Rantings of a Semikal Junkie: 4th Day in HK *WINDSTORM SIGNAL # 3 ATTACKS OCEAN PARK* (September 10, 2009)

Ocean Park is located in Aberdeen which was once a traditional fishing village. I don't know how they managed to construct this huge theme park but I'm sure impressed big time. The place is around an hour and a half away from we stay. Mom and I took a train from Tung Chung to Admiralty station, then we took a double-decker bus heading to Aberdeen. We sat on the 2nd level so we got a good view of the city. In a matter of 15 minutes, we have reached our destination.

As usual we started by taking dozens of pictures. We then moved up by riding series of escalators until we reached the peak. Mom and I decided to ride Ocean Tower. There we got to see HongKong at its best. Cable Car came next. I'm telling you it was so relaxing, I lost all the stress in the world. From inside you'll see the vast harbor area, the ships, the high-rise buildings in the Central area, as well as most parts of Ocean Park. And yes the air is fairly free from pollution.

After Cable Car, we headed to watch the sea lions perform. I admire the trainers for being able to create this unique connection with these beautiful animals. They dance, create cute sounds, glide and play dead, and so many more antics. The show was followed by a visit to the panda sanctuary and there I met An-An and Jian-Jian, two lovely pandas being taken care of by the Chinese government to avoid extinction. Mom then dragged to check out goldfishes and crocodiles in the Asian Mammals area.

We went back to the peak via Ocean Express. As soon as we have stepped into the viewing area, we heard an announcement that windstorm signal 3 attacks Ocean Park. Thus, Cable Cars and all outdoor rides will not be available to the public for safety reasons. I almost puked and fainted in front of my mom upon hearing the best news of the hour. Do they know where I came from? Do they know?!!! I came all the way from Makati City, Philippines just to ride The Abyss, Crazy Galleon, Mine Train, and Raging River for crying out loud. A lot of people were passing by and I had an impression that they felt the same way as I did. Imagine no rides? Why did this windstorm infest China on the day of my visit to Ocean Park? Why? Why? Well, to relieve the irritation, we opted to hit the nearest food hub and order some noodles.

But it's not really that bad. Mom and I enjoyed the view, the clean air, the jokes, and the chat. While waiting for the Dolphin show, we visited some stores, took some wacky shots, then had my last smoke. We took our spot in the Ocean Theatre. There were more or less twenty five hundred people in the area of different races and strokes. A band played as front act. Then at exactly 5PM, dolphins began jumping up and down the pool. Some of these incredible mammals presented funny tricks. Again I admired how brilliant the trainers were for pulling out the talent from these sea creatures.

From Ocean Park we headed straight to Admiralty, rode a train going to Tsim Sha Tsui to buy Curtis, my mom's partner, a Harley Davidson shirt. We finally found the store after almost an hour of searching and getting lost in Kowloon. Causeway Bay is just outside the building where we got the shirt from so we loitered in the area for a few minutes then we realized we're hungry. We ended up eating in this Chinese fastfood restaurant near the MTR station. I ordered two plates of rice with roasted pork and celery for me and my mom. What I like about the restaurant is that they serve Jasmine tea instead of water or should I say they treat Jasmine tea as water. And as always, I felt like a hog!

From Tsim Sha Tsui, we took a train back to Tung Chung. The first thing I did was take a bath. And here I am again typing this blog. :-)