Before I get started talking about our awesome day at Ocean Park, I would just like to take a minute to say how funny it is that Anto and I have been having cold showers for the last two weeks. When we arrived here, sweaty as can be after 25 hours of travelling, we turned on the AC (a luxury we didn't even have at home) to cool down and then wanted nothing more than a hot shower. Wrong. No hot water. While researching places to stay and reading reviews through Air BnB, we noticed that lack of hot water seemed to be common in Hong Kong, so we chalked it up to the same sad story. Finally, after two weeks and not being able to even fathom the thought of another cold shower, I said to Anto, “Maybe we should ask your Aunt (whose place we ended up staying at) if there is a trick to get even a little bit of hot water.” Within a minute, I kid you not, there was a knock at the door. Our hot water hero. Aunt Connie has a friend who lives downstairs who popped up right away to help us. Turns out that random switch we always looked at and thought, “hmm I wonder what this random switch does?” was, in fact, the missing link to the comfort of a hot shower. Thank you to Connie and Sandy for saving us! I can't help but laugh as I think of all the cold showers we have had here and how unnecessary they were. Aiyaaaa. I was even scared to tell my parents, who are visiting in Novemeber, out of sheer fear that they may change their mind about coming! Such a small detail but such a HUGE improvement to our every day! Phew. Thank goodness!
Okay, now to Ocean Park! Reminds me of the last time we went to a theme park together, and we were asked to be in a Global TV Commercial because we looked like a "fun couple." So we have a thing for amusement parks – we LOVE them!
Okay, now to Ocean Park! Reminds me of the last time we went to a theme park together, and we were asked to be in a Global TV Commercial because we looked like a "fun couple." So we have a thing for amusement parks – we LOVE them!
Hong Kong has two major theme parks – Ocean Park and Disney. Since we are saving Disney for Anto's birthday in October (he is a total Disney kid, even brought his Mickey Mouse blankey all the way here), we thought we would reward ourselves for surviving the typhoon with a day of old-fashion fun and rides at Ocean Park.
For a Thursday it was much busier than we thought, but nothing too crazy. The first ride we saw was the Carousel, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to ride on the back of a giant seahorse! Bad decision though. Somehow this ended up being the longest ride to get started, and they forced every one to buckle up to their sea animal, whether you were age 2 or 62. Never in my life have I been strapped onto a carousel, but I excitedly thought, “Ooh maybe this one gets a little crazy or maybe it goes faster!” Sadly, I was wrong. Poor Anto had to go through all that just for me to ride a seahorse, he did look pretty happy perched on his killer whale though. Nevertheless, we decided no more rides in the kiddie land!
The park is SO huge that they have a mini subway called The Ocean Express. It brings you to the other side of the park where all the good stuff is! Sponsored by Volkswagen, the Express is designed to look like a submarine and while you're riding it, they make it feel like you are submerged under water and surrounded by the sounds of the sea. It was really cool. And air conditioned! So double cool for us sweaty westerners.
They have a ride that is similar to my one of my favourites at Wonderland – It is like one giant round swing, only this one goes upside down which we were not expecting! So fun! Ho wan! After this we found one of the two big roller coasters at Ocean Park. It is called Hair Raiser and is rated the highest intensity of all the rides at the whole park. And we agree! It is similar to most roller coasters, only it twists you at the same time it drops you, and as you go upside down. So intense and awesome!
After riding a few more rides, and using up all the paper towel we had to wipe our sweaty faces, we had a choice: To do a water ride and cool down or to eat lunch? Tough. But we'd rather not be wet and then sit in air-conditioning. So, on the recommendation of a fellow blogger, we made our way to the Bayview Cafe, which overlooks the water. We shared a vegetable curry, a plate of delicious fries, and the cutest and smallest tub of Haagen-Dazs we had ever seen.
It was a perfect time to take a break from the heat before we tackled the second half of the park. Beside us at lunch sat three teenage girls, who saw our delicious fries and then decided to get a plate to share themselves, which I thought was cute. There's something about girls that love fries that I respect so much and I can't explain why! As Anto and I got ready to leave and continue the Ocean Park experience, we sat perched by the exit, taking one last look at the map and planning our route of attack before we stepped out in the heat again. Just then, one of the teenage girls ran up to me to put something in my hand. At first I was confused – Did she need help? Did they want me to take a picture of them? But as I looked down, I unfolded the piece of paper she put in my hand as she was giggling and saying “english not good, english not good!” And then I realized... they had a crush on me!
