I so wanted to watch one night of the second World Pyro Olympics and I did plan to go see China’s and the Philippines’ show last Saturday but I never did get around to doing it. The primary reason was that I was dissuaded by anecdotal reports of the horrendous traffic within 10 kilometers of the Mall of Asia and the secondary reason was that I didn’t relish the idea of spending a lot of time at the mall just to avoid the peak of the traffic.

I guess I’ll never really know what I had missed. Beautiful pictures of the fireworks, while pretty, cannot hope to capture the grandeur of the show. And I know for a fact that videos (especially the ones in YouTube), while they show a glimpse, vastly pale in comparison to the real experience.

There’s this guy, who was sitting with friends in a condo near the mall to watch the show, and was fully expecting to be bored. Yet he was wowed by it.

The last time I ever saw a really grand fireworks display was during the Philippine Centennial. (Never did see the first competition.) I guess I’ll just have to wait another year; and I’ll have my camera ready. I just hope that Manila will still be the host then.