Snapshots and flavors of the last hours of 2016 最後時光與滋味—紀錄2016的背影

On new year's eve, we decided to take our little boy out to the streets to see people, to take a walk casually and enjoy the celebrating mood, and maybe have some snacks along the way. The little one had a long enough nap that should give him the energy to sustain until midnight. We did not choose to join the huge crowd to witness the famous Taipei 101 fireworks in Xinyi district - not suitable for couples with kids like us and we seriously get tired of pushing around with people from all directions - not so young anymore.

So we picked a convenient location that is easily accessible by MRT - the Yong Kang St area. It is famous as a delicate and compact tourism spot with loads of restaurants, small foods, cafes and boutique stores. Oh, if you still remember the world famous xiaolongbao restaurant where @sweetsssj and @ned had their first meal in Hong Kong, Din Tai Fung, it is actually from Taiwan, or more precisely, originated from Yong Kang St. Of course, we did not go there - the first store of DTF, it is always packed with tourists from Japan and nor did we need a late dinner at that time.

We just casually scroll down the busy street of Yong Kang, seeing people around, young people mostly with many of them tourists, having fun eating, talking, drinking, or taking photos ... This is probably the only night of a year that you see many kids or teenagers still lingering around near midnight and don't feel uncomfortable. The whole city is like a giant party and anyone who wants to join and just come out and have fun.

I took some shots, enough to record this final moment and not so many as to spoil the fun. We even picked a store to have some taro desserts so our taste buds can also remember the final flavor of the year. :) We went home before midnight and made it to watch the countdown and fireworks on television. It was a perfect end of year family party for middle aged man like me. I deliberately process those shots on the street to be black-and-white to reflect a past year but keeps those photos at the dessert store colorful to embrace the coming new year. Hope you enjoy them as I do.

2016年最後一夜，我們決定帶孩子出去走走。他下午午睡睡得很足，應該能夠撐到半夜。以往我們沒孩子時，連續多年到台北101去跨年，人擠人也很高興，聽著台上歌星唱歌，等著半夜倒數，只為那一分多鐘的燦爛煙火。有孩子就沒法這樣了，一方面也實在是跨得夠了。今年我們決定搭捷運，東門站一下就是永康街商圈。

永康街是知名的觀光地點，小巧精緻，充滿中產階級氣氛。餐廳，小吃，冰品甜品，咖啡廳，服飾店等等，都是小小的。還有一個小公園。這裡除了曾經誕生過知名的永康街芒果冰之外，最著名的，莫過於已經是世界級的鼎泰豐（記得嗎？甜心不久前才曾經跟Ned在香港的鼎泰豐見面吃飯呢！）。那間創始的鼎泰豐，永遠排滿人，尤其是日本觀光客。

我們到時大概十點鐘，只是來走走感受氣氛，人潮還很多，充滿歡欣氣氛，吃東西，聊天逛街，排隊，拍照的觀光客，就像是參加一場大派對。一年之中，大概就是這一天，你半夜看到小孩子，少年少女在街上，不會覺得突兀，不會擔心。整個城市，像是一場大型派對，任何人想參加，就出門到街上，就能夠感受。夜半時，舉頭望向天空，就有機會看到璀璨煙火 ...

我們除了走走看看，還去吃了幾碗甜品，是以芋頭為題的，讓味蕾也記住這2016的最後滋味！我把街頭照片處理成黑白的，用來送走2016，但吃東西的照片保留彩色，迎接2017。我們沒有停留太久，趕在倒數前回到家裡，跟著電視上的煙火倒數！希望你也已經保留好你自己2016的最後一刻。：）

 (a pepper signature gift from @papa-pepper!)