HOT AIR BALLOON FESTIVAL @ CLARK

 Today, we spent the day at Clark, Pampanga to witness our first-ever Hot Air Balloon Festival…it had been celebrated annually for 18 years now, ever since the US military bases vacated Clark to promote tourism in the area. We had planned to do this since last month pa, ever since I saw the announcement about the event. But it was all just plans…we never really made concrete itineraries and made invitations to others to join us. So on the week before the event, I was still non-committal to my sister who wanted to tag along with us for the event…good thing we were together na din since last night so when the hubby decided to push through with it… she was able to come with us.      
The day before, Alan already bought some hotdogs and longganisa for our breakfast/picnic tomorrow while waiting for the balloons to be launched then on D-Day, we got up early to cook rice, and the hotdogs, we also packed some plates, glasses, cold water in a jug and of course, a picnic mat. Then, after I woke up everyone (including Anna, Alan, Ditse and the kids) off we went to travel for about an hour to Clark, Pampanga. We do not have the money to pay for the entrance tickets and so we opted to just find our spot outside the launching grounds…anyway, we can see the balloons naman from just about anywhere. At first, we went near the entrance, we followed where the people were going…but after awhile, we realized the entrance was still quite far from the launching area and in fact, our parking spot was even nearer and so we changed venues and hurried to where our car was parked because they were starting to inflate the balloons na.      
The balloons this year included a lot of regular shaped balloons and had many forms and sizes - a space shuttle, a sun, an elephant head, Humpty Dumpty, and whole lot more. The balloons, a blog says, were from different countries around the world and were brought here to the Philippines. The thing about hot air balloons is that you can’t control them. They go where the wind takes them. So even if the balloons did not fly near where we were situated, at least we were near the launch area so we get to see them before the winds took them elsewhere …we were so lucky indeed! The kids had so much fun taking pictures and watching in awe as the colorful hot air balloons took off.  
But the day is not just about hot air balloons – we were also able to witness para-gliders doing exhibitions and different formations in the sky. But what really made our day was the Breitling Jet Team that made a spectacular aerobatic display with their supersonic jets…it was just so amazing! We almost did not get to see it because we thought the show was over and we decided to move out of the parking lot earlier than the others so as not to get stuck there…but good thing that we were caught in traffic or maybe the cars just decided to stop on the highway and gaze at the marvelous maneuvers unfolding before our eyes. And so we all went home quite satisfied and happy with everything that we had witnessed…will we come and visit again next year? Maybe…if it were better planned and maybe if we get the chance to get real up-close with the balloons or even better – get to ride in one---that would be the best experience yet!       

FAMILY PICNIC @ TAGAYTAY

We had initially planned this to be our treat for Inang’s birthday but she doesn’t want to go on the exact date of her birthday since she wanted to have a small salo-salo at home for her friends and relatives who may be coming over to visit. So the event was held on my birthday weekend and it became my birthday treat instead! Well, the day before I was busy doing Kaye’s project and then cooking chicken/pork adobo plus carbonara for our baon. We left immediately for BP after we finished cooking and eating our own dinner. Upon arrival at BP, we did more cooking including the rice so that it was already quite late when we all finally slept.

The next day, we were up early at around 3:30 am so that we could all take our baths and pack our baon for the picnic. There was a bit of a problem because the van we rented thru Ega was late. It turns out he was still sleeping and definitely had a hangover from a drinking session last night, oh no! The question then running thru everyone’s minds was - could he even drive at all???

But thankfully, he was OK after awhile and we were able to leave at around 5am. Well, the trip going to Tagaytay was supposed to be short (about less than two hours if coming from our office at QC) but this time, however, our trip took us more than three hours. It turns out that Ega’s van wasn’t functioning properly and it overheated in the middle of the expressway…WTF?!? Good thing, it was able to run after just a short while or else we’d have to pay a fortune on PNCC’s exorbitant towing fees! Then, Ega doesn’t also know the right exit to take, so we had to wait for them and they ended up taking a more circuitous route after wrongly exiting at Alabang.

Finally, we arrived at the Picnic Grove and we settled in on one of the big cottages there. We started to serve the prepared food so that we can all eat breakfast na of adobo, rice, boiled eggs, and the carbonara. There was also puto (biko and kutsinta) or bread with cheezwhiz and tuna spread. After eating, the kids went off for some horse-back riding. The others decided to explore and hike around the place to shed off what they had just eaten. The kids wanted to ride the zipline but the fees increased this year and so most were hesitant to just drop PhP400.00 for just a few minutes of thrill. Oh well, I would’ve wanted them to have that experience but I don’t have any more to spend since I already spent a lot on gasoline and the food. So, the kids just decided to while away the time playing on the grass. While the oldies just lounged around the cottage or slept on the wooden stools. Good thing I bought a heavy blanket so they had something to lay down on.

After the kids (and even some of the grownups!) had their fill of the horse, they had pictures taken with a huge live snake and then again had wacky shots with Taal lake in the background. Afterwards, they went back to the cottage and had some lunch. Our lunch was inihaw BBQ and hotdogs (courtesy of Allan) and the inihaw bangus which I bought from Vanmicks the other day. After eating, the kids just played on the grass and took pictures. They also tried to fly a kite but I wasn’t sure if the kite was sub-standard or if it was the kite-flyers fault. The adults meanwhile continued resting – some on the grass, while the others stayed in the cottage. It was indeed a very nice way to spend the day – just resting and enjoying the nice cool weather of Tagaytay. Even if there wasn’t much to do, the kids still had fun playing with each other in the very wide open area of Picnic Grove. While the adults just sat in their own corner to chat. We decided to leave early at around 3pm but as luck would have it, Ega’s van won’t start again…oh dear! This would surely be the last time we’ll borrow his van. It’s such a trip bummer! Instead of being able to visit more places like the Residence Inn zoo, the Pink sisters convent (for Inang) and People’s Park, we ended up just visiting Maryridge convent for their ube and buko pie pasalubong and the fruit stands to bring home some fruits. Oh well, I hope next time we’ll have better travelling provisions so that we’ll be able to enjoy more what Tagaytay had to offer.