ocean park!

yup things went according to plan and we got to go to ocean park yesterday!! it's visit No. 2 for me as i went there with my family almost exactly 2 years ago in june 2006. that time, it started raining and continued to rain for a long long while after we took the first ride, so we aborted plan and went off to shenzhen. so this time, imagine my excitement when i could finally do some of the rides! haha =P we were a bit late in setting off, so we dint have time to cover the whole park, and it was so crowded that we had to queue quite a bit for the rides...i think we only took 4 rides or sth? haha =P but it was fun nonetheless! =) finally have a lot of photos to post up again! woohoo~!

on the bus towards ocean park - happy and excited!

before we could even get into the main attractions inside the park, we all got excited looking at the cute plush toys and souvenirs at the shop just right beside the entrance and stayed for a good ten mins?? heh -_-

check out the broad smiles! can you feel our excitement already? haha =P

on the way up to the area with the rides. there were so many long, long, long escalators! somehow, the moment i stepped into ocean park, my mood was immediately lifted, and suddenly found myself in a very good and happy mood! seriously, felt like a little kid. okay okay, some people are going to say i'm childish anyway. =X

and this is the first ride we got on - mine train. for various reasons, only cuiyi and i took the ride -_- we queued for about 20 minutes, but can i just say that it's worth it?! haha =P so fun!! and you know how the heart feels when you drop from a high altitude?? haha. there was indeed a time when i was thinking "what am i doing up here?!" and i realised, the older you get, the more "afraid" you become of these rides. seriously, i could feel the nervousness in me when i was in the queue and although it was thrilling, i actually felt my hands go a little limp when i got off the ride! haha. i guess cuiyi was right in saying that cos as we grow older, we become more aware of the consequences. simply put, we become more kiasi. haha =P i remember taking those rides that drop from 20storeys (or so they claim) high - you know the one at genting?? but now, i really cant bring myself to do it! haha. i think my heart wont be able to take it anymore. LOL =P

jodi helped take photos for us, and i think this is actually quite a good shot of us on the ride! thanks ah! haha. click on it to enlarge, and then look for someone in orange with someone in blue in the 5th row in front of 2 people in black. hahaha =P

and some shots of us at the end of the ride... =)
cuiyi (looking at jodi): jodi looks like a proud mummy (cos her kids made it down from the ride) taking photos!
me: HAHAHA, really leh!
cuiyi: and jinli (who was holding a drink and being a bit bochap) looks like the typical daddy.
- more laughters - hahaha =Pthen we went to visit my 同类. haha =P ever since hearing from my mum that i moved on my stomach like a sea lion when i was little, i have always felt an odd sense of familiarity when i see one. hahaha =P

the view from the top. and you know what? it was so coincidental that the particular episode of the hk drama i was watching last night filmed here too!! as in, the backdrop for one of the scenes was this view and also the entrance to the sea lion attraction you see above. =) i get excited these days when i can identify where they filmed their shows! haha =P

and a very bored jinli waiting for cuiyi and jodi to come back from their toilet break. lol =P

jinli trying to "break into" a cable car -_- more on cable car woes later. (and no, we dint get stranded in mid-air in case you are wondering...=P)

theme park rides in miniature form! very cute right? =)
and then there were game booths like these...
where jinli won her GIGANTIC mouse!!! seriously, it's super big, can fight with cuiyi's ferrero lor pls -_-
jinli and plush toy?? ehhh i thot the feeling was a bit off. LOL KIDDING LAH k? =P and this photo was taken while we waited for...
a ride on the ferris wheel! =) but i think abit bo-hua lor...wait so long, all for 2 rounds on the wheel. haha =P but it did offer very good views from above!
the flying swing thing is something like the one in genting - we wanted to try, including jodi and jinli, but we dint have enough time =(

these 2 ah...cos they were facing the wind, so their hair was very much in place. you should have seen how jodi laughed at cuiyi and i for our very (note: VERY) messy hair lor! TSK. i've got a photo of that (jodi's reaction), but er....really very tak-glam so shall keep as private collection lah huh? haha =P

then cuiyi and i managed to psycho jodi to take pirate ship with us - not that she has not done it before, just that she's not a fan of theme park rides. haha =P the contrast in our behaviours and moods was quite funny. i was on the phone with my mum, cuiyi was just being herself in her own world, while jodi was saying how she thought she will regret it when she's up there and there was nowhere for her to run anymore, couldnt get out of the queue already. =P

