Ni hao!
It was my last day in Hong Kong and things didn't go as I had hoped they would have. I wanted to go street-shopping, see the city and just walk all around the place... But everyone else had other ideas. I'm glad they did, because I got to see a place that I never expected would be so good!
The place that we went to on Day 3 was Ocean Park...
A park based entirely on the theme of the ocean and marine life, the Ocean Park has tons to offer. From some really crazy rides to some of the best marvels of nature... Ocean Park is worth spending a day at.
So here comes yet another picture-sque (literally) experience I'd like to share about! Enjoy!
Ocean Park is divided into two sections, between which you can shuffle using their cable cars or their super fast train. I say use both once to travel. The two sections are called The Summit and The Waterfront.
First of all, make sure you pick up the map at the entrance, or else you'll have a hell of a time looking for places and getting the right show timings. Next, I think you should hit The Summit first so that you can see the dolphin show at its earliest and get done with it. Besides, I found The Summit more fun than The Waterfront.
The Summit
If you are going to The Summit first, take the cable car to get there, because it won't be too sunny and the view is fantastic!
The Summit has some really good rides that you shouldn't miss, such as The Flash (coolest thing ever), The Dragon (with THREE 360 degree turns!) and The Abyss (It's a 'drop' ride...*crazy feeling in the pit of my stomach*)... The rest were okay with no high rush to offer, so in case you're planning a half day trip here, miss the rest; no biggie.
The other things in this section you should see are:
The Dolphin show at the Ocean Theatre: Only if you want to see these intelligent creatures. The show isn't all that great. It's got the regular jumps and stunts we have seen dolphins do in movies and TV shows. It also has seals featuring in between doing some action of their own.
Ocean Park Tower: It looks like one of the drop-rides, but is actually a very slow ride that takes you high (literally) to the top, constantly revolving 360 degrees so you can see the view all around the Ocean Park. Go if you want to a see a spectacular view and you have time; but once again, it can be missed. Nothing that you haven't seen from any of the other "view-points" in and around Honk Kong.
Sea Jelly Spectacular: My favourite place in this The Summit! I haven't seen so many kinds of jelly fish and that too so up-close... So I found this section filled with my "oohs" and "aahs", me being the nature lover... So if you are one too, do NOT miss it!
There are tons of food joints around this section, so just pick one if you're hungry. One proper meal would cost a minimum of 50 HKD. (Also depending on what kind of a meal/cuisine you eat. Vegetarian Indian food is available here!)
Like I said, head to The Waterfront using their train service called the Ocean Express for a different experience. Besides, by this time the cable cars are so crowded that they have to shut entry for more passengers. It really isn't worth an hour's wait.
The Waterfront
Well, sadly there aren't many good rides here, or ones adults could check out at all, but fret not! There are loads of other things to treat yourself to in this section.
Panda Village: You absolutely have to see this!!!!!!!
A whole artificial section to suit the required environment has been made to house 2 giant pandas and 2 red pandas. I'm not sure how I felt after seeing these animals. At first, it was amusement and the greatest feeling of awe. But the teeny little activist in me came up and felt bad about how these animals are trapped far away from their natural habitat for human gratification. But all in all, I'm not sure if I'm ever going to get to see them in their natural habitat, so I'm glad to have had this opportunity. Too human, right? *ashamed*
Do notice the environment they're living in. There were small chunks of ice patches and the whole place was under constant air-conditioning to keep them under required temperature levels (as you can probably see in the background).
Beavers!
Pandas, beavers, you'd expect something out of the ordinary to show up next, wouldn't you? That's right you should, because up next after the beavers came the goldfish!
Not cool enough? Well, they're really cool considering they had about 20 to 30 different TYPES of goldfish in the section right outside that of the beavers! Dekho, dekho...!
After the Panda Village, the next place you should check out is the:
Emerald Trail: This place has some really cool birds and a rat snake! :P Yep, that's what I remember. You'd take less than 10 minutes to take a quick look around. Miss it if you aren't a bird fan; but if I'm not wrong they did have a white peacock in their collection! Well, the first connection I made of for white peacocks was to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows where Rowling mentions about the Albino peacock at the Malfoy Manor. Just saying. *shuts up*
The Grand Aquarium: Okay. Agreed that I love seeing natural life and all that, but even the people around me seemed to have enjoyed this place. So I say, go for it! Sharks, Octopus, real coral, sea horses and lots of other weird, alien fish adorn this aquarium. Yeh bhi dekho!
