Feb 17 & 18 - New Year's Eve & Day

Feb. 17 – New Year’s Eve

HAPPY YEAR OF THE PIG !!!

Today was a very busy day on the streets of Hong Kong. Everyone was bustling around getting last minute things for New Year’s. This is the day most families travel & get together for a big family dinner. It seemed like Christmas Eve, only busier if that is possible. I asked a few people their opinion & we decided that New Year’s here is like Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter & solar New Year all wrapped into one holiday. It is really huge. Most everything will close up early today & be closed for the next 3 or 4 days. The factories in Mainland China are closed for the next 2 weeks so that people can travel home to be with family. We picked up a few last minute things so we’d be prepared just in case everything is closed for the next 4 days.

We met up with Sarah & Clay for dinner at the IFC Mall. We went to the Union Bar & Grill (one of the few places open on New Year’s Eve). We met at their apartment which is right next to the mall & right on the harbor. The view from their apartment is dramatic as they look right down on the harbor with no other buildings to obstruct the view. They are on the 43rd floor. They took us up to the 59th floor where the pool & health club are. Very nice!! The restaurant was very empty, which is strange for a Saturday night. Usually you can’t get a table if you don’t have a reservation. Most of the people there were Westerners. We had a nice dinner & the guys seemed to get along just fine. We wandered around the mall a little after dinner & then John & I walked home. It was a nice cool evening & we went up the escalator. John agreed that Sarah & I are very much alike & sees why we get along so well.

Feb. 18 – New Year’s Day – Kung Hei Fat Choi !!

We were very lazy today & just hung out at the apartment. It has been pretty warm & humid outside. It has also been very overcast. I was hoping the winter would be clearer & cooler. We spent the afternoon at the annual New Years Football (soccer) tournament. The teams were a Hong Kong select league team against the Jamacian Olympic team. The second game was the Chinese Olympic team against the Australian Olympic team. It was pretty fun to hear the crowd. They would roar over the slightest thing that the HK team did well. They had those inflatable sticks that you bang together & were using them well. It was more fun watching the crowd than the game. It turned out to be a decent game & ended in a shootout with Jamacia winning much to everyone's disappointment. We didn't stay for the end of the second game.

Next we went over to Kowloon for the New Year’s Day parade. I had read that it was supposed to be one of the most spectacular parades in the world, so I didn’t want to miss it. The parade was at 8pm & due to a misunderstanding we didn’t leave until after 7pm. By the time we got to the parade site, we couldn’t even get to the streets where the parade was supposed to go, they were all closed off because they were already filled with people. They had been closed off for 2 hours according to the police. You have to get there early I guess if you want to get a good spot. I’m learning that about things in HK.

We found a spot & had no idea if we would see anything or not. It turns out we were at the start of the parade. We could only see the tops of heads & the floats that turned out to be lit up advertisements for things in HK. John wanted to get some better photos so he tried going to a different location. I stayed where I was. About half way through the parade I got a text message from John saying he was home because he couldn’t find a better spot & his toes got tired from standing on them. I had moved & found a much better stop where I could actually see the people going by. All in all the parade was pretty disappointing. If you’ve been to the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade & The Rose Bowl parade, well this doesn’t hold a candle next to those. I’m glad I experienced it though. The dragon dancers were fun to see. And as always the crowd reaction is priceless. I found out that the Chinese take their photographing very seriously. Most people had big fancy cameras & they didn’t mind crawling up your back to get a photo. This situation really made the difference in personal space evident. The Chinese are WAY more comfortable on top of each other than we are. Many of the people with cameras brought stepladders that they stood on to get their photos.

As soon as the parade was over, I hopped onto the ferry & was to HK pretty quickly. I was waiting for the regular bus when I notice one of the mini bus numbers nearby that I’ve seen go by our apartment. I walked down to it & the driver asked me where I was going. I told him & he said to get in. I sat right behind him so that I could tell him when I wanted to get off. These buses will stop anywhere, they do not have designated stops, so you have to shout out when you want them to stop. Most of the drivers do not speak English so they can be a challenge for Westerners to ride. They are certainly faster than the big city buses. I managed it just fine & let him know where I needed to get off. So I’m no longer a mini-bus virgin!!
I heard the next day on the news that there were over half a million people attending the parade. I guess that is why I was having trouble seeing!!