Though still tired from yesterday's trip, we started our day early as we had to go to several places that day. I think that in our 4 plus days stay in Hong Kong, this is the most tiring. We were all geared-up and were on the street at 8am.
Ready to go! Nathan road in the morning.
We had breakfast at the nearest McDonald's from our guest house. As usual when dining here, I had sausage McMuffin with egg, hash brown and a cup of their daily brew. As for my wife, she had the Ham N' Egg Twisty Pasta meal. To describe, it was a bowl of macaroni in chicken soup topped with fried egg and ham. I found this uncommon in McDonald's menu, but it was actually good and tasty. The hot and savory soup blended well with the cold weather.
A great hot meal to start our day!
After having breakfast, we started our travel going to Ocean Park. We boarded the train at Jordan and alighted at Admiralty station. From Admiralty, it was quite easy following the signs to the bus station heading to Ocean Park. Along the way to the exit, we saw and decided to stop by at a tourism information centre. We bought our Ocean Park day pass there at a discounted price. The usual is HKD320/pax and we bought it for HKD290/pax. It was a good thing because we planned to buy our passes at the the theme park. After buying our passes, we went straight where bus service #629 stop going to Ocean Park.
It took us around 20 minutes to reach Ocean Park. Along the way, we enjoyed the sight of the tall buildings and busy streets of Hong Kong island. We also passed by the Happy Valley race course. Upon reaching the theme park, we took a map of it and planned how we'll manage our 5 hour stay there. There weren't many people around that time in the morning and we took advantage of the rides and attractions.
Of course, selfie muna!
Behind us was the Oceanarium.
We first went in and saw the Oceanarium. For me, it was an average attraction and I'm more of a fan of extreme rides.
In front one of the many aquariums inside the Oceanarium.
I spotted these stingrays. I recall they were motionless. Probably sleeping...
Beside the oceanarium is this attraction. Inside offers glimpse of the cuddly giant pandas.
A few meters away from the panda attraction was the Ocean express terminal. It offers a quick ride to the thrill mountain compared to the cable car. However, we choose to ride the cable car to enjoy the view of Hong Kong island. On our way to the cable car queue, we passed by the Old Hong Kong attraction and took a few snaps of our camera there.
Her shirt matches the color of the arc!
Smiling pedestrian crossing...
Finally got a ride in the cable car after queuing for 20 minutes.
On the left side, the ride offers a stunning view of the bay.
The slow-paced journey uphill took us around 10 minutes. Upon reaching the thrill mountain, there was no doubt, we had to try out the thrilling ride - "The Flash". There's hardly a queue at all on this ride and we were already next to ride. The sight of the pendulum like structure and the attached spinning disc below really brought excitement to our senses. I loved this ride and a must-try for Ocean Park visitors.
Going up to Thrill Mountain!
We survived this hell of a ride!
Next on the list was "Hair Raiser". There was already a long line by the time we queuing here. But the interval was quite fast and we were finished after 40 minutes. What sets this roller coaster apart from the others is that the structure is located near the edge of the mountain, which really adds to the excitement. Plus, the view of the bay on a high altitude packs a punch.
Definitely, a Hair Raiser experience!
After Hair Raiser, we went to see the dolphin show at Ocean Theater. The show started at 2:30PM and by the time we reached, the theater was almost full. We managed to find seats from the 5th row from the back of the theater. Frankly, it's my first time to see a dolphin show and it was amazing. The cute mammals were well trained and the stunts they performed were remarkable.
I took a video of these cute and extremely intelligent mammals and we like to watch it over and over again.
Ocean Tower was next on our list. Nothing much to say about this though.
We have tried a similar attraction in Malacca, Malaysia.
Last stop at Ocean Park was the sea lions' exhibit at Pacific Pier. The zookeepers were almost finished feeding the sea lions when we reached. We saw several sea lions swimming and some were lying on rocks as if they were sleeping. However, the astonishing part is when we saw a huge, I mean really huge sea lion coming out from the cave. It's size difference compared to the rest was pretty obvious. We learnt that the huge one is a male, which typical adults grows to about 300kg. Whereas adult females,usually weighs between 150-200kg.
