World Pyro Olympics in Manila

Went to Pasay City and the Mall of Asia, not for shopping (since the mall was still closed), but for the pyro display. Yup, it was the World Championship of the Pyro Olympics. It started after Christmas, and each night, starting the 26th, 2 competing countries put on a 15-minutes show of fireworks EACH! The 30th was the last day of the competition, so off we trooped to the Esplanade for the show.

BUT GOSH, the traffic going there was terrible! Dan, Jon, me and the kids hitched a ride with Yogi and it took all of 2 hours to travel from Mandaluyong to Roxas Blvd. Though we originally wanted to go into the actual park grounds to get a good view of the fireworks, we were still at Heritage Hotel when the fireworks started! And believe me, the whole Buendia fronting Heritage Hotel became a virtual parking lot. Imagine! People got out of their cars and watched the fireworks so traffic was at a standstill. After the initial show, we all walked up to Blue Wave, met up with Ben, then waited for the next fireworks show to start. When the fireworks started up again, the kids were in awe! Both kids were shouting “Whoa! Ganda!” I don’t know which was more fun to watch, the fireworks display, or the kids’ reactions! :) It truly was a great show and people, both young and old, appreciated the beautiful display lighting up the sky.

Getting home was another matter. After the show, we joined the throngs of thousands (!) and walked. We walked all the way from Blue Wave and the Mall of Asia, to Harrison, took a cab from there, and got home almost 1 a.m.! Surprisingly, no complaints from the kids even with the long walk, as they were still excited about the show. But as soon as we got in the cab, they fell asleep. Another great experience they won’t easily forget.

(I don't think the images here did the event justice. But heck, it was worth trying. You REALLY had to be there.)