Ocean Park (Christmas Edition)

The day after Christmas, I went to Ocean Park with my older cousin (who came from Guangzhou) and her friend (who came from Hainan).

Ocean Park (180 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Hong Kong Island)

I think Ocean Park was HK's only theme park for a long time... until Disneyland came along. Again, it's just one of those touristy places that you have to go to. Was it extremely fun? Would I go back? Probably not. I mean, it's still nice to see. :) But, it will set you back $320HKD.

I actually went twice because I had another cousin from China, who had never been to HK before, so my older cousin and I took him here. I didn't have to pay for my own ticket, but if I knew I was going to go again, I would've bought the student pass for $580HKD.

Directions to Ocean Park: I took the MTR to Admiralty station. There should be signs that lead you to the bus station, and from there, simply take Cityroute Bus 629. It'll take you straight to Ocean Park. Eaaasy.

Ocean Park was decorated for the holiday season. :) Well, if I remember correctly, only the entrance was decorated... but that's the only place that matters (for picture taking purposes anyway), right?

Near the entrance is the aquarium and panda place... Most of the "fun" things are on the other side of the park, which requires the riding of a cable car in order to get there (15-20 minute journey). You get to enjoy some nice-ish views if you go on a nice day. As you can see, I went on a particularly foggy day... In fact, I think it might have even drizzled, lol.

 

The other side is probably the better side. You get to see seals and penguins! You get to ride rollercoasters! AND, you get to watch the dolphin show!

I think this is their most "extreme" rollercoaster... Naaaa, not really.

Seals

Penguins

OMG. This was the cutest penguin everrr. It was super tiny!

Seal at the dolphin show

Dolphins... at the dolphin show, lol.

You might even run into this little guy on the other side, LOL!

After the dolphin show, we went back to the entrance side!

Don't mind me. I'm just an agricultural entrepreneur... (those are vegetables in the basket)

Panda chillin on the rock

Lunch time

Jenn

Ozone and Woobar

Fridays are Fridays... no matter where you are. Partying, clubbing, drinking... you know, the works.

Exchange students seem to really enjoy the clubbing scene here, especially in Lan Kwai Fong... (another post for another day).

Just so you know, I am not big on the whole partying scene. For one, I'm allergic to alcohol, so that already kills everything for me, LOL. I mean... okay, yeah, you could have fun sober, but really, it's not that fun when everyone around you is not sober. Oh, yeah, and getting back to CUHK after midnight is a mission too. -_-

Also, if you're trying to hit up bars or clubs in less than conservative clothing, public transportation, especially the MTR, can be a little... weird. I am not speaking from experience. :)

Anyway, I met up with a few other exchange students to go to some fancy bars on the Kowloon side of HK.

Ozone (Ritz Carlton Hong Kong,1 Austin Road West, Hong Kong, China (West Kowloon))

Ozone is the highest bar of the world. It is located on top of the Ritz Carlton on the 118th floor of the International Commerce Centre (ICC).

Fancy right?!

View from the Ozone

Even the restroom is fancy!

We didn't stay for too long. There was no cover fee, but a table was about 3000HKD (~$400!!) or something... Yeah, no. They did have little tables with no chairs scattered around. Most of them were taken though. We weren't trying to stand in the corner or anything, so we left.

Ozone had a dark, club feel to it, but it didn't have a dance floor. There's a part of the bar that's outside in a patio-like place. I guess because of the altitude, the wind was crazy out there!

I have to say though... it's a really nice place. Seriously, see it for yourself if you can!

--

Woobar (6/F W Hong Kong, No 1 Austin Road West, Kowloon Station, Hong Kong, China (West Kowloon))

Woobar is located in the W Hotel. Yup, it's another super fancy bar. There wasn't a lot of people, but it was a pretty nice place. No nice view, but the atmosphere is good.

It wasn't a dark bar or anything. It was pretty well-lit. I think it's one of those bars you go to just to relax after a long day.

Of course, everyone got a drink... and I got watermelon juice, hahaha. Nothing interesting happened... but we did get complimentary shots from the manager. :D

Note: The MTR stops running around 12AM. So, if  you have late night outings, you can either go home via mini buses or taxis. Mini buses are much cheaper, but you will have to kind of do some research ahead of time. Usually with mini buses, you get dropped off near the entrance of CUHK. So... you will have to walk back to your dorm because the school buses don't run after 11:30pm. :( Of course, if you take a taxi, you can get dropped off right in front of your dorm.

