Never again. That was the full-throated cry I gave my mum last year when we finally found a cab to take us home after the Coldplay concert on New Year's Eve 2011.
I didn't know why we took the cab, really. We had already walked more than 5 kilometres and I was halfway home. At least the time allowed me to brood over how I would spend next New Year's Eve.
The answer was simple: away from the Corniche.
I needed some space. No car horns, traffic jams and especially no kids with fake eyewear.
This year, a friend and I rang in 2013 with a tour of Abu Dhabi's outer islands.
Our first stop was Yas Island: a mellower affair this year, what with the main club - Cipriani by Allure - being indefinitely closed for refurbishment.
The colour and festivities were more focused, instead, on dinner plates, with all the restaurants on the island's hotels launching their own special New Year's Eve menus.
The Yas Viceroy's Kazu restaurant was no exception. The Japanese gourmet eatery launched a seven-course menu of fine Japanese cuisine, with a few contemporary twists. Highlights included the lobster salad with spicy yuzu dressing and the tang-tastic seared otoro, with black sesame onion salsa.
Considering the status of the evening, the smiles and lively chatter was a sure signal that the food was going down well, but nevertheless, the chef Idfan Idrus walked around the restaurant regularly.
"I am always checking," he said. "People come here to celebrate so the food must make them feel full but not so heavy that they feel like falling asleep before midnight."
The next stop was to Saadiyat Island, where the Monte Carlo Beach Club held its second New Year's Eve celebration.
It was definitely a step up from last year's slightly muted affair, which, to be fair, was a tough gig with the St Regis yet to open.
With the famed house DJ Kiko Navarro behind the decks, the club offered a more intimate surrounding, perfect for small groups to celebrate the turn of the year.
With the Corniche hogging the New Year's Eve headlines, it is understandable to assume it would be the only place with fireworks.
However, other venues carried fire power of their own, such as Saadiyaat's St Regis and the Shangri-La at Qaryat Al Beri; the latter being our final stop of the evening.
In what was a well-coordinated effort, after their special meals, revellers were ushered to the infinity pool at the hotel for the countdown. Once midnight struck, a well-designed five minute fireworks display was launched from the hotel's private beach.
Sharing the fireworks, without the hefty price tag, were the many families who gathered on the terrace at The Souk. Some smiles indicated they knew what they were doing: they had arrived 15 minutes before, were guaranteed a first class standing position for the countdown and went home swiftly after.
And for us? No traffic jams this time around: the roads leading back to the island were empty, yet full of promise for the year ahead.
sasaeed@thenational.ae
Dolittle
Director: Stephen Gaghan
Stars: Robert Downey Jr, Michael Sheen
One-and-a-half out of five stars
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 390bhp
Torque: 400Nm
Price: Dh340,000 ($92,579
What should do investors do now?
What does the S&P 500's new all-time high mean for the average investor?
Should I be euphoric?
No. It's fine to be pleased about hearty returns on your investments. But it's not a good idea to tie your emotions closely to the ups and downs of the stock market. You'll get tired fast. This market moment comes on the heels of last year's nosedive. And it's not the first or last time the stock market will make a dramatic move.
So what happened?
It's more about what happened last year. Many of the concerns that triggered that plunge towards the end of last have largely been quelled. The US and China are slowly moving toward a trade agreement. The Federal Reserve has indicated it likely will not raise rates at all in 2019 after seven recent increases. And those changes, along with some strong earnings reports and broader healthy economic indicators, have fueled some optimism in stock markets.
"The panic in the fourth quarter was based mostly on fears," says Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist for Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. "The fundamentals have mostly held up, while the fears have gone away and the fears were based mostly on emotion."
Should I buy? Should I sell?
Maybe. It depends on what your long-term investment plan is. The best advice is usually the same no matter the day — determine your financial goals, make a plan to reach them and stick to it.
"I would encourage (investors) not to overreact to highs, just as I would encourage them not to overreact to the lows of December," Mr Schutte says.
All the same, there are some situations in which you should consider taking action. If you think you can't live through another low like last year, the time to get out is now. If the balance of assets in your portfolio is out of whack thanks to the rise of the stock market, make adjustments. And if you need your money in the next five to 10 years, it shouldn't be in stocks anyhow. But for most people, it's also a good time to just leave things be.
Resist the urge to abandon the diversification of your portfolio, Mr Schutte cautions. It may be tempting to shed other investments that aren't performing as well, such as some international stocks, but diversification is designed to help steady your performance over time.
Will the rally last?
No one knows for sure. But David Bailin, chief investment officer at Citi Private Bank, expects the US market could move up 5 per cent to 7 per cent more over the next nine to 12 months, provided the Fed doesn't raise rates and earnings growth exceeds current expectations. We are in a late cycle market, a period when US equities have historically done very well, but volatility also rises, he says.
"This phase can last six months to several years, but it's important clients remain invested and not try to prematurely position for a contraction of the market," Mr Bailin says. "Doing so would risk missing out on important portfolio returns."
Global institutions: BlackRock and KKR
US-based BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with $5.98 trillion of assets under management as of the end of last year. The New York firm run by Larry Fink provides investment management services to institutional clients and retail investors including governments, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, banks and charitable foundations around the world, through a variety of investment vehicles.
KKR & Co, or Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, is a global private equity and investment firm with around $195 billion of assets as of the end of last year. The New York-based firm, founded by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, invests in multiple alternative asset classes through direct or fund-to-fund investments with a particular focus on infrastructure, technology, healthcare, real estate and energy.
