Let there be fireworks

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 04:32:31 GMT

NYE Celebration

As I looked up the sky and saw the first round of midnight fireworks, I couldn't help but feel so fortunate to be living in Sydney. There we all were, eight people, standing at a park in Pyrmont overlooking the Sydney Harbour with full view of the bridge.

One thing I liked about it was that, compared to my nightmarish experience of celebrating NYE2004 in London, where my friends and I walked towards the Big Ben and were groped by numerous drunk anon guys!!!, NYE2006 in Sydney was a family event. Everyone had enough space so we weren't like shoving or pushing against everybody to get a good view, And despite the fact that everyone must have had more than their fair share of alcohol, there were no signs of trouble anywhere.

After the fireworks, we all came back to my friend's place for more cocktails, dancing, slagging each other's musical tastes (we all played DJ that night) and exchanging new year's resolutions.

You can tell how wild (not!) my bunch of friends are when we decided to end the day watching Madagascar. I'm not sure if it was the alcohol but there were parts in the movie where I was howling. Like when Alex the Lion bit the Zebra on the butt, the penguins and their "cute and cuddly" routine and the funny adult-friendly dialogue. Anyway, it was already 3.30am ish and I ended up dosing off at the lounge halfway through the movie.

11am. It was scorching hot! I felt like I was going to melt before we get to the tram stop. It's 35 degrees celsius (95 Fahrenheit) and rising to at least five more degrees!

My friends and I settled on Marigold Restaurant for Yum Cha (Chinese Morning Tea where you get to order little servings of dumplings, etc). I looooooove Yum Cha.

After that, we went to this Chinese jewellery and tea shop that had many things on sale. I was tempted to buy this set of clay tea pot that was made from a province in China because of the intricate design on the handle BUT decided against it at the last minute. As it was made of clay, the maker just kept it in its original mud red colour, which doesn't really look good compared to the more colourful tea sets I've seen in the past.

Instead, I settled on this Chinese calligraphy set. I don't know how to use it yet but guess what I'll be doing on my free time. haha. I think it's only fitting that my first purchase for the year is something new. Something I haven't done before.

Lastly, I hope that one day I get to celebrate New Year's in a far away place like Copacabana. See the fireworks they had this year!

Final, final note, I almost didn't make it to my friend's place. I was feeling sad for many reasons and didn't feel like celebrating. My family and friends used to have this tradition of going to Circular Quay to watch the fireworks. EVERY YEAR. I thought maybe as I grow older, it just doesn't hold the same magic anymore.

Then I came across this pic of a couple celebrating the new year which showed me a different perspective (above). It's not so much the new year but that it is another year to celebrate with the ones you love, be it your family, friends or your special someone. And given the tragic events that happened in the past two years - from Indonesia to New Orleans - I decided that it is worth celebrating the year with a bang. And so at the last minute, I made my way to Pyrmont to witness the midnight pyrotechnics.

So my dear friends, I hope you all have a good year this year! As He once said "Let there be light", I say in 2006, let there be fireworks!!! :)

Photos courtesy of yahoo.com, AP.

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Let there be fireworks