My third full day in Hong Kong was the first day of the conference. The conference is a very high-quality international meeting with hundreds of phoneticians presenting their cutting edge research. The program looked fantastic. However, I found myself resenting the conference for keeping me from exploring more of Hong Kong. (Not very fair to the conference, given that it’s what got me over to Hong Kong in the first place.) I got over my grudge and plunged in. I started to enjoy myself, attending talks and poster sessions and catching up with people I typically only get to see at conferences. By the afternoon, though, the tiredness kicked in big time. Rather than falling asleep during the talks, I ended up skipping out of the conference for a couple of hours to go back to the hotel for a nap.
The fourth day was better, and I managed to attend sessions without risk of falling asleep. It was also the day of our group’s presentation, and then a follow-up dinner with some of the other participants of the special session we were in.
Day 3: Wednesday, August 17
- headed to conference at the HKCEC
- sat in talks, attended poster sessions
- got really tired by afternoon
- went back to hotel for a nap
- returned to conference for reception
- had dinner with a group of linguists in a Vietnamese restaurant near my hotel
Day 4: Thursday, August 18
- more conference
- late for my own group’s talk (but happily wasn’t the one presenting)
- attended organizational meeting for a professional society
- saw that the conference venue had windows!
- had dinner with special session organizers and speakers at a Cantonese restaurant in the HKCEC
There was apparently a visiting VIP at the HKCEC (the convention center) or nearby. There were swarms of police officers.
The cluster of police officers from the previous photo were standing near this set-up. I interpreted the scene as some sort of protest or demonstration, but I am only guessing. Can anyone read the signs?
Since I was pretty tied up with the conference, I didn’t get out and about much these days. But the walk between the hotel and the conference venue was pretty long (~20 minutes), and there were still many interesting sights to be seen. This was when I was returning to the conference after my afternoon nap on Wednesday. I was quite taken by the patterns made by reflected light on the building in the center of the photo.
This fire station was across from the conference venue.
Look! Here I am again. I ended up wearing my hair in a braid most days on my trip, which I don’t do at home. (Usually I wear a ponytail.) I was inspired both by the comfort of keeping my hair of my neck in the heat and humidity, and by the extra time I had to get myself ready in the morning since I had only myself to get ready.
A typical Hong Kong scene: colorful buildings, bamboo scaffolding, and laundry hanging out.
Another view from a pedestrian overpass heading to the conference. It seems like a very large percentage of the vehicles on the road were either cabs (all red in this part of Hong Kong) or buses.
The view of Hong Kong harbour from the conference venue was stunning. (No wonder they kept the drapes closed during the day; people would have just stared out the windows slack-jawed instead of attending to the talks.)
I’ve got a few more photos from these 2 days up on my Flickr site.
Next up: 2 days when I really got out and about.
collecting tokens 
Yay! Great pictures, especially that one with the patterns of reflected light on the building… and the ones from the window of the conference center… and the self-portrait… and… well, you get the idea. I like your photos!
It’s so fun to live vicariously through you and hear about your trip!
Hi Alejna —
I’m going to leave it to others to read the protest signs but will confirm that Hong Kong’s roads do tend to have more public vehicles (like buses and taxis — and minibuses too) than private cars. :)
What an amazing trip. The city looks fascinating. I hope you get to do a lot of exploring. I envy you in every way but the plane flight to and back. Have fun!
I want to know *important* things! What did you eat? I want gastronomic details!
I’ll be traveling to HK in the spring for a board meeting and fear for my culinary life…apparently it is great sport for my APAC colleagues to trick American visitors into unwittingly consuming bits of domesticated animals that even jackals usually leave behind….
What? No jet airplanes flying low between highrise buildings?? ;-)