Last year we welcomed the coming of 2008 at Zojoji Temple, at the foot of the Tokyo Tower in Japan. Thousands of balloons were released into the sky at the stroke of midnight, with Tokyo Tower lit up proudly in the background. It was a spectacular way to welcome the new year!

Well, this year we welcomed 2009 at the foot of Taipei 101 in the heart of Taipei, Taiwan. At the stroke of midnight, fireworks shot from the 4 corners of the tallest building in the world. This has definitely been a high-profile event for Taiwan since it first started in 2005, but we later learned that this was the last year for new years fireworks at Taipei 101.

So what’s it like, seeing fireworks launched from an epic building? Amazing.

See it here:

More photos:

You can also see the spectacular video from our Tokyo Tower new years in our happy new year 2008 blog post from last year.

on a side note: Interestingly enough, we got to spend both of the new years with our good friend Michael Martin. Where to next year, gumshoe?