Hong Kong no Phooey TR (Apr 2012)! The Yee's have it....TR finish #1101, 07/09

[PrincessInOz]

Originally Posted by dgbg100106

It was back in 2005 but here is a local story on it...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,162050,00.html


well then I am glad I got it on the right day!

Thanks. That's a heartwarming story.

[PrincessInOz]

Nostalgia and Chariots in the Sky



Have I mentioned that this place is HUGE? We’re looking back at the entrance, where Aqua City is. You might be able to make out the water fountain in the lagoon and that blue cap poking out of the building is where the Grand Aquarium is.





The landscaping was lovely, albeit not quite up to Disney standards. There were heaps of exotic plants around.





Our route took us into one of the newer sections of Ocean Park. I gather Old Hong Kong only opened in March this year. I found it highly nostalgic.





I do remember these sorts of vendors walking around town when I was a child. I don’t remember the hat!





I liked the look of some of these street snack places. The smells evoked odours from my youth.





Some of the architecture in this section brought back half-remembered fragments from my childhood.






I certainly do have recollections of going to the streets of small towns that looked like this!





We continued to wander quickly down the corridors of half-forgotten paths...





…where wispy threads teased and fluttered in my mind.





And with a turn of the corner, old Hong Kong disappeared away.


My parents and our TA friend have previously visited Ocean Park before and they both advised that we head up to the Summit as soon as we saw the Giant Pandas. Armed with that advice, we started to make our way in that general vicinity.

There are two ways to get up to the Summit – a train; or by gondola. From all accounts, the gondola queue gets pretty long during the day. The advice had been to go up by gondola, the sooner the better. Looking at the crowd control barriers being set up by the workers, I would say that there was some truth in it.





Our wait was only about 5 minutes. We had a photographer take our picture before we got into the Chariot and were told that we could view the picture the top. And with that, we went in the Sky!





We’re heading up in that direction.





It’s a perfect way to gauge the size of the Waterfront. Look at the trail of people and the entry is round that way, around the corner and not visible. Those hot air balloons are rides that you can enjoy.





I think you can see the MTR construction in the distance.





On the right side of the gondola, we could see some of the attractions in Whiskers Harbour along Deep Water Bay.





This chariot in the sky hugs the side of two hills. It is an incredibly scenic ride once you get over the first hill.





The Summit is located at the top of the second hill and the attractions of this section of the park cover the top and go down the back side of that hill.





Take another look at the park map. The Summit section is even bigger than the Waterfront!





(Continued in Next Post)

[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)


A Wild Ride – NOT – Hair Raising Mishap



Remember I said that we had pictures taken before we boarded the gondola? Well, when we got to the top of the Summit, we decided to check it out. It wasn’t a bad family shot….actually, it was pretty decent. So, we decided to get us a copy at HK$98 (about $13 in our money). The picture came in one of those glossy photograph holders with Ocean Park pictures around it.


Whilst we were doing that, DS spotted The Rapids ride.





It’s a water raft ride….not in the same class as Kali or Grizzly but it looked fun to DS. The queue was a 20 minute wait. We decided not to use the lockers underneath to stash our stuff, thinking that we might have a storage space in the middle of the raft, like Kali.

When we got to the boarding area, I was dismayed to find that there was no central storage space in the middle of the raft. NOT like Kali!

There were, however, open shelf cube spaces for us to leave our bags in. Lots of people were leaving camera bags and back packs in them. As there were at least 3 or 4 workers, we figured it was safe enough. We left my camera bag, DH’s camera, 2 windcheaters and the souvenir photograph in one of the cubes.

So, we boarded and went on what was a rather tame-ish water raft.





I think you get more wet from the other guests spraying water through the guns at you.





Although, you might be unlucky and get soaked from the dribbling mouth.





That’s the Hair Raiser in the background for you!!! It certainly wasn't in this ride.





The wild ride came when we got back to the cube to collect our stuff and discovered that something was missing!!!!!

I think you’ve probably figured by now that my…er…DH’s… camera and lenses are $$$$. DH has another camera that is also $$$. Imagine our panic!


Someone took the photograph! The HK$98 photograph!


Somewhere….out there…..in a stranger’s home…..is a perfectly decent photograph of DH, DS and me….somewhere!

If that doesn’t raise your hair, nothing will!



(Continued in Next Post)

[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)


Lunch at the Terrace



For the record, we didn’t leave the photograph out in the open. It was wedged between the partition and my camera bag, which we covered with the windcheaters. Whoever it was that took it had to move the windcheaters in order to see the bag with the photograph in it. In any event, I was relieved that Mr or Ms Lightfingers decided to leave our camera bags and apparel behind.