Well, after all of this there's only one thing left to see (or not, actually), and that's their water, light and fire show. Using the fountains and lights for effects, they show 2 dragons moving from one side to the other; there's some fire on the water (how do they do that?), and some background music as well. I'd say if you've stayed back for the day you could give it a watch, but miss it for all you care, you won't be missing TOO much. The technology is great, but it isn't all that amazing.
*Note: Everywhere you go in Hong Kong, for example in Disneyland or Ocean Park, the water is really very expensive. Each person is allowed to carry about 500ml of water. SO make sure you have it on you to save some money. (I saved 20 HKD on a single bottle like that. And a person does need at least one litre of water, so make sure you at least have 500ml.)
Also, sunglasses, a hat and probably some chewing gum/ chocolates would do you good considering you have to roam around a place the whole day and hop into a couple of rides as well.
That's where the day at Ocean Park comes to an end... Of course, you already know that we head back to Kowloon and hit Pizza Hut for another vegetarian meal; and then after another very tiring day, a cozy bed and sleep catch up to us....
Au revoir,
Miss Bee.
I tweet on: https://twitter.com/#!/DevikaBharadwaj
It was my last day in Hong Kong and things didn't go as I had hoped they would have. I wanted to go street-shopping, see the city and just walk all around the place... But everyone else had other ideas. I'm glad they did, because I got to see a place that I never expected would be so good!
The place that we went to on Day 3 was Ocean Park...
A park based entirely on the theme of the ocean and marine life, the Ocean Park has tons to offer. From some really crazy rides to some of the best marvels of nature... Ocean Park is worth spending a day at.
So here comes yet another picture-sque (literally) experience I'd like to share about! Enjoy!
Ocean Park
 |
| Picture 1 Coral at the Grand Aquarium Ocean Park |
First of all, make sure you pick up the map at the entrance, or else you'll have a hell of a time looking for places and getting the right show timings. Next, I think you should hit The Summit first so that you can see the dolphin show at its earliest and get done with it. Besides, I found The Summit more fun than The Waterfront.
The Summit
If you are going to The Summit first, take the cable car to get there, because it won't be too sunny and the view is fantastic!
The Summit has some really good rides that you shouldn't miss, such as The Flash (coolest thing ever), The Dragon (with THREE 360 degree turns!) and The Abyss (It's a 'drop' ride...*crazy feeling in the pit of my stomach*)... The rest were okay with no high rush to offer, so in case you're planning a half day trip here, miss the rest; no biggie.
The other things in this section you should see are:
The Dolphin show at the Ocean Theatre: Only if you want to see these intelligent creatures. The show isn't all that great. It's got the regular jumps and stunts we have seen dolphins do in movies and TV shows. It also has seals featuring in between doing some action of their own.
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| Picture 2 Dolphin Show at the Ocean Theatre The Summit Ocean Park |
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| Picture 3 Dolphin Show at the Ocean Theatre The Summit Ocean Park |
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| Picture 4 Seals Perform @ the Dolphin Show at the Ocean Theatre The Summit Ocean Park |
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| Picture 5 Dolphin Show at the Ocean Theatre The Summit Ocean Park |
Ocean Park Tower: It looks like one of the drop-rides, but is actually a very slow ride that takes you high (literally) to the top, constantly revolving 360 degrees so you can see the view all around the Ocean Park. Go if you want to a see a spectacular view and you have time; but once again, it can be missed. Nothing that you haven't seen from any of the other "view-points" in and around Honk Kong.
 |
| Picture 6 Ocean Park Tower |
Sea Jelly Spectacular: My favourite place in this The Summit! I haven't seen so many kinds of jelly fish and that too so up-close... So I found this section filled with my "oohs" and "aahs", me being the nature lover... So if you are one too, do NOT miss it!
 |
| Picture 7 Sea Jelly Spectacular |
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| Picture 8 Jelly Fish!!! Sea Jelly Spectacular |
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| Picture 9 Jelly Fish!!! Sea Jelly Spectacular |
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| Picture 10 Jelly Fish!!! Sea Jelly Spectacular |
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| Picture 11 Jelly Fish!!! Sea Jelly Spectacular |
There are tons of food joints around this section, so just pick one if you're hungry. One proper meal would cost a minimum of 50 HKD. (Also depending on what kind of a meal/cuisine you eat. Vegetarian Indian food is available here!)
Like I said, head to The Waterfront using their train service called the Ocean Express for a different experience. Besides, by this time the cable cars are so crowded that they have to shut entry for more passengers. It really isn't worth an hour's wait.
