Hong Kong Part 4

Day 3: Ocean Park and The Peak

Hong Kong has 2 main theme parks; Ocean Park and Disneyland. Due to our limited time in Hong Kong, we I decided to go to Ocean Park. Why Ocean Park?
1. Its cheaper and easier to get to (HKD 280 vs HKD 399).
2. It used to be my playground. I used to visit Ocean Park almost twice a year.
3. It brings back sweet memories.

So off we went on a beautiful Thursday morning. A direct bus service from Admiralty MTR Station takes us straight to Ocean Park, located on the southern side of Hong Kong Island. The bus fare is HKD 10.30 per trip. The original Ocean Park admission fee was HKD 280 but we stumbled upon a travel agency located within the Admiralty MTR Station (at main concourse, just follow the directions to "Ocean Park Bus" ) offering a discount of HKD 250.

If you plan to visit Ocean Park, do arrive early. The park opens at 10 am. We arrived at 11 am and it was already filled with people. Do take note that outside food are not allowed into the park. There are guards at the entrance that will check your bags. You can 'smuggle' in food by placing your container at the bottom of your back pack and cover it with lots of clothes. The guards are not so strict.

Ocean Park is massive. Much bigger that Universal Studios Singapore. It is divided into the Lowland and the Highland. The adult rides such as roller coasters are mainly located at the Highland while the other attractions are located at the Lowland. To get the best of Ocean Park, arrive early and head straight to the Highland to avoid long queues (and get the performances schedule at the main entrance). Unfortunately, we did the exact opposite. We explored the Lowland first and only went up in the afternoon. By the time we lined up for the rides, it took 1 hour just to get on a roller coaster!

The crowd in Ocean Park consist mainly of foreigners, locals and tourist group from Mainland China. No offence to the Chinese but these Chinese tour groups are just BAD. It is best to avoid them. To identify them is easy they will wear matching bright caps or shirts and wear mismatching clothes with a leader bearing a bright flag as the leader. Why are they BAD?

1. They don't bother lining up. And worse when someone tell them off they will act dumb! (not sure if its because they can't understand English or plain dumb). I had one such encounter with a family from England. We were patiently lining up for 30 minutes and 4 Chinese tourist just walked up straight to the front of the line while pushing others away. The other patrons were just shocked. And the Brit just told the off. The expression on the Chinese tourists' faces were just irritating. I wanted to smack their head on the ground!

2. They will talk really loud....the other person they are having a conversation with is just next to him!

3. They hog up EVERYTHING and EVERYWHERE. They  come in groups of 6 - 10 and just displace every one else around!

4. They love to spit and litter.

(This is just my observation. I have no intention of being a racist. Please forgive me if I offend anyone)

Panda!

Photo bombed by a sleeping panda

A scenic ride on the cable car

Sting ray!

Its Flipper. Very enjoyable

Polar experience

Its dark at 7 pm

As I said before, Ocean Park is massive. We didn't get to visit all the attractions in 1 day due to inadequate planning and the overwhelming crowd. Here is a list of the must see attractions (the ones we DID see)
1. Giant Panda Adventure:
    The giant pandas (3 of them) are very lazy. They will laze around and sleep all day. The red pandas are cute and quite active.
2. The Grand Aquarium
    Its a bigger version of Aquaria KLCC.
3. Whiskers Theater
    Pick up the showtimes at the main entrance and reserve some time to watch Whiskers in action. He's a    cute  sea lion and is quite hillarious.
4. The Cable Car
    You MUST ride this. The view is amazing. But it can get scary when there is a sudden gust of wind. DO NOT take the Ocean Express. Both will take you to the summit but the Ocean Express is just like the MTR.
5. North Pole Encounter and South Pole Spectacular
6. The Hair Raiser
    Its just hair raising...one of the best rides I been on. What makes it thrilling is how close you'll get to the     edge of the cliff. (Unfortunately I had to ride this alone, as my other half chickened out.)
7. The Rapids at Expedition Trail
    Trust me, this is much better than the Jurassic Park Rapids in Universal Studios Singapore. You actually do get wet.
8. Ocean Theatre
    Its not as nice as it used to be. Hoi Wai The Killer Whale is truly missed (She died in 1997). The other mammals weren't as spectacular.
9. Symbio!
    A magnificent light, sound and water fountain show at 7 pm daily. Its hundreds of times better than Symphony of Lights.

