WAWAS! - KLCC and the New Year Fireworks

--14 of 19--

Soon all of us arrived at KLCC Station without much mishap, except perhaps for the temporary loss of Arif and Zalinah, which was quickly settled.

It rained a bit, but it was okay for us; it lightened to a drizzle once we reached the plaza at KLCC's entrance. The Petronas Twin Towers looked very inspiring, standing regally against the night sky, illuminated by a great many spotlights.

Only a few more minutes to the New Year! A digital clock atop KLCC Mall served as an extremely useful master timer, so that we did not have to refer to our own watches, preventing false alarms.

The rain did not dampen our spirits the slightest bit. Haddad, Aidil, Aizat, etc. whipped out their camera phones, digital cameras, etc. and started documenting the moment. We were jumping here and there trying to be in every camera's shot and every video frame. Mai did her trademark "Hi... Hi.. Hi...", looping indefinitely till the cameraman got tired of her. It sparked off (some days ago) the game of Glance-Avoiding between her and Aidil. Once you have caught the other person's glance, whoever says "Hi" first is the winner!

The people around us were getting restless. Occasionally there would float above the crowd some cheering, which we gathered were just morale boosters to warm up the crowd. Those were clearly not New Year Cheers--a quick glance at the digital clock would attest to that. All eyes were glued to the clock. 23:58. Would we catch the changing of numbers from 23:59 to 00:00?

As the Hour drew near, we simply couldn't take our eyes off the clock. I wondered where the fireworks would come from.

Then the clock struck 12! A moment's silence, then a huge chorus of cheers filled the vast space! 2008 is Here!

Fireworks exploded in the night sky! We turned and feasted our eyes on various-shaped explosions. Roses, lotuses, violets, missiles and galaxies! There were even fireworks whose particles seemed to follow their own patterns, instead of exploding straight out. By far the most beautiful were the cascading showers of golden stars.

We were treated to a full 20 minute display of what the fireworks industry could offer us in 2008. Shamil was yelling himself hoarse in enjoyment (well, he was already hoarse to begin with, so it sounded much like an old man.) Everything died down, a large column of smoke from the fireworks rose into the air, and people began clearing the area. We had seen what we came here to see! (At least *this* went on schedule!)