Hong Kong Trip : Day 2 (Ocean Park)
11:55:00 PM
Hello everybody!!!
Ready for day 2 of our little family's Hong Kong trip? We went to Ocean Park (from 11 AM until they closed!) the whole day! It's very photo heavy (like most of my travel posts always are), so be warned!
 |
| Me & my Baby Boy decked in raincoats |
Yeah, it was raining pretty hard (and long) that day #gloomy. But first thing first! Remember i told you i couldn't find the hair dryer in Eaton Hotel and freaked (because i have to wash my hair everyday in order to look human, and not drown-mouse like!)? It's hidden here :
 |
| Just woken up-selfie, just because *LOL* (and yes i was sitting on the toilet ROFL, but no, i wasn't doing anything you don't want to know :p) |
 |
| My very yummy (and large and super generous) temaki sushi (s) *yes i had two, shuttup!*! Seriously the tobiko *drool*.... It's like-10x the portion of how local sushi parlor would add! It's pretty much like a whole little package of tobiko (that they sell in Japanese supermarkets) dumped into the sushi! And the price's like, half of local sushi! |
Seriously you guys, if you're a fan of sushi and onigiri like me... Don't even bother going to a sushi parlor in Hong Kong, just find a nearest 7-Eleven that sells them, then go crazy! They are cheap, filling, and very yummy! I love Hong Kong's 7-Eleven, i don't even!!!
Okay, *slaps self so i focus once again* back to the post. I woke up shivering, my teeth were chattering, and when i opened the wooden window to see outside...
 |
| I saw this *___* |
It was super foggy and very cold (it hits 2 celcius at dawn apparently) and it was raining hard. After i hauled my lazy ass to shower and get ready, the rain slowed to a drizzle (that stuck on until late in the afternoon zzz).
 | |||
| Attempted an #OOTD pic, but it was pretty hard because there was no full-body mirror in sight! Do you like my spikey dino jacket? LOL Dino Jacket : Milly Online Shop (Twitter), Grey Scarf : Payless, Cross Patterned Skirt : Gowigasa (online) |
 |
| Also attempted some FOTD hahaha |
 |
| We're off to today's adventure! |
 |
| Baby Boy bundled up with three layers of clothes (oh, i was also wearing three layers of clothes on top of a body hugging jacket. So forgive me if i look like a stuffed sausages in my pictures, it was better than freezing to death -___-) in MTR station |
One thing about Hong Kong, it's very tourist friendly. MTRs are easily accessible and seemingly reach everywhere with access to anywhere you could possibly want to go (especially tourist attractions). Most Hong Kong-ers that we met there didn't speak much English, but most of the receptionists spoke enough to communicate with us and they were always very friendly and attentive (after our experiences in Macau and Taiwan-where they hardly speak a word of English-this is ideal!). If anyone's thinking of going to Hong Kong but afraid of meeting difficulties to navigate their ways (i'm looking at you, Phanie hahaha), don't be. It was really easy and dummy-proof!
We took MTR to Admiralty station and then just followed the instruction guiding us to the bus station that took us directly to Ocean Park.
 |
| It was still raining when we get there *and it was getting harder than just a drizzle T.T so we decked ourselves in raincoats-we bring raincoat everywhere we go now-and got lots sof stares from other visitors (who either locals or Mainland tourists because they all spoke Chinese). WHY??? JEALOUS MUCH? LOL* |
 |
| This was taken later after we spent about half an hour shopping at the biggest (it's actually a few stores linked into one) souvenir shop ever! We waited for the rain to let up a bit. It might looked dark and all, but it was 11.30 AM! |
 |
| Starting from the next day, most pictures are taken with hunny's NX300, but at Ocean Park we used my pinko instead because of the weather, won't want to ruin the exp camera so soon! |
I was awestruck with cute (and ridiculously expensive) stuffs inside the souvenir shop that i didn't even think of taking pictures at first, but after a while (and getting sick of being surprised of the crazy pricing they have *LOL*) i remembered my blog and whipped out my trusty pinko!
