2012 Hot Air Balloon Festival

Hug...

You know you have a serious problem when you go on with a planned road trip---with you driving---even when you have a 38-degree fever and your joints are just crying out in pain. Yeah, that's me and that's what happened when my friends and I pushed through with our trip to the 2012 Hot Air Balloon Festival in Clark, Pampanga.

I wasn’t even supposed to go anywhere since, as I said in an earlier post, after my Hong Kong/Macau trip, I have two more overseas vacations scheduled and I need to save every penny I can. But my friend didn’t even have to ask me twice if I wanted to go. I guess that’s wanderlust for you.

So here’s what happened:


 

My friends and I --- there were four of us --- left the UP Ayala Technohub at about 2:45 in the morning. We took the Mindanao-NLEX-SCTEX route (God I just love how these roads make Clark merely two hours away) and by 4:20 a.m. we were on the SCTEX, looking for the exit to Clark. Of course since I was the one driving, we got a little bit lost. We missed the exit and ended up on our way to Subic. Haha. We had to take the Floridablanca (or was it Porac? Goddamit I suck at this!) exit and make a U-turn at the toll gate. And yes, in case you were wondering, we had to pay the toll fee going in AND going out, even if we just made a U-turn. Can I get a round of applause for the master navigator?

Anyway, wegot to the venue at around 5:15 a.m. (there was a bit of a traffic jam as we neared the field), and about thirty minutes later, we were already enjoying the sight of the flying balloons set against a lovely sunrise.  You must go there next year.

Expenses: P200 for the entrance, P1000 (divided into four) for gas, about P600 (also divided into four) for toll fees and an undisclosed amount for chocolates bought at the duty free shops.