A Tourist In Hong Kong - Tuesday

The real beginning of my first week of freedom, I wanted to celebrate with something purely entertaining, so what better place than a theme park? Ocean Park is Asia's equivalence of SeaWorld, with a few land animals on top. The park was a short bus ride to the Southern Part of HK Island, situated near Aberdeen, a small fishing village famous for its floating restaurant, Jumbo - probably the only thing in Hong Kong that I would have like to do but won't. Mid-week was an ideal time to go as it was pretty empty.

The first exhibit I went to was the Giant Panda House, which was the home to two recently acquired pandas from China, Le Le (the black and white one) and Ying Ying (the white and black one). They were very playful but I wouldn't get too close.

Next stop was Kid's World - not exactly on the same scale as the Jurassic Park gates but it will do.

Of course, what with HK being the centre for the SARS outbreak and also with news that bird flu was transferred from man to man nearby, what better place to go than to an aviary! The exotic bird show was entertaining enough and all volunteers were given disinfectant to spray on their hands and arms and thoroughly scrubbed down.

And then to the sealion show. Wave!

As you know, most of Hong Kong is mountainous, and is largely uninhabitable. So this theme park location is either ingenious or insane; there are two entrances, one on each side of a mountain, and there is a cable car ride between the two sides. It makes for a really lovely view across Stanley and Repulse Bay, but is actually quite long as you go along the cliff for about 10 minutes, so to catch shows - which are on both sides - you have to time your day very precisely.

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Mid-day, time for a well-deserved rest, methinks.

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This second side has all the rollercoasters but being early afternoon and 26 degrees, I went inside the aquarium to cool down. The Atoll Reef is 4 floors deep and really spectacular as you get to see the different species at each level. Divers were inside feeding the fish. Look at this guy's lips - kissable or what!

After that, I went to the Tower, with a revolving platform that spins from the ground up to a 360 panoramic view. The boat in the last picture is Jumbo, although it looks more appealing at night. It really was a glorious day, and just think where I could have been!

I went on the runaway mine ride, which swooped and swerved above the sea, and then onto the shark aquarium with a walk-through tunnel. The Longnose Sawshark is a truly wondrous creature.

My favourite, the jellyfish:

The big event was the dolphin show. However, I had to endure quite possibly my very notion of hell, if there was such a thing: a Mariachi band. What's worse than seeing a Mariachi band? Having to watch it. What's worse than having to watch a Mariachi band? A Mariachi band that plays Christmas music. God knows what the Chinese must have thought about it all; a weird combination if there ever was one.

Still, the dolphins were pretty.

One quick turn on the river rapids ride, which could've ended with me going home wet but fortunately wasn't more than a mild splattering, before heading off.

And as the sun went down, the dolphins bade me farewell.

So did the pandas.