BRINGING IN THE NEW YEAR ON A SPECIAL NOTE

Come New Year's Eve, there's no sense staying at home by yourself when you can be out, welcoming the new Millennium (which, technically, starts THIS year). Taichung's restaurants and hotels are going all-out to provide a variety of events and gatherings--formal, casual, fun, wild and wacky--to bring in 2001. Below is a sampling of just a few of the options out there.

* Medieval Madness will take place at Finga's Italian Restaurant (17-1, Ching Cheng Rd.; tel. 327-5450) on New Year's Eve. Finga's owner Dereke Bruce will once again be presiding over an evening of medieval-style 'new year debauchery', complete with mounds of food. Participating 'peasants' are being invited to eat, drink and be merry at an all-you-can-eat dinner from 7 p.m. for NT$650 per person, with the addition of NT$100 drinks all night. Out in front of the restaurant, the Irish boys will be playing live music from 10 p.m. to midnight.

* Salt & Pepper Restaurant (185, Pokuan Rd.; tel. 329-6400) will hold a large-scale theme dinner and dance on the evening of December 31 to welcome the new year. Call the restaurant for prices and more details.

* Shark Den Restaurant & Bar (5, Hua Mei West St., sec. 1) will hold a party on New Year's Eve, featuring drink specials for the first 20 minutes of every hour from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., free barbecues from 11 to 11:30 p.m. and from 1 to 1:30 a.m., and games and prizes. Call Mark Harrison at 329-8801 for details.

* A Count-Down Party will take place at Frog I Mexican Restaurant & Pub (105, Hua Mei West St., sec. 1) on December 31. Prior to that, from 4 to 8 p.m., two bottles of beer will cost NT$200 and there will be a buy-one-get-one-free deal on wine. From 6 to 10 p.m., there will be a Turkey Dinner for NT$1,880 to NT$6,000 and, at 11 p.m., there will be a raffle drawing and a gift exchange (everyone brings a NT$50 gift). Finally, at 11:59 p.m., tequila shots will cost NT$50. For information, call 321-1197 or 322-0032.

* Various new year festivities will take place at Napoli Italian Restaurant & Pub (424, Hua Mei St.; tel. 325-3174), including live performances by two bands, the Beatlenuts and Refreshments, at 11 p.m. on December 31, when 200 free drinks will be given away after 7 p.m. On January 1, drinks will be NT$80 until 9 p.m.

* P.J.'s Cafe (2F, 464, Chung Mei St.; tel. 325-2457, 319-4178) will hold a New Year's Eve Party with various drink specials and the usual festivities.

* The Landis Hotel (9, Taichung Kang Rd., sec. 2; tel. 326-8008) will hold a variety of elegant lunches and dinners at its various Western and Chinese restaurants on December 30 and January 1 to welcome the new millennium. The first-floor La Mode restaurant will feature a traditional Western meal including items like Salmon Gravlax Marinated in Vodka and Dill and Pan Fried Prime Beef Tenderloin with Goose Liver Brandy Butter. The B1-level Cantonese Restaurant will have a seafood menu with items like braised shark's fin soup, while the Tien Hsiang Lo Hangzhou-style restaurant will have a new year menu with various authentic specialties. All three restaurant set menus cost NT$1,800 (plus 10%) and will include a complimentary photo and 50 percent discount on accommodations that night. The La Mode Restaurant and Bakery in Mitsukoshi Department Store will also have a similar set menu meal.