HK Day 2: Ocean Park & Under Bridge Spicy Crab

We woke up really early this morning to have breakfast at Fa Yuen Street Market before heading off to Ocean Park (we've got a long day ahead of us!). Mum-in-law has been dreaming of the porridge at Mui Kee Congee for more than a year already so it was top on our to-do list.

Fa Yuen Street Market

Mui Kee Congee

Assorted pork innards porridge and chee cheong fun

I didn't really like the chee cheong fun, it wasn't really my taste but the Mum-in-law loved it. She was a bit disappointed that I didn't fancy it as much as she did. The porridge, on the other hand, I liked very much. It was cooked in the traditional old-school fashion way, which reminded me a lot of my Cantonese grandmother (she used to cook for us a lot when we were younger). Although the price is not cheap (cost the same as a bowl in an air-conditioned Cha Chaan Teng), it was value for money as the chef was very generous with the amount of ingredients that he added to the porridge.

We loved the porridge so much that we took away 2 bowls to eat at Ocean Park since we knew the food there would be expensive and not tasty.

After breakfast, we had to quickly make our way to Ocean Park before it got more and more crowded as the day went by. To get there, simply take the MTR (purchase your Octopus Card, if you haven't already done so) from Mong Kok Station to Admiralty Station (Exit B) and board Citybus' Ocean Park Express Route 629 (1st bus starts at 9am; frequency is every 10 minutes) directly to the park's entrance.

Citybus Ocean Park Express Route 629

We bought our Ocean Park tickets at the bus bay before boarding our bus but you can also buy your tickets at the entrance.

Ocean Park
(Opening hours: 10am to 6.30pm)

We started our journey by visiting the pandas at the Giant Panda Adventure exhibit.

Giant Panda Adventure

Managed to catch one pacing up and down while waiting for his food

He even posed for us, awww, so cute!

A place to draw your wishes
(I drew smiley faces and money.. everyone can always have more money right? *laughs*)

Next we explored Whiskers Harbour, the children area of the park. It was filled with kiddy rides and playgrounds that were very suitable for young children.

Kid-friendly Ferris Wheel

Left: Toto the Loco, mini train ride
Right: Clown A Round (proud of her for riding it on her own)

We got bored after a while and decided to ride the Cable Cars up to another part of the park. By this time, the waiting time for the cable cars has increased to 45 minutes. We waited so long that the girl fell asleep on her stroller. Nevertheless, it was well worth the wait as we truly enjoyed the amazing scenery along the way.

Cable cars at Ocean Park

My girl really enjoyed the ride

Look at the steep ascent and descent! I thought my girl would be scared but she wasn't! Proud of her =)

The cable cars can seat up to 6 persons per car but it can be a squeeze as they were not very big. However, it was big enough to accommodate my Peg Perego umbrella stroller (thank goodness!). There are special cars for the physically disabled too, just ask the staff for help =)

We arrived at Thrill Mountain, which is a newer area in Ocean Park I think as I had never seen this when we came to Ocean Park 7 years ago.

Roller coasters and old school carnival games!

Whirly Bird

I had really wanted to ride the Whirly Bird but since no one could ride with me, we decided to visit Polar Adventure instead. The cold enclosure was a welcome shelter away from the sweltering mid-day heat. It was also a great place for my girl to take her afternoon nap =P

Polar Adventure

South Pole Spectacular

You can walk above the water and see the Penguins swim pass;
unfortunately we didn't manage to catch any swimming below us =(

Penguins!

Special Penguin souvenirs only available at Ocean Park
(cute right?!)

I couldn't resist bringing one home, even though it was so expensive! No, I didn't buy the hat/gloves that my Mum-in-law wore, that's way out of my budget. But I did buy the pink cap with the penguin face.. it was too cute to resist! =)

We continued to the next exhibit next door, the North Pole Encounter. There were 2 parts to this exhibit, i.e. you can see the animals from the top view or underground.

Spotted Seal

Top View of the animals
Left: Spotted seal; Right: Northern Sea Lion

Huge walrus! Can you see its long teeth?

We also stumbled onto this white spotted owl by accident! I had never been this close to an owl before! So cool =)

Tried to get as close to the owl as possible without scaring it

If you take either the stairs or the escalator down one floor, you'll be able to see the same animals in the water.

Northern Sea Lion

Spotted Seal

We moved on to the next land at Marine World as I remembered that I enjoyed the Ferris Wheel a lot the last time we were here.

Ferris Wheel

Unfortunately, the Ferris Wheel was under maintenance! I was soooo disappointed! =(

Looks like I have no luck with big, traditional ferris wheels (you know, those that you can actually feel the wind in your hair). The one at Everland didn't work either =(

Anyway, the girl finally woke from her nap and we managed to catch the Ocean Wonders show at the Ocean Theatre. I didn't manage to take any pictures as the place was so crowded and we didn't want to sit all the way in front only to squeeze like crazy on the way out. We even left the theatre way before the show ended so that we didn't have to queue like crazy for the cable cars.

We did queue anyway but the ride back a second time was still worth the wait =)

The scenery in the evening

A photo of me and my girl on the way back

You can see the bottom of Ocean Park from up here
(the park is really that big!)

We wanted to explore The Grand Aquarium but all of a sudden hoards of Mainland Chinese tourists started streaming in, causing the wait time to increase to 30 minutes!

The Mum-in-law was pretty turned off by the crowd, so we decided to leave the park earlier than planned (we boarded the same Citybus Express back to Admiralty Station).

As it was still early, we made our way to the famous Under Bridge Spicy Crab for dinner. To get there, take the MTR from Admiralty Station to Causeway Bay Station and exit via Exit C (follow the signs). Turn left at the street level and walk straight until you see this neon signboard on your right across the road.

Under Bridge Spicy Crab
Address: G/F-3/F, Ascot Mansion, 421-425 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

We ordered 4 dishes as there were only 2+1 of us

I loved the big pot of the "soup of the day", which happened to be papaya and white fungus pork rib soup! According to the waiter, it had been boiled for hours.. Cantonese style! We all had so many bowls of it until we were so full we could hardly finish the other dishes.

Super big prawn that costs HK$260 (approximately S$40)!

The big prawn was not cheap but I found it value for money as it was almost as big as a lobster (tasted like it too). I think it was a cheaper alternative to lobster. I also loved the crispy bits so much that I could even eat them on their own =)

But our most expensive dish (cost us at least S$100) we ordered has got to be the restaurant's famed Spicy Crab!

Spicy Crab at the lowest level of spice, which was already quite spicy in my opinion

It was really quite good, although I don't think it was worth the hefty price tag! We couldn't finish it as our bellies were filled with soup so we ended up packing the crab back to the hotel to eat (was still as tasty when we ate it later that night).

Although this meal was really expensive, I think we would still be back in future. We just might not order the crab again! *laughs*

I was so tired at the end of the day, I slumped onto the bed (forgot to pump!) and fell into a deep sleep till 6am the next morning! *whoops*


Continue to >> HK Day 3: Tim Ho Wan, Roasted Goose & Lady's Market
<< Back to HK Day 1: Royal Plaza Hotel & Mong Kok

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