Glowing Envelopes

This weekend, there was the inaugural Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2009 to visit. One of the events caught my eye - the Evening Glow - which suggested a sky-filled balloon display...now that would be a sight to behold...or so I thought.

Instead, a row of hot air balloons merely assembled (albeit 30 minutes late) on the wide open field and put on a display of illuminated balloons by firing up their flame jets to the tune of music for all of 20 minutes. No balloons lifted off which was a bit of a let-down.

The venue was good...lots of space but the organisers really could have upped the standard of the actual event - it felt so amateur-ish...it reminded me of a school sports day. The organisers could have really gone all out to put more of a carnival event with more entertainers, obvious decor, more variety of food stalls, better music, etc. - really give the rakyat a rollicking good time...

I felt a little bit like this balloon when I realised
the balloons weren't going to take off for an evening flight

Let's hope the organisers learn from this year and improve in the next - this event really has so much potential and there is a good opportunity to make it a livelier event for the masses. (~ps: DON'T run the event during a Friday when you know it's only going to ruffle a few feathers!!!)


Find of the weekend: I found out that there was MORE of Putrajaya...so so so much more! The place is truly huge and goes on for miles and miles with beautiful buildings. But one thing is for sure...Putrajaya needs to participate in Earth Hour Malaysia. Have you signed up yet? 6 more days, people.