Hot Air Balloon Fest 2012

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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...