Well this is a big one. Catholic and Chinese traditions are a major part of the festivities. It may be midnight mass to pray for prosperity or it may be a lot of fireworks to chase away the bad spirits on this once a year celebration.
It is not uncommon to hear and see fireworks from our apartment. Fireworks are a part of many different types of celebration, including weddings.
We are at the Bailey's apartment on the 25th floor because it looks toward Manila. Our apartment on the 28th floor looks the opposite direction to the East. No screens or safety measures, you can just hang out there.
As I searched my photos for that night, I am very disappointed. What we saw and what the camera caught are two different events. Because of the 2 second delay, I could not seem to get the timing right to capture the moment. The bright light was a ground display at the Mandaluyong City Hall. It is only a few kilometers from us.
To the south of us, a good fire got started by the fireworks. There were 7 people killed that evening and many dismembered by the assault of explosions. Some of the deaths were caused by guns being shot into the air and the bullet eventually coming back to earth driven by gravity. An 11 year old girl was one of those tragedies.
Looking from our 28th floor apartment to the East overlooking the cities of Pasig and Makati. It wasn't as intense on this side of the building, but still a great show.
The fireworks started about dusk with a boom here and there. About 10:30, the firing began to be more intense. By 11:30 the sky was a constant rapid-fire that lasted until 1:30 am. By then it started to slow and ran out of energy about 2 am. For those that have been to the Melalucca Freedom Celebration Fireworks, the intensity was the same, spread over an area much, much larger and continued for 3 and 1/2 hours. Simply amazing.
The smoke from the barrage was still lingering in the morning as we awoke for the new year.
I was told that the event was something to see, but I never imagined this.
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