I’m feeling HOT, HOT, HOT

I’m feeling H-O-T…no, not the hot as in I’m feeling drop-dead gorgeous HOT! It’s just that this post is hot-off-the-grill! I attended this event just this morning!

Second, it is the 14th Hot Air Balloon Festival that we are talking about…

My friends and I, plus Wendy, started the day reaaalllly early and left Parañaque at 4 am [4 am, for goodness’ sake! Everyone is still asleep!]! Anyway, it was a good thing because we had to be there are 5:30 am, and there was still absolutely no traffic, so we were at Clark before 6:00 am. Just in time!

[How to go to clark from Metro Manila: take NLEX and exit at Dau, which is the farthest exit. Upon exiting Dau, the road to Mabalacat is to the left. When you reach a dead-end in the road, which is a busy intersection, turn left; the right turn leads to Tarlac. Just go straight then turn right going to Clark. You’ll see the gate to your left. Easy!]

When we arrived, just in time, some of the balloons were already set up, whereas others were just starting. There were so many hot air balloons, around 20. And they were all beautiful!

This festival is held every year in Clark. Some participants [from all over the world] are companies, just like the Yellow Cab and Nescafe Balloons, whereas others are private individuals who bring their own balloons to fly.

One, by one, they took flight. Some of the bigger balloons took some time to set up. These balloons land somewhere else.

What makes these balloons go up? According to wikipedia:The heated air inside the envelope makes it buoyant since it has a lower density than the relatively cold air outside the envelope. So there has to be heat, which comes from the flames bursting every now and then! Gosh, if these people do this all the time, I wonder how they don’t get Mesothelioma! 

Such a nice view…the flames bringing the balloon up slowly! [I soooo love this shot!]

Braving the more than 100 km to Clark was sulit for this reason alone. The balloons were a sight to behold [I am such like a child…babaw ng kaligayahan]! In addition, there were exhibits from the AFP and the navy. We got to see real guns [different types, different sizes], fighter tanks, fighter jets [even the bombs they use, including the ones that follow the aircraft], helicopters,  and a lot, lot more! I got to carry a gun…super bigat! People can also ride the The jets and tanks…cool! You can also interact with the soldiers and get to ask them questions. Boy, I did learn a lot!

Best of all, all these for just PhP100! I’ll be back next year…and I’m bringing my toy-gun-loving nephew who wants to be a soldier! He! He!

Here’s the Web site for the Philippine Hot Air Balloon Festival for those who want more information: www.philballoonfest.net!

[Note. I hope you like the pictures. I just realized that ever since I bought my camera, I haven’t shared my shots with you. So I tried my best here!]

 *****! 

Postcript: As it is the day of “love” tomorrow, and I don’t mean just the romantic love, I am sending you this shot. I don’t know why,  but when I took this picture, I thought of love…maybe because of the way the balloons are positioned so close to each other, as if love was in the air!

 Happy Hearts day and happy weekend everyone!

 All the love from kumareng grace!