A walk through WOC 2011

With dark clouds looming overhead, the iconic venue for the World Orchid Conference looked rather menacing as we made quick strides towards it. Not a moment too soon, rain started pelting us as we reached the lobby ....

a few days ago, the hallway to the entrance was deserted ….
today, not so ....

We were first greeted by the award winning display from Papua New Guinea ..... the Sepik mask had a crocodile tongue, beside it was another mask with a flying fox looking like a vodoo doll .... ahem excuse me is any for sale ?
Another one from PNG, with a birds-of paradies and another intricate mask with bird motiff....
.... crowds jostled to take photos, inevitably leading to some not-so-nice exchanges beside me .... time to move on.....

Indonesia's display, modelled after a Tana Toraja cliff burial site ....
...this one from Australian Orchid Council ....
Sabah's display - a ferret-badger with Liparis, Malaxis and other ground orchids. I actually liked this quite a bit as it showcased many obscure local species.
Paphs are omni-present in shows like this, this is the ever popular P. spicerianum that sadly will not do well in lowland tropics .....
and here's hybrid from the Dark Side .....
at the floral window section, this one caught my eye with backdrop of variegated leaves (Pandanus ?) and its apparent new hybrid fern .....
alas....they were stapled together.
.... another floral window.
Yes its an orchid show but it did not stop Borneo Exotics from putting a fine display of Nepenthes that almost stole the limelight. Some would say they did ....
I would have dwelled a little more at the displays but crowds were gathering. The frequency of unwelcomed human torsos inserting between the lens and the exhibits rose with every release of the shuttle.

Eventually I retreated to the vendor section for some retail therapy ....