It's a half day at work today, given that it is the end of the year, so we get to finish work half a day earlier. In New Zealand, we always get time off work like on the 28th or 29th of something. Some companies may even have annual holidays from before Christmas till after new years. I remember when I was working in Ukraine as an English Teacher 2 years ago, I was working until the 28th of December. In Ukraine, the New Years is the most important holiday of the year, even more than their Christmas (which is in early January rather than on the 25th December). In China, Christmas and New Years aren't the biggest festivals and don't really get as much attention as the Chinese New Year, woohoo~ Can't wait!
Nevertheless, all of us are still really really excited about New Years. I left work and met up with the mums and Anson in a noodles shop near Di'anmen where they're enjoying some Yunan style rice noodles. Mums originally wanted to go to Chengxiang or Xidan for some massive shoppings then suddenly we saw the Di'anmen Department Store opposite the street, why don't we take a look? Here we go, we eventually stayed in this department store for a good old three hours and came out the door with at least 5 bags of clothings/shoes on hand PER PERSON!!! It was so crazy. I bought some boots, so did mum; Anson was the most successful shopper where he bought a lot of blazers and work trousers all for 250-300RMB per item! These were used to be on sale for like over 1000RMB each. It's such a good deal!!! When we got out of the department store and found a cab, the taxi driver was laughing at us when he saw our 'victory' from the department stores. Hehe, women + new year's eve discount = multiple bags of victory. When we arrived home and I finally got changed out of work attires, Anson and I are ready to go out and meet the rest of the guys. The mums weren't too happy that we 'left' them at home but they know us, haha, 'young people go party outside', haha, they speak in joking voices that we leave them at home so they'll have their OWN party. LOL! Mums!! 
Another exciting thing happened today!! Apart from the fact that it is New Year's Eve, today is the day that Anna and Peter arrives in Beijing too!!! They're both doing an AIESEC exchange in Dalian for the last month or so and they've finally finished their work. They're coming to Beijing for about 2.5 weeks before travelling to Shanghai and then going back home to New Zealand. Because I moved out of the flat so Anna will be staying in my room; while Peter will be staying in Karina's flat. I met Anna when I joined AIESEC nearly 3 years ago. She was the VP Finance of AIESEC Auckland when I joined and then moved onto become the MC VP Finance for AIESEC New Zealand while I became the VP OGX for AIESEC Auckland. We're both from Guangzhou but we never spoke in Cantonese. I used to assume Anna didn't know how to speak in Cantonese because she grew up in NZ, but then one day I suddenly heard her speaking in Cantonese, it's sooo cute~! There's a party hold tonight by one of the AIESECers we met in Beijing, Nick (from AIESEC Australia) in a hotel near Sanlitun. We were all invited to go to the party. Because we had to wait for Anna and Peter to arrive in Beijing and move their stuff to our flat first, so Anson and I decided to go 'home' (back to my flat) and wait for everyone to be ready. By the time we arrived, Jordan, Gerard and Josi are all home waiting. It's so nice to be back at 'home' after moving out for a week. Everythings still the same, warm and comfy; everyone still look the same, happy and cheerful. I miss you guys!!
Finally after waiting for just over an hour, Jordan received a call from Anna saying that their cab just arrived at the entrace of our residential area. Anson and Jordan said that they will go down and help Anna and Peter with their luggages. Soon, we heard laughters and voices outside the door and here's Anna!!! Welcome Anna~~~!!!!! As soon as Jordan and Anson came in, Anson said 'OMG, you can't believe what Anna just said'. We asked him what happened and he told us that as soon as Anna saw them in the dark on the road, Anna said 'Is that Anson? Big a bigger size?', and she also mentioned how Jordan gained weight. Puhahahahaha, Gerard Josi and I couldn't stop laughing and especially Jordan and Anson still have the unblievable expressions showing on their faces. Anna said she gained a lot of weight since she came to China but to be honest, none of us could tell that she gained weight. Poor Jordan and Anson, hehe, but it's ok, we all gained weight (except Gerard). It's China, what do you expect??When Anna and Peter finally settled down, we are all ready to get out of the house and enjoy the last night of 2009!! We first took the bus and got off at Hujialou North Street bus station. Since it's already 9.30pm by the time we arrived at the bus station, and since we are hugely late for the party ANYWAY, so might as well find a place for dinner first. The restaurant called 'Guo Lin Restaurant' is right next to the bus station and so that's it, this is going to be our New Year's Eve dinner =) Gerard and I didn't feel like eating at all because it's already really late and we had some food before so we sat there and watch the others eat. Josi was quite shocked when Peter and Anson suddenly said they wanna try donkey meat. Peter and Anson were really excited about it, Anna and Jordan were also very open to try it out, Gerard and I have no opinions (with Gerard slowly falling asleep from boredom) so eventually Josi gave in (however, she still didn't try the donkey meat though). Dinner was really fun because Peter and Anna were telling us all these funny stories they had in Dalian, about their school and about the weather in Dalian. It's so much colder than Dalian, and althought the rest of us are shivering while walking on the street, Peter and Anna find Beijing rather warm... scary....
By the time we finally got to Liangmaqiao Station (which is the closest to the hotel room party) it was already near 11pm, haha, time sure does pass by real quick in Beijing). Most of us are already near frozen from all the walks and pretty much lost a lot of hype for New Year's Eve. I called Jordan Chong so many times trying to find out the directions to get to the hotel and I bet he's busy drinking and didn't hear his phone. Eventually I found Karina and after the hassle of explaining how to find the hotel, Karina and Nick (the host) decided to come and pick us up, we're like stranded kids on the road waiting for help on this cold and lonely New Year's Eve. When we finally met, we realised that the message Jordan Chong send me with the directions was a little bit off from the correct route, lol, no wonder.
