Up, up and away - 29 Mar 2013

Posting by Xian Jin

I went to the 5th annual hot air balloon fiesta with my family in Putrajaya. There were 20 balloons, not just the traditional "inverted tear drop" shape but some special ones that looked catchy. There were teams who participated from different countries. Many people were there to see the hot air balloons taking flight.
I was thrilled to get a pass to the launching site. I could see so closely the whole process of the hot air balloon getting inflated.

The crews getting the balloon inflated and ready to fly. As I got near it, I could feel the humidity and heat from the burner. 

The balloons came in different shape and designs. There were a clown, African elephants, a two-faced monkey, a green monster, Smurf and even a Sim card!!

The crew trying to patch up a hole found in the monkey balloon. If I were to fly the balloon I would not choose this because I would feel unsafe. I could see the interior of the balloon and from near it looked huge.

One of my favourite pictures because it showed the face of the clown through the interior of the balloon. Too bad this balloon has to land just after a few minutes in the sky.

Me, a photographer for a day...

Up, up and away.

A green monster, a two-faced monkey, cool gadgets - what more could we want? I guessed that the gadget was used to measure the air pressure in the balloon.



I wish to return again next year, hopefully I will get a pass to go to the launching site, and hopefully I can see new, cooler hot air balloons.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Al-Attas Garden in Janda Baik - 4 August 2012

Image
Besides being a well-known contentious writer, little do we know that Syed Hussein Alattas is also a self-taught gardener and an architect. He had built Taman Hana in Janda Baik from scratch and named after his wife.  Taman Hana sits on a 8-acre plot of land in the quiet village of Janda Baik. It boasts a collection of 1,000 species of plants including fruit trees, more than 700 big flower pots and five buildings that include the home of the Alattas family.  The good news is that it is open to visitors every day.  As we made our way past the entrance, this place appeared unkempt. It was well beyond its heyday (in 2008) but still showing off its faded beauty. Some parts were badly neglected, which was so unfortunate, because it originally was to be a quiet kampung retreat. A mix of traditional Malay, Peranakan, Indonesian and colonial British architecture and a Minangkabau styled roof. Syed Hussein had actually started building the structures in 1982 and he spent...
Read more

Discovering Pasir Pinji's Comfort Food - 29 June 2014

Image
Pasir Pinji Road in Ipoh is like a living heritage town. If you google this place, you will see a long list of local delicacies you must try - the famous yong tau foo, chee cheong fun, cendol, roast pork, traditional mooncakes, pastry, etc. On a Sunday, we saw the idyllic lifestyle of the local people - watching the days go by, sipping tea and catching up with friends along the corridor of shophouses, waiting for the takeaway of their favourite food or desserts from the roadside hawkers, sitting in coffee shops and dipping Hainanese buns into their kopi-O or Milo. .. it's like a walk to my childhood years in the 80s.  Ban Guan Foong Bakery has been around for more than 50 years. One of the very few remaining bakeries producing traditional Hainanese bread and buns using wood-fired oven.  A family-run business by the Goh family and some old and loyal workers. Getting ready the wood-fired brick oven  Removing the ashes from the heated oven  ...
Read more

A Potter Village in Sayong - 30 May 2013

Image
Pit Stop at the Perak royal town, Kuala Kangsar. The 1st rubber tree in Malaysia was planted in this town. That's about all I knew about this place. Labu Sayong or water pitcher from Sayong village, known for its health value to help migraine, lower blood pressure etc due to the special properties inherent in the local clay. Before this, we didn't know much of labu sayong.  We didn't go to the village or plan this visit. Out of curiousity, we bumped into this unassuming workshop at No. 3, Kg Setia, Enggor, run by Mohd bin Harun.  Pakcik was very open and gave us a tour of his workshop and how he makes labu sayong. His warm, friendly welcoming people made a lasting impression on all of us - a trait that we've lost in the big cities. The traditional way of making labu sayong uses hands to mould the clay into the shape of a 'labu' (gourd-like vase) but this is too slow. Now, the clay mixture is poured into standard mould blocks. It's ...
Read more