holiday Archives - Page 82 of 91

Before DisneyLand landed on Lantau, Ocean Park (海洋公园) was the only themepark in Hong Kong. It still pack in the crowds today, 34 years after it’s opening in 1977 !

The map below indicates that Ocean Park has been growing over the years too. You need one full day to cover the attractions.

Two main sections of the park are The Summit and Waterfront. Cable cars are available to bring you between the sites.

From our hotel near Jordan MTR, we need to take the ferry to Central, follow by a 25 minutes bus ride on 629. We recommend that you buy tickets online (Adult HKD280 and child 3-11yrs HKD140) beforehand to avoid queues.

We start with the Grand Aquarium, that Blue iconic building.

You are immediately greeted by all sorts of marine creatures, the tanks allow visitors to get close to the marine creatures.

Turtles, Rays, Sharks, Nemos, you name it, Ocean Park got it !

The giant fish tank captivates everyone.Both kids and adults enjoy their close encounter with fishy friends.

Look at the map above, this Themepark is hugh and featuring a few worlds. Aqua City, Amazing Asian Animals (Pandas) and DO NOT miss the latest attraction Polar Adventure.

We strongly recommend parents to rent a stroller for the kids.

Next, we pop by the Pandas, both original and red ones. Both are cute, but the Red Panda looks more approachable.

Panda meat anyone? Daddy joked. Kids are horrified that Kungfu Panda (Po) can be butchered for food ! Actually, we are going to Panda cafe, and there is no Panda set-meal on the menu 🙂

We pop by a nearby Gold Fish exhibit.

Did you know that a Submarine connects Ocean Park’s two sites? It is named the Ocean Express. (Refer S11 on the map)

The Submarine looks futuristic, but the interior is packed with multimedia effects. The 5min ride was an experience 20,000 leagues below the Sea.

Arctic and Antartica awaits us at the Polar Adventure (冰极天地). The weather has turn warm, so we should enjoy the Cold Polar exhibits 🙂

The cool polar bear and whales displays at the entrance never fail to amaze the kids. Watch out for some special lighting mimicking the aurora waves !

Arctic consists of three zones, North pole, South pole and Arctic fox den. Smaller kids might need to wear an extra sweater to keep warm. The South pole is maintained at 8 degrees and North pole 15 degrees.

Arctic fox is new to us, they are very active, always running here and there.

The walkways allow us to watch sealion and even walrus in action underwater. Our kids are already in love with the aquariums.

Mummy pretending to feed Boon Xi to the Leopard seal !

The swimming penguins beneath our feet blow us away ! Look at the video to catch our kids running after the swift penguins 🙂

The staff working in the North and South pole really have to wear thick thermal wear and ear muffs. Why is there no Polar Bear at Ocean Park?

In case you need more adrenalin, Arctic Blast will send you screaming “TITANIC” through the icebergs !

Ocean Theatre promise to thrill us with the dolphin and Seal’s performances. It was full house, and as Xin was sleeping, Daddy stayed with her at the top terrace.

We got a bird’s eye view of the rides.

Kids love the performances from the hardworking dophines nd the cheeky sealions.

Everything turns up well, until the PRC visitors start packing the venue. They will keep shoving you to get a better view. Very irritating, Daddy has to keep pushing them one side otherwise they would topple onto Boon Xin’s stroller !
(disclaimer… not all PRC visitors are rude)

We pop by the giant China Sturgeon.

The adventurous ones keep going for the high energy stunts. Daddy and Mummy say “No thanks”.

Meanwhile, we brought the younger ones to enjoy some arcade and funfair fun. They throw darts and balls, and won stuff toys 🙂

More photo opportunities.

With that, we end our Ocean Park tour. Daddy and Mummy is happy that this themepark still manage to capture everyone’s imagination through the years.

Dinner was some simple noodle dishes around the corner of our hotel. The humble noodles (not unlike maggie mee), but it tastes so nice. We order beef, chicken and yun2 tun1.

Do click on this link for more information about Ocean Park.
For more photos, do pop by the Sealions and Penguins on our fanpage.

