KATE'S TRAVELS: Happy New Year!

We got back Dec 31 at 8 am …and did a darn good job staying awake…we unpacked, ran to our “crack” noodle shop for lunch…errands, dinner…and then BANG hit the wall at a whopping 8:30

What a set of party animals we are!

I am like a child when it comes to Hong Kong having a fireworks event. I watch the barges get into place…I count them (sadly, CNY barges have decreased from four to three….I’m thinking budget cuts). This year there were two barges BUT…there were lots of tiny boats all around promising a different show!

I set the alarm on my phone because, well, let me admit it…LAST year…well, we slept through ALL the festivities outside…I woke up at 12:15…crowds gone…all quite on the Waterfront.

I was NOT going to miss anything this year. There were promises of light shows at 11:15/11:30/11:45…and fireworks off of buildings at the same time.

I will say the “light show” and building fireworks were just ok…(though the building fireworks DID look like shooting stars)

Then, finally, the crowds outside starting getting restless so I grabbed my camera. The Hong Kong Convention Center started their countdown!

The show then began. The problem with having a camera is that you forget to SEE! You don’t take in the whole picture because you are so focused on what is in the view finder! This time I really worked to not only grab some pictures but look at what was happening.

I also have to remember to take pictures EARLY in the show b/c the smoke from the previous bursts just gets in the way!