Monday December 31st, 2012
No school today. Holiday. This meant sleeping in! Whoo! Then
of course the whole get up for breakfast, do a few things then conk back out.
The family didn’t have any outgoing trips planned for the morning and afternoon
so I just did my own thing at home. Blog, Chinese, room cleaning, exercise,
etc.
Before I knew it, the time to leave the house had come to
watch the 3-minute midnight fireworks at Taipei 101 to celebrate the New Year.
We (host father, mother and I) left at
10:30PM, arrived about 11:25PM and proceeded to hobble through a crowd in order
to find a good viewing spot.
It took several tries in many different spots, squeezing
through multitudes of people in a balcony area at a Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall.
When we did eventually find a decent view, it was still a squished area and I
didn’t dare hold my camera up for too long in fear that I would block people’s
sight behind me. Plus I rather watch these esteemed fireworks rather than
battle getting good pictures or a video.
A rainbow Taipei 101 while waiting for midnight
Soon it was becoming close to midnight, only minutes until
2013. Then, completely randomly, fireworks began to shoot off from Taipei 101.
I was shocked to say the least. No countdown. No build up. No warning. Just
random. The fireworks continued for a couple minutes, their design mimicking a
Christmas tree to me because of the building’s design.
Here’s a link if you wish to see it:
I’ve seen some YouTube videos where the people themselves do
the countdown but that didn’t happen where I was. I think clock times weren’t
correct on some phones hence my wish for an LED screen that did an official
countdown. There weren’t any in sight for me. Oh well.
The fireworks also seemed to randomly end for me too. They
were pretty, don’t get me wrong, but it truthfully felt strange. A contributing
factor could be that it just didn’t feel like New Years Eve. Along with
Christmas, it’s not a big or even important holiday in Taiwan. The one they
truly celebrate is Chinese New Years,
which takes place in a couple months. That’s when they get together for food,
family and merriment. The New Years of 2012-2013, is not the same case. The
extent is really just going to Taipei 101 to see the fireworks.
And after watching these fireworks, THE CHAOS BEGINS! What
else would you expect if the majority of Taipei area’s population (6.9 million
people) crowded into the same area then left at the same time to use the same limited
capacity subway system. CHAOS! Oh my gosh I have never been in such a hoard
before! The term squished doesn’t even begin to cut it! You know, at one point
I stopped moving my feet…yet I still was going forward. You are pushed and
shoved all around like a little play toy. I had to work hard to not think about
it otherwise not-too-happy thoughts would pass through my mind. XD
I don’t even know how long we spent in such a clutter. We
bypassed the first MRT station because that’s where most everyone was charging
for. Instead we walked to the next MRT station for a little bit in thankfully a
lot less traffic. But there was still traffic, trust me. My host father, mother
and I calmly waited through the clutter and successfully got back to the house
all in one piece with all our belongings. I was told by my host father that
going to see Taipei 101 fireworks is a notorious time to get pick pocketed as
you can obviously guess why. So yay for still having all my stuff!
Back at the house and time to pass out. As the early hour
situation called for it, good morning! (instead of good night) :P
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