The Elevator and the Parking Lot

Out early from Discovery Bay to the Regal Airport Hotel — the guides said you could shoot from there.

Security stopped me at the elevators. Not a guest, no access upstairs. The most direct “no” of the whole trip.

Fallback: the airport’s public parking lot. Lower angle, a fence in the way — but the floor of this hobby is never set by the spot; it’s set by whether you keep pressing the shutter. Every one of today’s ten frames came from that parking lot: Cathay’s oneworld 777, Etihad, Korean Air, MIAT Mongolian, Cebu Pacific, Singapore Airlines, a UPS 747-8F — one morning, one parking lot, airlines from eight countries and regions. That is Hong Kong’s international character, and even the scrappiest spot can’t hide it.

In the afternoon: Airport Express to West Kowloon, high-speed rail across the border, hotel near Guangzhou Baiyun.

Post-mortem: on Day 1 I had already proven “the hotel is the spot” — then in Hong Kong I booked Discovery Bay by tourist criteria (close, convenient) instead of spotter criteria. A good decision has to be recognized the next time it applies, not just made once. Next time, I stay at the Regal.