It’s every kid’s dream to go to Disneyland/Disneyworld. So it wasn’t a surprise when the first sure thing in our HK Itinerary was Disneyland. But then we also wanted to go to Ocean Park. And the tickets are expensive–and there are 6 of us, which makes it very expensive. So we had to choose only one.
So, why Ocean Park? We decided this by asking people we know who have been to both Disneyland and Hong Kong. The older people said that HK Disneyland is more for kids compared to the other Disneylands, but we couldn’t care less–because Disney is Disney and we are Disney kids for life! Then friends told us that if we want action-packed rides, we should definitely choose Ocean Park. So, Ocean Park it was.
One tip for less cost: get your tickets from your hotel concierge or from the different shops on the first floor of Chungking Mansions–way cheaper!
Second tip for an even less expensive ticket: Buy your tickets in advance from Klook. You don’t even have to fall in line!
How to go to Ocean Park from Tsim Sha Tsui
From TST, take the MTR to Admiralty (that’s just one station) and then interchange to the lime green line (South Island Line) at Platform 5/6 and get off at Ocean Park. The ride from Admiralty to Ocean Park is around 14 minutes. This is a pretty long ride and your ears might pop as you will be traveling to another island. Use your Octopus card for $11.9 fare, $5.9 for children, and $2.0 for the elderly.
When you get off at the Ocean Park Station, you’ll be greeted by sea creatures decorating the pillars of the station. It also looks so bright and so clean. And then you’ll walk on a short bridge to the park’s main entrance.
Ocean Park Entrance
Okay, first of all, I had no idea Ocean Park was that big. It was impossible to do everything in a day. When I saw the map, I decided that I will definitely have to come back to HK and just do Ocean Park for a whole day or two.
Entering the park was easy–none of those ridiculous long lines. There’s also a special lane for group entrances. So again, yey for efficiency!
The Grand Aquarium
First thing we checked out was The Grand Aquarium. I won’t bore you with all the details, so I’ll just be sharing some photos. Overall, the aquarium is this big place with a lot to see. It’s also educational. There were a lot of people though, which made it hard to take good photos, but when you decide to just enjoy the place, it’s fine.
So don’t worry too much about taking spectacular photos–just take the whole place in and internalize the message that Ocean Park is trying to tell you.
So this is what you’ll see when you enter the aquarium. It’s a pretty cool sight. But I thought, “Oh, that’s it.” Not so grand after all. But the truth is, the Grand Aquarium is really GRAND.
It is also very informative. I’m not going to bore you with the rest of the details, but I’ll just show you some photos of some of the attractions in the Aquarium that I loved the most.
Other Attractions
We thought the Ocean Express Waterfront Station was a ride in itself. Well, it was a train ride, but it wasn’t a ride like a rollercoaster. Instead, it took us to Thrill Mountain, another section of the park which had more rides and even more attractions. The Ocean Express makes you feel like you’re going underwater. And even though you know it’s not real, it still is fun.
We didn’t really get to try a lot of the rides because we were short on time. It just means we have to come back and try everything. Bea, the youngest, was the only one to try the Hair Raiser. Chia and I wanted to try it after she did, but the line was super long. Still so proud of her, though!
We also went to the other exhibitions where we learned more about the North Pole and the South Pole. I really loved the arctic foxes, and not just because I love dogs. They were so beautiful and they looked sort of like magical foxes.
I was wearing sandals and I felt really cold in the Penguin room so I had to leave before the others did. I enjoyed the time there though because I love penguins! It was so cool watching them dive in the water. Some were just standing and awrk-ing. Another cool thing, the floor we were stepping on was made of some sort of hard-ass aquarium thing allowing us to see the penguins underneath.
We then rode a cable car to go down from Thrill Mountain and back to the main land, and the view–oh my god, just amazing!
So I didn’t really research anything about Ocean Park prior to our trip, so I wasn’t expecting anything. I was surprised that upon exiting the cable car, it was like we were transported to the past–to Old Hong Kong to be exact.
Old Hong Kong made for some interesting photos though. no filter needed!
So that’s it–a little part of Ocean Park for a tired family. It would be so much better to do Ocean Park when you’re not tired and your feet aren’t aching. There is so much left to explore, so many things to try, so I’ll definitely be coming back!
We went home early to rest a bit before proceeding to Mongkok after dinner.
MONGKOK AGAIN
Sad to say, we couldn’t find the café we ate at the previous day, so we just walked around. We checked out Sneaker Street and Ladies’ Market, but we only bought a few items. When converted to pesos, the sneakers cost about the same. I later learned that there are cheaper items in Temple Street! So that’s a must to visit the next time we go to HK.
The highlight of the shopping trip was the two luggages Chiara and I bought for the upcoming US Trip. The luggage we got for a good deal as we were with Papa, who is such a pro at bargaining.
Anyway, here are a few photos from our last night at Mongkok. I enjoyed the busy streets and the neon lights. There were artists everywhere, drawing, singing, performing.
And that’s it! That was our last night in HK.
The following morning, we woke up super early and our grandfather’s business partner in HK drove us to the airport. The traffic was super bad. In fact, it might have been faster if we had taken the MTR, and that was also what Lolo’s business partner said.
Anyway, that’s it for our first out of the country trip as a family. Next on the blog (super backlog) I will be trying to blog about our 3-week US Trip. Goodluck with that.
Regina Writes Again 
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