Brand New Year

Happy New Year 2006!

These holidays were rather fun, I'd have to say. The addition of my big brother to our neighbourhood (Taiwan, that is) made all the difference. Now now, don't go booing me for "dissing" my younger brother. Both K and I are in Hsinchu. That, in itself, sucks. Big brother works (and thus lives) in Taipei. What does that mean? A place to go hang out on the weekend, more connection with our Taipei friends.

So anyway, this Christmas, we ordered in roasted turkey from Lawry's (complete with stuffing, mashed potatos, gravy, etc.), did a gift exchange, and had Christmas music playing. I don't care what they think, but Taiwan doesn't know how to celebrate Christmas except commercially. Even with all the glitz and glamour, it just does not feel like Christmas here. So having a "real" Christmas with friends and family was really great.

New Year's - well, we had friends having their wedding photos done at Taipei 101 (how brave!). It was so packed toward the countdown that you could hardly breathe; the only movement you could make was to tilt your head upward to watch the fireworks. The fireworks were only okay (to be fair, though, I'm comparing them to the Celebration of Lights fireworks competition back home). Never doing the countdown at 101 again. But still a fun night.

All in all, a nice holiday. :)

And now the New Year begins.