Hong Kong: Ocean Park & Symphony of Lights (HK15 Part 2)

Hong Kong 2015

The apartment was located only 5 minutes walk to the MTR Wan Chai station. That's practically a huge advantage. Today we were going to Ocean Park via public transport. The route is pretty simple. We took MTR from Wan Chai to Admiralty Station (Exit B), and from the Admiralty Station we then took a Citybus 629 to Ocean Park. Trust me, you won't get lost.

Busy morning.

Double decker Citybus to Ocean Park.

Ocean Park opens at 10:30am. We arrived early. Always, always arrive early to theme park, because theme park is not cheap. So make the most out of it. Ocean Park is a one huge park. So huge it separated by hills. Basically, there are two parts of the park. The one at lower ground (Waterfront) and the other on top of the hill (Summit). Most major rides are located at the Summit. We started the day by seeing panda and red panda in their sanctuary. They are all adorable as I imagine it to be. After some awe sessions and photo opportunity with the mascot, we then took the cable car to get to the Summit. Cable car is something you must not miss when in Ocean Park. It offers amazing view of both the park and the ocean.

The tag-team.

Poor seal.

Hair Raiser

First thing first, get on to the newest and biggest roller coaster in the park. That's the Hair Raiser! Really up to its name. It was my first floorless roller coaster. During lift hill, we could see amazing view of the ocean, it gives you both thrill and chill. The overall ride was so smooth and I totally enjoy the airtime (when you were lifted up your seat and feeling weightless), the best feeling ever. But I'm not done yet.

Hair Raiser spotted (yellow and red track at top right).

My apprentice. You've done well.

Dragon

So Dragon is an old Arrow coaster, and the ride is pretty rough. It almost gave me a headache after few head-bang on the shoulder restraint.

Dragon's loop.

Wild West Mine Train

We found the location of this ride on map and made our way to it. But the thing with the map is, the scale is just so wrong! We walked (or should I say, hiked?) to what seems like a never ending trail. What seems so near was just so far away. And all this for an old-school mine train roller coaster. But the nice thing is, it is strategically located by the hill, so it offers amazing view of the ocean during the whole ride. It's worth it.

In summary, the rides that we've tried:

- Sea Life Carousel
- Cable car (to commute from Waterfront to Summit)
- Hair Raiser
- Arctic Blast (powered coaster)
- The Rapids
- Dragon
- Ferris Wheel
- Wild West Mine Train
- Ocean Express (to commute from Summit to Waterfront)

Other attractions that we've got to see:

- Panda Village (panda and red panda)
- Gator Marsh (crocs and gators)
- Ocean Theatre (dolphin show)

Somebody was having a good time enjoying sundae and frozen coke.

Bringing panda home.

Actually, there are so many other things to explore in Ocean Park. Did I mentioned that the park is huge? It's almost impossible to complete everything in one day really. There are just so many things from fun to extreme rides, animal encounters, animal shows and much more. It is pretty much a theme park for all age. It's just that some part of the park is hard to get around and energy consuming (many stairs and uneven ground) that would sometime make it not very stroller/wheelchair friendly. And I just have to say this too, when you are queueing, please stay alert and expect for queue cutters (they are popular to be among the visitors from the mainland). So don't be shocked. We encounter this situation many times and fortunately we are mentally prepared for this. Just don't let them cut your queue (but stay civilised). If somehow they managed to sneak in, confrontation with this kind of people is just not worth your dignity. But you can always curse them in your native language though. :)

The park closes around 6;30pm. We still got time to explore more of Hong Kong. Every night is a Symphony of Lights night, where Hong Kong city skylines are put on a musical show and colourfully lighted up. There are few places specially to see this. It can be either side of Kowloon or Hong Kong Island, or you can also go on to cruise and see both sides! We chose to see it from Avenue of Stars (it's in Kowloon, so we got to see Hong Kong Island). Arrive early to get a good spot by the river. The show was spectacular and really worth the wait. And it's free!

After the show, we still got some back-up energy left to be used for, shopping! Forgot to mention that, during this trip, we didn't rent any car mainly because there's no space to park (if there's any it would cost a bomb) and public transport is easy. So why not a little adventure. Sometimes a little rush in life can be exciting.

And where were we? Oh yes shopping! So we were in search for night market. There are many night markets in HK. But we chose the one at Temple Street, because mainly we want to find cheap souvenirs and seems like this is the perfect place for it. Rule of thumb, you must bargain like crazy only if you really want to buy the stuff. Put your price, and if the seller couldn't negotiate, just leave. Well at least that works for us. Don't ever buy item with the initial price because there are expensive as hell! There are many choices of souvenir to choose from fridge magnets, key chains, fake Disney merchandise and toys, fake handbags, stationery and many more. You won't leave empty handed for sure.

Too bad, no photos to show shopping evidence. We got back to the apartment feeling tired and super hungry. We cooked simple dinner (rice, sardines and omelette) before we hit the bed. I can't wait for tomorrow. It's gonna be a magical one! :)

Watch my Hong Kong travel video here, for even more awesome details of the trip! Enjoy!

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