A Half-Day Visit to Hong Kong Ocean Park

May 22, 2012. A half-day visit to Hong Kong Ocean Park.

The plum rain season had started in Taipei, and the weather had been damp and gray for a while, with heavy rain from time to time...

Lisa's mom was busy helping clients file business income tax returns, so on weekends Lisa stayed home and helped her sort accounting vouchers.

Just like that, she had been stuck at home for quite a while ~.~'"

This time I had to go to Hong Kong for a meeting, and the timing happened to fall between Lisa's midterm and final exams.

Although Lisa's mom was right in the final sprint of her work, she still had to overcome every obstacle and use the chance to go shopping, just to release all the frustration from the past few rainy days ~.~'"

Before Departure, The Teacher Almost Thought Lisa Had Become Child Labor

Taoyuan Airport Terminal 2.

Child posing beside an airport installation with luggage props. — Terminal 2 had enough themed corners to make waiting less boring.

Every time we go abroad, we only tell the child on the morning we are leaving. Otherwise, once she knows, her mind will be full of playing and she will not be able to study.

This time, too, we only wrote in the contact book the day before to tell the teacher that Lisa would take three days off. We did not say we were going abroad.

As a result, the teacher called in the morning with real concern: Lisa had mentioned recently that she had to help Mom check accounts during holidays, and now she suddenly needed three days off...was the family having some kind of difficulty...@.@'"

(I suddenly felt a cold wind pass by...so the teacher thought Lisa had been caught and sent off as child labor. T.T)

Lisa's mom quickly explained that Dad had to go to Hong Kong for a meeting, and she also had something to do there. Since no one could help watch the child, we had no choice but to bring her along...

(O.S. We were obviously going there to play. I have no idea whether the teacher believed that story ~.~'" )

The decorations in Terminal 2 are always interesting, so waiting for the flight did not feel boring ^.^

Child posing with airport themed display props. — Another playful photo spot before departure.

Airport Express, Octopus Card, And Bus 629

After arriving in Hong Kong, we first took the Airport Express.

Buying an Airport Express ticket to Hong Kong Station at the airport cost HKD100 one way, or HKD180 round trip.

But if you bought it on Yahoo Taiwan, the round trip was only TWD500, and the child ticket was TWD450 ^.^

For normal MTR and bus rides, we bought an Octopus card, which is like Taiwan's EasyCard. You can also use it at regular shops~

Interior of the Hong Kong Airport Express train. — After landing, the first transfer was the Airport Express.

Signboard and bus-stop information for Citybus 629 to Ocean Park. — Clear signs led toward the Citybus 629 stop for Ocean Park.

The fastest way to Ocean Park was to go to Admiralty Station and take Citybus 629 directly there. It ran every 10 to 15 minutes. Inside the MTR station, the signs clearly showed which exit led to the bus stop.

For tickets, adult admission was HKD280 and children's admission was HKD140.

Again, buying through Yahoo Taiwan was cheaper: adults TWD900, children TWD510.

Citybus 629 was fast. After about 15 minutes through the tunnel, we arrived...

Family photo at the Hong Kong Ocean Park entrance. — Arriving at Hong Kong Ocean Park after the quick ride on Citybus 629.

Photo Sales Right At The Entrance

As soon as we entered the park, a "kind person" helped us take a family photo...

Family standing near colorful Ocean Park entrance decorations. — Ocean Park greeted visitors with a family-photo sales stop right at the entrance.

He also used his own camera to take a few shots and even taught us how to pose.

Do not doubt it. Of course his photos cost money...HKD98 for one, HKD174 for two, plus a keychain for around 350, if I remember correctly.

Even more exaggerated, while you were looking at the photos on the screen, he had already printed and packaged them. Then he kept talking beside your ear, pushing the sale ~.~'"

I had already planned to buy one anyway, which was why I let him take the photo. But that style of sales pitch still felt uncomfortable.

Still, I was not going to be a complete sucker. I insisted on choosing only one good family photo. The rest would just be their own absorbed cost ^.^

There was no real strategy for today's park visit. After four Disney trips, two in Hong Kong, one in Tokyo, and one in Paris, the kids were no longer very interested in ordinary rides.

This time, the main goals were simple: see the aquarium, see the pandas, ride the cable car, and watch the dolphin show...

The Aquarium And Real Seahorses

The leafy seadragon, also called the sea dragon, is a close relative of the seahorse...

Leafy seadragon swimming among rocks and sea plants in an aquarium. — The leafy seadragon was one of the aquarium highlights.

