Fire in the sky

New year's eve was an intimate affair this year. I accepted Ben's invite and we headed into KL at 6pm. Chris was already there, so he could clue us in on the best option to take to go into Jln Kia Peng, where Fred lives. By the time we got there it was 7:00pm, and the sky looked overcast - I thought it was pawang time and we all hoped the KLCC folks had had a good witch doc working for them last night :-)

We walked a bit to get dinner, and the mood at the hakka place was jovial. There was a group of Japanese people at the table next to us, and they celebrated their own countdown at 11:00 pm, going by Tokyo time, I suppose. After a lovely dinner of chicken, veggies and tofu with rice (it was fun watching Fred's uncle and his friend use the chopsticks, they were good sports!) we walked back to Fred's place. His uncle opened a bottle of the 'best German wine in the world' and we counted down the final minutes of 2007 and toasted 2008 at the patio. Granted, I had my lychee juice (Chris got me lychee juice, God bless his kind soul) in the crystal champagne flute, but hey, it's the thought that counts, innit?

My last view of fireworks display was when Ben and I caught the Merdeka 2006 show at the Curve. Fireworks kinda lost their appeal to me after that, and I wasn't expecting anything that would move me. I'm so glad to be proven wrong. The colours were beautiful and to me it really looked like they were sparks coming from the heavens (or Genting Highlands hehe).

Have a look at the photos, courtesy of William Cheng CC's collection on flickr.

Aren't they awesome?

Fred's uncle and his friend went out shortly after that. We changed into our shorts and sarongs and lounged about the pool, chatting about everything and nothing; basically just enjoying each other's company. So here's a record of our resolutions, just so that my friends can know that I do have a record of them somewhere ;-)

Fred: to graduate (finally) and finish his studies by summer 2008
Ben: to find a great job with the environment that suits him best
Chris: to enjoy the year and make it the best one yet
Faz: to be a great connector of people in her network of friends, colleagues and acquaintances

We got very familiar with the family kitchen (and their 3 refrigerators) and we left Fred's place at 5 a.m. It's Ben's birthday next week, so we'll probably get together again, just before Fred returns to Bonn, I suppose.

I have a good feeling about 2008. I loved 2007 - a bit of a roller coaster in the beginning, but in principal, 2007 was the year where I got healed. I loved being 35, and I'm so looking forward to turning 36 in April. I'm grateful for what I have, and this adds to the good feeling for this new year. Here's a big hug for 2007, and I've got the welcome mat rolled out for 2008!