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Thursday, Dec 31, 2009
I awoke around 8:45 am (seems to be the pattern). It was a morning to relax, write, and work. The hours flew by.
In the afternoon, we hit the market again. Before coming back, I bought a breaded chicken snack. It is somewhat like a spicy chicken sandwich, only it's just a large flattened piece of chicken in a wrapper. When it's piping hot, it's really tasty. It's one of my favorite snacks so far, though it's so big that the taste diminishes about halfway through.
In the evening, we took a cab to a fun restaurant. This place served pizza and beer. It was a great change in the menu. A German woman ran the place. So yeah, let's get this straight: we were American citizens, in an Asian country, eating Italian food, made by a German woman. Got to love multiculturalism!
After getting ready, the babysitter came by and stayed with Brianna and Elaine while we downed a few festive shots and headed out for highly anticipated NYE festivities. The MRT station was crowded and only got worse. At our first transfer station, it was packed. Things moved very slowly, but the trains came every couple minutes and helped keep the crowds moving. The last time I'd experienced crowds so bad was at Disneyland for NYE with Alan, Eric, Kim, Kate, and Lisa.
Finally reaching the 101 part of town, we exited the MRT and walked a while. Stopping at a 7/11, we picked up some wine and vodka. Noticeably, very few people had alcohol. Very few seemed to be drunk. People here are just more mature (it appears). I forwent maturity for a shot of vodka.
We headed closer to the main event. Getting near the main stage would be impossible, though we did get close enough to see some of the action. Massive monitors also broadcasted the activities. This seemed to be the main event for NYE in all of Taiwan. Good for them, bad for us. Soon, we headed out of that area and down smaller streets. We were then pretty much going against the crowd, yet it wasn't impossible. Think of it as fighting against a throng of teen girls entering a free Justin Bieber concert. Yeah, it was NOT easy.
In time, we reached the apartment of Terry's friends. Judy met us downstairs and we went up the elevator. Top floor was our destination. They lived in a very nice place in a wonderful location. I was even more surprised when we went upstairs to what turned out to be not a balcony, but the whole roof. Even a children's playground was built up there. This place was "the deluxe apartment in the sky." I had no idea we were going to be treated to such a spectacular NYE event.
The view was just amazing and allowed us to see the full city (and the throngs of people down below). We took some photos, had some beer, and prepared for the big show.
At midnight, the lights on the 101 Tower began moving upwards and a stupendous fireworks show began. However, once a few sets of fireworks went off, the smoke was so thick that the rest were pretty much clouded over by the smoke. Nevertheless, it was a great show, albeit somewhat repetitive. The second, third, fourth, sets of fireworks all kind of did the same thing as the first. They look great...but déjà vu sets in after a spell.
Afterwards, we chatted for another hour or so, and then headed downstairs. We talked more and finally left around 2am, feeling very tired. Of course, there was still the long, long train ride home.
The crowds weren't too bad then, but they were still thick in places. We met one couple who had waited a couple hours to get a train, but they had tried to leave just after the main event. That's the thing about stuff like this; you may as well sit tight for a while instead of shuffling your feet for hours. Both options will have you arriving home at the same time.
In time, we reached home. It was past 3am and everyone was dead tired. Sleep was the only remedy.