 |
| Panda!!! |
 |
| More Pandas! They have sections of different animals, and in each attractions you'd find smaller stores selling the animals representations of the attraction. I think you can skip the smaller stores and go into this huge store (at the entrance) and get everything you want in one place |
 |
| The crazy price of Ocean Park totally shocked me and made prices in Disneyland super cheap in comparison! |
 |
| If you've read my haul post, you'd know that i bought that panda beanie&mitten set seen at the back, i was torn between the panda and the polar bear i wore here but the polar bear's head was quite heavy and hunny said the panda's cuter so we ended up with the panda. But seeing this pic, i also really like the polar bear >.< if only it wasn't so expensive, i'd get them both! |
 |
| They also have the penguin one, but i was not very attracted to it. But must cam-whore with it, naturally! |
 |
| Unique cashier booth |
 |
| Super cute biscuits |
 |
| So so cute! |
 |
| I didn't buy any :p, i don't think it'd be very nice. Cute things rarely are |
We only bought very little things (my panda beanie that saved my frozen fingers, a toy for Baby Boy and a fridge magnet) but we paid close to IDR 1 mill (800K, i think). Complete madness -___-. If you can hold yourself off, try to shop as little as possible at Ocean Park and shop at Disneyland instead! You'll get so much more stuffs that way hahaha.
 |
| Off to the first attraction |
 |
| I remembered this blue-hued (because of the acrylic surrounding it) elevator! It's one thing that i remember vividly of the previous visit to Ocean Park when i was... 12. LOL. But i remembered the elevator to be super long! Does my memory play a trick on me? Because the elevator's just normal length haha (i just checked the website, apparently there IS another elevator : the second longest outdoor elevator in the world! I'm not crazy after all!) |
 |
| Welcome to the Grand Aquarium! |
 |
| Can you spot the turtle? |
 |
| Baby Boy's squeamish like me so he refused to touch the sea creatures (even though he never have any problem with snakes, tigers, alligators, etc!) so he just posed in front of the touch-pool :p |
 |
| Colorful fishies |
 |
| Is it so wrong to feel hungry whenever i see gigantic crabs? |
 |
| And octopuses too |
 |
| The mesmerising jelly fishes! |
 |
| Out-of-this-worldly |
 |
| Piranhas feeding |
 |
| Poor hunny and Baby Boy wanted to make the souvenir coins but all the machines were either broken or the attendants didn't have any coins to exchange! But later on they got one :) |
 |
| Errrr, i see a full length mirror and couldn't help but do an OOTD selfie *LOL*. Only i can make myself look less like a stuffed sausage. Boots' online also, bought at A's little sister's online shop (the one i bought for our Europe trip last year but arrived more than a month after the trip *LOL*, finally got to wear it. It's very nice looking, but unfortunately quite painful to wear all day long!) |
 |
| When i see cute stuffs...I'm pretty sure i set a very bad example, because right after a Chinese girl saw me and immediately copied -___- (no, we didn't buy the headband, it's hardly useable!) |
 |
| Ocean Park's located in the mountains, complete with the rain and wind... it was freezing! Well, it was like 8 degrees (celcius), but that's very cold for tropical creatures okay!!! |
 |
| Next up : Hong Kong Jockey Club Sichuan Treasures |
 |
| There were only two types of animals in this area |
 |
| The golden monkeys (that they claimed as the "cousins of Sun Wu Kong" LOL) |
 |
| And giant pandas. No, the panda's not dead, it was simply napping *LOL* |
 |
| We always took pictures of the entrance AFTER we went in *LOL* |
 |
| Cute panda VW! |
 |
| Next to it was this interesting looking area that looked like an attraction of some sort |
 |
| But apparently it was a train to take us to the higher part of the Park (i guess you either take this, or the elevator, or the cable car)! |
 |
| It was guised as a submarine *LOL* |
 |
| Ocean Express Summit Station (yes, after i learned the name it was obvious that it was a normal train and not an attraction *LOL*) |
 |
| Can't blame my pinko for the blurry-ness, the "submarine" was riding fast and even NX300 cannot avoid taking blurry pics! LOL |
 |
| They darkened the windows and put screens on the roof, playing a show that made you feel like you're underwater |
 |
| Hunny and his glows-in-the-dark Skechers |
 |
| The dropped us off at the Rainforest! |
 |
| Honestly, being humans that hails from tropical countries (with rainforests everywhere), the concept didn't interest us. But food does! |
 |
| Got ourselves some yummy ribs and fries! Baby Boy ate like, a portion of the fries (and he kept on eating that he gained a lot of weight after this trip *LOL*)! Poor hunny wanted a turkey leg (that he's been craving ever since our visit to Universal Studio years ago!) but they kept on running out of turkey legs that day! He got his fix two days later in Disneyland though! |
 |
| I'm still not a huge fan of ribs, but i guess when it's very cold and you're very hungry-eveything tastes heavenly! |
 |
| With his new toy haha |
