Mangez, Chantez, Buvez et Célébrez

Pour aujourd’hui est une Nouvelle Année!

Before it even struck midnight, my family spent some moments to thank the heavens for the year that was. Prayers were said at the little nook in the house. We were down on our knees. Heads were bowed down as we said our intentions through formulaic prayers. Candles of green and yellow gave light to the little nook.

Loud explosive noises drowned our little prayers. Outside, neighbors began to greet the new year with firecrackers. Our dogs got interrupted from their sleep. Shocked from the sound, they hid under our long wooden benches at the patio.

The revelry of sounds and lights went on and on. A lot of loud sounds greeted the new year. Car alarms went off, horns were blown, bangs from crackers were heard.

The sky was bright from the displays of lights. Celestial bodies were eclipsed by the explosion of lights in the heavens. The horizon on the other hand was wrapped with white smoke and the air was filled with the smell from lighted noisemakers.

We welcomed the new year 2009 in our home.

Once again, our family gathered around the table for a midnight meal. There were fruits, pasta, ham, cakes and wine that were set for the media noche. Once more, there were empty chairs.

 

 

At the table, we told some stories, we cracked jokes, we shared our laughter. The mood was festive. With our glasses filled with sweet wine, we made a toast for better health, better life, for a better year ahead.

We set up our singing machine and rocked the dawn away with our wonderful voices. We sang songs that required big notes and we sang like crazy. We drowned the noise from firecrackers with our loud singing. We sang on and on until we noticed that the town had fallen off to sleep.

 

I retired from chanting and belting at 4am. Mom and Dad had awaken from slumber to prepare for the holiday mass. I retreated to my room and slept for hours. 

Later at night, I found myself in the city, at a bar surrounded with my classmates and friends from high school. We had our little high school batch 95 reunion at Y.O.U.

I saw my classmates again. And expectedly, we travelled down memory lane and reminisced on the great time we had in high school.  It was great to see them once more. Surprisingly the get-together did not course through some bragging of personal accomplishment. It was just a simple, honest-to-goodness gathering.

Ibyang, Bas, Noche & Miole

Miole, Giovanni, Rubia & Donny

Donny, Spencer & Takeshi

Spencer, Daniel, Jerome, Roquezon, Donny & Guian

It was a New Year celebration with classmates and friends. At 12, midnight some of us said our good byes and left the party. We dropped by The Coffee Bean for some fix of mocha latte and we chatted the wee hours away. That time, the servings of coffee were paired with juicy conversations about personal and business issues.

From the coffee shop, I soon allowed myself to be transported to a disco bar along Mango Avenue.  My sister was with her friends inside the club and they had been dancing for several hours already. I thought I went in to just fetch her so we could go home but instead I found myself on the stage dancing to Beyonce’s latest hit track.

I must have danced for hours. I forgot how much margarita I drank that time. I did not even notice how my legs got numb from doing the grind. It was fun. The stage was cramped with people who, like myself, just wanted to let loose and enjoy the new year. Drunk and tired, I pulled Karen out of the club and bid goodbye to her friends. 

In my drunken state, I said goodbye to 2008 and made ZeeWee hit the road home.  Mom and Dad were already awake. The lights in the house were already on. I checked the clock on my dashboard. It read 4:30 am.

It’s another day. I almost forgot that the new year had already come. 2009 is on!