Tsim Sha Tsui is an urban
area of southern Kowloon, where we took our place of stay for a majority of our
trip in Hong Kong. Tsim Sha Tsui had an excess of malls, guesthouses, and most
of all, money exchangers.
I once found six money
exchangers all right next to each other, albeit one was closed.
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| Mom and bro at the park... |
My mom booked a guesthouse
instead of a hotel, so the services were purely just one tiny room.
The building itself was
called Harilela Mansion, and its elevator’s smell reminded my dad of Quiapo
Underpass, which apparently smelled worse.
The worst part was when we
had to go check in. My dad and I were waiting on the twelfth floor with our luggage
whilst my mom and Tristan went upstairs on the thirteenth floor to check in.
It was quiet, other than the
constant beeps of the elevator that had stopped working on that floor. The door
would not close, and it would not operate at all. There were barely any windows
in that corridor, so I felt thoroughly spooked.
Then, my dad told me that he
was going to
check up on my mom and
brother upstairs, leaving me by myself with the luggage. I firmly said that he
had to stay with me, because otherwise there would be literally no one else but
me there.
When my beloved mom and
brother who were taking way too long finally returned, we eventually reached
our room.
Except, not really.
The card did not work, so the
receptionist took us up to the thirteenth floor to get us another room.
Fortunately, we took the
stairs so we did not have to enter the smelly elevator again.
When we finally got into the
room, I was surprised to see how cramped it was. It’s difficult to put into
words how cramped it was, so you will just have to take my word for it.
But, there were beds, so I
was more than relieved to finally let my dumb, skinny legs rest.
The next two or something
days were just us walking around, I, for the life of me, cannot remember those
two days, so I will not bother writing about them.
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| Me: Really dad? |
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| Tristan: I don't believe you mom! |
In my opinion, the highlight
of the trip was our visit to Ocean Park. It had its share of thrilling rides
and decent food.
The first ride we took was
immediately the biggest one, called the Hair Raiser. It was one of the more
intense
Fortunately for us, the first
time we waited in line was pretty quick. It was one of those rides that you had
to take off your glasses for.
Somehow, through sheer
coincidence, I bumped into a friend from school. I decided that we headed to
the bumper cars, and whilst my family and I were idly waiting in line, I
spotted him, waiting in a car for it to start.
I found it a humorous
coincidence, and the surprise on his face when I called out to him was
hilarious.
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| About to ride "The Flash" with Asher... |
Afterwards, when we had
finished the ride too, my friend and I met up at what I would call the best
ride in all of Ocean Park.
The Flash was a ride that
would bring you up and down like the Viking ship rides at most amusement parks,
except it was twice as tall and several times as fast.
The Flash would swing like a
pendulum, slowly reaching higher heights until it would cover all 360 degrees.
It was an exhilarating ride.
Other memorable rides were
The Abyss, where it would lift you up, and then drop you.
Unlike my parents and
brother, I was too tired to ride it a second time.
Though this was not a ride,
Ocean Park had a mesmerising shark tank, full of marine creatures and the like.
It was, for the lack of a better word, really cool.
The tank had two levels of
viewing areas and the room itself had a cave-like feel to it.
On the higher level, the
surface was exposed, and occasionally, you could see the fin of the shark
poking out.
I recall there being this
incredibly ugly fish. It was gigantic, as in, bigger than my whole torso.
On the lower level, you could see the marine
creatures through the side view. Most of the sharks were just lazing around
near the bottom, so this is you can see them the most.
There was one shark where the
teeth were all exposed, and its eye seemed to be bulging out, staring at the
people who looked at it through the glass.
Like most fish, it did not
blink, ramping up its creepy factor to a whole ‘nother level.
As the shark swam across the
tank, I walked beside it on the other side of the glass across the corridor.
The shark was fun to observe
with its frightening appearance.
The aquarium had those
educational boards that most aquariums had, which were also interesting to
read.
Afterwards, we walked around,
trying out the other attractions and just enjoying ourselves in the park,
though nothing to distinct to write about.
And soon afterwards, the day
concluded, and we had to head back to the guesthouse.
