27.10.2018

27.10.2018 3 days in Hong Kong

Ocean Park

Waking up in the morning, this time not at 4am, I decided to go to Ocean Park. It was going to be expensive, but it's probably one of the last places I'll spend a lot of money on.

I went to Starbucks again for breakfast and then took the train towards the park. Even though I went right in when the park opened, there were already a lot of other people there as well.

First, I went to the aquarium and then took the Ocean Express Tram, yes, a tram to the second part of the park where all the rides were.

First, I went on the Arctic Speeder, which was cool but a bit slow.

There was also a little polar exhibit here where you could see penguins, seals, and walruses.

Then I made my way to the 'Hair Raiser'. I do not like super fast, looping rides, though I never actually tried one. So I thought, why not give it a shot just this once. While waiting, I kept hearing the screams from the others and saw the ride storming past into the next loop. I got really nervous and was thinking about just turning around, but I kept on walking.

I stored my bag in the exit area and got on the ride. The seats got secured, the alarm sounded, and the ride started. Slowly, it made its way up a steep track until at the highest point, it stopped and showed us our very fast and direct descent into a loop. Then....it went down.

It was a short track but jeez, it went fast from one loop into a rolling track where you went on your head, up and down, and up again. In the end, I was glad I did it and wanted to go again.

But I continued to a water ride, followed by a different water ride followed by a horror house. Then Halloween seems to be a bigger thing here in Hong Kong. Not only the park was decorated, but a lot of the staff and some of the visitors as well. With makeup and accessories, but also some amazing costumes from the staff side, which I thought was pretty cool.

The horror house was not as good as the one I once went in, in Europa Park, but it was still pretty good. I got really scared about 2-3 times by some very clever and hidden spaces where people dressed as monsters would jump out. And I couldn't resist but at one point to turn around and scream at the people behind me 😅😁.

Next, I went on a Virtual Reality ride, here the waiting time was already pretty long since now more and more people had arrived. You were able to choose between riding VR or not, but I decided to go with. And it was a good decision because in real life they can't throw you off a mountain, in VR they can and they did. It was a Halloween special where you had to shoot ghosts and fight zombies while you were in a small wagon riding through the night.

I had to kind of watch the time a little since I didn't want to miss my flight, but for now, I was still good.

Next, I went on the Eagle and then the Dragon. I had lost my fear of these rides a little but still got pretty nervous, especially by the Dragon, it was surely about the same level as the Hair Raiser.

Next, I went to the Ocean Theater where they had dolphins and sea lions perform awesome stunts and tricks. That was pretty impressive.

I went back to the first side of the park with the cable car. It gave an amazing view over the town Stanley that I visited yesterday as it was pretty close. The cable car went up and down over a pretty high hill and was even a bit frightening.

I went to eat something and then wandered around a bit more. I went to see the pandas, otters, and apes. There was even an Australian section with wallabies and koalas!

Slowly but surely, it was time for me to go, it was dark now and the park had all its lights turned on. I did go on the cable car again to see if maybe some rides were available, but there were still as many people as before if not even more. But I did get to see some cool shows of performer groups that were now here.

As I had already figured out a bit, shows/performers here in Hong Kong have very cool ideas and acts, are less 'professional?' than now in Switzerland, since mistakes seem to happen more often and the people of Hong Kong are a hard audience. There are very few shouts or claps through the show or trying to get people to clap along doesn't work at all. The people don't cheer until the end, and even then, it's pretty sparse.

I went back with the tram and decided to get an ice cream before I left. When I entered, I got these coupons with -10$ if you spend over 250$ in this store, your third drink is free, save 5$ on every second souvenir. Things that would surely be useful in a group but were kind of difficult alone. However, saving 5$ when you buy an ice cream was possible.

So I went to the kiosk, but they told me I had to use it in the restaurant. So I waited in the restaurant in the line until I got to the counter with my ice cream, and then they told me this only works at the kiosk. So frick, I just paid the 50$ for it and kept my coupon, goddamit.

I left the park, walking past the very bored staff member that was on 'waving duty', saying goodbye to all the visitors. I can imagine it must be like 'kangaroo watch' at Lone Pine.

I went back to my hotel, passed by 'Question Avenue' as I now like to call it.

'Want cash?'

'Need a hostel?'

'Want some good hash?'

'You hungry?'

At the hotel, I got my bag, then I quickly brushed my teeth and went to the airport.

It took a while to check in since I had to prove that I am flying to Switzerland after South Africa and back. When I booked that ticket, it didn't have a number yet, so it was difficult to check, but in the end, it got accepted.

After the security check, which went by without any trouble this time, I went to find my gate when an old lady stopped me.

'Hello there, we are doing a survey about the visitors of Hong Kong. Would you mind answering some questions?'

'Ähm sure'

'Alright, thank you'

1. How long did you visit Hong Kong?

'Oh well, ähm just 3 days'

2. What was your reason to come to Hong Kong? An important business trip or higher studies?

'No, no, just ähm a visit'

3. Did you come here to see the famous acts at the palace, enjoy the traditional wine & dine ceremony, or see any of the cultural events?

'Oh well, no, I did not really do any of th-'

4. Where are you from?

'Ah! Aha! Well, Switzerland of course!'

5. So you are a student

'Ähm no, actually I am äh

6. So you work

'Well, work is a strong word. I mean, we all work in a way. I just äh

7. So you are unemployed

'.........yes...'

8. Do you have kids?

'No'

9. Are you married or in a relationship?

'No ähg, that one would be single'

10. Do you own a house or a car?

'No, I am äh still with my parents actually'

11. Have you accomplished anything so far in your life?

'...well I have an apprenticeship, so you know, I could work...but äh.....no.....'

12. Your favorite hobby?

'Pretending I'm a green Ork while doing silly voices with my friends sitting around a table laughing at me'

So after that, I went to find my gate, but it wasn't anywhere on the table. Luckily, there was a board pass scanner. The scanner told me that my gate (68) was too far away from my current position (20) to be shown on the table.

So I walked and walked and walked until finally, I arrived at THE END OF THE AIRPORT at my gate. Like seriously, there were no more gates after 70. I am at the outer point of the airport.

So the boarding will start soon and then I have a 10-hour flight and after that an around 6-hour flight until I reach my destination in Namibia. It's going to be interesting.