Hong Kong - Day 3 & 4

going home & souvenirs

After a good nite sleep, we woke up to our Day 3 well refreshed and recharged. Day 3 was about theme park again and we headed out to Ocean Park. After getting ourselves readied, we explored further at the local kopitiam (char chaan teng) nearby our hotel. We landed ourselves with one of the most typical type in which offering local breakfast set. The set back was mummy was incapable of reading the menu as it was all written in Mandarin. She seek help from the waitress and casually ordered a smashed ham with scramble egg sandwiches and iced milk tea.

After the breakfast, we took the mrt to Admiralty station where we purchased Ocean Park ticket and the two-way bus. Even it was a Mon, the queue was amazing long in order for us to get into the bus. The bus journey took about 15-20mins before we alighted right in front of Ocean Park entrance at about 10am. Before entering, we snapped some photo. Upon entering the park, we snapped a lot of photo at the Waterfront & Aqua City before heading to those attractions and rides. First we entered the Old Hong Kong, where we were brought back to the earlier years of Hong Kong back at the 50's to 70's. The huge Chinatown-like gate welcomed us with the colors and activities of life in Old Hong Kong on authentically recreated streets and scenes. We had our first ride on the sea life carousel, featuring the marine animal stars of the Grand Aquarium such as sea horse, goldfish, dolphin and shark. We took the cable car to travel to the Summit, where it was located at the other side of a mountain. It gave us unprecedented views of the surrounding area, the sea and the entire park. Surprisingly Emeryn enjoyed the whole cable car journey, where mummy thought she would stumble.

Upon reaching the Summit, we head over to the Ocean Park Tower as we soared 72meters into the air. We could overseas the stunning view of the South China Sea from atop Ocean Park Tower, where a gently rotating viewing room provides 360 degrees of sun, sea and sky. The tower ranked as one of the tallest observation towers in Southeast Asia. We then proceeded to the Pacific Pier where we viewed the rocky coastal habitat of seals and sea lions as they frolic, sunbathe and hunt beneath the wave. Emeryn absolutely enjoyed watching those animals.

We had a walk to the Expedition Trail. The expedition trail took us on a hands-on journey through the habitat of some of the rarest animals in the world. We then walked up to the Thrill Mountain but unfortunately none of the rides are suitable for Emeryn due to the mininum height restriction. We did not managed to enjoy the Hair Raiser, Whirly Bird, Bumper Blaster, Rev Booster, The Flash and Bungee Trampoline. Our next stop was the Ocean Express, the latest quick, smooth, thrilling and fun way to travel from Ocean Park's Waterfront to the excitement at the Summit. Little that we know, it brought us back to the Waterfront. We were surprised to find ourselves at the Waterfront as soon as we stepped out from the express train. Funny!!! We walked back to the cable car station and took the stroller that we parked there earlier.

We visited the Giant Panda Adventure, where we could witnessed the panda and its habitat followed by the Gold Fish Treasure, Emperors of the Sky which houses extraordinary birds of prey including steppes eagles, Lanner falcons, striated caracaras and turkey vultures, along with 70 other species of birds and lastly the Gator Marsh, where we visited the scary alligators. We then marched into the Whiskers Harbour where we watched Sea Lion Fun Time Show (a drama that reveals "a day in the life" of sea lions and how they prepare for their show).

After the show, we hurried back to the Summit to catch Sea Dreams. We took the Ocean Express again to get to The Summit. We bought lunch at one of the pit-stop and savored them slowly while enjoying the scenic view. Before the scheduled show, Sea Dream at 3.30pm, we went to the Chinese Sturgeon Aquarium - Yangtze Exploration. There we saw a living fossil, the endangered Chinese sturgeon, and other wonderful fish of the Yangtze and Hong Kong! By the time we reached the theater, it was fully seated and we hardly find a standing area unoccupied too. We squeezed our way into the crowded crowd and managed to catch a glimpse at the show. Sea Dreams is a show where Ocean Park's talented marine mammals and trainers present a heart-warming and delightful spectacular about the dream of how human and animals could live together with love and respect.

After the show, we visited the Adventure Land but again we did not managed to play on any of the rides (Mine Train, Space Wheel, Raging Water, Flying Swing, Ferris Wheel, Eagle). Out of the sudden, the wind blew really hard and non stop for at least half an hour, as though we are experiencing the Hong Kong infamous typhoon. We then headed to the Sea Jelly Spectacular where we entered to an underwater 'garden', where fluorescent sea jellies float serenely overhead. Over 1,000 sea jellies of all sizes, shapes and colours from around the world can be found at Ocean Park! We decided to leave the Summit after that and continued with the unfinished Waterfront attraction.

Our next stop was the Hong Kong Jockey Club Sichuan Treasures where we visited the monkeys and pandas followed by the Giant Aquarium. It was really huge and wonderfully furnished with nice deco. We were welcomed by the vibrant corals and the amazing sounds of the ocean. It was like a deep underwater world, where bioluminescent creatures glow in the dark and the mysterious shadows of fish flicker by our shoulders. There was a gigantic swirl tank where the fishes glitter like a kaleidoscope of stars! It was one of the best underwater aquarium we have visited thus far. It was only 5pm when we finished visiting the aquarium, so mummy decided to delight Emeryn further by going to the Whiskers Harbour.

Whiskers Harbour is designed specially for kids. Emeryn started with the Clown-a-Round, followed by Toto the Loco, a musical train where mummy accompanied her along the ride. We then proceeded to the Merry Go Round, Bouncer House, Balloons Up-Up-And-Away and the most thrilling ride, the Frog Hopper. Mummy accompanied Emeryn for her first two rounds and she was too excited and happy to proceed with the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th round along with other kids. Before leaving, Emeryn played at the Whiskers Harbour Playground. We took the bus ride back to the Admiralty station.

We hopped off at the Ladies Market and had a quick walk. Mummy bought some souvenir at the market and a Starbucks tumbler for Carmen Ee Ee as per her request. Mummy also bought some snack food where she savored it at the hotel room later at nite. After covering Ladies Market, we walked back to our hotel. Surprisingly it was only a 10min walk back, didn't know it was so near. Emeryn fell asleep almost immediately after taking her shower, leaving mummy packing up for the check out the next morning and she went online via ipad.

Our 4th day, also the last day, we had a ride on the Rickshaw Sightseeing Bus which offers a convenient hop-on, hop-off service. Like riding on a rickshaw in the old days, you can explore Hong Kong with a 540-degree panoramic view, this time on an air-conditioned double decker, and enjoy a spectacular sight of all the attractions along the way. After the 2.5hours ride, we went back to Yau Ma Tei as we left our luggage at the hotel after checking out. Mummy bought 1 dozen of miniature perfumes as a souvenir for her friends and herself. After collecting our luggage, we head over to Citygate for a shopping spree. We had our lunch at Food Republic before the hunt starts. Mummy only spent in Espirit outlet as they are offering relatively at a very low prices. After all the shopping, we took the S1 shuttle bus to the airport. HKIA is such a huge airport where we need to transit in two trains to our departing terminal gate. After all the fun and tiring 4days, we flew back to Penang and Emeryn took a nap in the flight and missed her favorite nasi lemak meal. Mummy's friend sent us home from the airport.