Saturday, March 3, 2012

Hot Air Balloon Fest 2012


Once again, I participated in the annual Hot Air Balloon Festival where literally, it was a weekend of everything that flies!  This time though there is something different.  More than my quest to experience the event and indulge in a food fest, ehe (drum roll please), it was the day that I tested my newest 'baby'.... my newly acquired Nikon D5100.  At last! I can consider myself a complete blogger now.  Let me give you a 'tour' of that day through the photos which I took.  Note again that this was my test event for my new camera so some shots may be amateurish, ehe.  I went in for the Saturday, February 11 schedule and woke up as early as 4:00 am to be able to evade the heavy vehicular traffic typical during this event.  My companion and I were successful as you can see below, the sky is pretty dark still but there is already a pile up of vehicles of all kinds.
atlast, a camera that can be used in the dark ehe...
kids from tour buses were all smiles and even sang while wading through the traffic
It was still Dark...very dark..when we arrived ehe... brr also cold
 Next stop of course was the 'people traffic'.  I was glad that for this year, the lanes have been widen and at the same time, completely separated the lines for those with tickets and those who are still buying theirs.  More organized this year.  Here's a shot of our tickets as well as the throng of people waiting in line to buy their entrance tickets.  By the way, tickets were at PhP200... I should have grabbed the discounted ones when I was offered.

tickets tickets... ehe... I had to had this shot moment
People at the entrance... dami na ah...
Upon entering, it seemed as if we entered a magic portal because the festivities immediately greeted us, not to mention the thousands of people already present and positioned for the much sought launch of the hot air balloons.  Also, from nowhere, the sun suddenly was rising to complete an awe inspiring backdrop.

Everyone else 'involved' in the hot air (at least the actual flying) were already up and running to set their balloons.  We got a pretty good position although still not beyond the fence which is my target for next year.  But managed to take some up close photos while preparing.


After much anticipation, the program finally started with the traditional singing of the Philippine National Anthem done the Hot Air Balloon way with the air jump done by the Philippine Air Force.  Here are the photos of the actual dramatic descent of the flag.

 

Then the much awaited 'flare-up' and launch of the different colorful hot air balloons from participating teams this year.  Crowd favorites were the ice cream balloon, the Wish Cake, the Yellow Car, the Sun flower and the Panda Bear.

 

By the time the majority of the balloons have taken off, that was the only time that I had a chance to look at my back and see how much people there is or are or (heck) they WERE MANY!!!  Warning though, the next photos (four of them) are narcisistically enhanced..ehe..


Then it was breakfast time....The food nooks were filled with people and some of the food providers were from Manila and just as I was writing this blog, I found out that one was actually serving at Soderno In South of Manila...  So what's for our breakfast?  We had Churros with Caramel dip and Bite Size tacos --- combination mix of tuna and beef.


And there were a lot of things to do and so many places to take photos.  You'd have to wait in line though or let your negotiation magic stretched miles to make things happen, ehe...






Then lunch time was near but our slot to officially board that uber gigantic carrier was also up so we thread the bright Saturday sunshine for a worthy treat!

 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 

came and while we were waiting for our turn to board the large aircraft carrier, we went back to the food tent area to feast this time on Chinese, Mexican and Vigan's finest dishes....

 
 
 
 
 
 
My parting.. pang-inis shot..... posing behind a canon backdrop sporting my NIKON baby...



22 comments:

  1. looks like you truly had fun! :) Always wanted to go here but never had the chance hopefully next year! :)

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  2. Awwww. Nakakainggit ka ser! You're lucky you were there! :D

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  3. great photos! you're so lucky to experience that. ang ggandaaaa~~~

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  4. I am so envious of you! I hope I was there as well to see all those hot air balloons--and even ride one. XD Nice photos!

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  5. looks like you really had fun in this event. Wish I could experience such thing. I love the cake hot air balloon!!!! :)

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  6. 1. Mt Arayat looks stunning!

    2. I never expected this one attracts kids too in bus? waaah.

    3. So kelangan talaga dawn andito ka na.

    Great! The post is in sequence. easy to understand.!

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  7. ah, one week pala yung event na yan... marami talagang makaka-enjoy

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  8. Sayang naman at hindi ako nakaattend sa event nato :(

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  9. I was there too! Very colorful talaga ang event nato.

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  10. It's so sad I wasn't able to attend this event.. :( I would love to take tons of photos and just stare at those colorful hot air balloons. I hope next year I'd be able to attend this na.

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  11. Wow.. Looks like you had a grand time!! :D Ang cute talaga ng balloon Cake. haha.. it looks so yummy. lol

    Never pakong nakapunta sa ganitong event. Sana someday, maybe next year? Sana matuloy na..

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  12. Wow what an experience! I wish I could go to this fest next year. :)

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  13. love the caKE air balloon..
    seems everybody enojy no?
    happy weekend!

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  14. how i wish i was able to attend
    seeing so many blog posts about this made me quite envious

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  15. P200 for a ticket is not bad.How I wish me and my kids were there.Hot balloon and lots of food to choose from .Enjoy ka na busog pa.

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  16. It looks like you had fun and enjoyed the food

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  17. I am jealous..as you've got so many shots with hot air balloon flying..the last day wasn't like that :( Witnessed it.

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  18. I wish the pictures are bigger. You are obviously having fun in here. I wish to see it for real too.

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  19. I wanted to attend an event like this one. too bad, the schedule is just hectic as always. the photos you took speak of the many fun that happened during that day.

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  20. Congratulations on your first adventure with your new camera!

    If you did not mention that this was your first attempt to take pictures with it, I would not have noticed that the images were, as you said "amateurish".

    The images all looked awesome and captured the great fun energy of the day. :)

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  21. my bad! i've already booked my flights to Pampanga, but unfortunately, we had exams..wasn't able to make it.. ;(

    i missed this event!


    late visit here from Saturday ComEx in FBW.. :| pardon me :|

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