and yah, i brought my camera with me, just that...i'm not that brave / gung-ho that i can still take photos when the pirate ship was in motion lah!! haha. so this is them before the ride started. hahaha. i tell you, cuiyi and i were chatting (yes, chatting before the ride started) when jodi suddenly went "hysterical". she was almost screaming, saying something like "WAH cannot take it leh, 你们还可以在这边聊天 (you guys can still chat here huh!)！你们不要再聊天了(stop chatting!)！" we laughed and tried to ignore her and continued talking, and she just kept repeating what she said...very 激动. LOL =P the 2 china women beside her were amused too and shot her weird looks. HAHAHA =P

anyway, she survived the ride of course...it was very funny lah, cos after a while on the ride, cuiyi was just laughing at the screaming jodi beside her, and i still had time to remind them to look at jinli who was taking photos of us. but apparently, jodi was too preoccupied with when the ride was going to end to look at the camera la. HAHAHA i am laughing as i recall and type this. =P well, jodi did say that it was fun after that. hahaha =P took a photo after the ride, but she said, "THIS ONE CANNOT POST AH...."

and this is us before we got on to the roller coaster ride that you see in one of the photos i posted above - the one that we saw while on the ferris wheel. though it looks so much scarier than the first ride, this one really dint have much of a kick. =( i guess it's cos it doesnt have those high-altitude drops, it had those 360-degree turns, which were exciting, but not as thrilling as those that "pull" at your heart. LOL =P

and we visited the shark aquarium. saw a humongous stingray as well...they really look ugly leh, no wonder in chinese sometimes they are called "monster fish". haha =P

and us, while waiting for the "marine land" show, which features dolphins and sea lions, to start. i remember being very entertained and tickled by the show in 2006, so i was very much looking forward to the show. =) and i think it's really good that they "update" regularly and made some changes to the show, so it was slightly different from what i saw 2 years ago =)

aren't sea lions just soooo cute? haha =)

but i must say the dolphins are really good too - they swim so super fast, can do all sorts of acrobatic stunts leh! very cool! =) the show was really enjoyable!

we wanted to take cable car down to the lowland part of the park. and i tell you, the queue was just SOOOOOOOOO long!!! it looked never ending lor! and we waited for almost an hour and a half before we got on to a cable car! a pity that it was already dark on our way down, so couldnt see the sights i saw the other time i went. =( anyway, being bored in the queue meant taking more photos. haha =P

our admission tickets! it just so happened that all our tickets have different mascots! i really like the one i am holding on to cos it reminds me of the very pretty photo my mum and dad took with the life-sized mascot. i think you can see it if you go back to the very first entry of this blog. and that photo is sitting on the soft board in front of me too. =)

i like this photo alot!! everyone so pretty and happy! =P

can you even see the cable cars in front of us? haha. actually, the park closes at 6pm, but the queue at the cable car was just sooo long that i think they extend their cable car operating hours by at least 2 hours. i guess it was very crowded cos of the easter break, and the primary school kids have classes suspended due to flu virus, and the many many tour groups (mainly from china =/) ...

dun ask me why, but cuiyi is very very very much in love with frogs (though she eats them still)! she has one in her hand, and is posing with another one.

and time for one last group shot before we call it a day! behind us is this super huge hot air balloon, which we nv got to see due to the lack of time =( the next time i go, i will choose a day i think will have the THINNEST crowd, and i will start from the lowland first - which is actually the main entrance. i dint even get to see jia jia and le le, which are actually the park's icons lah! oh, they are the pandas. haha =P oh well.

rahhh i am very tired from blogging and itinerary planning for the week my sister is going to visit. but but but, i want sunday to come faster cos i am so freaking broke! HAHAHA =P seriously, i only have 195HKD with me now. LOL =P but dun worry about me, cos i actually still have my debit card with a little SGD in there, and some more SGD locked in our "safe". haha =P but i should be able to survive till sunday with the 195HKD lah! LOL =P i was telling my mum it's so "exciting" to be living on so little money and knowing that i have to survive on that for 3 days! haha =P

one more thing...i have heard at least 3 people saying that i have put on weight - OMG!!! haha. even if it's true, dun tell me anymore lah!! so sad! haha =P