The note read, "Excuse me. We think your eyes so so so beautiful. English not good! :)" It was like when a boy or girl in public school would secretly leave a note in your desk, or in your locker. I could barely finish reading it before she ran off giggling, so I had to yell out “Aw! Mmgoy sai!” Thank you for everything! I had such a meen hung (red face) and if she didn't run away so quickly I would have told them they were ho lang team (so beautiful also!) But I enjoyed my blushy moment and felt so lucky to have received praise from my fellow french fry lovers! And Anto, well, he thought this was just hilarious! Here is the cutest note from the cutest girls :)
The note read, "Excuse me. We think your eyes so so so beautiful. English not good! :)" It was like when a boy or girl in public school would secretly leave a note in your desk, or in your locker. I could barely finish reading it before she ran off giggling, so I had to yell out “Aw! Mmgoy sai!” Thank you for everything! I had such a meen hung (red face) and if she didn't run away so quickly I would have told them they were ho lang team (so beautiful also!) But I enjoyed my blushy moment and felt so lucky to have received praise from my fellow french fry lovers! And Anto, well, he thought this was just hilarious! Here is the cutest note from the cutest girls :)
\We decided to continue on to find the ride called the Raging River. We were already hot and sweaty again by the time we got there, so we were pumped to get as soaked as the riders we had been watching before us. But somehow, we barely even got a splash! They themed this ride to be Canadian, and I always love how other places in the World depict us. Too funny! We also secretly took a picture of the picture of our action shot! Shhh
What we really liked about Ocean Park is that it's a perfect mix of rides and games, followed by indoor aquariums and exhibits about sea life. It was very well done, and a nice way to cool down in between rides too. We ventured into Shark Mystique where we could see sharks of all sizes, sting rays and a plethora of fish all living within the same giant habitat. It was really cool, and while we're not for animal exploitation, they seemed to have a pretty huge home there, comparable to the size of a racetrack. It's no deep sea, but it could have been worse.
After finishing here, we noticed there was a going to be a live show at the Ocean Theatre where they have seals and dolphins who do tricks. Again, not a big fan of this platform of entertainment, but hey, when in Hong Kong right? Well what we weren't expecting was the amount of people there! It was pure chaos and Anto and I got separated so many times we decided we weren't meant to be there.
For those who know Anto, they know his love for Coca Cola. It's like his coffee. We kept seeing people walking around with these giant Coke slushies and asked a few school kids to point us in the right direction. While everyone was at the Ocean Theatre, the rest of the area was very peacful. Low and behold, we found the infamous slushy and enjoyed a refreshing sit down underneath a huge fan, all to ourselves!
For those who know Anto, they know his love for Coca Cola. It's like his coffee. We kept seeing people walking around with these giant Coke slushies and asked a few school kids to point us in the right direction. While everyone was at the Ocean Theatre, the rest of the area was very peacful. Low and behold, we found the infamous slushy and enjoyed a refreshing sit down underneath a huge fan, all to ourselves!
We began to wander around again, and found a gift store to pretend to shop in just to be in the air-conditioning. We noticed there was a hidden entrance to what seemed like another exhibit. Turns out it was the exit, but the gift shop employee was so sweet, she unchained the walkway and let us in anyway.
What an awesome surprise! We had stumbled in to the land of Sea Lions and there was barely anyone there! While we enjoyed the view from below, watching the sea lions swim lap upon lap, we noticed there was another walkway that led you to a viewing deck up above. Turns out we arrived just as they were beginning to feed them. It was so sweet to watch little kids throw in fish to the cute creatures below. Somehow this made me miss our cat Boo Radley. Not sure why, but it really doesn't take much. Heck, it could have been something as simple as their whiskers.
What an awesome surprise! We had stumbled in to the land of Sea Lions and there was barely anyone there! While we enjoyed the view from below, watching the sea lions swim lap upon lap, we noticed there was another walkway that led you to a viewing deck up above. Turns out we arrived just as they were beginning to feed them. It was so sweet to watch little kids throw in fish to the cute creatures below. Somehow this made me miss our cat Boo Radley. Not sure why, but it really doesn't take much. Heck, it could have been something as simple as their whiskers.
By this time, we were already feeling pretty beat from all the walking around and the extreme heat, so we planned out our last few rides. Nothing like ending off the day with the giant pirate ship and the ferris wheel. One thing that was so beautiful about Ocean Park, in comparison to Wonderland, is the view. From a top all the rides, and certain look out points, you can take in these beautiful views of the ocean and the mountains that seem to go on forever, slowly fading into the infinite beauty of the sky. Here are a few of our favourite shots from the day.
There is something so peaceful about riding a Ferris Wheel. While they take the longest to board and exit, it is totally worth it and a trip to the theme park with your loved one just wouldn't be complete without it. While we enjoyed the peace, quiet and pre-sunset breeze at the end of a long and hot day, we still managed to have enough energy to take some pictures and even a video of the view so you can ride it with us :)
We noticed when we arrived at Ocean Park, a sign saying that it was only the second day of their big Halloween Fest. Lucky for us! The whole park was decorated accordingly and we thought it was a fun and festive effort to depict Halloween and so many awesome photo ops for all to enjoy!
What we didn't know is that this also meant that, just as the sun begins to set, they let loose onto the park grounds a slew of elaborately made up creatures to both terrify and delight us. While we made our way back to the bus at the end of the day, we couldn't resist stopping to take some pictures with our favourite ones!
As we arrived back at the Ocean Express to transport us back to the park exit, we were mesmerized by the insanely beautiful and captivating sunset. There are no words to describe how it felt to look out onto that at the end of the day. It literally was a picture perfect ending. The sun itself reminded me of one of my favourite scenes in Star Wars – A New Hope, when Luke is all bummed because his uncle insists he stick around for another season before starting to train as a Jedi Knight. Luke goes outside, totally bummed, to kick the dust around and gaze into the evening view of the fiery double sun. I always loved that scene. That being said, I clearly loved this sunset so much, not just for the obvious beauty, but because it reminded me of a little piece of home. That home where the little Star Wars loving kid lives inside of me. While you are travelling on the other side of the World, things that spontaneously remind you of, well, yourself, are such a precious gift.
Here are some more fun photos of the day!