Day tripping: Clark, Angeles City

Went to Clark Air Force Base in the early hours of Saturday to watch hot air balloons take flight during the Phil Int'l Hot Air Balloon Fiesta.


Legs in running shorts and shoes! :-D

It was unfortunate that the winds were too strong that day. Balloons can't take flight on a windy day, something to do with not being able to fill up a balloon... There wasn't much the organizers, balloonists and spectators can do but wait for the the wind to die down... but no. We did see a couple of balloons partially inflated via "cold inflate," but the wind would just push the air back out.





So although we didn't get to see the balloons in action, there was plenty to keep us entertained. Overhead, there were jumpers, kites and plane aerobatics. On ground, it was people watching and snapping tons of pictures.


Nayong Pilipino
We visited the nearby Nayong Pilipino. It was so-so... a nice attempt in recreating several colonial/heritage types structures, but ehh. We heard one staffer say that they were expecting 5000 people that day, wow! Several busloads of people did come in as we were leaving. A better representation of a heritage village is Sitio Remedios in Currimao, Ilocos.

San Guillermo Church
We still had lots of time to kill before our lunch reservations at C's, so we drove over to Bacolor to check out San Guillermo Parish church. This church was buried in half with lahar from the Mt. Pinatubo eruption. It felt weird walking inside this church, like I was disproportionally huge inside a miniature church.


Those three doors used to be windows!


A source of light

C's Italian Restaurant
Afterwards, it was a fantastic lunch at C's Italian Restaurant. Ordered the same thing again, their panizza with parma ham & asparagus, two other gorgonzola dishes and a nice bottle of pinot noir from New Zealand. Yum!! Disappointing though was their tiramisu. I like mine sopping wet with espresso, their version is the dry cakey type.

Cold Spoon
Follow up dessert at Cold Spoon. Oh my gad, they seriously have some good yogurt, the best I've tasted in the Philippines! It was creamy with the right amount of tang. I had mine topped with almond clusters. It is Korean owned and is available for franchising. So to anyone with the extra funds, please bring it to Manila!