Some of you may know that I got sick like hell prior to this event. I was actually in a go-no-go phase the day before 14th. But as I said, this kind of events doesn’t happen everyday plus, I was really eager to have a quick trip away from the busy city and from all the stress that comes with it, so yes, you can now guess what happened next.
I woke around 6 in the morning. We knew we couldn’t make it to the Hot Air Balloon Flight in the morning, coz it was too early for our body clock! So, we planned to catch the Hot Air Balloon Night Glow instead in the afternoon, and we did. Going back, Jhori fetched me around 7 AM while holding a bouquet in his other hand, coz you know, t’was VDay as well! I wasn’t really expecting the flowers because he was keen that he was on budget tight for the past few weeks. And you will surely agree with me when I say that simple surprises like this count a lot. Thank you!
We got into a bus going to Dau at Victory Liner Terminal in Cubao. From Dau, we stopped and looked for something to fill our hungry stomachs. We initially wanted to try out something different, foods that are not usually found in the metro, but we were so hungry that we had to look in a snap! What did we find? Chowking! After we ate, we rode a jeepney going to SM Clark – M Gate. Then rode another jeepney going to the Air Force City complex. Though we had to make another long walk to get into the exact venue. T’was freaking hot and we weren’t able to bring an umbrella, instant bilad it is! Hello there sunny Philippines!
The general admission ticket costs 350.00 Php per person. I guess the price is fair enough for all the things and activities you can witness inside. We took several photos upon entrance, photos with the Army, Navy, Air force, displayed aircraft, etc. Though I wasn’t as fascinated as Jhori, ‘coz I used to see a lot of those, during my internship in AFP back in college. It was pretty obvious he was enjoying the event as he was very pushy to take a pic of all the photo ops available. There were different shows and aircraft exhibitions that happened in the event, the tagline of this 20th Hot Air Balloon Fiesta tells something about everything that flies, so yes, I find it very relevant. The place is huuuuge! There were so many kites up there in various designs and colors. It was peaceful and relaxing to look at and I must admit, I’ve thought of flying my own kite too when I saw kites up in the air, but I was afraid it would just be a waste of time as I don’t know how to do it on my own. Or maybe Jhori can? I don’t know. I did not even bother asking. haha!
It was a right decision to eat food prior to coming into the venue because the foods inside the field are pricey. And since we weren’t really hungry that time, we opt to buy some refreshers instead, my favorite lemon juice!
Meet Mr. Camel! As much as I love animals, I really don’t like seeing them on this kind of setup. They must be somewhere else, and not in a place like this, you know, their natural habitat. But t’was nice meeting you Mr. Camel, same with your buddy camel out there. Both of you are oh-so-adorable!
I told you earlier, the weather was really hot! We had to look for a decent place to kill some time while we wait until the sun to set. Lucky that there’s a coffee shop nearby where we can stay and chill, but, even this place was jam-packed for the same reason we had. We waited until there’s a vacant table we can share. We stayed there for a couple of hours while regenerating our energy for the next coming shows.
One of the reasons why we waited until early evening was to witness the much awaited Hot Air Balloon Night Glow. I’m not sure if I’m the only one, but I wasn’t satisfied with how it turned out. Of course, I have to acknowledge the windy weather that might be one of the reasons. But still, I was not satisfied. There were a lot of balloons that they weren’t able to inflate completely (those were the character balloons which can be more appealing than that of the ordinary ones), then the other balloons that are already upright started to fall and deflate. Not to mention that it took them a long while to try to inflate all the balloons. It would have been better if we woke up earlier and watched the Hot Air Balloon Flight in the morning instead. But yea, it happened. I was disappointed that I had to tell Jhori to just leave early even if it wasn’t finished yet. We ate dinner and got home around 11 PM.
Overall, it was still a fun day for us. We were both happy to celebrate Valentine’s Day in a different way this year. I also felt really dizzy on our way home that I was able to sleep the moment I lay down to bed that day.