 |
| Baby Boy wanted to ride that, but it being a ride that can be found in any amusement parks locally and it being super cold-i just couldn't risk him getting a cold! |
 |
| It was pretty funny seeing tropical style decor in such a cold place |
 |
| Crazy panda on the loose |
 |
| OMG, stuffed sausage -___- |
 |
| One thing that i hated about the local/mainland tourist (i'm pretty sure it was the latter because Hong Kongers-even though they are not the friendliest, they are also not rude. Most of them anyway) was the fact that they have no sense of the concept "Public things". They kept on hogging (or let their kids hog) stuffs and didn't care if the line's getting super long! It really was getting on my nerves. Hong Kong-ers queues mostly, so i'm pretty sure they were Mainland tourists |
 |
| Baby Boy had to waited for a long long long time until the annoying kids (who went for i dunno, 20 rounds or something) are done. Even then his daddy would only let him play like, three times in consideration of other people in the line (which is the right thing to do!) |
 |
| I think it's the North Pole Encounter |
 |
| Baby Boy with a gigantic Eskimo. Really, i'm getting so annoyed at the darting eyes -___- |
 |
| Yeah... We realized later we didn't get to the penguin side *LOL*. Baby Boy announced that he was hungry and hunny saw a restaurant nearby (called The Tuxedo Restaurant) and decided to have late lunch there |
 |
| Their concept was "dining with penguins" (and that's when we realized we didn't go to the penguin place *LOL*), what i didn't expect was... That the temperature of the very very nice (and expensive looking, and really is expensive hahaha) restaurant to be close to those of the penguin's. LOL, okay i'm exaggerating, but i really hoped it would be warm inside the restaurant, but instead it was FREEZING!!! |
 |
| Yeah, we really dined with the penguins. I mean they also dined next to us *LOL* |
 |
| CCCOOOLLLDDDD |
 |
| They have regular sizes and family sizes (which they claimed to suit 2-3 persons), and since it's cheaper to get a family sized dish (instead of getting more than one dish) we ordered a family size scallop angel hair pasta |
 |
| And they arrived like this. The expression on my face was genuine, just... re-enacted for a pic hahaha |
 |
| Seriously though, it was more suitable for 4 persons at least. In the end, since we still got a lot left, and the fact that we paid IDR 450.000 (for one pasta and one coffee haha) we completely forgot to be shy and asked to ta bao-ed them. Apparently if you want to bring your leftover food home in Hong Kong, they'd give you a paper/ plastic bowl (a nice one) and you can help yourself. Btw, they pasta was VERY VERY GOOD. Baby boy had two helpings and swallowed ALL of the scallops you see in the first pic. I was quite full from all the fries and ribs, but after i had a mouthful... yeah, i ended up having |
 |
| Then we're out braving the cold again (not that it was any warmer inside the restaurant anyway) |
 |
| Baby Boy spotted this jet coaster and said he wanted to ride it. Since i am training him to be more open to new things and not be so timid about things he's not used to, i decided to brave the long long queue (it's nothing compared to Disneyland's queue, btw) to play with him. My cowardly hunny said it was too cold to play jet coaster and refused to ride with us, CHICKEN!!! The jet coaster was quite thrilling (for kids, it was so so for me) and probably the scariest thing Baby Boy had ever rode, but he was having a lot of fun! Btw, this is a very pretty candid picture! Props to hunny, for once i do not look crazy in a candid photo (even though you can't see my face here) |
 |
| Ended up playing two more rides, one i had to go alone because Baby Boy was too short (they took it seriously, even bringing a gigantic ruler to measure the kids!)-the ride (Rev Booster) was crazy fast and i had to clutch the safety bar like crazy because i felt like i was going to be thrown off!!!. The other one all three of us went together (Whirly Bird) and it was faster and scarier than i initially thought (but again, Baby Boy was being a total trooper, despite the fact that he lost one of his shoes (it dropped off) just before the ride started!) |
 |
| There were some carnival games there and one of them is bursting balloon (that's why Baby Boy was covering his ears in this pic). Baby Boy kept on asking to play but the carnival games were crazy expensive, plus we're totally hopeless when it comes to this kind of games! So i had to distract him turned him away |
 |
| And we went down from the top part of the park using a cable car |
 |
| I think this is the first time Baby Boy ever took a REAL cable car (and not the kiddie one he rides at malls) |
 |
| The cable car dropped us off at Old Hong Kong Area (if you're visiting Ocean Park and on a tighter bugdet, go to this area for food! There are a lot of side stall style foodcarts selling yummy stuffs!), and the boys immediately drawn to the souvenir coin pressing machine (that works, for once) |
 |
| Cute, olden days style decor |
 |
| May i repair your shoes, sir? |
 |
