{"id":602,"date":"2010-03-30T11:19:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-30T03:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/2010\/03\/30\/dana-tours-hk-ocean-park\/"},"modified":"2014-10-03T18:20:53","modified_gmt":"2014-10-03T10:20:53","slug":"dana-tours-hk-ocean-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/2010\/03\/dana-tours-hk-ocean-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Dana Tours HK Ocean Park!"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
Day 3<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

After a fantastic and fun-filled day at Disneyland, we had to roam around on our own the next 2 consecutive days as Daddy has to attend meetings and workshops. So after breakfast together at the hotel, we bade Daddy farewell and went on our little HK adventure by MTR!<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Daddy and Dana at the breakfast table<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
First stop, H&M. After checking out the locations of H&M online, we headed towards the outlet at Festival Walk (at Kowloon Tong, 4 MTR stops away).  I had no idea what Festival Walk is like but to my pleasant surprise, Festial Walk is spanking new, very upmarket. According to Wikipedia (just googled as I typed this entry), it’s the Biggest Shopping Mall in HK with 200 shops, 27 restaurants, an 11 screen multiplex cinema and even its own Indoor Ice-Skaing Rink!  When we were there, we saw children as young as 4 years old having their personal coaches to teach them how to ice-skate. Cool! I wish we can sign Dana up for such lessons in Singapore too…<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The enormous Ice Rink at Festival Walk<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Since we arrived slightly before 11am and H&M is not opened yet, we headed for a dimsum brunch first as I haven’t had any dimsum meals since we touched down in HK! A forumer on Trip Advisor website highly recommended this Chinese fusion restaurant ‘Jasmine’ in Festival Walk. I had high expectations of the dimsums in HK since it’s so highly acclaimed but the ones we ordered didn’t live up to our expectations. The skin was thicker than those we have back home and the taste was rather bland…So in this regard I would say I still prefer Singapore dimsum as they are more refined. But their Chinese tea was aromatic and I love how it cleanses our palette.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Our First Dimsum meal in HK<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
We did some shopping at H&M then took the MTR in search of “Fa Yuen Street Market”. HK street markets sell more variety of products compared to those found in KL. I bought some stickers to entertain Dana and also some boysenberries before heading back to our hotel by 5pm. This was an intentional slow-paced free & easy day so I can conserve my energy for Ocean Park on the next!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Day 4<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
We have to venture on our own again today as Daddy have work duties. Since there are no direct MTR to Ocean Park, Daddy booked a sit-in-coach transfer with Grayline to bring us to Ocean Park. The coach came promptly at 9.15am to pick Dana and I (we were their 1st pick-up). Subsequently it meandered along the morning Peak hour traffic to several other hotels to pick other passengers.  By the time we reached Ocean Park, it was past 11.15am! I was rather displeased but decided to stay positive – at least Dana caught her morning nap during the coach journey and this hopefully, would last her for most part of our Ocean Park visit.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Upon arrival at the Park, I grabbed the Map and checked the timing of the Dolphin & Sealion Show at the Ocean Amphitheatre. Gosh, it’s at 11.30am. Since the Park is enormous, we have to give ample time allowance to move from one location to another. I quickly carried Dana and made a dash up 3 long escalators which would lead us to the theatre. We arrived slightly late but Dana was able to enjoy the last bits of the performance. I was panting by then, imagine me carrying a 11kg toddler and a heavy diaperbag all on my own and running to catch the show.  It was just an indicator to me of what was to come – Ocean Park is not toddler nor wheelchair friendly at all (there are no prams for rental, unlike Disneyland).  Since it’s built on the mountaneous highlands, the terrains are steep with steps and escalators linking each attraction so I practically had to carry Dana everywhere for most part of the day.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Dolphins on show<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
After the Dolphin Show, we headed to the Jellyfish World. We were mesmerized by the beauty and elegance of this creature. Can’t help but marvel at God’s ingenious creation!<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Dana saw lots of Jellyfish at Ocean Park!<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Closely situated to the Jellyfish World is the Reef Aquarium. There, Dana saw sharks, stingrays, sea turtles, lots of unqiue fishes and even seahorse! This exhibit carries more diverse wildlife than the Singapore Underwater World.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Dana admiring the wonderful Sea Creatures<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
By this time, Dana was starting to be restless and clamouring to be carried (as it’s her usual afternoon nap time). We joined the queue for the Ferris Wheel so our aching feet can take a rest. I also took the opportunity to feed Dana some cake as I realised it was already past her lunch time. I am very proud to have a hardy traveller in Dana; even though she was hungry and tired, she did not whine or throw tantrums. She merely asked Mummy politely if she can have milk. What a thoughtful girl she was \ud83d\ude42<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Dana loves the Ferris Wheel ride!<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
After the Ferris Wheel, I decided to head down to the Lowland Waterfront Section of the Park as we have less than 2 hours to explore the rest of the attractions (we have to board the coach at 4.30pm for our return transfer). We took the scenic Cable Car ride which takes us across mountaneous hills, along the South China Sea. It’s Dana’s 1st Cable Car ride with Mummy and what a scenic ride it was!  During the 20min ride, Dana helped me to scrutinise the map to plan our next destination. She’s my helpful little guide! \ud83d\ude42<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
That’s us on the Cable Car!<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Once we alighted from the Cable Car, we headed for the star attraction of Ocean Park – the Panda Bear exhibit! This was the favourite part of our visit. We came very close to the Pandas and Dana observed 2 Pandas wrestling and playing with each other. She was so tickled! Can’t wait for the Singapore Zoo to welcome our Pandas gift from China. They are such adorable and friendly creatures!<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Dana and the Pandas!<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Soon it was 4pm, we had to make our way back to the Highland Summit Section where our meeting point was. We took the Ocean Express Train to bring us back up.  The Ocean Express is a quick, smooth, thrilling funicular train can shuttle guests between the Park’s two main lands in just 3 minutes. The train resembles a submersible vehicle and offers a vivid experience that simulates a journey through the ocean’s depths.  A must try if you do visit Ocean Park. Dana took some photos with the Mascots and Sea Creatures before we bade Ocean Park farewell.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
 Dana and the Goldfish Mascot<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Dana on the Sealions!<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Onboard the coach, I heaved a big sigh of relief. Thank God for wonderful weather – if it had rained, we wouldn’t be able to cover so much attractions and I wouldn’t be able to juggle an umbrella, a toddler and a diaperbag all on my own. Thank God for His protection when Daddy’s not with us; there were no falls, no mishaps, no belongings missing. In fact we enjoyed ourselves and came back safe and sound. Above all, thank God for blessing us mother and daughter with a rewarding day at Ocean Park!  As expected, Dana and I both dozed off on the return journey after a good day’s workout. I think I burnt more calories than ever on this day.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Day 5<\/span><\/b>
 <\/div>\n
Back to Singapore after a most fruitful time spent bonding with Dana! Till our next trip, bye HongKong!<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Dana enjoying her flight on the SQ A380!<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Day 3 After a fantastic and fun-filled day at Disneyland, we had to roam around on our own the next 2 consecutive days as Daddy has to attend meetings and workshops. So after breakfast together at the hotel, we bade Daddy farewell and went on our little HK adventure by MTR! Daddy and Dana at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,24,27,25],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p59hHF-9I","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}