MCP goes to the 14th Hot Air Balloon Festival

For the third straight year, the Miata Club has woken up at 3am to be able to take off at 4am to be at Clark by 530am to witness what is truly a colorful sight to see at such an early time of the day.

List of participants:

  1. VEN Rojas
  2. COLLINS Yap
  3. CHITO Frondoso
  4. RENAN Acosta with his brother JAN
  5. DING Bernabe with EDITH
  6. TRISTAN Calixto with ELLEN, and son ANDRE
  7. WINNIE Paler
  8. TOK Paler
  9. SEAN Paler
  10. TONY Feliciano
  11. RICCI Jimenez
  12 JERIC Mariano

VEN, COLLINS,TRISTAN, and I took off promptly at 4am from Caltex Julio Vargas. COLLINS rode with VEN in the yellow Miata, while I drove my classic red. TRISTAN needed room so he rode in his SUV. As soon as we got to Shell at NLEX, RENAN in his silver Miata, was already there waiting with his brother JAN. After just a few minutes, the PALER brothers WINNIE and SEAN arrived, and we were ready to go.

We arrived at the gate of Clark in no time, then we get a call from TONY F that he was following a few minutes behind us.After entering the Clark gate, we pulled over to the side to have our pictures taken by the huge Hot Air Balloon Fiesta billboard welcoming us. Traffic started to build up so we had move on and proceed to the site.

The more serious MCP photographers came in much earlier. RICCI and JERIC rode together, while JERIC and TOK arrived with their colleagues from the camera groups..

We got there at about 530am, and the parking was already one-third full. We had photographers passes so we had access to the airfield. Regular pass holders get a nice view of the balloons but they have to stay behind the barrier.

The hot air balloon fiesta is "a weekend of everything that flies" . Its pretty well organized and they make sure there are lots of things to do and see to make the visit worth it. Many students in their school uniforms came in buses to see and enjoy the show. The Philippine Air Force in their battle uniforms showed their wares and weapons and the visitors had a great time having photos taken with them. There were lots of skydivers who added color to the event, as the ultralights flew by the crowd.

I noticed that there were three new balloons this year. They were the Nescafe coffee mug, the big elephant, and the big Coke bottle. Because we had passes, we could get up close to each balloon , and even feel the flames as it heated up the air in the balloon.

This year, VEN and I had planned to have pictures of our Miatas taken with the balloons at the background. So as soon as the balloons started to float, Ven and I scrambled to our cars and drove off to the Clark highway for stolen shots. The traffic cops were on alert to so we didnft have enough time to take more shots.

It was time for breakfast after the balloons had taken off. So off we go to BRETTO'S just outside Clark. This time we were disappointed with our favorite deli. Their coffee machine broke down so all they could give us was instant coffee. Their breakfast burger was tough enough to need a chainsaw. But that didnft spoil our fun. We were all so busy viewing the wonderful pictures that our photo masters took that morning. It was DING's and EDITH's first time to the balloon event, and I could tell that they were having a good time. It was also RICCI's first time so he opted not to join us for breakfast, as he did not want to miss every opportunity for a winning shot.

RENAN and I had to get back to Manila after breakfast so we left at 10am and convoyed together. We took a different route from Clark to the NLEX . After exiting Clark gate, instead of turning left towards DAU exit, we turned right, and after a few hundred meters, turned left. We kept driving until we reached the ANGELES exit. It's a shorter route which had less traffic.

While RENAN and I were on NLEX, i noticed this blue Lancer cruising on the highway, and to our surprise, it was PIERCE who was also on his way to manila. I called his cell phone and he told me he was happy to hear that we had a great time, and regrets that he wasnft free to join us.

Traffic along the expressway was clear and smooth all the way. RENAN and i had our radios on and we decided to just take it easy at 100- 120kph. Upon reaching the last toll booth, I couldnft help but notice that there were three cars apprehended for over speeding. There seems to be an intensive campaign to catch speeders. What RENAN and i noticed this time was the presence of cops on their BMW bikes AFTER the last toll booth. In fact we saw a pair of cops parked at the end of the NLEX just before the Balintawak cloverleaf. We did not see anyone apprehended but I suppose they are looking out for guys like us who think that it's already clear after that last toll booth.

Traffic along edsa was terrible so I decided to turn right at Timog and got back home a little bit after 12noon. According to COLLINS the rest of them went back to take more pictures, do some shopping, and hang around to have lunch. They left Clark after 3pm.

It was another great Miata day for us. Thanks to all of you participants. Thanks to the photographers for all the great pictures. We look forward to next year's balloon fest.

Chito Frondoso

February 12, 2009

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