Hong Kong...part 3

Before there was even a Hong Kong Disneyland, there was already Ocean Park Hong Kong. Opened in 1977, Ocean Park houses a marine mammal park, oceanarium, animal theme park, 19 rides and other attractions. To date and to my knowledge, tourists and locals still prefer to go to Ocean Park than Disneyland specially the mainlanders (China). When I went to Ocean Park, it happened to be a holiday in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan because of the dragon boat festival. Which meant the park was super crowded. Mainlanders are the main components of the crowd but there were also Indians, Malaysians and Filipinos.

Ocean Park Main Entrance

Ocean Park is actually divided into two sections separated by mountains. Each section has its own entrance/exit. To move from one area to the other, you can either take the cable car...

...and for people like me who are afraid of heights, we can now rejoice since Ocean Park has decided to build a train that passes through a mountain to cross to the other side.

At one section of Ocean Park, you will see one or two live Pandas if one is lucky

The Hong Kong Jockey Club Giant Panda Habitat

There's also a bungee trampoline

The Sky Star which is basically a giant balloon that you could take a ride on (although that day it was closed for maintainance)

that is Whisker, by the way, one of Ocean Park's official mascots.

There's also a Bird Theatre with owls, hawks, and other feathered friend showing their talents

I was one of the early 'birds' so this was taken before the show even started

Shy owl with his not-so-shy trainer

A Goldfish Treasures

There's also a purely kids area called Whisker's Harbour...with rides like the Frog Hopper, Mini Ferris Wheel, games similar to carnivals, merry go round, etc

There's a sea lion show but i didn't bother to watch as the show schedule did not match mine.

So off I went to the other section of Ocean Park, riding the dimly lit train (not complaining here...still a lot better than taking the cable car)

These are some of the rides available...

None of the rides actually interested me as I am afraid of heights.

There is also the famed world's second longest outdoor escalator....its like 4 super long escalators and believe me, if you're afraid of heights like I am, hold on tight to the railing. Im not kidding when i tell you that during my ride down one of the escalators, the one going up suddenly stopped and a number of people were frozen and refused to move either up nor down ( i would be the same and would hold on for dear life)

There was still a lot of construction and improvements inside the park and I certainly am looking forward to the 'new' Ocean Park

Tai Shue Wan entrance...or rather it is my exit point!

Hong Kong...part 2

I haven't been to Victoria Peak and Ocean Park for the longest time and since I wasn't doing anything much on this trip to Hong Kong, I decided to visit the two place. First up is the Victoria Peak. Officially, the mountain is called Mount Austin but its popular name is The Peak. There are two ways of getting to the Peak, one is by coach and the 2nd one, which is the more popular, historic and scenic route up the Peak is via the Peak Tram.

The Tram started its operations way back in 1888. Of course the one you see above is already the modern tram. But the old trams were probably made of authentic wood. The ride up takes about 10 minutes as the Tram moves slowly up the mountain. Since Mount Austin is dotted with houses, the Tram makes at least two stops as residents get down to go to their houses.

Up at The Peak, you will find the Peak Tower and the Peak Galleria adjacent to each other. Peak Galleria houses shops and restaurants while Peak Tower house Madame Tussauds and the viewing deck.

Let me show you some of the shots I took looking down at the Hong Kong Island and a bit of Kowloon

Madame Tussauds is also a popular destination as it houses life-like wax figures of famous personalities.

Inside you will find the likes of Hollywood stars Nicole Kidman...

...Mr Donkey himself, Eddie Murphy...

...Madonna...

...the King of Pop...

...Tina Turner...

You also have Chinese/Hong Kong/Taiwanese/Korean stars like Leon Lai (i have a friend who had the biggest crush on him years and years ago)

...Ip Man...

...Bae Yong Joon...

You can also find stars that have passed away like Teresa Teng...

...John Lennon (Beatles)...

..and Anna Mui (Im not exactly sure about her name but I do remember her in my younger years as a concert performer)

Some of the Royal Family of England with a clown (that is definitely not me and I don't know that guy!)...

You can also find Einstein mingling with the crowd...

...and boxing legend Muhammad Ali...(i wonder when Paquiao's will be added)

There are still hundreds of political, celebrities and stars littering the whole of Madame Tussauds which I wasn't able to take pictures of anymore but it'll be best to bring along someone to take your pictures as most of these wax figurines are tall! And an ordinary tri-pod might not do. And finally, the star of Madame Tussauds is, of course Madame Tussaud herself!

Hong Kong...part 1

I love going to Hong Kong...or rather I love shopping in Hong Kong! Even though people say that Hong Kong has become a very expensive city to shop, I would still prefer to shop here than in the bargain-infested streets of Bangkok. Don't get me wrong, I love a sale as much as the next person but I hate bargaining. And Hong Kong gives me that...they have outlet stores with pretty much last season's collection but I don't really care. Plus , I don't have to bargain as they really have relatively low prices. Which is not the case in Bangkok where you have to haggle with every purchase...not for me!

Anyway, this time, I stayed at the Park Hotel which is a 3-star hotel located along Cameron Road in Tsim Shat Tsui, Kowloon. (the two major areas of Hong Kong are Hong Kong Island and Kowloon...Hong Kong Island is like the equivalent of our Makati CBD with Admiralty, Central, Causeway Bay, etc are found. Kowloon, on the other hand, is like our Malate area)

hotel facade in the evening

Front Desk

my room at the Park Hotel (upgraded to a Deluxe room...thank you Vien of Holiday World)

I don't know why the picture flips to its side but this is the thingy that controls all the lighting in the room, as well as music and television

So speaking of shopping, there are two places in Hong Kong that I never miss out on whenever I am there:

There are actually 3 Bossini outlets in Hong Kong, one in Cameron Road, another in Northpoint and the other one in the New Territories

Citygate Outlet Mall carries outlet stores for Adidas, Giordano, Armani Exchange, New Balance, Body Shop, Samsonite, Cotton On, Timberland to name a few.