Ocean Park, Hong Kong

We arrived in Hong Kong around 7pm on Monday night. The flight was really long, but it wasn't quite as terrible as I imagined it being. They gave us lots of food and drinks, including a smoked salmon salad and Haagen Dazs ice cream! Pretty classy. I tried to sleep on the ride, but was pretty unsuccessful. Since we arrived in the evening, however, we were able to go to sleep once we got tired. We got some yummy fresh mango drinks in the airport while we were waiting for our airport bus. Once we got to the hotel, we decided to go out and get something to eat. I got some really yummy pork-vegetable wanton soup. Even when we went out at 10pm to get some food, the streets were super crowded with people.

The next day we woke up pretty early (around 5:30am) since our bodies were still not completely adjusted. That gave us plenty of time to get ready, have breakfast, and take a short tour of part of the Central District on Hong Kong Island. We went to a local chain that has many breakfast options. They had your standard American toast and egg option, but I decided to be a little more adventurous and have one type of Hong Kong style breakfast--beef noodles with egg. It seems more like a lunch food to me, but it was a good breakfast too. I also got a coffee, of course.

After breakfast we took a ride on one of the old trolleys down one of the main streets so I could get a feel for Central Hong Kong Island. It was hustling and bustling with lots of people. Surprisingly, it doesn't feel as different as I had expected it to be, but maybe that's partly due to the fact that it was British territory until 1997 and it is also a large international city.

Everything is written in both Cantonese and English, which is really nice for me. Also, everyone who works in Hong Kong seems to be bilingual, which is awesome. Although most people talk in Cantonese on the street (or perhaps other Chinese dialects, I honestly can't tell the difference...yet), many people seem to be able to readily switch into English, and automatically do so when addressing me. Also, many of the streets still have rather British sounding names.





After breakfast and the trolley ride, we headed out to Ocean Park. I didn't really know what to expect, but it's basically like a nicer version of Marine World with infinitely better views. Many people from mainland China come to Hong Kong to go to Ocean Park and Disneyland. We spent the whole day there, and had a great time going on the rides, seeing the animals, and enjoying the views.

The park is split up into a couple of different "lands" which are spread out over two sides of a mountain. You have to take either these gondolas, which go up and over the mountain, providing spectacular views, or a high speed train which goes through the mountain, to get from one side of the park to the other. We took the gondolas over in the morning and got these beautiful panoramic views of the islands and bay.

There are lots of animal shaped hedges around the park. These ones were outside the penguin enclosure.

The biggest roller coaster in the park (complete with creep clown decorations), called Hair Raiser, with the beautiful harbor and one of the nicest areas in Hong Kong behind it.

Looking out the direction from the park. As I said, amazing views all around.

When we went through the aquarium, I was astonished by the size of the rays. They were HUGE. I have never, ever seen such huge rays (I can't remember which kinds they were, but there were about 5 different varieties). For size comparison, this one is next to a shark! And not a small shark, either, but a normal sized one. They were absolutely majestic, especially when they swam over your head in the aquarium. I stood staring at them for a long time, I was so mesmerized. I also learned that seahorses live off the coast of Hong Kong!

Of course, no Asian park is complete without some pandas. They are so cute!

After a long day at the park, we took a taxi home instead of the bus. It took quite a while because we left during rush hour. We were all so tired after waking up early and a long, fun-filled day in the park that we fell asleep on the ride!










Well, that's all for now. A great introduction to Hong Kong :)