As far as I can go back to the memories etched in my mind, the only time I really enjoyed watching fireworks on New Year’s Eve was back in the days when we celebrated entering into the new millenium. That was probably one of the biggest events then and, that’s also when the trend of putting fireworks on every new year eve begins. It’s funny how the years after just do not bring as much excitement like the last one and consequently, making the annual fireworks just another publicity event solely for publicity purposes. That being said, I’m only referring to the ones in Malaysia as far as I am aware of. But then again, I guess that’s just one of the way things work and it also boils down to the individual him/herself on how to turn just another event into a night to remember with just a pinch of effort.

Thankfully for last year, I manage to grasp onto the opportunity for a NYE trip with Joanne Elaine and it’s been a long time since I’ve gone out on NYE’s walking through a huge crowd and pushing through to Federation Square right down to Yarra River just for a good spot. Of course, there were a lot of street performers that night and there was a pair that caught my eye as I’ve never seen anything quite like that before.

Drawing faces on pathway using gigantic brushes and water? That’s a first for me and I applaud for their creativity. It wasn’t till another two hours before the clock strikes twelve signifying the new year and there we were, three of us on the bridge. It wasn’t entirely the brightest idea to head over to the casino bar for drinks and risk losing our good spot, and it felt ridiculous at the beginning to think that we have to stand at the same spot overlooking the river for a good two hours. I’m glad with did the latter as that’s when we opened up among ourselves, even without the help of alcohol..

After hours of pouring out our darkest secrets and stories, it was only a few seconds left before the clock strikes twelve. Everybody was eager and we started counting down the last 10 seconds in unison with the rest of the people on the street. And for a good 15 to 30 minutes, there was just a spectacular display of fireworks surrounding us and I didn’t know where should I be looking at. Words can’t describe how beautiful that sparks are bursting out from the skyscrapers and making it even more beautiful from the reflective windows of these buildings.

Not long after, it was a long walk heading back to our apartment and to make it even better? I got us some Ben & Jerry’s to celebrate the night.

Till we meet again, Melbourne.