The Pacific Pier marker near the entrance gate.
This is a female sea lion. Imagine the male, which is probably double the size of the female!
There were other attractions in Ocean Park. But considering the time, we just prioritized those that we really like to try. Our experience with this theme park is surely memorable.
At 3:30pm, we decided to leave Ocean Park and head to The Peak. We boarded bus service #629 heading to Admiralty. We again dropped by at the tourism information centre to buy our Disneyland day passes at a discounted price of HKD430 (usual selling price HKD450). To to The Peak, we boarded the MTR and alighted at Central station. From there, directions and information going to The Peak are well visible.
We didn't expect the queue at the Peak Tram would be so long. But there were many tourists and locals alike that time and the tram staffs had to manage the orderliness of the queue. We were literally on the other side of the ticket counter and about 200 meters away. We got tired of queuing and opted to purchase the package that included Madame Tussauds and two-way tram rides. It's cost was HKD225/pax.
Behind her is Bank of China Tower. A few hundred meters farther
from this tower is the Peak Tram terminal.
Before we reached the Peak Tram terminal, we passed by and stopped St. John's cathedral to say our prayers. I thanked God for giving us again another memorable trip, for all the blessings and for keeping us safe throughout our journey.
We didn't expect the queue at the Peak Tram would be so long. But there were many tourists and locals alike that time and the tram staffs had to manage the orderliness of the queue. We were literally on the other side of the ticket counter and about 200 meters away. We got tired of queuing and opted to purchase the package that included Madame Tussauds and two-way tram rides. It's cost was HKD225/pax.
I took a snap of the Peak Tram signage while queuing. Our feet were already tired and screaming. lol
My wife took a video of us while inside the tram. This was one snapshot.
The tram ride took around 10 minutes. We didn't manage to find a seat so we had to stand and maintain our balance during the ascend. It was already very cold and foggy outside and we couldn't enjoy the view. Overall, take the tram if it is just to experience. But there are faster alternatives like public bus or taxis.
Upon reaching the tram terminal, we decided to have a very late lunch at Hong Kong Day restaurant.
I ordered Beef Fried Rice in Black Bean Sauce...
While she opted for the Meatball and Wanton Soup.
After getting our stomachs full and regaining our strength, we went in to Madame Taussads. It was crowded inside and had to queue when taking our photos taken with the more popular personalities.
Below are some of our snaps in Madame Taussads:
Guess she didn't notice I was looking somewhere else...:)
Lee Min Ho's wax figure was life-like. My wife can't hide her smile.
I can't recall who this Hong Kong celebrity is.
Nice pose. The one on the right is prettier...
Ahem. Actually, Tiger Woods learned to play from me...
Picking up Ringo's nose, haha.
She went gaga over Lady Gaga!
I'm the ultimate fan boy of this Marvel icon!
She couldn't get loose from the Hulk's grip!
No idea who these characters were...
Same with these two...
Ahhh...this guy she surely knows!
Doraemon! He'll always have the solution and tools to your problems haha.
After the museum experience, we went back to Central to go to Mongkok. As the queue to the tram was insanely long, we took the public bus instead and cost us HKD10 (damn cheap, compared to the HKD20 tram ride).
Mongkok was very much like Myeong-dong in South Korea. It's probably the shopping/bargain mecca of Hong Kong. But apart from shopping, this area also offers a vast line-up of street foods. We ate siew mai and fish balls in one of the shops for HKD20. After a few hours strolling, I ended up buying a pair of Nike from Sneaker Street. As the name suggests, stores selling branded sports apparel occupy the whole street.
It was almost midnight when we went to Temple Street Night Market. It was actually near our guest house and located just behind Jordan station. My wife bought a pair of leather boots and I bought two cold wear shirts. The fabric was very comfortable and nice and the place is also a shoppers' haven.
It was really a long day for us and were really tired. As it was already 12:30AM and there weren't many food shops open that time, we capped our night by buying snacks from 7- Eleven. We then went back to our guest house, munched our snacks and had a good night (or should I say, good morning) rest!
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