Lena : Up, up and Away! (Hot Air Balloon Festival 2011)

The annual Hot Air Balloon Fiesta marked it's 16th celebration in Clark, Pampanga.

According to the Philippine International Hot-Air Balloon Fiesta (PIHABF) organizers crowds were expected to increase compared to last year's outcome. Overflowing hotel guests were expected to be booked due to the ongoing ad exposure and other media frenzy that the event has gained during the years.

Clark Freeport Zone became the home of this spectacular international aviation sport event mainly due to its vast area and facilities. Also, the said venue offers a wide array of high-end hotels and leisure establishments that provides options to both local and international spectators.

 
Off to get some adventure, me and my office colleagues strutted our way to Clark. We decided to catch the morning balloon flight which is set to take off at dawn (5:30am).

The whole day event program is fun-packed (managed to get this via their website).

It’s a must to leave early, since parking area may get crowded and we might end up the-ones-who’s-parked-so-far! =) Plus, somebody told me (a friend who went to the previous festival) that the probability of all balloons successfully taking their flight is higher during the morning compared to the evening (there’s 2 scheduled flight, 5:30am and 5:45pm).

We hired a private van for the day, left Sucat at around 3:30am and arrived at Clark at around 5:30am. You can just imagine the number of people that time. Who could have thought that it’ll be jam-packed! But don’t you worry. The place was cool and still offered a lot of place to run, jump, smile, and even free-wheel. J

Entrance Fee/Pax : 150Php

Meanwhile, if you’re planning to stay for the whole day event take note to bring the ff:

- a mat or any picnic style cloth to sit on (no available chairs)

- a tent, if you feel like dozing-off privately

- a packed-food for the whole day (no corkage) ; yet millions of food kiosks can still be found inside

- water

- a kite to fly (there’s a kite flying event, cool!)

Our group decided to skip some events and be back on the Hot Air Night Glow instead.

We then turned the wheel towards Subic Treetop Adventure at around 11am. It’s a helluva fun! A must-try! Good thing, we managed to glimpse some night glow events back in Clark at around 7pm, packed our way to eat and went back to the busy city of Paranaque.

Treetop Adventure details to follow on my next blog! =)