Twisted soul: New Year Celebration in KL

Since I posted what happened to me on Christmas, I'm going to post what happened to me on New Year, which is the first time that I celebrated it in another country. How come I celebrated my New Year here in KL? My employer advised me to be here in Malaysia on Dec 31 and Jan 1, these are the critical dates that I should be here (as expat) to be considered as a resident during tax assessment. As a resident, I am subjected to 6-8% tax and if not, I will be charged with a whopping 28%. Although some of my colleagues who have a similar case as I do arrived here on Jan 2, I don't want to take that risk.

My flight was an hour delayed (via Cebu Pacific) and I arrived in our unit at around 4:30 AM. I barely slept that night and woke up at 10 AM. Agri and I went to Midvalley to buy the ingredients for our Media Noche. There were a lot of people who were also buying for the New Year's eve dinner (but not as many compared to the Philippines). Agri and I arrived at around 6 PM and we had to rush to the kitchen because we have to catch the fireworks at KLCC. There were 2 occasions that we celebrated that night - Agri's birthday and New Year's party. Mars arrived that day as well and we invited our friends to come and celebrate with us - Rey, Minnie and Zari. The last 2 arrived on that day with Mars as well.

Our dinner consisted of spaghetti, nacho salad, ham, wine and fruit salad. Rey brought some brownies while we bought a chocolate indulgence cake (the cake of the year) for Agri. It was a fun dinner as everyone gamely posted for pictures (with different themes). At around 11 PM, we all left for KLCC to watch the fireworks. There were a lot of people from different races who were there to witness the event but some of us got paranoid with the people so we left the place to go to the bar area. Because of this, we missed the fireworks =(

That night, Bukit Bintang was a busy street that night since most of the people were celebrating the New Year. We chose to go to the Beach Club because according to the magazine reviews, it's the bar to check out to taste the real life in KL. Mars and Agri were not in mood for partying that night so the 4 of us went inside while the 2 of them stayed at coffee bean. In my opinion, the music sucks and its weird because everyone was enjoying the music while all of us were just standing (mga KJ kami). We went outside to meet Mars and Agri at Coffee Bean, who later went home. When we got back, the music got better and we danced to the tune of Shakira's Hips Don't Lie, Daddy Yankee's Gasolina, Snoop Dogg's Next Episode, to name a few (I love hiphop music). We gave all our energy and danced to the max (bigay na bigay) and we were only able to dance for 5 songs! Kakabitin aargh! We didn't realize that it was already 3 AM. And by the way, the last song that they played is Always by Bon Jovi (talk about saving the "best" for last huh?)

A funny thing happened before we went home. Unlike in Manila where the bars closes when before sunrise, the bars here in KL closes at 3 AM. We searched for other places to hang out but everything was closed. While resting, a young Chinese guy approached us and talked to Rey, offering him RM 200. At first, we thought that he might had mistaken Rey for a pimp but it turned out, that offer is for Rey (who was hit that night twice hahaha!! the other one is from a Norweigan guy). We only realized that after the guy left us.

With an aching feet (dala ng kakiyan sa pagsusuot ng mataas na sandals - ang hirap maging babae!), the 4 of us went home in our unit. Minnie and Zari were exhausted from their flight so they slept at the sofa (who later moved to sleep in my bedroom). Rey and I spent the rest of the night watching the AMEX Idol video that Ryan gave me, criticizing each contestant (including Ryan of course), reliving our experiences since moving to KL. We didn't realize that it was already morning and he left at around 8:30 AM while I woke up Minnie and Zari.

Even though I'm away from home, I didn't feel sad at all because I had fun that night. I may not be able to do the rituals that we Filipinos used to do during New Year (like jumping or lighting the firecrackers) but it was fun because I celebrated it by having a taste of KL's Night life for the first time with my friends :)

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