–> Our 6D5N Hong Kong Family Itinerary summary

Day 1 – Dim Sum, Ferry, Goose
Day 2 – Doraemon!, Tram, Ladies Street
Day 3 – Ocean Park
Day 4 – Buddha, ThePeak and Madam Tussauds
Day 5 – Street food, Disneyland !
Day 6 – Breakfast with Mickey, DisneyLand (part ii)

All photos from Day 1 to 6 are available on our Fanpage:
–Day 1 photos
–Day 2 photos (Doraemon)
–Day 3 photos (Ocean Park)
–Day 4 photos, and Buddha lantau
–Day 5 photos (Disney)
–Day 6 photos (Breakfast with Mickey)

It was a coincidence that Hong Kong was celebrating Doraemon’s (小叮噹) birthday, 100 years before it’s birth. We heard there were 100 Doramon waiting for us at Harbour City yeah !

Look at Boon Xin’s smile, Doraremon has not only captured her attention, but generations across Asia.

After breakfast, we took a bus to Star Ferry Terminal again.

At Harbour City (海港城), we saw 100 Doraemon models on parade ! Step through the Timezone door, and relive our childhood dreams.

Long queues have formed from photo enthusiasts. In fact queues were long throughout the exhibition period 🙂

Thanks to Harbour City’s organisers, we manage to lay our hands on some funky 100-years-old souvenirs.

Do drop by our Day2 HK album for more Doraemon portraits and toys.

We bid Doraemon and Da Xiong (大雄) good bye 🙁

The next item on our itinerary was to pop over to Hong Kong Island and enjoy some Tram rides, unfortunately Boon Kang lost his backpack! Mummy and Boon Xin end up going to the bus HQ to retrieve the backpack, while Daddy brought the boys across Victoria harbour.

Love the fluffy clouds, and reflections off the skyscrapers’ glass walls.

We have not really been on a tram ride before, and it was fun to see the Trams share the same road as other vehicles. From the map, we know the Trams ply along the coast at Hong Kong Island, and it cost only HKD 2.30 flat !

Do take note you can only mount the Tram from the rear, and climb up the narrow steps to the top deck. Please remind kids not to stretch their hands out of the window, as trams and double-decker buses pass each other within one metre !

We can actually hear the wheels grinding on the road tracks, and we spend almost 30min on our Fun tram ride 🙂

You can learn more about Tram 电车 history from wiki.

Next stop, Wan Chai (湾仔). Some of Hong Kong’s iconic buildings like HSBC bank and Lippo are all situated in this area.

Macdonald is always easy to settle kid’s meal. Daddy is too lazy to look for more “nutritious” food. You must try the delicious pork burger 🙂

After french fries, we proceeded to take some iconic photos.

The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, we remember Jackie Chan chasing villian Daniel Wu on the rooftop (新警察故事)! A lot of PRC tourists were here to look at the flame, symbolizing Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule.

Tsim Sha Tsui (尖沙咀) as seen from Hong Kong Island. The tall building on the left is the Sky100.

We walk along the coastline until we hit Wan Chai ferry terminal.

We took a Ferry back to Tsim Tsha Tsui.

We finally caught up with Mummy, and we had our lunch at Crystal Jade Harbour City. Fried rice is the easiest choice to make everyone happy.

Harbour city is actually a mega mall, with over 400 shops. Ladies and kids will be happy to shop within. We even notice a shop with two doors, separately for adult and child.

We caught up with our Sengkang neighbours (Heng family) at the arcade 🙂

Anyone craving for desserts? In Hong Kong, you will find dessert stalls every few streets, day and night. Kids will love the sweet mango pudding. 許留山 (Lau Hui Shan) is one of the franchises.

Dinner back at our hotel. Most of us are tired from one full day of walking. We need to recharge before the last stop 🙂

Next stop, Mongkok MTR. Ladies Street (女人街) is one of the recommended streets for Tourists. You can find a lot of souvenirs and food along the back streets.

Do not bargain, unless you are interested in the merchandise. Do not expect tip top service from the stall owners. You will likely suffer a barrage of criticisms in Cantonese, if they detect you as insincere :p

Night snacks anyone? The Zhu Chang Fen (猪肠粉) looks tandalising. Daddy was actually looking out for the pushcart fishballs, as seen in Hong Kong dramas. We end up with bubble tea to quench our thirst.