When we finally got to the hotel room, OMG, the hotel room is FULL of people. We're mostly all AIESECers from around the world, and this room is already hyped with cheers and laughters. A brief introduction in this messy and noisy room, we were soon scattered around in the rooms talking to different people. To be honest, I'm already pretty worn from everything today and feel really sick from the cold air outside, so I sat on the side of the bed. Gerard and Josi joined me and we started talking. It's been really amazing so far, I mean our journey. We met three years ago, from different backgrounds and different culture, and now, three years later, we're travelling together for 3 months, becoming the closest friends to each other, watch out for each other's back, getting worried and becoming happy for each other. It's not easy, but definitly rewarding.
Before we know it, some people from the lounge came into the room and joined us for some jokes. Peter was dancing in Josi's bright and shinny pink jacket, with Kayne sharing his excitement under the influence of alcohol. Gerard Josi and I sat on the bed, watching them and laughing at them. Jordan's leaning against the door talking to the new friends he just met. In this room there are Americans, Canadians, Australians, Polish, Chinese and many more, but you know who's the dominating group? Kiwis!! Yeah Kiwis!!! Cool huh?!
Random photos were being taken at all times, weird jokes and funny laughters at all times, it was actually really fun to see how people just gets excited and happy over little things, and how a 'festival' can make people laugh. Suddenly, someone from the lounge was shouting, OMG, it's counting down! We all rushed to the lounge and saw the countdowns showing on the TV screen. Without getting ready with a drink in hand, we all started cheering.
10...
9...
8...
7...
6...
5...
4...
3...
2...
1...
Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We raised our glasses into the mid-air (I found a glass somehow) and all cheered for the excitement of 2010! It's a new year! A new start!!! Everyone started to squash into the bedroom and we chanted for national roll calls. It's a very AIESEC thing to do something that represents our own country while we meet internationally. Jordan Wang, Jordan Chong and Kayne were the first one to perform, and guess what kiwis are good at? The Haka!! Uh Huh!! Especially to the Australian out there (namely Nick) we really need to show some power and strengths. The boys were doing the Haka at their full strength, scaring the girls at the front and making an huge impression on the guys in the room. It's truely amazing, the power that these guys are giving out. Jordan Chong was extremely loud and probably didn't even notice how fierce he was looking. I think under the strong influence of alcohol, Kayne and Jordan Chong had no idea what they were yelling, but for us they sound like they're just yelling vowels, rather than actual haka lyrics. The crowds demanded for an enchore of the same thing and this time Jordan Wang gave up. Haha, he couldn't stop laughing at the expressions he sees on Jordan Chong and Kayne' faces, it was so hilarious!!! After the haka, every country did their own little performance. The one I still remember was when the Americans were singing their national anthem, so American, hehe.
Everyones' pretty much still VERY high for New Years and it's just so hard to gather everyone and decide on the next destination. Finally after talking to Nick for so many times, he made the 'announcement' to everyone that we'll leave for Mix (one of the top clubs) in 20 minutes. I bet not everyone heard him because people are just still into their perspective chats and drinks. Finally trying to pass on the message to everyone and finding the way out the hotel room, I realised that there are more than 20 of us in this little hotel room! Wow! Josi decided not to come with us to the club because she was feeling very sick and tired, bye Josi =(
Getting everyone to go to the same place wasn't easy. Firstly there were too many of us to take one taxi (well, obviously); secondly there're hardly any taxis available on the road because it's a busy night out for a lot of people; and thirdly, a lot of people didn't know where we're going nor agreed to go to Mix. By the time I arrived at Mix, only 2 more cabs followed up and there were just less than 10 of us. We weren't sure how many more people are coming and so we had to act on our own. Jordan and I went into Mix to ask for prices and HOLY GOD! It's 150RMB for the ticket per person!!! To even just get in we need to pay 150RMB and I bet the drinks are triple the normal prices. To be honest, we are not so keen for Mix anymore if it's a price like this and I think it's gonna be quite similar in other clubs. When we walked out the door we hear Anson yelling and pointing at the cars parked outside the Mix. OMG, no wonder the tickets are like 150RMB per person, look at all the cars by the door! All the prettiest and fanciest cars, all the expensive and limited edition cars, they're probably all here tonight. All the boys are getting really excited while the girls are shivering in the cold.
What's up after the failure of clubbing? Nick guided us and we walked to the Sanlitun Bar Street. This street is famous for all the bars on the road and it's one of the hot destinations for young people and tourists in Beijing. The street is in fact, VERY POPULATED and NOISY at this time of the night! I had to constantly avoid people walking by to make sure I don't bump into them. Eventually we walked into a bar called, 9.9 Bar. It's a small and narrow but long bar. The drinks in here are very expensive, just like any other bars, but I guess people won't care much on a night like this? It was too noisy and crowded in the bar for us to talk and play games but luckily we have our own seats and sat around the table. At first it was ok, to see more and more people from the hotel party to arrive at 9.9 Bar, but sooner or later, it became really boring. I couldn't stop yawning and seeing Gerard falling asleep too. Anson is still really high and was talking to Karina. What more can we do for the night?
That's it. We're all tired and have no idea what we can do next. Everythings gonna be damn expensive tonight and terribly crowded. I'm personally not too keen for a night like this. Although it is New Years, but I really didn't think it was necessary to pay extra for extra crowdedness!
Nonetheless, after a long day of random plans and seeing time passing by, it was tiring and definitely could be better. However, nothing can beat the fact that today is New Year's day!! Wohoo~
Happy New Year =)
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