Not Too Wet But Definitely Wild In Ocean Park

Day 2 – Part 1

January 31, Thursday

On Day 2 we decided to go to Ocean Park. The original plan was Disneyland, but since we were waiting for confirmation for our FREE Disney entry passes (yes, free!) we figured that it can wait until Friday morning. So after having brunch we rode a bus to Aberdeen, which was a couple of minutes walk to the park.

lunch at Yoshinoya

waiting for the bus

Day 2 - OOTD

We quickly queued up and purchased tickets ($280 HK = approx. PhP1500). Ocean Park was built on a mountain so there was a huge amount of walking – which is fine as it gave me plenty of time to take pictures.

my travel buddies, Via and Alej

The theme park is divided into two areas: The Waterfront, where all the boring stuff was; and The Summit, which housed all the thrilling rides. You can choose between taking the cable cars or the Ocean Express train to go to the Summit, but since everyone else was ridiculously excited over the cable cars (read: bitterness), we opted for the train instead. Upon climbing the Thrill Mountain, we spotted the Hair Raiser rollercoaster and quickly queued up.

cable cars to the Summit

exit gate of the Hair Raiser

Hair Raiser is a floorless rollercoaster with drops, dive loops, and multiple rolls – I loved it! I don't like drops that much (I’m a loop/roll person) but the drops here are manageable, unlike Human’s in Universal Studios Singapore, where in the main drop was longer than the time it took me to finish my screaming. Click this link to watch an awesome POV video recording of the Hair Raiser. It's totally insane! After riding this one, I was so sure the rest of the trip was going to be boring.

I was wrong. I rode The Flash and learned the real meaning of the word inversion.

The Flash

Imagine yourself as the weight in a pendulum – but instead of just going there and back, you are hurled 360 degrees into the air, while are simultaneously rotating. And then while you’re at the top, you are inverted for who-the-fuck-knows-how-many seconds. My view of the sea and the mountains was like a picture rotated 180 degrees. It was fucking awesome and scary at the same time!

The rest of the rides were so-so after that. I especially liked the Mine Train because it gives you an amazing view of the seaside as you roll down the tracks.

the Mine Train

We spent the rest of the afternoon queuing up, bitching about queuing up, eating, taking pictures, seeing shows, and by the time we got to The Dragon, another roller coaster, I was already so expectant and impatient that the ride ultimately disappointed me. I wasted about 5 minutes of my life riding it (and about an hour waiting for my turn), and I only got a few boring loops and whiplash.

sun starting to set, view from The Dragon

colorful tracks of The Dragon

The Abyss

time we got to I didn't try The Abyss because I'm afraid of falling (double-meaning, LOL). I mean, freefall-drop rides do not appeal to me.

After making sure we had maximized our Ocean Park experience – OK, I lied, the park was already closing actually – we headed back to the Waterfront to watch the lights show. It was amazing honestly, lots of impeccable effects, perfectly synchronized, tons of surprises, but I wasn’t too much into that kind of thing. Plus everyone else was so busy pushing one another, or blocking others’ views with their iPads, so basically the show just irritated me. Hahaha!

Before we went out of the park, my friend Via reminded us of her dream to see a real panda, and fortunately the attraction was still open even after the lights show. The panda was sooooo cute! It just lay like a huge, lazy, but cute bastard on its rock and when it gets bored it decides to move to another rock or something. In my next life, if ever I get reincarnated as an animal, I’d definitely be a panda.

After all the cuteness, we went to the souvenir shops and watched some fishes on aquariums along the way. We left Ocean Park exhausted, irritated but genuinely happy. I, for one, was irritable with all the long lines and rude people, to be honest, but the fact that I was with friends, laughing at pretty much every nonsense thing we could think of, makes up for all those imperfect moments.



My best friend Alej and Via were already drained after a whole day of walking, and I knew I had to go to MEMA mode to recharge all of us! We must not get sad! We must not sleep! We must not lose hope! We were still going to Victoria Peak that night and we can’t let hunger, thirst, exhaustion, and foot blisters get in the way! But the Victoria Peak story is for another day, another blog post. Hope you enjoyed reading about my Ocean Park experience!

me, in one of my favorite poses ever

~*~

Ocean Park Hong Kong

Aberdeen, Hong Kong

(852)3923-2323

Website: Ocean Park HongKong

Rates:

Adult (HK $280)

Child, ages 3-11 (HK $140)

Operating Hours:

Mon-Sat 10:00am-7:00pm (except for The Summit, which closes by 6:00pm on Mon-Fri)

Sun 9:30am-7:00pm

How to Get There:

Navigating the city in HongKong is easy, as ample public transport information is posted in each bus stop/MTR station. Take the Citybus going to Aberdeen from any of the bus stops (Central, Admiralty, Causeway Bay). Check the route information posted on the stops to determine which bus numbers pass by Aberdeen (Citybus Route 629). Hop off the bus after going through the Aberdeen tunnel. Ocean Park is just a short walk from there.

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About Pepe Samson

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