balloons, safari and long travel

good thing my excitement to be with Iya and be able to take good pictures of hot air balloons overcame my indolence last saturday. together with some folks from the office (some of whom i wasn't able to get to know though we were in one Isuzu Crosswind the whole day hehe) we headed last saturday, Feb 11, to Clark Air Field in Pampanga for the 11th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. we left Manila at 3:30AM and were encamped at around quarter before six. the huge crowd and cool (as in cold!) morning breeze added to the excitement. though it's not my first time to see and be near those huge hydrogen-floated balloons (first encounter was a summer time in Germany years back) fascination were still evident in my eyes the moment i saw 'em all. believe me this was not because i barely had sleep since friday :) i was transfixed for a moment, oblivious to the busy people around. my original plan though was to try that thrilling 2-hour ride and be awed with the aerial view of everything down under while elevating but nowhere in an enclosed cabin. and to think from time to time that ignition thing on top of your head firing away to supply hydrogen into the balloon, magugulat ka at kakabahan talaga hehe. ayus diba :) did i mention btw that it'll cost you P7,500+ (that's what i heard from last year) para sumakay. price for me is not an issue. the fun, excitement and rush you'll experience are what's priceless. here are some of the pictures i took..


makulay ang buhay!


to compensate my limitation of having only a wide angle lens and a fence that distanced us from the balloons, i searched for a good spot to get at least a good view of the field. where else but on top of a military tank :) as soon as i was on top, i stood transfixed at the sight! no wonder i hadn't had many shots taken hehe. stolen shot (opo, sa maniwala kayo o hindi) by Leo :)


i bet this guy has the same fascination as mine. to his eyes, a great thing is unfolding at that very instant.. pwede ko atang ipadala sa Toyota company ito para sa ad nila :) i personally liked the outcome of this pic, yung depth of field kitang kita. naks! best viewed large.




they come in different colors, sizes, shapes and designs..


a giant cat on the loose

eventually, every balloon was airborne after 2 hours so we decided to leave Clark Air Field and had breakfast somewhere in Mabalacat. basta the restaurant we dined in noticeably was packed with two groups of people: first, americans. i guess they're retired servicemen who were deployed in Clark or Subic for some time and opted to stay here in PI after retirement (**update: kaya naman pala, i've just read from sir tipoy's entry that the resto was VFW, as in Veterans of Foreign War :) i did not bother look for the name since gutom na ko nun sobra eh hehe); second, Filipina girls who seemed to be, you know. back in the days, Clark has its own red light district which is situated just outside the military base. to be honest, i don't wanna say bad things about them or look them down as if they're iniquitous but it's sad that poverty and its harsh reality apparently is manifested amongst our not so well off kababayans. tsk tsk.. anyway, we decided to stop by zoobic safari in SBMA as part of the photography SIG (special interest group) trip. boy it wasn't fun at all going there from Clark kasi it took us more than 3 hours of travel time. mantakin mo ba namang halos kadulu-duluhan na pala ng SBMA yun at kulang pa ng mga signages ang daanan. ako na nga bumangka sa kwentuhan mapa-politics, showbiz with matching patawa eh halos maubos na yung kwento ko at matuyo na ang laway ko eh di pa rin kami umabot. malayo talaga! we damn made sure we screamed out loud the moment we read the Zoobic Safari signage hehe.

pictures to follow!

i don't think i can upload them today because in half an hour, i'll be leaving for vacation. see you guys next week!!!! B).