As a result of having no change in time zone, there was little adjustment our body clocks would require. Maybe the low temperature would mean we slept for longer, with the second day significantly cooler than the first (2nd warmest day there), as predicted.
The programme for the day was simple, heading over to Ocean Park to play the day away, and sightseeing at the Avenue of Stars at night. Hen little boy, being the excited person that he is, was likely first to awake. We went out in search of porridge, on a recommendation by Van’s aunt. The search did not turn up the result we wanted, but we ate at some breakfast place anyway. Most ended up eating 泡饭. We got the programme under-way, heading for the MTR and taking it to Admiralty, on Hong Kong Island. We were about 10 minutes behind schedule, not that it really mattered anyway.
We were in luck with the transport system, and quickly spotted CityBus 629 which would take us to Ocean Park. We almost made a run for it, but it was not going to move any-time too soon anyway. There was sufficient time for us to buy our tickets to the park from a booth at the bus stand. Upon boarding, we occupied the back of the bus. The ride was smooth and we arrived at our destination in good time. A short walk from terminus to entrance later, Ocean Park was in view.
It didn’t take us long to go over to the other half of the park by cable car, since we knew the rides were there. The cable cars were small looking, but could fit 6 people in one. We were seated very close to the centre, but causing the car to shake was not a difficult task. During the journey, the guys discussed the mechanism of the cable car movement, and also how they went through each cable tower. They also contemplated the possibility of putting a roller-coaster on the hillsides that we passed by. A few conclusions were arrived at, such as:
1. Do not discuss the possibility of cable snapping if riding with Mel. Otherwise, the likely response would be: “I don’t think we are going to craAAAAAAAAA”.
2. Taking a roller-coaster down the side of the mountain will cause this result during the drop: “AAAAAAAAAAAAAh! *catch breath* AAAAAAAAAAAAAA”.
The view from the cable car station wasn’t too bad, but the rides were not really visible from where we were. So we proceeded with some pace, past an unfinished roller coaster, and ended up playing with boats. Van and someone played, with Van much more successful and also looking much more delighted. We soon got a view of most of the rides as we continued our journey towards them. There were also seals to look at along the way, and Slim was particularly fascinated by Coca cola bottles made to move up and down. In addition, she also took great interest in the Chinese Sturgeon (Aquarium), which we did not visit.
We played some stall games, such as shooting Nerf guns, which Van seemed most proficient at. Our first ride, apparently a warm-up, was the Flying swing. As it was still relatively empty, we spaced ourselves out quite widely. The result of the ride was a number of dizzy people. Nonetheless, we proceeded to The Dragon, a roller-coaster. It contained 2 loops and a corkscrew, but all except K took the ride, twice in fact. We managed to move on, but didn’t go far, having to take a break at some benches just outside the Crazy Galleon (boat that swings back and forth). The ride itself wasn’t open, apparently any movement we saw before that was purely for testing.
So after slacking around for a while, D decided to head over to The Abyss (drop ride) taking Hen little boy and Boss with him. The rest proceeded to a nearby area to rest. There was little movement again when they came off the ride, save for questions on the ride and the look of exhaustion on Boss’ face. As such, D decided to take the Eagle, a move which everyone except B & E followed. Slim took a nap while in the air, and it was a relaxing ride for most. When that was done, we hung around for a while longer, until Van decided to give The Abyss a shot, along with Slim, Miss Awesome, and the little boys. On the ride, the most significant noise appeared to have been a woman crying. After the ride, Van concluded that it was really very scary, although it was basically the ride up and the first drop that had the strongest effect. As you might have noticed, Hen little boy took the ride twice. There is a reason some are called to be commandos. (By the way, HK was only interested if anyone vomited, which we are fortunate enough to be able to say no one did)
We headed for the Mine Train (roller-coaster), which had no loops or corkscrews, but 2 drops. It also seemed like a longer ride than The Dragon. For the first ride, everyone except K took it. Van found the ride particularly funny because he sat next to Boss, who was spewing mutated vulgarities, such as “Cheese Buns” throughout the ride. Zhe little boy also mentioned that sitting behind Boss produced similar results, on The Dragon. The reason for the mutation is apparently because “he’s not supposed to swear” according to Flo. During the walk and actually for much of the day, you would find some guys stuffing their arms up or down Hen little boy’s jacket. Hen little boy had the thickest jacket, a boiler suit appropriate for up to -15 degrees Celsius, as such, anyone looking for warmth could try to get under his feathers. Not only did it keep him warm, it made rubber band shots completely useless (experimented upon by Boss), and if used to cover his ears, it would be almost sound-proof.
The Crazy Galleon (which Flo informs me is money in Hogwarts) was next on the agenda, as it was now open. K, Van, Miss Awesome, Jc, D&E and the little boys took this ride. The first 6 took it twice, although the operator forced everyone to get off and queue up again when there was no queue at all. Apparently, the ride was dizziness inducing. Van also found joy in laughing at other people who were screaming their heads off. A quick break later, we headed for a pizza stall, but after seeing the price concluded that McDonald’s was more worth it. Thus, we had our first (and probably only) taste of Hong Kong McDonald’s. It was a bit of a drawn out process, with many going for more than a single round of food.
