Visited the Taipei 101, which had just dethroned the Petronas Twin Towers as the tallest building in the world. The mood was festive, there was also local elections then in Taipei, and I enjoyed myself.
Hong Kong followed Taipei, and the Christmas celebrations are even bigger here. There were sales and streets were crowded. Did some sight seeing, shopping and pigging out before leaving for Kuala Lumpur for the Christmas holidays - since it was the holidays, no one was working on the project, hence there wasn't any valid reasons for me to remain :(
I remember watching the breaking news of the tsunami in KLIA. Everyone was transfixed by the early scenes on TV. I took the flight out with those early images in my mind.
As days go by, the immense destruction of the tsunami hit home. Donations were going around, celebrations toned down and the HK government were receiving some flak for it's inaction.
On the street, even though the mood of festivities were still present, my heart was blanketed by a veil of sadness. I think most people were too, with the constant heart breaking scenes from Thailand and Indonesia.
I walked the famous tourist belt taking in the scene, but as most restaurants were crowded, I just bought whatever tidbits that catches my eye during my walk.
There were a box from a bakery that has the most heavenly smell as I walked by. A slice of cake for dessert, and some Norwegian salmon with rice in a box!
Thus that was my end of 2004 dinner in my cosy hotel room with frailty of life flashing on the screen.
I left the following day back for Kuala Lumpur with memories of an eventful 2004 that ended with a bang.
Note: Unless if I happen to travel during the New Year, there would not be any special entries during New Year's day. I am keeping personal entries in a separate blog.
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