Hong Kong: Gardens, zoos, parks oh my!

Fortunately, the conference sessions are organized such that I am spending about half a day at talks, and the other half is free to explore Hong Kong.

This morning Marc and I took a lovely stroll through Chater Park, the zoo and botanical gardens, and Hong Kong Park.  The zoo is combined with the Botanic gardens, and though small had some fantastic exhibits.  The buff checked gibbons and siamangs both were very loud; they sang quite loudly for us!  I have a video of them singing, but am having trouble loading it.  Might be the hotels' wifi can't handle such a large file.  Will post it separately later.

We were also very fortunate to catch the keepers walking the newly born orangutan twins.  They have a first time mom who isn't sure how to properly care for them, so the keepers have stepped in to raise the babies.

 The aviary in Hong Kong Park is also amazing; the minah birds were very friendly and came right up to pose for the camera.

 Later, Marc and I took the ferry to see the Symphony of Lights, a music/light show along the coast.   They play dramatic music that represents the spirit of Hong Kong, matched by lights lining skyscrapers.  It has gotten great reviews, but we were not impressed.  It is very uncoordinated, and hard to follow as only a few buildings separated by large distances agreed to participate.  However, it is a great idea that should be further pursued. But the ferry ride over there was gorgeous; and it gave me a great view of the conference center: