Hot Air Balloon Festival

The moment I stepped out of the overpriced tricycle ride I was immediately greeted by a buffet of dust and a smothering of sunlight; in a matter of hours I have accumulated a weeks worth of dirt on me and a feeling of summer in the middle of February. Yep, it's the Clark I knew four years back. Six things stood out in my memory the first time I went to the Hot Air Balloon Festival of 2012 (also a leap year,) sun, dust, wind, planes, expensive food, and the horror of using a portable toilet with thousands of people, all still hold true this year. It's a pretty sight on the photos, but the reality is a little more stressful than the frame...having to pee alone is enough to haunt you for years...no pun intended there. 0_o

I've always had a romantic notion of hot air balloons: big flying balloons with baskets to ride on. You get to glide in the air, float along the clouds and just be there while being able to see a bird's eye view of the world below. It's gonna cost you over Php16,000.00 though...which makes it more romantic if someone treats you to it (take note of this dear future husband.) The event took place on Valentine's Day this 2016, a day that means none whatsoever to me right now, but was made extra special because I got to see amazing stuff. Plus, it's also a leap year today...Feb 29...so I have to make a blog entry TODAY because it's gonna be four years after I get a chance to do this again. 

The last time I went to the event, I was with my best friend, and the entrance ticket was also cheaper then. It was supposed to be three of us, but just like how friendship works, if one decided to back out we leave her behind and make sure to have the best darn time just to make the loser friend envious. Such was the case this year, when only four out of seven decided to go. Anyway, we're good friends and we get to torture each other in good fun.

The first time I went there, I made the mistake of leaving at 7am and arriving at Clark at 9am. We saw absolutely no balloons by then, but the best part of being with a positive friend was making the most of what's left, like watching aerobatic stunts and having our photos taken on planes and uniformed men. By the time we headed home at 3pm, I was four shades darker. The tragedy! This year, I wasn't making the same mistake, so we booked a hotel (Boomerang Hotel, Php2250 for a family room) on a Saturday, got there on Saturday morning so we could eat lunch at Everybody's Cafe, chilled a bit in the hotel and away from the mid-day sun, then preceded to Clark in the afternoon, just so we could fly a kite while waiting for the evening glow. 

The evening glow activity was nothing spectacular...it was just turning the balloons bright yellow on the air field at night. No, they didn't fly, just glowed...occasionally at that. We had to clap and cheer just to make them glow for a couple of seconds. The sunset was nice though, and star gazing was also an option. There was a concert as well, but we were more interested with eating dinner than listening to some bands. If you are poor like us, you have to walk all the way to the Friendship road to get a ride back to the city which is like about one to two kilometers long. 

The next day, we decided to leave the hotel at 4am...and checking out at 4am was a mistake because we had nowhere to go after the event. Anyway, they don't let people in until 5am, and the lines were worse than the MRT on a Friday rush hour because it was chaotic. But we did survive the lines and got in the venue at around 5:30am. I was a good idea to be the first to arrive because we got premium standing places, right in behind the demarcation line between the privileged few and the hording crowd.

The show started at 6:30am, just as the sun broke out of the horizon. They began with a parachute man going down the sky with a huge Philippine flag on hand while the national anthem was being played in the back ground. It's then pretty much a waiting game of hot air balloons elevating up in the air from the left side of the field going to the right part of the whatever I was staring at then. 

It was a feeling of awe, an appreciation of a beautiful man-made thing that made me smile from cheek to cheek. It's like staring at a firework display...you can't really look away until the show is over. We left the venue at around 9am, just so we could avoid from being toasted on the open field. We decided to find shade and an air-conditioned place to eat breakfast before getting the bus ride home. We ate at this Korean place called Manchoo and left pretty full with their large servings. I got the traditional Korean breakfast made out of a sad spicy soup, rice and a sunny side-up egg. I remember just blurting out, "nalungkot ako para sa kanila" (the Koreans) when I saw the simplicity of the meal. I suppose I'm used to eating a full set of breakfast when ordering out, not one made of watery soup and badly fried egg.

One of the really nice things I liked about staying in Pampanga that night was getting a sense of being somewhere far, in fact it kinda reminded me of being in Chiang Mai. The quiet streets, the old buildings, Korean signage and cafes filled one long stretch there and I loved it. Another thing I noticed is that tricycle rides there are ridiculously expensive, ranging from Php100-200 per ride. But we did get to compare since we usually rode two, that the price depends on the driver, and the difference can vary from Php20-50. But damn, it's hard to get around the place if you lack research. Drivers lack real know-how of restos, hotels, streets and a lot of things, it was frustrating. 

On a side note, food was good...of course, it is Pampanga. But dude, Everybody's Cafe is not for everybody―it's expensive for a turo-turo atmosphere! If anything, it can be classified as a carinderia in disguise. The food were between Php240 to Php400. But we did want the local taste, so that's the price of it. The adobong kamaro was nice but I like Abe's better, and the fried frog was also tasty just a little small for Php90.00. The bulalo was good, but by the time the fat turns solid you kinda have to put it aside. The morcon was expensive at over Php400 for a small piece, but it tasted like an old family recipe with chorizo bilbao and the works so it's forgivable. The pancit was really tasty as well with nice firm noodles. At the end of two days, I spent more than I thought...like over 3k...which can be avoided given the choice, but I couldn't.

Tips when going to the Hot Air Festival in Clark:

1. Bring an umbrella or anything to keep yourself away from direct sunlight. Plus a good layer of sunblock and eye shades.

2. Bring a mat or something to sit on because you got nothing to sit on but the dirt there...unless you buy the VIP tickets where you get all fancied up in a tent.

3. Bring water...BUT

4. AVOID HAVING TO USE THE PORTABLE TOILET AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!!!! It's horror. If you can't hold it in, at least don't look down and don't breathe in it or you will suffer nausea. 

5. Opt to eat out of the venue, I mean it's not practical that way, sure...but you can get your fast food fix from where you came from. Try their locally grown restaurants to get a feel of the place.

6. Walk your way to Friendship Road, that's where you can find rides easily. So by that I mean, wear comfy shoes.

7. Tricycles are NOT a cheap option.

8. Get to the venue by 5am for a good spot. If you're bringing a car, traffic will suck...walking is a faster option.

9. Have a flexible budget, it's not as cheap as you think.

10. Wear and bring stuff that you're fine getting dust on. By the time I got back, I knocked my shoes against each other and saw the plumes of particles erupt in my face. My clothes, bag, shoes, pants, hair, nostrils...it was a heaping dusty mess.

10. Don't forget your camera...and while you should stare at the scene occasionally for you to feel a sense of being in the moment, you can actually get a lot of beautiful imprinted memories in the event.