Lisa had read about many seahorses in books before. Finally, she saw real seahorses here ^.^

Child looking into a brightly lit aquarium tank. — The aquarium glass kept the children focused for a long time.

Visitors watching fish inside a large aquarium window. — The large aquarium tank drew a crowd of visitors.

For children, this part of the aquarium was very direct: something they had seen in books suddenly became a living creature moving in front of them. Adults did not need to explain much. Watching them press close to the glass and search for fish already made part of the ticket feel worthwhile.

Jia Jia And An An Were Finally Not Just Panda Backsides

Every time we go to Taipei Zoo to see the giant pandas, we have to match the opening time. After finally getting inside, all we see is either Tuan Tuan or Yuan Yuan's big backside facing visitors while sleeping~~

I heard that Hong Kong Ocean Park also had pandas, so this time we came specifically to see whether Jia Jia and An An were any better ^.^

Panda-themed building facade at Hong Kong Ocean Park. — We came specifically to see whether Ocean Park's pandas were more active.

Ha...snack time ^.^

Still hungry enough to suck its fingers?!

Come eat bamboo ^.^

Giant panda sitting and eating inside the enclosure. — Snack time for the panda.

Giant panda holding bamboo in the enclosure. — Time to eat bamboo.

Without noticing, I had taken a whole bunch of photos of its cute eating face ^.^

Actually, two rare golden snub-nosed monkeys also lived next door to Jia Jia and An An...

Golden snub-nosed monkey sitting inside an indoor enclosure. — Two rare golden snub-nosed monkeys lived next door.

But their popularity still could not compete with the giant pandas XD

Old Hong Kong And The Cable Car

Time to take the cable car to the Summit...

In front of the cable car station was one of Ocean Park's newer areas, Old Hong Kong.

It recreated the busy street atmosphere of 1930s Hong Kong, giving visitors a bit of old-time memory.

Family posing on a red rickshaw in the Old Hong Kong area. — Old Hong Kong was set up in front of the cable car station.

Old Hong Kong themed street with visitors walking through. — Walking through the retro street before lining up for the cable car.

After lining up for almost half an hour, we finally got into the cable car...

While waiting, people kept trying to cut in line. Lisa was completely blunt and shouted loudly, "Hey, Mom, how can that person cut the line?!"

To put proper teaching into practice, my wife had to step out and scare off two aunties who claimed they were only going forward to take a look, making them return to the back of the queue ~.~'"

The young people in front looked disgusted, but did not say a word and pretended not to see anything...really...sigh...

That said, if so many groups of mainland Chinese tourists were not coming in every day, Ocean Park might already have been flattened by Disney @.@'"

Enough. When traveling, well...when on a business trip, I mean, let us not talk too much about mood-killing things. Look at the scenery instead...

View from the Ocean Park cable car over the park and hills. — The cable car finally gave us a wide-open view.

Ocean Park cable car view over the sea and nearby islands. — The higher we went, the broader the coastal view became.

Honestly, once we sat in the cable car and saw the beautiful sea view, my mood opened up along with it ^.^

The Summit, Ocean Park Tower, And Getting Soaked

After reaching the Summit, we immediately went to ride Ocean Park Tower.

As the observation tower rose slowly and leisurely, the blue sky felt almost within reach...

From the tower, we could see the whole Ocean Park area and look out toward Deep Water Bay, Repulse Bay, Lamma Island, and the South China Sea.

View from Ocean Park Tower over the sea and surrounding hills. — The Ocean Park Tower gave another high view of the park.

Ocean Park Summit area and coastline seen from above. — From the tower, the Summit area and coastline were all visible.

Toucan perched inside an aviary at Ocean Park. — There were toucans here too.

Lisa was no longer that interested in roller coasters, but she still loved water rides @.@'"

After the ride, she was almost completely soaked >.<'"

Track and station area of a water ride at Ocean Park. — Lisa no longer cared much for roller coasters, but water rides were still a yes.

Wet child standing after a water ride at Ocean Park. — The water ride lived up to its name and got her almost soaked.

We had originally booked an 8:20 a.m. flight today, but right before the trip it was merged into the 10:20 flight, costing us two hours on the spot.

So the jellyfish exhibit and dolphin show we had planned to see became a regret. T.T

Taking The Ocean Express Back Down

For the return trip, we did not want to queue for the cable car again, so we switched to the Ocean Express. The ride took only three minutes, and there was air-conditioning inside ^.^

The square panels above the train ceiling were LCD screens. When the train started moving, they simulated an underwater journey...