have been a really long day. Fortunately, the organizers said that the balloons will inflate again in the afternoon, so we still got to see them.

Anyway, while we were there and waiting for the return of the balloons, we got to see some high flying action courtesy of the local and international aviation pilots who did their thing on the air. There was this balloon bursting competition where pilots will fly by and try to burst balloons in the air. Professional Sky Divers. Then there was this mini-rocket launching demonstration by some so-called rocket scientists. And there was also a RC-helicopter and plane exhibition. But none of that thrilled us more than learning that we could get a chance to ride on an actual Hot Air Balloon for free sponsored by TOTAL (it's a gas station). Well, it's not actualy free. You must have an accumulated amount of receipts from TOTAL to get a free ticket or buy a P400 gift certificate from them to get a ticket. We don't have receipts from TOTAL so we decided to get the P400 gift certificate instead. The TOTAL people told us that they would let us ride in the afternoon once they get the right wind and inflate their balloon, but that is up to only 5:30 PM. So we waited and we waited but sadly, they didn't get to launch their balloon. But we got to see hordes of Hot Air Balloons that afternoon.

My friend really wanted to ride one. She was so frustrated that we deicided to sleep over at Pampanga and come early in the morning to get to ride on the TOTAL Hot Air Balloon instead of taking a refund. So we looked for some accomodations but the places near Clark was fully booked. It was a total drag. We went on asking for a room from one hotel to another. We only got a room just outside the vicinity of Clark. At last.

We woke up at around 4:00 to 5:00 in the morning. And left at around 5:30 AM. When we got back to Clark, we were surprised that there were alot of people there already at that wee hour in the morning. Anyway, we checked at the TOTAL booth if our tickets were still valid and we're glad that it still is. So we waited again and hoping that we get to ride the damned thing (it was also the last day of the event so, it was to ride or bust!). While waiting, we get to see the launch of the other Hot-Air balloons. It was awesome! It was worth sleeping overnight at Pampanga and waking up early in the morning. It was a sight to see!

After a few more waiting, we saw the TOTAL Hot-Air balloon inflating. We were saying "hopefuly, this is it. The next chance of riding that thing will be next year." So we hurriedly went to the place where the balloon was inflating and got on line. To our surprise, there were actualy some people who have been waiting to ride that thing since Thursday. Oh well, we were lucky (somehow or the other) after all. Anyway, in the end, we got to ride the hot-air balloon. Though it didn't go far and didn't go that high (it flew just several meters from the ground), it was worth it. It was kinda annoying though that the pilot kept on reminding me about my weight. Hehehe... ^_^

After that experience, I'm planning to go back next year (even after I was all red due to the scorching sun). Also, I'm planning on taking more out-of-town excursions from now on. I never realized it was that so much fun. ^_^

Bounce!