An All New Year 2009

Hello to a new year. May this one be as great as the last one (for me anyway- for the economy not so much, but I won't go into that).
So as New Year's Eves go this one did not follow any of the non-plans I had in mind.
I did not have anything set in stone, just that I was going to go into Taipei and hang with some friends. I really wanted to see the fireworks display at the Taipei 101 building. I kept being told that it is pretty spectacular. So here it is on the eve and I have to work a full day until 8:30 in the evening. Not a big deal. Wouldn't head into the city until around 10 anyway. I get home, eat some dinner and get ready to go. At 10:30 I still haven't heard back from my friends, but I realize that if I'm going to see the works I've got to get going and just figure things out on the way.
I get to the train station just fine and only have a ten minute wait until the train is supposed to arrive. Another foreigner (read English speaker) is on the platform and asks me if this is the right one for the train to Taipei. I tell him it is and he wanders off. There aren't many people around and we start talking.
For reasons I cannot really clarify (and no it's not because he was attractive) I agree to hang around and meet his friend who is on his way to the station and take him along with me to meet my friends. We miss two trains waiting for this guy and ultimately when he shows up we never leave the city I'm in since there is no way to make it there in time now.
I suggest we go to the cafe on the mountain because it has a view of Taipei 101. We try to do that, but when we get to the road they are not letting traffic up. Well dammit! A lot of people live up the mountain and I know lot of people know about the view so that was probably why it was blocked off. Too much traffic for the area to handle.
Right up the street is the city hall building which has a large plaza in front of it. They are having a performance of some sort to ring in the year so we check it out. I have no idea what the hell is going on since it is of course all in Chinese. The atmosphere was festive though and I ran into a couple of my students so that was nice. I did get to see a nice fireworks display so that made me happy.
So I rang in the new year with a complete stranger who I will probably never see or talk to again. I wonder what that bodes for the new year.