Chinese New Year

So last week was the Chinese New Year and there's this big parade that takes place in the Tsim Sha Tsui East area of Hong Kong (I think it also winds through some other areas of the city). A group of us head out to check it out, joining hordes of others hopping on the subway and all heading in the same direction. We finally get to our destination, shove our way through crowds to get as close as possible to the road the parade will be passing on and set camp. After waiting for about 45 minutes or so, we hear the parade coming and everyone is suddenly craning their necks/standing on tippy-toes/lifting cameras as high as possible to try and catch a glimpse of it as it passes by.

Alright, so here I am trying to guess what will roll by first--the dragons? the dancers? drummers?--and I'm getting really excited, camera in hand, ready to capture my first authentic Chinese New Year in China (well Hong Kong, but same difference, right?) when I see this: Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you, those are actually kilts, and yup, they're playing bagpipes. So I tell myself that of course this is to be expected because of the British presence on this island for over a hundred years, and also that this has to be the vanguard of the rest of the parade that would have the drums, the dragons, the firecrackers, and other performers. Well I was right that it was the vanguard, but wrong on everything else. This is the only dragon that appeared anywhere: Yep, kids on roller blades. Okay, I'm not going to say the whole parade was a complete let down, but...okay, who am I kidding, it was a complete let down.

The rest of the festivities were, thankfully, a whole lot better: the fireworks were amazing and we went to see the Big Buddha and the temple located next to it.