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Last Sunday, we received a special treat from CN's company - free tickets to Ocean Park with lunch thrown in and game vouchers. The tickets were only valid for that day, so we could only make our way there after church. Although the past week had seen inclement weather, we were determined that nothing short of an electric storm would thwart our intentions. The typhoon had come, gone, come again and gone again so we were quite certain there would be a lull in the lashing winds. Rain or shine, we had to make this trip because I'd been longing to see LeLe and YingYing ever since they arrived in HK and made their first public appearance on July 1.

So after tea and coffee we walked over to the Admiralty bus station to catch the bus. There was already a queue forming (tour groups, families on a day out) but the buses departed every 5-10 minutes so it was not a long wait before we boarded, witnessing the bus driver arguing with a Chinese tourist who supposedly didn't have a ticket, and were soon on our way.

The ride took only 15 minutes from Admiralty to the south side of the island where Ocean Park is located and divided into two areas: the headland and lowland. The two areas are separated by a mountain! To get from one area to the other, you need to take the cable car or you can wait for the shuttle bus at the main entrances to each area. The bus dropped us off at the Tai Shue Wan entrance (the headland) and since it was lunchtime, we made our way directly to the Bayview restaurant for lunch. I wasn't really expecting fancy food from a theme park but it was rather decent fare. We had starters/soup, a main course, dessert and coffee. Met some of CN's colleagues there with their families. Most of them had been there since early in the morning.

We ate our lunch at a window seat overlooking the bay, and decided what we would do since we were only there for the afternoon. We opted to skip the rides since there was a slight drizzle, which by the way did not affect the visitor turnout one bit. There were groups of tourists from a particular country. You can guess. They pushed, shoved and created a din.

Our first stop was the SeaJelly Extravaganza. Previously, the only time I'd ever seen real jellyfish was on a cold platter at wedding dinners. Haha. They were housed in large tanks lit by UV light, which you get to see as you wend your way through the dark, twisty tunnels. I felt as though I was in outer space...


We got out of that lacuna in the space-time continuum just in time for the Dolphin and Sea Lion show at the Ocean Theatre. Oh how we were dazzled, charmed and wowed by the lively, intelligent and adorable creatures! There was one act where the trainer pretended he'd encountered difficulties after 'accidentally' falling into the pool. The sealion threw him a lifebelt, pulled him out, then performed CPR on him, flippers, whiskers and all! Unbelievable how they can even wave hello and goodbye. The dolphins were magnificent creatures. Synchronised swimmers, eat your heart out.

Finally, we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon at the panda sanctuary, which was in the lowland, so we had to take a cable car to get there. There was a queue but it moved along swiftly, and we realised why: there were scores of gondolas coming in by the minute and if I recall correctly each gondola seats about five. We got one to ourselves, but I can't imagine sharing the tiny compartment with more than two other people, floating at dizzying heights over the side of the mountain. It would be pretty scary being claustrophobic, acrophobic and agoraphobic at the same time! One thing which really struck us, as we were carried to the other side of the mountain, was the silence. It was a highly unusual to experience such a phenomenon in HK. Occasionally we'd hear a shout from a passing gondola, but otherwise, nothing, no birds twittering or pulleys squeaking.


Visiting the panda habitat produced some mixed feelings. We were absolutely delighted by the sight of the beautiful creatures and overwhelmed by the cuteness, but we felt sorrow that they had been reduced to mere exhibits where playtime, nap-time, mealtimes and poop-times were constantly under public scrutiny. They were in separate habitats (except LeLe and YingYing) with a 'backstage' area where they can retreat to away from the glare of the lights. The viewing area was built like a slopeland, where they were provided grass, gnarly trees and bamboo shoots aplenty. The habitat was also heavily airconditioned, which at least makes things a bit more comfortable in the humidity. Rest time for the pandas is 6pm-9am, at other times, they roam freely between the public area and backstage. I loved seeing them go at the bamboo shoots, so joyfully! that seemed to be the highlight of their existence.

But so sad! Poor YingYing (or was it LeLe? who knows?) had to take a poop after a large meal, so she/he perched on a large rock and pooped. And then, although visitors were supposed to keep quiet and not use flash photography (such courtesies were obviously disregarded by aforementioned tour groups from that particular country), a cry of 'yeeeeeeee' came up from the crowd, and YingYing (or LeLe?), who had turned away from the gallery to do her/his business, turned her head in surprise at the response to what she/he deemed to be a natural bodily function, and then looked so mournful "I was only doing my poo, I don't have a choice but to do it out here in the open, you gawkers!" that I felt like my heart was ripped right out of me. How often are they being put through the torture?

You can fall in love with AnAn, JiaJia, LeLe and YingYing here - live broadcast from the public area of their habitats (internet explorer required).

After the panda habitat, we decided to go home, for our emotions found themselves suddenly set upon. We took a taxi as it was raining. Back home in ten minutes. It was quite a day.