The Hong Kong saga continues! As I mentioned in the first story of this series, I've broken down my trip into three parts. (If you missed the first one - the robotics conference - click on the leftmost photo below.)
 Part I: ICRA 2014 |  Part II: Ocean Park |  Part 3: Big Buddha |
Today's post is all about Ocean Park, a marine mammal park, oceanarium, animal theme park and amusement park in southern Hong Kong island!
Before we get to the fun stuff, take a look at the map below. (You may have to zoom out a bit.) It took me just 15 minutes to get to Ocean Park from my hotel. It was literally one bus stop away! One moment you're surrounded by skyscrapers, and the next you're deep in nature. Amazing!
Upon arrival, I was greeted by my Greek friends who were also attending the conference. Thanks a lot for inviting me to Ocean Park guys!
 First sighting of Ocean Park's entrance! |  From left to right: Panos, Ioanna, Minas |
Before we move on, I suggest that you open this map of Ocean Park in a new tab. The place is huge, so I want you to be able to follow along.
Looking at that map, we entered from the bottom left and headed straight for the cable cars. You see, half of Ocean Park is behind a hill! The plan was to go there first, because that's where all the roller coasters are. After exhausting ourselves, we'd come back down to do the more chill stuff.
Looking at that map, we entered from the bottom left and headed straight for the cable cars. You see, half of Ocean Park is behind a hill! The plan was to go there first, because that's where all the roller coasters are. After exhausting ourselves, we'd come back down to do the more chill stuff.
| |  The lower part of Ocean Park. |
 Cable cars hanging like mature fruits. |  I have to admit I was kinda scared... |
Once we were up there, we didn't waste any time. I had never ridden a roller coaster with loops. The Dragon had two of them ... (not my photos)
 Mine Train (kinda scary, but OK) |  The Dragon (I kept my eyes closed...) |
At least we did the scary stuff first. I felt invincible afterwards. The Raging River was next (pretty chill), succeeded by the Ocean Park Tower.
 (Not so) Raging River |  Ocean Park Tower |
Did I mentioned the tower was rotating? Check out the amazing view!
Afterwards we went to The Abyss (shock tower) followed by the Dolphin show. However, right before the show, an insane storm broke out!
 We visited these guys before the show. |  Very smart and playful! |
Unfortunately, due to the heavy rain and wind, the Dolphin Show was postponed until much later. Even the dolphins didn't want to come out! So we missed it... Instead, you and I both will have to settle for a video. It's attached at the end of this story. Check it out. There are seals in it as well!
Next order of business: Polar Adventure, aka, penguins!
Next order of business: Polar Adventure, aka, penguins!
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To be honest, I've lost track of what we did and when we did it for a while now ... At some point we did try The Rapids though.
| We rode these round boats and then took turns squirting water at others. |   |
There was a small tropical zoo up there too.
| This bird is called "Toco Toucan". |  |
 Some kind of Tarantula |  Green Anaconda |
We finally decided to go back. Instead of the cable cars, we used the "Ocean Express" train! It had a "Bioshock" feel to it.
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Almost done! Please keep reading! Pandas were next.
 One of them was pretty active. |  The other one was fast asleep! |
Finally, we went to the Aquarium. This is a small sample of what we saw.
 Japanese spider crab  Stingrays |  Hammerhead shark  Ugliest fish ever! |
That's all folks. Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for the third and final part.
~ Spyros
PS. Bonus video, since I didn't get to see the Dolphin Show myself.
