Countdown to 2009

Posted on 1 Jan 2009 - by Katkat In: etcetera

What do you do on a New Year’s Eve? As for me and my sister, we always head straight to my aunt’s house to stay the night becuase it gets too polluted and noisy at our place. Spending new year’s eve with my aunt and her family (my cousins), we ate and just do nothing. I don’t even stay up the whole night to greet anyone a Happy New Year. I would go to sleep and later be awakened by blasts of the fireworks on nearby places. I also watch Kohaku special on NHK. My friend and I love to see our favorite j-pop singers in the Red and White Special. However, as we grew older our interest waned and new singers pop out and we can’t relate to the show anymore.

Back when I was younger, my dad will buy lots of firecrackers. I remember the time when we would travel to Bulacan to buy the firecrackers. On New Year’s Eve he would mischievously light up the big and loud firecrackers despite news reports of people getting their hands blown up by firecrackers. When I was in the USA, I was able to spend New Year there twice already. New Year’s eve is my aunt’s birthday so we all spend it at their place because she usually has dinner party to celebrate her birthday and the new year. We would all eat and watch the fireworks at different cities on TV. I would also beg my parents to bring me to San Francisco to watch the fireworks there, but they wouldn’t give in to my request.

This New Year’s eve Dec. 31, 2008, I was at my aunt’s house again. And my socially active cousin brought us – me my sister and my other cousin to The Fort, Taguig to do the countdown. We left the house at 1045pm and we arrived there 11pm and walked to the Fort or where Embassy is and waited for the countdown. There’s nothing much out there, just nicely dressed people standing and waiting. There’s costumed people who walk on stilts and I was able to take pictures with them. Then 10 minutes to 12, Tim Yap showed up on stage and welcomed the crowd. He rambled on too long obviously wanting to while away the last few minutes. At a distant place the fireworks has already started. Apparently their New Year started already. Then it’s our time. The countdown begins at 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

A disco ball/strobe ball lifted up on the stage (my cousin said that they were emulating that same ball at New York – IMHO, they failed miserably!!!) splendid fireworks show greeted us. I love fireworks. It never fails to impress me. I’m always like a kid watching fireworks. But often I would compare any fireworks to the gold standard – that is the Disneyland’s fireworks show. Nothing beats theirs!!!!!

So to everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I hope it rocks!