We headed back to the photo-booth in the hopes of finding a friendly worker who might take pity on us. DS was distraught that someone would steal our picture and really wanted it back. DH and I were equally as distraught that we weren’t going to pay for another one.


Lucky for us, the same lady that sold us the picture remembered us. It took us a while to explain the situation and when she realised what had happened, she printed us another copy free of charge, complete with souvenir cardboard frame.



It had taken us some time to replace that picture and by the time we’d finished this, it was prime lunchtime. As we were near the restaurant area next to the gondola unloading area, we decided to head in there to check it out.


There are two eating places here…an air-conditioned restaurant, the Bayview Restaurant, and an outdoor terrace area, the Terrace Café. The restaurant was ridiculously busy but the terrace area….it was only a 3 table wait, which worked out to be about 15 minutes.


I nabbed this from DH’s collection….our table.









We had a reasonable view….





…in this direction.





There sure were a lot of low grey clouds!





I did check out the drinks menu. I normally stick with water as I really am a one-pot screamer but on this occasion, water was sold in bottles at a cost of HK$20. The mocktail that I got was HK$28.





For anyone wanting water and didn’t bring a bottle with you, I recommend you purchase the 1L variety in the snack stations around the Park. The 1L costs $10 from there whilst the 0.5L was double the price at the Terrace…all because you are sitting at a table.


The menu here was Pan-Asian fusion style. After all the Chinese food we had eaten, it was a relief to eat something different.

DH ordered the Stuffed Pumpkin.





It was stuffed with rice and seafood, with real cheese melted over the top.





Absolutely delicious!

DS decided on the kid’s plate. It was the only thing on the menu that had spaghetti on it. Turns out the portion size was reasonable.





Aside from the pasta, cocktail frankfurts and chips, the meal also came with chicken nuggets…





….and a soft drink.





You might have spotted the jelly on the plate, which was part of dessert. The other half was a Haagen Daaz icecream cup. I missed taking a picture of the ice cream.


My meal was the pick of the lunch options we chose. I settled for a pan fried fish (might have been snapper) in a uber tasty red curry sauce.






We were well satisfied with lunch and ready to explore some more! For those interested, I can't remember exactly what this meal cost but I think it came in somewhere around the HK$500 mark; about $65 in our money.

[dgbg100106]

Someone took your photograph? Really???? Why would anyone do that?

[PrincessInOz]

Originally Posted by dgbg100106

Someone took your photograph? Really???? Why would anyone do that?

I have no idea.

But yes, someone rifled through our stuff and took the photograph. Left the cameras and the clothes behind!!!

[dgbg100106]

Originally Posted by PrincessInOz

I have no idea.

But yes, someone rifled through our stuff and took the photograph. Left the cameras and the clothes behind!!!

I am so glad that they left everything else, but that is kind of weird... I guess you officially have a stalker now.

[usnuzuloose]

WOW!, maybe someone needed instant family. Never heard of someone taking just a picture. But I am glad it was just the picture and not the expensive things. Kind of different to ride up to a place and find more rides. I got dizzy looking down. Where those stores are didnt make it look like you were in a park. That stuffed pumpkin was sure different. How did DS like it? Looking forward to more.

[skier_pete]

Not sure I'm allowed to say this on this board, but the Ocean Park looks a more interesting to me than HKDL. Maybe because HKDL didn't have much unique to a WDW veterans eyes, but Ocean Park looks really cool! Love the upper level of the park. Really neat.

I'm amazed someone stole your picture and not your cameras. Was the picture in a souvenir bag? They probably thought they were getting something better! At least they reprinted the picture for you.

Myself, I guess I would never trust leaving anything valuable unattended, but I'm an American. (A "New-Yorker" no less.) Fuggetabowtit! You steal-a my picture, I break-a you kneecaps!

[kmedina]

That stuffed pumpkin looks awesome. I love pumpkins. If there is a non-seafood version, I am going to try it someday when I go there. The gondolas remind me of theme parks in the US that used to have them but no longer do. The park looks awesome.

Originally Posted by PrincessInOz

There aren't many zoos that have them. I believe that the San Diego zoo does have them in the US.

We have seen them at the San Diego zoo. I do not know if any other zoo has them.

[skier_pete]

Originally Posted by kmedina

We have seen them at the San Diego zoo. I do not know if any other zoo has them.

I wasn't sure if the Toronto Zoo has them. (Toronto Zoo is on par with San Diego Zoo) Went to their web-site, and they are getting a breeding pair from 2013-2018. If they successfully breed, they will be there longer. Guess we'll have to go check them out!

[ehsmum]

We bought the gondola pic too but luckily nobody stole ours. That's going to remain one of the great mysteries of life!

