Last weekend we went to Precinct 2 of Putrajaya to let Ryan have a look at hot air balloons up close and personal. The drive from PJ was a rather smooth one, right up to the turning in Putrajaya into the Ministry of Finance building at Precinct 2 where the hot air balloon fiesta was held. The traffic going into the area was very slow and lots of cars were parked and even double parked by the road side.
From there, we can see lots of colourful hot air balloons taking off and flying around. When we got to the parking areas, the entries were sealed off as the place was already extremely full with cars. So Ryan and I got dropped off to see the fiesta first as it was already slightly over 6pm. We didn’t want to be stuck in the car and risk getting down to see the whole thing when it got dark.
Armed with a knapsack of Ryan’s change of clothes, water and diaper, he and I walked in and we managed to walk about to see various other hot air balloons being fired up. It was quite exciting for Ryan and since the camera was in the car to be brought along by the daddy when he manages to find a parking space, I fished out my mobile phone to snap some photos for Ryan while we waited.
Ryan giving the thumbs up at the hot air balloon fiesta
And luckily we did that because we were never able to find the daddy for more than an hour! The place was very crowded, I think easily a few thousand people were there that night. And the phone lines were all jammed up. It was impossible to make a call, receive them and even text messages didn’t get sent out. It was quite a horrifying experience.
Luckily, by about 8pm the message that I had tried to send out for more than half an hour finally managed to get through and we managed to spot the daddy in the distance, looking all about for us. It was mentally and physically exhausting for me because Ryan got tired too and wanted to be carried. Even before he was tired, I was carrying him so that he has a better view of the balloons and things that were going on around us.
So by the time we got home that night, all I did was to have a long shower, put on my best night creams and mask to relax, and go to La-La-Land.
When the next hot air balloon event comes again next year, I’m not sure if we’ll go again. After all, Ryan has seen it once. And we’re not about to go through the trauma of being lost in communication and finding a needle in a haystack!
Did you go for it? What was your experience like?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Yeah, i was there too… maybe you should get a walkie talkie next time…hehe
Yeah — we were there too — the event was dull: most probabaly because of the cloudy weather yet soooo hot; it really made the whole event gloomy.
There were so many people too.. and as usual, people selling everywhere, and you cant really see anything on the ground because ppl just got so packed in front.. doubling as another fence
A not so good experience for us as well.