What I have mentioned so far is just a fraction of the attractions in Ocean Park. We barely covered half the park in the 10 hours we were there. Simply said OCEAN PARK is DA BOMB....but I can't comment on Hong Kong Disneyland as I have yet to be there.

Next stop, The Peak. By the time we reached The Peak (via Peak Tram, HKD 65 return trip) it was 9 pm. Thankfully the weather was magnificent. We were blessed with a clear skies and a cool temperature of 18-20 degrees Celcius. The view from the top is just breathtaking. Words can't describe it. You just have to be here. Being with your loved one (minus a naughty baby girl) makes it fabulous.

When you backpack, the hair doesn't matter anymore!

 
   That wraps up the 3rd Day in Hong Kong!

Hong Kong Part 3

From Wan Chai, we took bus 6X (HKD 8.40) straight to Stanley. My mum used to bring our guests and relatives here for shopping. I didn't think it was much fun 18 years back. But things have changed. The whole area has changed tremendously. It is such a beautiful place. We didn't do anything much but just enjoyed the wonderful scenery and weather....and Akmar did some shopping too (Bought a jumpsuit for Alyssa at HKD10, an oil painting for HKD90). The trip on the bus was wonderful as well. Along the way are some high end apartments and condominiums. In less than 30 minutes I saw more than 10 luxury cars (4 Bentlys, 2 Aston Martins, countless Ferrarris and Porches). I wonder how rich these people are. A parking lot in Hong Kong can cost as much as HKD 4 million!

Stanley Bay

Nice weather, nice view

The high end apartments from the bus

From the southern side of Hong Kong, we head straight to the Mainland. We arrived just in time for the Symphony of Lights at The Avenue of Stars. (Bus no. 6 to Admiralty Station, then MTR to Tsim Tsa Tsui). The Symphony of Lights is certified by Guinness World Records as the world's largest permanent light and sound show in the world. It starts daily at 8pm and the best vantage point is from The Avenue of Stars. It IS the biggest but entertaining it is NOT. We can barely see where the lights are coming from and it wasn't synchronous with the soundtrack. Basically, its what we Malays say "Indah khabar dari rupa". But the view of the Hong Kong Skyline is not to be missed.

The beautiful skyline

Jackie Chan's star

A Bruce Lee wannabe

Next, we went to Mong Kok. THE place for shopping and bargaining, the Ladies' Market. This place is massive, filled to the brim with people. The rule of thumb here is DON'T BE FOOLED BY THE PRICE. A typical bargain will be like this:

Me:         How much is this?
Ah Moi:  This is HKD300. But I give you best price...HKD150
Me:         Cheaper can?
Ah Moi:  I give you best price already!
Me:         Ok, I go
Ah Moi:  Mister, mister. How much you want? (shows you a calculator)
Me:        (I write HKD 75)
Ah Moi:  Too much. Cannot sell
Me:        (I walk off)
Ah Moi:  Ok, ok mister. I give you HKD 80, I give you free key chain.

I bought the bloody thing for HKD 80. The next day we went to The Peak and saw the same thing for HKD 50, fixed price! The moral of the story is, these people are scumbags. If you enjoy bargaining and have skills, this is a place for you.

Despite my grudge against the sellers, we returned to our room with close to HKD 1000 of stuff. Tipping the scales of our luggage by 5kg (departed with 20kg luggage, returned home with 20kg).