Your lunch looked lovely >We made an error with lunch. We did all the thrill rides then headed back down to the Waterfront but the restaurant waits were ridiculous so we headed out of the park thinking we could grab something outside but there were only souvenir shops, no food. So we talked our way back in to the park and grabbed some sandwiches and pastries from the bakery which we ate on the bus to Stanley Markets.

[ACDSNY]

Oh my I can't believe someone took your photo.

Ocean Park look pretty cool.

[franandaj]

Wow! I can't believe that I'm finally caught up!!!!

Your picture? Reallly??????????? Why would someone want a picture of another family?

The floating restaurant was very pretty, but I'm guessing that Hong Kong is not going to be placed on our "to do" list. So many of your pictures are not showing that they meet ADA requirements. I'm pretty sure that there is no HKDA!

I am enjoying your beautiful pictures and the Pandas are just adorable. I wouldn't have wanted any of his bamboo either!

[PrincessInOz]

Originally Posted by dgbg100106

I am so glad that they left everything else, but that is kind of weird... I guess you officially have a stalker now.

Be very afraid.....they even know what I look like!

Originally Posted by usnuzuloose

WOW!, maybe someone needed instant family. Never heard of someone taking just a picture. But I am glad it was just the picture and not the expensive things. Kind of different to ride up to a place and find more rides. I got dizzy looking down. Where those stores are didnt make it look like you were in a park. That stuffed pumpkin was sure different. How did DS like it? Looking forward to more.

DH had the stuffed pumpkin but we did share our meals. DH and I thought the pumpkin was delicious.

Originally Posted by skier_pete

Not sure I'm allowed to say this on this board, but the Ocean Park looks a more interesting to me than HKDL. Maybe because HKDL didn't have much unique to a WDW veterans eyes, but Ocean Park looks really cool! Love the upper level of the park. Really neat.

I'm amazed someone stole your picture and not your cameras. Was the picture in a souvenir bag? They probably thought they were getting something better! At least they reprinted the picture for you.

Myself, I guess I would never trust leaving anything valuable unattended, but I'm an American. (A "New-Yorker" no less.) Fuggetabowtit! You steal-a my picture, I break-a you kneecaps!

I know how much you like AK so I figure your family would love Ocean Park.

I didn't think I would leave my stuff there either but when I glanced over the shelves, it seemed like there were a ton of other people's bags and camera bags there too. I guess we were just really really unlucky and lucky that it was only just the souvenir picture. The bag was a plain white polythene bag; so it wasn't even that.

Originally Posted by kmedina

That stuffed pumpkin looks awesome. I love pumpkins. If there is a non-seafood version, I am going to try it someday when I go there. The gondolas remind me of theme parks in the US that used to have them but no longer do. The park looks awesome.



We have seen them at the San Diego zoo. I do not know if any other zoo has them.

I wondered if the zoo that Brandi posted that link in Washington still had theme. Oh well....something to google today.

Originally Posted by skier_pete

I wasn't sure if the Toronto Zoo has them. (Toronto Zoo is on par with San Diego Zoo) Went to their web-site, and they are getting a breeding pair from 2013-2018. If they successfully breed, they will be there longer. Guess we'll have to go check them out!

We had giant pandas on loan at the Melbourne Zoo over 20 years ago for about 6 months. Hope they pair sent to Toronto like it there.

Originally Posted by ehsmum

We bought the gondola pic too but luckily nobody stole ours. That's going to remain one of the great mysteries of life!

Your lunch looked lovely >We made an error with lunch. We did all the thrill rides then headed back down to the Waterfront but the restaurant waits were ridiculous so we headed out of the park thinking we could grab something outside but there were only souvenir shops, no food. So we talked our way back in to the park and grabbed some sandwiches and pastries from the bakery which we ate on the bus to Stanley Markets.

Was the food good at the bakery? I was interested to try it out but circumstances got the better of us.

Originally Posted by ACDSNY

Oh my I can't believe someone took your photo.

Ocean Park look pretty cool.

Originally Posted by franandaj

Wow! I can't believe that I'm finally caught up!!!!

Your picture? Reallly??????????? Why would someone want a picture of another family?

The floating restaurant was very pretty, but I'm guessing that Hong Kong is not going to be placed on our "to do" list. So many of your pictures are not showing that they meet ADA requirements. I'm pretty sure that there is no HKDA!

I am enjoying your beautiful pictures and the Pandas are just adorable. I wouldn't have wanted any of his bamboo either!

You're all caught up!!!

There is another way up to the top of The Summit...by train. I did see DA entry and barriers there for Ocean Park.

The rest of Hong Kong so far? I don't think the escalators at Central were DA friendly. And there was no real way to follow it up...way too many stairs.