A Colorful and Loud New Year's Eve

I never thought that my New Year's Eve here in Manila can turn out to be quite interesting. It started out a bit boring, really. I'd been spending my time at a friend's apartment, enjoying the hospitality of his PlayStation2 while he was away. The game 'Okami' had me hooked for awhile now (as always, a review after I have finished the game), and that was what I'd been playing for several days. When I wasn't playing, another friend of mine would use the PS2 to play Final Fantasy XII.

We were playing the whole afternoon on that December 31st 2006, then took quite a long nap. Around 7 in the evening, we woke up and decided to walk around Makati to see what festivities they have. We have been eyeing all the firework canons lined up in front of my apartment, and we had a strong hunch that they will fire it up at midnight...like duh, it's New Year's eve.

There were many people and lots of food stall at the intersection where they have Ninoy Aquino's statue. There was also a huge stage there. The singers were not so good, and the food, well the food was okay. But since most of them are made of pork and my friend is a Muslim, we decided to go somewhere else to have our dinner. After quite a long walk (and almost getting hit by an unfriendly taxi at an intersection), we ended up at a Pizza Hut near (well, not so near actually) my friend's apartment.

We went back to the intersection only to find more people yet only a so-so entertainment. About 45 minutes before midnight we decided to go to Makati Av., the road in front of my apartment. We waited anxiously for the fireworks, and after waiting for awhile, the first firework exploded in hues of white and red.

It was probably the best display of firework I've ever seen, right in front of my eyes. I was practically only 15-20 meters away from the stack of fireworks, sitting on the asphalt road, feeling like watching a movie while sitting in the front-most row seat. It felt great! Really great! Colors and deafening sounds exploding only 30 meters above me, showering down like rain of light on a cloudless, moon-lit night. The explotions lasted at least for 25 minutes, with the finale a barrage of red, white, green and blue lasting for more than a minute.

Everyone was clapping when the last firework explosion died down, and I was still sitting on the asphalt road of Makati Avenue, speechless. It was beautiful, and the best part was that I wasn't expecting anything so awe-inspiring happening right in front of my apartment. And unexpected New Year's gift. I know no matter how many words I put down in this entry, nothing could replace that moment in time. Front row (asphalt) seat, colors and sound exploding only 20-25 meters above my head, my digital camera (which can only store 1 minute and 45 seconds worth of video), my natural camera (my eyes), and my internal memory (my brain). Got videos, thinking of uploading it to YouTube. We'll see. Will update this post when I do. Anyways, Happy New Year 2007 everyone! Wishing us all the best in the coming year!