Feedback on Hot Air Balloon Experience

Five of us packed into one car and left my house at 6.10am (yes, you read that correct, AM).

We reached the Fiesta in Putrajaya at about 6.45am and got into the queue which already had about 70 people in it.




By the time we got the tickets it was past 8am. Then we had to queue up AGAIN



for the actual ride...

which...

we...

finally...

got...

on...

at....




11.20am!! Yep, it was about 4 and a half hours of waiting. So in the meantime, we could only stand and stare at the other balloons..








The other balloons from around the world did a fly-across-the-lake-and-back demo which was all over in less than an hour. There were supposed to be another 18 balloons but I don't recall seeing that many.



The most outstanding ones were the Darth Vader (yes, he did turn up)




and the pair of Levi's jeans:




and the Orange balloon




An awestruck child.

We should never lose that...looking at the world in wonder..at least, that's what I think.



But the five balloons used for rides were shaped in the form of...well...
balloons. sigh.


First, they blow air into the balloon using a large fan.




Then they burn propane gas into the balloon and it starts to lift..






Each balloon could carry two or three persons and the balloonist (info: larger balloons can actually carry as many as 12 persons).




Two balloonists and two balloonies - can you tell one pair from the other?

hint: The balloonies are bug-eyed and grin like nincompoops.




Even a tethered ride can excite some people...can you see the three other balloonies?




View as we were going up... up...






and un-away.



Hey, how come it's time to come down already? Quick - cut the ropes! (whaddaya mean you didn't bring your blade knife cleaver shears axe sword scissors penknife??)

I think we only went as high as a double-storey house. Ok, maybe a little higher. It was all over in 3 minutes. (What did you expect for Ringgit Malaysian 10.00?)




Did I mention they were TETHERED rides? Remember that word. It means "tied down". I can think of other rides I am on where I feel tied down. But we're not going there, are we? hee hee.


Tethered.



Another awestruck kid.



If you ask me, the man who was selling these battery-operated bubble-blowers was making more money than the balloonists. In the three minutes we were with him, he had already sold two of these at RM15 each!



Was it worth the 4 and a half hour wait? Well, if it's on your list of things to do at least once in a lifetime, yes! I mean I don't wanna go to my grave just dreaming of hot air balloons..




And I don't think my husband will approve of me painting our half-done bedroom walls like this..




And since it took two days for my bones to recover from that trip...maybe next time I should just settle on making this.



P/S

The writer would have you know that she is good at painting walls (and probably coffins, too). Quilt-making she will consider when she is old :)

Hot Air Balloons Here I Come!

I can't believe how excited I am about seeing hot air balloons this Saturday! I've never actually been anywhere near one but here are some pictures from Google. Isn't it fantastic that they come in so many shapes and colours? Don't you think they should be called cool hot air balloons?















Now I want one for myself! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....! But how in the world would I decide? Maybe just a regular one would be the easiest.

But look at the colours!!






These are definitely my style:



Ooooooh...lookie at these...lovelovelove! Ok, I've decided! The one furthest left. (Which would you pick?)





Some guy would love this:
Whatever.



I wouldn't want a balloon that might spook out little kids....






I'd definitely pick a kid-friendly one:



Neither would I want one that would spook out other living things:



Bird in mid-air: WHAT THE FOWL!



And why would anyone want this? Eww...


Yep, I'm going with a regular one. No, no, not the basket though.



Nah, mine would have a stylish thingamajig.




First, I'd put on the dress I'm gonna buy from e-bay








I'd ride mine away from the city (translated traffic jams, haze, pollution, crowds)




I'd ride it over the countryside (oops! watch out for that barbed wire. go, go, go!)



and I'd land it among other balloonies..I mean balloonists... in Malaysia....




I'm such a kid.


Everyone has the right to fantasize now and then.......sighhhh..







Check out details about the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta at www.myballoonfiesta.com
which is on ONLY until this Sunday.

My Husband and Me - Our Colourful Differences

Paul, my husband....sighhhhhhhhhhhhh...

We've had 25 years of marital blizzard..oops, I mean, blisssssssssssssssssss (can you hear the snake onomatopoeia?) How in the world our marriage is still surviving I donno. I'm a-tellin' ya, it's been grace and grace alone.

"Love seems the swiftest but it is the slowest of all growths. No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century. "~Mark Twain Huh? How come I've been married a quarter of a century and I still don't know what perfect love is? If anything at all, I know what IMperfect love is.

We are as different as can be. Which of course, all you married people out there are going to affirm is the same with you and your spouse, too. Then you're gonna say how opposites attract and blah blah. Then you're gonna say that's what makes the world go round or something...

If we eat out, my husbandsigh goes Indian MOST of the time. I want Chinese food. If we watch a funny show, he wants the slapstick 3-Stooges kind. I want the kind where if you're not paying close attention to the words, you lose the wit. If we're thinking of a holiday, he'd be happy to bum in front of a TV in a hotel room in the evening while I'd want to paint the town red. He'd want to go cold (Fraser's, Cameron Highlands), I'd want HOT - beach beach and more beach.



My husbandsigh thinks in black and white ("just paint the bedroom one colour lah").


I think in colour ("there's no reason why the ceiling should be white," "why can't we fix the clock on the ceiling - makes more sense to me").


My husbandsigh posing with "Indra Gandhi" at the wax museum in south India..
Me, posing at same wax museum.

Isn't the sumo wrestler more....drama? Yes!

If there was something to do, my husband will just............well....do it. (IF he does it lah)





I will be thinking of how to do it with FLAIR...


If my husbandsigh were to go out on a whim and buy himself say...a bike, he'd probably get this:




And I would get this of course:






"C'mon guys, give me the most macho pose you can!" I say.


My husbandsigh's idea of a macho posy..sorry, pose.



How did we end up getting married? I'm tellin' ya, it was that flashing smile that must've done it.

Want proof?

So, yeah....sometimes, the journey seems really long.

A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity. The order varies for any given year. ~Paul Sweeney
But our differences is cause to celegrate...oops..I mean celebrate. I think.

Cheers.

** all bird photos were taken at the Bird Park, Kuala Lumpur.
all photos above are originals and NOT photoshopped cos I donno how to.