The conference was for Global Sources and Darrin was asked to speak about his area of expertise: Green Marketing. Altogether, he spoke for an hour. The presentation was very interesting and informative. The bulk of the attendees were English speakers (some foreigners, others from Hong Kong where English is one of their main languages anyhow) but the powerpoint slideshow had Chinese translations added for clarity.
For dinner we had exquisite food at a very nice restaurant. The pasta was better than anything I've had back home, and the desserts were great! Darrin's wife made the trip as well. They both liked what they had seen of the city in the previous day when they arrived. I was expecting to have to play tour guide (my 2nd time to HK) but these two are professional travelers and they actually did most of the leading!
Also got to see my real good friend here, Panda, who was in HK for his visa. He is my former roommate who recently moved closer to Beijing to run an upscale foreign restaurant. He is very happy now! I got out of the subway after dinner, called his phone, got in a taxi, only to drive around the block. He told the driver my location in Cantonese (the main language in HK that he speaks) but the driver didn't say I was so close! I walked into the restaurant and there was Panda doing his thing: ordering too much food and instructing the wait staff about their business. It didn't matter that I had already ate great food for dinner, he always has to see to it that the people he cares about are taken care of and well-fed!
The next day was full of sight-seeing with the professor and his wife, but the weather was not cooperating. The fog was so thick! We went up to a temple and giant Buddha statue but could hardly see. Darrin is in the red/black shirt.
The trip to this temple was exciting: a cable car over the hills and across the channel!
The hilly nature of HK, surrounded by ocean water, makes it a scenic place. But there are lots of crowded skyscrapers that you have to ignore!
Special treat in HK: two servings of Ben and Jerry's ice cream! I can't get that on the mainland but its quiet popular on the island!
I stayed one more day after my professor's flight left. That day was fairly casual: good local food with Panda and a workout in the park!
Then back to Nanjing the next morning.
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