temple st night market & mongkok

we left ocean park right after the dolphin show by 4pm. we rode the same bus to the admiralty subway station to the yau ma tei station & exited to temple street for the temple street night market. we were there by 5pm so merchants & peddlers were still preparing their goods.

a bakeshop at temple st. mom's buying HK's famous eggtart me while waiting for mom outside the bakery

it was exactly like walking through quiapo or divisoria, minus the stink of wet slimy garbage scattered on the streets. the items they sell are the same as what divi has. we just passed that short section of temple st and crossed the street to get to the other side of temple. we bought another 2 sets of HK souvenir shirts, sold there for 5 pcs for HKD100. i bargained for 4 zipo-like lighters, magnets & others. we didn't find enough goodies at temple so we decided to leave early to go to mongkok. we went back to our hotel first to leave some of our baggage, rest for 30 mins tops then left. rode the subway again, now to mongkok, for the ladies' night market.

we got there by 10pm & we were already exhausted. we no longer have any day to sched mongkok so we forced ourselves out of the hotel to be there.
we got overwhelmed by the massive amount of chinese & tourists walking the streets of mongkok & it was already past 10pm! it appeared as if there was a party or a concert being held. cars could barely pass through the streets due to the thick crowd.

anyhow, we went past the electronic shops to the tiangge itself. there you can find heaps & heaps of good finds. it was a pretty long stretch of stalls we gave up when we reached the middle! our feet gave up walking so we were literally dragging our feet to go back to the hotel. we rode our 2nd cab that night. we bought a microwavable dish from 7-11 & had it for dinner. mom loved it we brought home 2 of those.
we slept right after.

trying shoes

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!