Hong Kong Revisited, Part Deux

On New Year's Day, we went to one of the well-known tourist attractions, i.e. Ocean Park. We took the Citybus no.629 at the Admiralty MTR and it costs HKD 10.60. per person. The bus ride was about 20 minutes or so.

The admission tickets cost about HKD 208 per person

The bus will stop directly in front of Ocean's Park Tai Shue Wan entrance. Initially, we weren't aware that there are two entrance (the other one is known as Main Entrance) , so we finally found out after referring to the Park's map. Ocean Park has six main areas: Lowland Gardens, Marine Land, Headland Rides, Kid's World, Adventure Land and Bird Paradise.

Since we're at the Tai Shue Wan entrance, we'll start our journey from Tai Shue Wan Plaza which eventually leads us from Headland to Lowland and finally to the Main Entrance.

When we stepped foot into the Plaza, we felt like we've stepped into a X'mas town cuz it was decorated with lotsa X'mas decos.Even the employees were dressed like Santa and Elf.

A tall X'mas tree at the Plaza

X'mas trees with different decos and sizes

And this particular X'mas tree deco caught my attention....

Not your average X'mas deco : Masquerades !! So now you have new ideas on how to decorate your X'mas trees...

Because the trees are so pretty, Macho and I couldn't resist the temptation to do the B.C. infamous jumping shot!!!

Apparently, it's hard to get a perfect shot

While we're trying to get the perfect jumping shot, suddenly lotsa and lotsa of foam were released into the air, as if to create a "snowy" ambiance. Nevertheless, Macho and I jumped in to indulge ourselves with the artificial snow.

With all the props around, we definitely felt like we're in winter wonderland :-p

Pardon us. We were slightly hyper after the "snowy" indulgence

After fooling around for a bit, we went for our first ride of the day at Adventureland.

The Mine Train

At first glance, the Mine Train may looked like a thrilling ride. Turned out actually, it was only so-so . And the ride was pretty short. Syiokness level : 2.5 out of 5.

Then, we took one of the world's longest outdoor elevator to Marineland and Headland Rides.

We visited the Atoll Reef, a 4-level aquarium, which houses around 1500 fishes, sharks and other marine species including the Eagle Ray.

Not sure whether this is the Eagle Ray, but this sting ray is pretty huge!

A big and ugly-looking fish. Kinda resembles the Flower-horn fish.

And I spotted the King of the Sea.............

The Shark a.k.a JAWS!!!

After that, we quickly rushed to the Ocean Theater to catch the Dolphin Show. I've gotta tell you that the the walk from Atoll Reef to the Theater seemed like forever. Luckily, we didn't missed any interesting parts of the show.

They're really spectacular!

Apparently,the Dolphin Show is the highlight of Ocean Park. You know why?? Cuz the theater is packed ! And they have at least 3 shows daily , depending on the dates. More shows will be scheduled during public holidays.

Large turnout amidst the hot blazing sun

Though the show was a little short, I really enjoyed it,especially during the act between the trainers,seals and dolphins. Watch the video below!

Since we were slightly late for the show, so I didn't know Osman was part of the act. Hahaha.. That's why I shouted OMG!

After the show, we headed to Headland for more exciting and thrilling rides. We tried out the Dragon, which looked a bit lethal with its 360 degrees loop. Unfortunately, it was even less thrilling than the Mine Train.

Then finally, we went to try out The Abyss Turbo Drop. Just by looking at it, sent chills down my spine. But since the ride only lasted for 5 seconds or so, I took up the courage to give it a try. And I must admit, this is the most exciting ride of the day! Yeah, it's akin to Genting's solero shots but this one drops faster than you can say 'Hi!' . And you can't even hear anyone's scream but yourself as you are high up in the air. The view from up there is pretty amazing too!

I must salute to one lady who's probably in her 60's; because she dares to give the Abyss a try and she even walked out nonchantly with her Jackie O sunglasses after the ride. Impressive, I must say.

After all the screaming, we had our lunch and then went for a gentle ride before heading to the Lowland.

The Flying Swing, which has the most annoying safety precautions announcement- EVER!

The Ocean Park Tower

We didn't have the chance to go into the tower because of the super-long queue. We figured it wasn't worth the wait for only a 3-minute ride.

Then, we took the cable car down to Lowland, where it is largely catered for kids instead of adults.

8 minutes journey from Highland to Lowland

After we got off from the cable car, we visted the Madagascar Gallery, which houses all things Madagascar.

Macho, next time please dun try to act cute. It totally strips off your machoness.

Looks like Macho's love handles could give Gloria's a run for her money.. Muahahahaha

We're just trying to fit in :D

We walked around for a bit more before taking the Citybus back to Admiralty MTR at 4 p.m.

Yea, we knew X'mas was over long time ago. We just couldn't resist taking the last pic before leaving :)

Having been to both Disneyland and Ocean Park, I've gotta say that I prefer Disneyland. I really missed The Space Mountain and the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters . Oh , and the Disney 3D shows totally rocks, too.

After we left Ocean Park, we decided to head over to Lan Kwai Fong; a place that needs no further introduction, for dinner.

When we were there, the street is pretty quiet for New Year's day. Probably the night is still young. Since there were nothing much left to do besides drinking in LKF, Macho and I did our favourite past-time !

Jump shot attempts- AGAIN!

What we did there were pretty dangerous because there were actually cars coming down from the street. And if we're not careful, we might get hit.

After sweating all out by attempting the jump shot for about gazillion times, we had dinner at Yung Kee Restaurant; a Chinese restaurant that is renowned for its roasted goose.

In Wellington Street,Central

For a top-rated restaurant, I would say that the service was not up to par with its "star" status. When we stepped into the restaurant, the hostess didn't even bother to greet us, leaving us standing and waiting like morons for about 5 minutes before finally attending to us (Mind you, there weren't any people at that time).

We were seated at Level 2

Rantings aside, here are the must-try dishes that we ordered.

A small portion but expensive Wan ton Noodle

Undoubtedly, the noodle was delicious. The soup was very flavorful and the noodle was cooked to perfection; firm but not too soft. If only it comes in a bigger portion...

Initially, we wanted to the the goose drumstick, but we would have to order half of the goose instead of just the drumstick. Since we couldn't finish half of the goose, we opted for the Roasted Chicken and Goose Rice.

This dish was not bad at all. The goose meat is succulent and tender. Best eaten with the sour plum sauce provided. Total damage for dinner : HKD 108.90.

After dinner, we wanted to take the Tram to the Peak, but the queue was tremendously long, so we decided to take the bus to Causeway Bay instead.

At Queensway Rd.

At Causeway Bay, we spotted everybody's favourite dessert stall ; Hui Lau Shan (许留山) just opposite Sogo. Although the stalls' sign is written in Chinese, I bet you won't missed it as there are throngs of people queuing outside for their drink concoction.

Plenty of drinks to choose from

Not forgetting the mouth-watering desserts!

Since they specialize in mango desserts, we couldn't miss ordering them....

This Mango dessert became our instant favourite. Everything was so delicious; from the mango ice-cream to the thick mango puree. They're definitely not stingy on the mango either ! Costs about HKD 30. Pretty reasonable, IMO.

The waitress also recommended us this......

The Bird's nest was pretty tasty. Not stingy with the bird's nest and hasma. Perfect for the ladies,too :) . This costs us about HKD 58.

After that, we walked around Times Square before calling it a day. The desserts were so good that they left us screaming for more!!


p.s. Watch this space for more mouth-watering desserts and Happy Chinese New Year, peeps!