Last evening was the final presentation of the 2007 World Pyro Olympics in SM Mall of Asia and just like what happened last year, people totally flocked the whole place. Last year I didn’t have any idea about how thick the crowd would be and darn it was annoying. The highways were like huge parking lots because the cars were that many and they were moving so very slowly (if not at all) and it took us three hours just to break free from the jam. People were walking everywhere. It was a free show for most of my kababayans so they just brought blankets, foods and mono-blocks and settled themselves anywhere that is in full view of the sky. Ask anyone you know who went to the final night of the pyro olympics and they’ll tell you the same thing.
Bryan and I have always enjoyed watching the fireworks but we weren’t able to make reservations ahead of time so the whole ordeal was quite messy but still, you don’t see such spectacle everyday so I think it was worth still it. We arrived in the Mall of Asia at around 5PM and we found out that all the restos along the 2nd level of the esplanade were already fully booked. Too bad because those seats were in perfect view of the show. We tried the first level and, fortunately, were able to reserve eight seats (Rhea [Bryan's friend] and her family were with us) in Seattle’s Best for PhP300 each – inclusive of a large drink, a bag of chips and a cookie. It was a total ripoff!
After several sticks of smoke and hours of waiting, the first part of the show finally started at 9PM – two hours late from the announced schedule. Look who’s being a diva! This is one bitch no audience can ever do anything about. The first show was good – it was China who first presented. People were cheering as if those flames would return the gratitude. But the gesture was really cool and it further intensified every second. I took pictures of it but of course, Suze could not take a nice one. She’s only capable of taking beautiful pictures if Bryan and i are the subjects and nobody else. Haha! So we just took this cool shot with a nice shower of sparkles in the background.
Before the first show began, we wandered around the place to see what the crowd was doing and what the stage with the beacons was about and took several pics as well. It was tough going past through those many people, I swear. I still couldn’t believe how they could endure the stress and discomfort of sitting on the pavement for hours with only a jug of water just to witness a famous fireworks display. Is its beauty worth all the hassle? I don’t think it’s overrated though because it certainly was a delicious eye candy but sitting on the dark and dirty pavement along the sidewalk was something else. Anyway, here’s our little camwhoring with touches of modesty so it was just a few shots.
In front of the stage where the DJ was playing trying to entertain people while waiting for the show.
Around 1030PM it was the Philippines’ turn to present. The Philippine presentation was better than China’s – way better with bigger showers of flames, more colors and more tricks. It lasted for about 20 minutes and I took a low-quality video of it using my phone. I’m gonna try to upload it later. It was crazy and I loved it. That totally stopped the world for a brief moment and it made you forget anticipating how much traffic you would experience on your way out. Hehe. Well, unfortunately several people positioned themselves infront of me when the second part started so it wouldn’t be possible to get a nice shot of the fireworks as the background. Bryan managed to get this shot but it wasn’t properly focused.
When the show ended, that’s when we felt how hungry we were but sadly we had no choice but to experience the greatest deal of traffic just to get out of the parking lot. We left the mall at around 1130PM and reached Gil Puyat Avenue at 145AM. Last year was worse because we didn’t have our own ride and we were standing inside the bus for hours going to Makati. We could’ve walked our way and would’ve reached the place earlier. Anyway, here are some more pictures taken while waiting and after the show.
