My bags are packed. In a few hours, I’ll be bidding farewell to Taipei, my home for three months in 2004 on a short-lived attempt to learn Mandarin. The 100 or so characters I had learned has now dwindled to about 5, 3 of which are the characters for 1, 2 and 3 (one bar, two bars and three bars).

Next stop is Hong Kong for the weekend, and then I’m flying back to London on a red-eye. Not the ideal flight but it’s a much better way to travel than slinging myself to the old continent. (FYI, sign was on the 2nd floor of a restaurant in Taipei).

Taipei 101, the world’s tallest building, is where locals go to celebrate New Year’s in Taiwan. About 400,000 people jammed the area to watch the 3-minute fireworks display sponsored by Sony. Definitely a more impressive show than what Paris mustered last year.

I avoided the mayhem at Taipei’s Xinyi district and watched the fireworks instead at a bar called Velvet Underground, where I celebrated 2007 with J and her friends with a glass of Champagne in hand. But it wasn’t as easy as it seemed.

I’m not sure if it was the bar or a cultural thing, but the bartender looked surprised when I ordered a bottle of Champagne at a quarter to midnight. They had only one stocked in the cooler and were a bit slow to bring us the flûtes, which were in a separate storage room. It wasn’t until I explained that we were going to toast after midnight that she hurried up.

When 2007 came, my lips merely grazed the air although I was in very good company. My excuse was that I was celebrating New Year’s in a different country with an eclectic group of people (7 nationalities) I didn’t know very well. I guess I needed that night a girl wearing a “Kiss me” T-shirt to share my fluency in French.

A smaller version of Tokyo’s Shibuya, Ximen (pronounced shee-men) is a popular spot for les djeun’s of Taipei. This is where they go to shop and play – namely KTV, arcades and movies – during the little free time they have. Since most have classes until 9pm, Ximen’s relatively quiet on a weekday, but bustling at night and weekends.

I spent another Christmas away from home. Last year, a friend and I hosted dinner for 15 in Paris. This year, I spent Christmas Eve, known as 24 December in Taiwan, with J and her friends.

Things were less hectic this time. We had our December 24th dinner at an organic restaurant near Shi-Da (NTNU) and then hung out at a friend’s place nearby for a 100 NT ($3) gift exchange and karaoke.

In Taipei, 100 NT was enough to buy a music CD, colourful slippers, a coin pouch, and other cheap stuff we found at the night market. In London, just taking the tube to go shopping and back would break the budget.