18th Hot Air Balloon Festival

I had my mini-hiatus from the blogosphere because of work. But today, I just want to sleep late (and planning to arrive late tomorrow) and share about an awesome experience over the weekend.

My personal element is AIR and I have always been fascinated with balloons, hot air balloons, RC flying, paragliding and simply, the art of flying. So, when the Hot Air Balloon Festival was fast approaching, I just had to drag and convince everyone I know to come with me. And since I have always been the "irresistible" (at least that's what I think) friend, it turned out to be a reunion for me and my Engineering batch mates.

Now here's a little something about me: I love long drives-- most especially commuting. I love sitting near the window in a bus and look outside, imagining myself getting lost in the vast plains my eyes can set on. I make up stories in my head and plunge into my world of reveries. I'm sharing this because, our mini-adventure started in a bus ride, of course. We left Manila City at around 10:00-11:00 pm because we had to wait for some companions who came from Cavite, and they were fresh from their 6pm work. It was a Friday night and I wouldn't blame them for being so late, that is, because of the traffic.

It was raining hard and I was wishing and praying that it won't rain on the next day, and it exactly didn't. We arrived at Clark Freeport Zone early in the morning for the Hot Air Balloon Flight. I stood in awe. I will always be that little kid, having eyes in amazement whenever I see something new.

Photos taken by my pink DC ST66 (:

Here are some of my favorites:

Tulip balloon! I adore red tulips and I prefer them over red roses. Haha! It's an unusual form for a hot air balloon I know.

Another eye catcher- the Fire Truck Balloon! And I also liked the Pink Elephant Balloon but I wasn't able to take a picture of it because I was staring at it all the time and I forgot to snap-a-shot.

And the Swiss Hearts Balloon 

The Air Exhibition was also my favorite part. I wonder how it feels to actually control the plane and "do the moves". I was standing in a sea of people, not minding what others are doing because I was concentrating.

And a group picture (some of my batchmates)!

Well, not bad for my first Hot Air Balloon Festival experience. I was so happy that everything went well and fun. I believe it's mostly because of the good company that I was with and the place where we were. Pampanga is a really beautiful place and I can live there too. That weekend was just one of those days you want to replay over and over again. xx