ocean park adventure

3rd HK morning, september 5
we wouldn't dare miss ocean park. we missed it yesterday due the thrills of shopping hence we made sure we headed straight to the ocean park from the hotel.

i vaguely remember if we went to TST again to exchange moolahs that day or if we had breakfast. i just remember heading to the bus station at admiratly & paid for 2 entrance tickets to the park. we used our octopus cards as bus tickets & sat at the upper deck for our viewing pleasure. this time we brought one of our trolleys to avoid carrying several baggages (from the shopping) by the end of the day.

entrance takes

flamingo pond; riding the longest outdoor escalator in asia

watching sealions

the bus ride was approx 30 minutes. the bus dropped us at the headland of ocean park.

inside, we took a snack at one of the gazebo's inside then went through about 4 escalators to reach the top for the rides & amusement sites. we took interest in riding the ocean park tower first. this ride will bring you to hundreds of feet high above the ground while rotating in slow motion to view the entire park.

next we we went to the pacific pier to watch the sealions being fed at lunch time, then to the amazing atoll reef where all kinds of sea creatures are placed in aquariums, then to the shark aquarium & the sea jelly spectacular. by 230pm, we settled ourselves at the ocean theatre for the 3pm dolphin show.

this time we got goodies for the kids back home. i got my daughter a panda headband & some toys.

inside the ocean peak tower ride; mom infront of one of the many goody shops

at the shark aquarium, surrounded by sharks; a star fish tank behind mom

that's a seahorse at the left; a stingray trying to amuse us

a turtle as big as my daughter; fishes on display are as big as an adult pig! scary!

the entertaining stingray

jelly fishes

midday snak at mcdo, again

the dolphin show

we didn't have time to visit the lowland. & by the way, to get there, one should ride the cable car. ocean park's 3x bigger than disneyland. it would take 2 days to finish both areas.

next stop, shopping!

a symphony of lights

after the peak, we saved enough energy for the 'a symphony of lights'. it is a daily event best viewed by the harbour or where the strip called the avenue of stars is. it is located at the tsim tsam tsui (TST) promenade and to get there you have to walk through the new world centre.

the 'dancing of lights' commences at 8pm, and yet again, we were on time. we looked for our spot & settled. our feet could no longer withstand the long walks we've had since morning. we just sat & stared at the lit buildings & weren't able to check the statues & handprints of HK movie stars & artists along the boardwalk. music already started in a few minutes.

the experience was frustrating & thought it was overrated (from the forums i've read), or there were probably technical problems reason why the show wasn't delivered the way it was presented in the pictures. we were wondering where & what to look at during the entire show. we only saw green lights strobed to the skies from atop a building & that was it.

googled image of 'a symphony of lights'

when the music stopped, we took some pictures by the harbour then went inside the new world centre. there's a bazarre inside which items were still expensive. there's a candy/chocolate shop inside & we spent a few dollars in there instead for 'pasalubong'.

after that, we went back to the hotel, feet aching. i still managed to go outside & get us dinner at cafe de coral. i also checked out a few shops along nathan road.

next day, ocean park adventure!

maddam tussaud's wax museum

inside the peak is maddam tussaud's wax museum. to gain the best experience of the peak, get a ticket to the wax museum as well. all i can say is "bravo" for the artist behind the wax statues. anyone would get mistaken for the masterpieces being real. totally awesome.

a chinese actress at the museum's entrance; prince william

there are about 3-4 divisions in the museum, from actors, politicians, singers, etc. it was worth the visit!

the peak tram & the peak

we bought combo tickets for the peak tram ride & entrance to maddam tussaud's wax museum for HKD230 each, lined up at the station & waited for the tram to return in 5 minutes. for those who'll ride to the peak, prefer to be seated at the ride side of the tram to catch the spectacular view of the city. right side again when going back to the station coz the tram's return journey is actually backwards.

the peak tram

googled image of the peak

it was perhaps like a roller coaster ride except that it would just constantly trail upwards to the hill, fortunately. quite a pity for those who took their chance to ride the tram standing up (there are 3 stops during the journey), coz they had to brace & position themselves in such a way that they wouldn't fall to the bottom of the tram throughout the ride. scary huh.