Jenn

Disclaimer: Most of these pictures are not mine.

Shenzhen

I spent my first long weekend in Shenzhen.

Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節) was on September 30 (Sunday), and the National Day of People's Republic of China (國慶節) was on October 1 (Monday)... So, to make up for Mid-Autumn Festival, we had October 2 (Tuesday) off too. Four day weekend. ^__^

Mid-Autumn Festival

 
 

For those of you who do not know what Mid-Autumn Festival is, it is a traditional holiday celebrated on the 15th of the 8th month on the Chinese lunar calendar. As such, the date usually varies from year to year.

I'd probably compare this holiday to Thanksgiving Day of the States. Traditionally, family members get together to eat moon cake (月餅) and appreciate the bright full moon. A full moon is a symbol of peace, prosperity, and family reunion, so that's why many family reunions take place on this day.

Some other customs include playing with lanterns (燈籠) and viewing dragon and lion dances (舞獅舞龍). I think it's also a popular custom for people also eat rice balls (tang yuan - 湯圓) on this day. Tang yuan is supposed to sound like tuan yuan (團圓), which means reunite in Chinese. It's kind of like... family members reunite to eat rice balls.

After school on the September 28 (Friday), I left to Shenzhen (深圳). The best way to go to SZ from CUHK would be to take the East Rail Line from University Station straight to Luo Wu, which is where you would cross the border from HK to SZ. It takes about half an hour. But, that doesn't include the time that you need to go from your dorm to the train station (add another 30 minutes -___-). You will need a China visa to cross the border, so do try to get that done at the Chinese Embassy or Consulate General of your home country.

Luo Wu is the busiest border crossing in HK. A lot of people live in SZ but go to school/work in HK because crossing the border isn't really a big hassle or anything. But, you can be sure that the day before any holiday, trying to cross the border is going to be a mission. A lot of HK people have family in China, so everyone's rushing back to be reunited with them. So, be prepared to wait in line for a million hours... OH! And, if you have a student MTR card,  you usually get 50% off train fare, unless you want to take a train to any of the border crossing places. It's full fare, and I think no matter where you're coming from it's at least 24HKD(?).

The border crossing on a normal day

The border crossing before and after holidays

I went to SZ because my aunt and a few other cousins from my mom's side live there. Like I said, going there and coming back was terrible... When we cross the border from HK to SZ, we go through the foreigner channel, so the wait might be bad but not unbearable. But, from SZ to HK, I think we wait in line with all the other HK people... or is it just me? I had an HKID because I was staying there for about a year, but I also had to bring my passport. Hm, I'm not sure now.

Anyway, on the day of Mid-Autumn Festival, I had dinner and moon cake. This is pretty standard for all Asian families. Back home, we'd eat rice balls too, but we didn't do that here. This was probably the only time I felt homesick. I was kind of teary-eyed after dinner because I realized that everyone was with their mom and dad, except for me. :(

National Day of the People's Republic of China

The National Day of the People's Republic of China is celebrated every year on October 1.

I went to Shenzhen's Splendid China Folk Village (锦绣中华民俗村) on the 1st. According to Wikipedia, it "is a theme park including two areas (Splendid China Miniature Park & China Folk Culture Village) located in Shenzhen, People's Republic of China. The park's theme reflects the history, culture, art, ancient architecture, customs and habits of various nationalities. It is one of the world's largest scenery parks in the amount of scenarios reproduced."

There are 56 ethnic groups in China, and this theme park is built to help people get a taste of each one. Literally just a little taste though. There are performances scheduled throughout the day. You get to watch different folk dances or special rituals. You can buy different foods and souvenirs specific to certain ethnic groups as well.

I went to the Splendid China Folk Village the day of China's National Day... There were SO much people everywhere and a lot of them were waving China flags. I guess this is the day to be extra proud of being Chinese, haha.

This place is really more for sight-seeing. For those who are curious about China culture, this place might be of interest to you. Be prepared for a lot of walking and don't miss the special performances.

That's all I really have to say about this place, LOL. :( The Splendid China Folk Village was highly recommended by my uncle. He said that it's a really fun, interesting place. I went with my cousins (who are from China) and we were like... how is this place fun... lolol.

I left SZ on October 2. As expect, the Luo Wu Border Crossing was not a pleasant experience. At least, it only takes half an hour to get back to CUHK.

Side note: My skin got really bad ever since landing in HK. I had acne back in the States, but it got TEN TIMES worse in HK. Ugh. :(

Jenn