| Again with the no sense of queuing tourists. I was obviously taking pictures of Baby Boy, and as soon as they saw me doing it, a Chinese mother shoved her daughter to take pictures as well. I had to crop the picture until so small to crop them out (even so you can still see half of her). WTF. ARGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! I HATE inconsiderate people!!!!!!! |
 |
| Lots of old style props to cam-whore with! |
 |
| Wanna buy some veggies from this petite panda? (HEY, i am PETITE compared to regular pandas okay!!! Tiny even @___@) |
 |
| How do you afford that expensive (faux) leather jacket and camera just by selling veggies, sir? |
 |
| Olden style train compartment |
 |
| We have one that still works (and open for tourists) in Ambarawa! |
 |
| More carnival games booths, oh no... Hunny had to pee (he went like, 20 times in a day in Hong Kong, i guess it's his karma for making fun of my mum) so i used Baby Boy as a prop around the booths because they are so vintage looking and attractive! |
 |
| After i snapped this, i turned around and almost walk into a male attendant that materialized out of nowhere, soundless. I almost had a heart attack -___- |
 |
| Waaa, this picture so convincing, yes? Like we went back in time or something (except for Baby Boy's way-too-modern backpack and sneakers) |
 |
| Now you know what i mean with us not being able to say no to him? I did force him to play the "Sure win" game, take it or leave it (so we won't be deliberately throwing money away) |
 |
| This is creepy, don't you think? Did they really use that kind of device for perming back in the day??? Looked more like an electric chair to me |
 |
| He got the medium prize (thank God, how were we supposed to bring back a HUGE bus shaped plushie if he won the jumbo prize?) pffffftttt, what's a boy to do with a fluffy, baby pink bear? (Nothing, he just left it in my room, that is) |
 |
| It was closing already, there were a few other attractions we didn't get to see (and we didn't even get to watch any shows *LOL*) but it was a pretty satisfying visit to Ocean Park |
 |
| The last attraction before the park closes : Symbio |
 |
| It's apparently the world's first 360 degrees water screen show which is not dissimilar to Sentosa's dancing fountain show |
 |
| Yeah, the fire effects were pretty impressive, and we kept on yelling "MORE MORE" because the crazy fire made us felt warm for a few seconds *LOL* |
 |
| Baby Boy, of course, clasped his hands to his ears in the entire show, but at least he didn't try to run away (like at Disneyland's fireworks show *LOL*) |
 |
| Then it was time to go back to the hotel |
 |
| Last pic at the entrance, because we're always skipping entrance on the way in-due to excitement! |
 |
| We stopped by at Sasa on the way back (i marathon-shopped for 30 mins while my boys sat around eating cookies waiting for me. Thank God for sofas they provided for the miserable men in that particular branch-i should've taken pictures and tagged them). Way too tired to look for food so we took the easy way out-pre-packed meals from 7-Eleven across the hotel! Hunny also used their stove to heat up the left over pasta for Baby Boy (i offered him the rice but he wanted the earlier pasta instead *LOL*, that boy really knows nice and expensive foods now...) there! |
 |
| Hmmmm i seriously love 7-Eleven's pre-packed meals! Yummy, dirt cheap and super filling! My fave kind of food hahaha |
Oh yeah, if you ask me if it's worth it to visit Ocean Park (like Alison said, some people might be opposed in visiting two parks in one visit. If you only want to go to one i'd definitely suggest Disneyland)? I'd say sure, if you like animals and marine life especially. Or you have a young kid who loves them. For me personally, i'm not an animal kind of person so i did find it kind of boring, but Baby Boy really had the time of his life and kept on saying that Ocean Park is the best, seeing him so happy of course made it totally worth it! It's also very expensive (the souvenirs, the food), so keep in mind the tips i gave you up there if you are traveling on a budget.
And that was our second day in Hong Kong! We moved to Disneyland's hotel and went to Ngong Ping on the third day, stay tune for the stories!
#Pink
6 comments
Hongkong! Wow you did a lot in a day, would love to visit HK too soon. I was supposed to go there with hubby last January but he backed out and I can't go alone so better luck next time for me.. hehe. Thanks for sharing! I'll make sure to visit those places too. ;)
ReplyDeleteHahaha yes, i made the most of our visit there :). Still not enough though, i really want to go back to HK soon! Oh that's too bad :(... I wouldn't want to travel alone either! Better luck next time, totally!
DeleteI love the fact that you spent that much time in Ocean Park. That's like a dream for a little boy! Would love to do the same with our 3 children. :) The pictures are great too!
DeleteHahaha, my husband and i are young at heart and really love these kind of places too honestly :), and yes-my son had the time of his life there! Thank you :)
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI love this blog.
ReplyDeleteHong Kong Trip