the peak tram ride

anyway, when we reached the peak, it sent us directly to the shops, which i learned later on were selling cheap or even cheaper items than those found at the 'tiangges'. darn that i regret not buying those cute little chinese shoes for my tot. priced at HKD25 & 2-4 times the price outside. as much as i've wanted to go back to get that pair, i couldn't. i had to buy another ticket just to get there. really darn it.

the peak is simply like a mall, w/ the best view of the city. when we got in, we immediately went to the rooftop where everybody else was going. ofcourse we were awed by the beauty of the view, who wouldn't. HK's so clean, there's no smog in the atmosphere & the ocean's so clear, considering that it's just by the city's shore.

i was actually wondering, i have not seen a single gas station in HK. i did not see any vehicle belching smoke. then i pondered why we can't use the same fuel efficient means for our transportation for the whole driving population. we may have one but how come it has to be expensive from the regular. there's gotta be a way to get rid of those smoke belchers. & by the way, the weather there is exactly just the same as hours, humid & rains from time to time.

anyhow, we were actually early to be at the peak. the view is more magnificent seeing all those buildings & streets lights up during the night. we decided to stroll at the mall while we wait for sunset. we had iced coffee & sausage croissant + cigarettes at the pacific coffee company. we went to the rooftop once again past 6pm. what we saw was simply 'WOW'.

mom at the binoculars. she used her octopus card here

we went back to the city after an hour. rode the tram, going backwards, then back to the station in 5-8 mins. we waited by the bus stop at the station. w/ no bus for almost 10 mins, we decided to take a cab for the first time (not advisable if you'll travel more than 5 mins or it will drain your pockets). our 3 min ride to the nearest subway cost us HKD15 (P90+) w/c was actually not bad since we were a couple & a bus ride fee for each of us would cost to more than that.

this ain't a postcard

shopping & cafe de coral

next HK morning, september 4

a visit to the ocean park was in my itinerary for the day & mom & myself were obviously filled with excitement that we woke up at 7am & prepared really early despite our still quite sore feet from all the fun & travelling we did the day before.

having a room-with-a-view, i peeked outside & saw the road was wet & rain was drizzling. i watched students & folks crossing roads rushing to school & work w/ their umbrellas. i prayed that the rain would stop. who wouldn't? when you only have 3 days left to tour abroad, that would make you pray hard for good weather. *:)

we never saw a single house in the city. only residential buildings

i recharged our cellphones, video camera & digital camera overnight. all of hongkong's power outlets has 3 holes. good thing my uncle lent me his universal adaptor.

we organized our things in our room a bit, bathed, then left.

we rode the subway to the central station.

mom still fresh. mom infront of mrs. fields cookie shop at the central subway station & another shot across louis vuitton at central

my mom was itching to shop at the 'tiangges'. seemed that she was already satisfied by the disneyland experience yesterday but i insisted on going to ocean park which is #2 on the "top 5 'must-go' places in HK". since it's still early, we shopped!

you can find great length of shops along nathan road (main road in the city). we stopped by bonjour w/c was still on-sale on perfumes, cosmetics etc. we didn't purchase anything yet coz about 2 blocks away, is one of the tiangges in HK. it's located at Li Yuan St. East & West in central. we feasted on good cheap sightings & ended up stringing along 4 plastic bags. got myself slippers, rayne's chinese dress, wallets, notebooks, HK shirts etc. along the way, there were filipinas calling out on fellow pinoys while handing out flyers for a haircut or pedicure at the salons they work at. they are pretty generous in helping out with directions & do add tips as well.

googled image of li yuen tiangge

we took a break by lunch & sighted for the cafe de coral restaurant w/c is only found in HK. forums i read HK rated this restaurant topnotch so i made sure we had lunch there the 2nd day.

it was a mid-range fastfood but surely piles up hungry guests during lunch & dinner. i used the octopus card there, so very convenient. we shared a burger steak + sausage + pork + vegetable rice meal w/c costs about HKD30 & iced tea for drinks. they are famous for their iced tea w/ milk drink w/c i was able to taste before leaving HK at their branch inside HKIA. we finished up at the other side of the tiangge at Li Yuen before 3pm & thought it was too late already to go to the ocean park w/c closes at 6pm. we decided to shuffle our itinerary & proceed to the peak. i had to set the ocean park adventure the next day.

we walked to the peak station at admiralty.

already exhausted half of the day. we even hadn't reached the peak yet!