We paid the Sea Jelly Spectacular (Jellyfish aquarium) a visit, and were rewarded with a good look at many different kinds of Jellyfish, as well as some visual effects caused by UV lighting. These effects included a very nice highlight of words on Boss’ jacket, B’s fingernails becoming fluorescent highlighter pink, K’s sunglasses tips glowing orange, Miss Awesome’s laces proving how white and clean they were, and something really cool happened to Jc’s clothing. For some strange reason, many of the walls in the building were covered in mirrors, and with the low amounts of light available, that meant many people walking into walls, such as Miss Awesome. As the park was now more crowded, we also experienced the Percs effect. This meant that walling became standard in any queue.
We went to the Ocean park tower, where we observed Percs trying to bribe the operator. While in the queue, D & Boss made a sick joke about the dressing of some other tourists. Anyway, we took in the view from the top, with Hen little boy commenting that had the Abyss been built where the Tower was, it might be much more impactful. We also sighted a ride called The Flash while we were up there. Hen little boy was unafraid of even that ride, going with his “got buy insurance scared what” philosophy. Eventually, D did not decide to go for that ride, which means none of us experienced this new addition to the park.
The Tower ride was followed by a quick trip to the Ocean Theatre and a show featuring dolphins and seals. Most of us had to sit separately, since the theatre was nearly full by the time we got there. After all, the show was starting. The show itself was entertaining but Hen little boy reported that the person next to him completely ignored the show, choosing instead to read.
We did go for another ride on the Mine Train, but slightly less people took it. Again, the queue was long. We also discovered Slim’s concerns regarding long escalators in the process of getting there. The guys sat on the escalator, and later saw a sign advising against doing so. After the ride, the guys bought fried fresh squid, which was quickly consumed. We found probably the only water-based ride closed, unfortunately. The sky was beginning to darken and the weather was getting cooler. We took the escalator upwards, and were walking towards the cable car station when a passing Chinese yo-yo performer asked in Cantonese the following question: “Are you guys cold?” to which Van and Zhe little boy collectively replied in Cantonese: “Cold, cold!”. That drew the response: “I’m very cold too.” It was amusing because of the collective reply, and the antics of the performer, skipping around in his attempt to keep warm.
The cable car ride back was to see Hen little boy’s jacket getting extensive use by those who felt cold. D had his hands on Hen little boy’s jeans for pretty much the whole ride, which passed without too much incident. Back at the lower half, we took the children’s merry-go-round, even though there was an adult size carousel. It was quite a random choice, started by a random proposal but not-so-random acceptance, but it was fun nonetheless. We probably made the operator’s day when we hit the children’s Ferris wheel, going by his constantly smiling gaze from the moment we entered.
If not for size and weight restrictions, we might have entered the Bouncy Castle or took the Frog Hopper (children’s version of The Abyss). Ocean Park seemed much less crowded at this time, possibly because people were starting to leave. We continued on our way, stopping to play a stall game involving the tossing of soft toys into revolving baskets. Slim demonstrated her inept abilities at this game. This was quickly followed up by a sure-win game, whereby we shot a constant stream of water at a target. Initially, Boss’ water gun couldn’t work, causing a replay. During the reply, Boss was again unfortunate with the gun, and D’s score counter did not rise correctly. This meant a shoot-off between Boss, D and Van, which Van won. His gun did seem to have significant advantage, most probably in terms of water pressure. For his efforts, he picked up a blue shark. We also played another round with the Nerf guns, but did not collect a major prize. The free gift for picking up the tab for 3 games was a 4-leaf clover soft toy which went to E.
It was about time to leave the park, and on our way out we caught the last part of some acrobatic performance, along with some stilt-walkers. We watched till the show was over, and then it was back to the bus stand and off to Admiralty for us. We were unsuccessful in getting a proper recommendation for good food from the bus driver, and so proceeded to a nearby mall. Combined with the wind, the mercury seemed to have dropped significantly. We were about to go for Genki Sushi after the malls gave little positive result, but stopped instead at a quick service shop. It promised meals within 5 minutes. True enough, some of us got our food almost immediately after placing the order. At least 1 item went off the menu while we were queuing. The beef apparently tasted good, and after some figuring, Van and Boss decided that their chicken didn’t come from the same chicken, although they placed almost consecutive orders of the same dish.
After dinner, it was a quick walk back to the MTR station, from which we proceeded to Tsim Sha Tsui. Utilising their underground network of walkways, we made our way to the Avenue of Stars. Not so much for the Avenue actually, but for the great view that it provided of the Hong Kong Skyline. We saw Intercontinental Hotel along the way, and also spotted $hangri-la, places some wished we could have stayed at.
We spent some time walking the Avenue, and left when it became evident that there was no café or shop we could stop and take in the scenery at. On a rather long staircase down to street level, the little boys decided to play scissors, paper, stone to decide who got to take a step downwards. Hen little boy seemed like the winner, going by the advantage he chalked up. We then decided not to enter the nearest MTR entrance, walking the streets instead to see the place better. We stopped at a medicine shop, where E successfully purchased some Vitamin C and possibly other medicine. She wasn’t too well at all.
A short walk and MTR ride later, we were back at our hotel. It was sufficiently late, and time to wind down and go to bed. We set the wake-up time for the next day to be later, seeing no real need to wake up early.
