The Chinese New Year ! Year of the Rat

This has been some party here in Hong Kong. Got here on Wednesday. Thursday night was the parade - and what a parade it was! Dragons and drummers and Spanish dancers, little rat people and Mickey Mouse, Chinese bagpipers, LA Lakers Cheerleaders, San francisco 49'ers cheerleaders, men on stilts, and more drummers and butterfly women - WHAT A SPECTACLE!! Got there early to get a good spot, but there were already tons of people there. Managed to find a decent spot nonetheless. These three women were standing next to me and right away I could tell they were Americans, so I struck up a conversation like I always do. Turns out they were from Los Angeles living here in Hong Kong working as dancers at HK Disneyland. These were classy dames and a lot of fun hang out with. Friday I spent the day strolling around the street markets of Mong Kok. I went back to my hotel to rest up for the fireworks. I woke up about 6:30 - fireworks started at 8. I had planned on getting down there around 4:30 - 5 o'clock. So I ran down to the harbor to find that half of Hong Kong was already there and the other half was right behind me. Well, I looked around and looked around some more and found a spot that looked pretty good. There were a bunch of Chinese guys with good cameras and tripods, so I figured these guys knew what they were doing. So I get all set up and wait. The fireworks start and I can't see a freaking thing. There's a clock tower next to me and it's blocking everything. I'm on the wrong end of the fireworks. SON OF A BITCH!!!! Now I have to scramble to find a spot, but needless to say, all the good spots were taken hours ago. Managed to find a spot that wasn't bad, so I stayed there. Well, I'll tell you - these were fireworks to beat all fireworks! These were without a doubt the BEST fireworks I've ever seen in my life!!! WOW!!!! They started like gangbusters and just went non-stop filling the entire sky! They ended with this huge BOOM that seemed to go on forever. ABSOLUTELY MAGNIFICENT!! At one point I just had to stop taking pictures and just stand there and take it all in!! What a rush!! The weather here has been absolutely miserable. It's been in the 40's & 50's and very damp - the kind of cold that just cuts right through you. In a few hours, I leave for Bangkok and I can't wait for that 95 degree weather.