Taiwan UP

Happy 2010! I hope everyone rung in the new year with good cheer.

For the second year in a row, I headed out to watch the fireworks at Taipei 101. This year, instead of crowding on the streets and freezing with everyone else in Taipei, my friends and I went to a jazz club nearby that offered a great view of the world's second tallest building.

We came out a few minutes before midnight to witness the spectacle -- the impeccable choreography of mirrored fireworks spurting out from all four corners of the building, really wonderful, all three minutes of splendor. I nearly missed it because I blinked. It really was lovely while it lasted, but it doesn't have the stamina of fireworks shows in the States where you watch until your neck starts to ache. No, with the 101 fireworks, I'm always left aching for more. Thankfully, there were quite a few spontaneous fireworks displays that followed, satiating my pyro-maniacal tendencies.

As is the tradition, a new patriotic and overwhelmingly positive message is unveiled in lights on the 101 building sometime towards the end of the fireworks show. Last year, it was a big heart with the word "Taiwan" written across it. This is the year of "Taiwan UP"...I'll leave it up to you to interpret it how you will.