Day 3: Hong Kong Vacation: Tsim Sha Tsui, Ocean Park, Avenue of Stars

September 16, 2010 Ruth Dela Cruz

We were still tired and aching when we woke up on Day 3. But we didn’t want to waste our time in bed, so we woke up early to and strolled and had coffee at Tsim Sha Tsui.

At around 10:00 AM, we headed to the Ocean Park. I was not very excited about the Ocean Park (probably because of the Disneyland hype!). If you plan to go to these two places, I would suggest that you take a day off before going to the next destination. You may also choose to skip either Ocean Park or Disneyland and add another destination to your itinerary. These two parks would eat a minimum of 4 hours of your day.

Choose Ocean Park if you want rides like roller coasters, flyers, etc. Choose Disneyland if you want good sights for pictures and if you want to have your pictures taken with Mickey and Minnie. I have forgotten to include on the Day 2 write-up that Disneyland is not very strict about taking pictures. They have designated photographers who would take the official Disney picture with Mickey, Minnie or any other characters available at the time. They would then give you a stub. You have to go to the Kodak center to claim and check the pictures. Each printing costs $HK100. I only took my pictures with Mickey and Minnie. Each pic has borders – and that makes all the difference. You may even give them your camera for them to take your own pictures with Mickey and other Disney characters. This would save you dollars!

Back to Ocean Park, we paid at the Bus stop which includes entrance to the Ocean Park and round-trip bus ticket. So we got to ride the double decker bus! Yeah!

When we arrived at the park, we had to go to the washroom – and the washroom was a real disappointment! Smelly with no tissue paper and decent flush. I got totally disappointed and kept on comparing the park with Disneyland.

Before exploring the place, we had the traditional Chinese food. Yummy and spicy!

It was not the best time to explore this place since I could still feel my aching legs. Plus there wasn’t even a tram ride in the park. My friend rode the rides, but I have decided to pose as a photographer. I think I am just getting old that I do not appreciate rides and roller coasters.

I just rode the Ocean Tower and here is the view from the top.

Just to say that we had been to Ocean Park, we checked the oceanarium.. I saved my memory card and battery for other things to see. I had been to Ocean Park Manila, and I have had enough of fishes and sea creatures.

This one is worthy of a picture. That’s a baby shark. Raaar!!

In Manila, they would post, Beware of Pickpockets. I was glad I should only be careful of my steps here in Hong Kong.

This is no tombstone but is our mecca.

Ocean Park such a big theme park. We had to ride a cable car to get to the other side of the park. A little tip – some locals are a little too impatient on lining up – and they would do everything to get to the first seat. So again, patience is a virtue.

So we just checked out the Panda Bear and found a spot in the glass panel where we could have a solo pic with the Panda Bear on the background. The cutest!!!

There are so many other things to see and try in Ocean Park, but we were dead tired and we wanted to check out the Gucci store in Central before it closes since my friend wanted to buy a bag.

We ate first at some old Chinese restaurant along one of the narrow streets (I cannot remember the exact place).

Before heading to the Central, we dropped by the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui – the place reminds me of Eastwood.

Coffee and dessert at Starbucks. To give you an idea:

Latte HK$28
Hazelnut Syrup HK$3
Mint Latte HK$34
Iced Caramel Latte HK31

Then we went to Central and check out all the bags at Gucci. I hope that someday soon, I would have the money to canvass and buy bags from this store. Somebody give me a rich man!!! LOL.

We went back to H&M in Central and brought more stuff. Although, there weren’t much good stuff to buy at that time.

Back to the hotel – at around 10 or 11PM. We were dead tired and the following day is another adventure.

Do you have your Hong Kong stories and adventures? Please share it, would love to read about your adventure.