The Waterfront
Well, sadly there aren't many good rides here, or ones adults could check out at all, but fret not! There are loads of other things to treat yourself to in this section.
Panda Village: You absolutely have to see this!!!!!!!
A whole artificial section to suit the required environment has been made to house 2 giant pandas and 2 red pandas. I'm not sure how I felt after seeing these animals. At first, it was amusement and the greatest feeling of awe. But the teeny little activist in me came up and felt bad about how these animals are trapped far away from their natural habitat for human gratification. But all in all, I'm not sure if I'm ever going to get to see them in their natural habitat, so I'm glad to have had this opportunity. Too human, right? *ashamed*
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| Picture 12 Panda 1 was asleep when we got therePanda Village, Ocean Park |
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| Picture 13 Red Panda one playing aroundPanda Village, Ocean Park |
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| Picture 14 Panda 2 was eating happily. Reminds us of Po, doesn't he?Panda Village, Ocean Park |
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| Picture 15 Panda 1 sleeping away to glory Panda Village, Ocean Park |
Do notice the environment they're living in. There were small chunks of ice patches and the whole place was under constant air-conditioning to keep them under required temperature levels (as you can probably see in the background).
Beavers!
 |
| Picture 16 Beavers at the Ocean Park! |
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| Picture 17 Beavers at the Ocean Park! |
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| Picture 18 Beavers at the Ocean Park! |
Pandas, beavers, you'd expect something out of the ordinary to show up next, wouldn't you? That's right you should, because up next after the beavers came the goldfish!
Not cool enough? Well, they're really cool considering they had about 20 to 30 different TYPES of goldfish in the section right outside that of the beavers! Dekho, dekho...!
 |
| Picture 19 Goldfish! Ocean Park |
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| Picture 20 Goldfish! Ocean Park |
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| Picture 21 Goldfish! "Blame me for being over-imaginative, but this ones face resembles that one a human's! Hai na?" Ocean Park |
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| Picture 22 Goldfish! Ocean Park |
After the Panda Village, the next place you should check out is the:
Emerald Trail: This place has some really cool birds and a rat snake! :P Yep, that's what I remember. You'd take less than 10 minutes to take a quick look around. Miss it if you aren't a bird fan; but if I'm not wrong they did have a white peacock in their collection! Well, the first connection I made of for white peacocks was to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows where Rowling mentions about the Albino peacock at the Malfoy Manor. Just saying. *shuts up*
The Grand Aquarium: Okay. Agreed that I love seeing natural life and all that, but even the people around me seemed to have enjoyed this place. So I say, go for it! Sharks, Octopus, real coral, sea horses and lots of other weird, alien fish adorn this aquarium. Yeh bhi dekho!
 |
| Picture 23 The Grand Aquarium |
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| Picture 24 The Grand Aquarium |
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| Picture 25 That's a sea-horse that looks like the weed that grows in its environment! To camouflage itself from bigger fish. The Grand Aquarium |
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| Picture 26 Sea-horse again! The Grand Aquarium |
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| Picture 26 And another type of sea-horse The Grand Aquarium |
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| Picture 27 Now that's a shark!!!! The Grand Aquarium |
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| Picture 28 Pay attention, earthlings! The Grand Aquarium |
Well, after all of this there's only one thing left to see (or not, actually), and that's their water, light and fire show. Using the fountains and lights for effects, they show 2 dragons moving from one side to the other; there's some fire on the water (how do they do that?), and some background music as well. I'd say if you've stayed back for the day you could give it a watch, but miss it for all you care, you won't be missing TOO much. The technology is great, but it isn't all that amazing.
 |
| Picture 29 Don't know if you can tell by the pictures, but those are supposed to be dragons. Mm-hmm. Show at the Aqua City Lagoon |
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| Picture 30 Fire on water! Show at the Aqua City Lagoon |
*Note: Everywhere you go in Hong Kong, for example in Disneyland or Ocean Park, the water is really very expensive. Each person is allowed to carry about 500ml of water. SO make sure you have it on you to save some money. (I saved 20 HKD on a single bottle like that. And a person does need at least one litre of water, so make sure you at least have 500ml.)
Also, sunglasses, a hat and probably some chewing gum/ chocolates would do you good considering you have to roam around a place the whole day and hop into a couple of rides as well.
That's where the day at Ocean Park comes to an end... Of course, you already know that we head back to Kowloon and hit Pizza Hut for another vegetarian meal; and then after another very tiring day, a cozy bed and sleep catch up to us....
Au revoir,
Miss Bee.
I tweet on: https://twitter.com/#!/DevikaBharadwaj
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