- December 27, 2009, Sunday
- Tina and I talked through YM this morning, and randomly decided to go out, since we were both stuck at our own homes without anything to do.
- We headed towards the Ocean Park around 1:15pm. We rode the LRT to UN Ave., and rode a cab to the nearby Ocean Park.
- We arrived around 2:10pm, and had to get a number from a guy by the door. A sign by the cashier for the entrance tickets showed which number was being served. Figuring that we had to wait for a long time before paying for our entrance fee, we took a short trip to the minimall (yes, the Ocean Park has a minimall). We also took a peek at Makansutra, the international Singaporean-hawker-type restaurant. I was pretty cool, and the prices were playing around the 100 something pesos area. We had our eyes on that restaurant, and decided to eat there after going around the oceanarium.
- After a long long stroll, we went back to the cashier area which by the way was surrounded by an "ocean" of people. The number being served that time was "154", and our number was "184". The marshall taking care of getting the stubs decided to let us in. WE DON'T KNOW WHY. We even insisted that we were 30 numbers away from the number being served. He still insisted that we go in. (Thank goodness though, at least we wouldn't have to wait any longer. Or else, we might have had gone in during sun down!!)
- We took one of the packaged deals; it was the ocean park's holiday promo. 500php for the entrance + 2 other attractions (if the packaged deals didn't exist, the entrance and 2 other attractions could cost around 600+php). We chose to go with the second packaged deal, which consisted of our entrance fees, plus tickets to see the neon colored jellyfish, as well as the Zoocology area, a place with stuffed dead animals.
- We went inside and marveled at all the fishes, big, small, dangerous or not. We were greatly annoyed by people who tapped at the aquariums and scared the fish. Even more annoying if those people were ADULTS. (Hello people, CAN'T YOU READ THE SIGNS?? And besides, YOU SHOULD KNOW IT'S NOT PROPER TO DO THAT. *bitter animal-lover mode*)
- Both of us had the opportunity to touch a starfish or two at the "petting area". We also had to tolerate people pushing around, especially little children. (Yes, Sunday + Holiday, not a good thing when going to places like this one.)
- When we got into the tunnel, we were able to see the latter half of the mermaid show. Yes, mermaids exist. YEY!! :D:D:D:D
- We were done with the main attraction around 3:30pm. Since the stairs led to the glass-bottom boat ride, we decided to pay an extra 150 each for that attraction. We grabbed a number from the stressed out dude in the counter, and paid at the cashier. The number being called was "103", and out number was a whopping "190". We waited like the good customers we are. Each of the boats could only carry 10-11 passengers + 1 personnel.
- Tina and I were astounded (in a bad way), when we saw all the people pushing each other, and insisting that they be let inside. The system was simple. Grab a number, pay, then wait for your turn. Period. It's that simple. The waiting period was long, true, but that's the system. Live with it. You'll get your turn. *bitter good-customer mode*
- Tina and I even felt really sorry for the stressed out dude, since some people were angry at him, even though it wasn't his fault that the waiting time was so darn long. "Please talk to me in a nice manner." He even said calmly to one flustered lady. We could see that he wanted to shout back at the lady though. We understood clearly why he felt that way.
- For some reason, the stressed out dude asked for our number, and felt sorry that we had to wait for 12344952347979078 more people. He even asked us if there were no more chairs for us to sit on. We said there were none. Being the good guy that he was, he let both of us in, and let us sit on two chairs on the waiting area. The waiting area inside was for people who were about to ride the glass-bottom boats. He told us that he only let us sit there, but we still needed to wait for our turn. We agreed, since it was only proper. I told Tina, "this is what we get for being not-annoying customers. He even let us sit, and he even let you in even though you're still chomping on your nachos. (Food wasn't allowed in the waiting area)." I even teased Tina that the stressed out dude might have a crush on her, that's why he treated us super nicely. Tina denied, but I said it was possible. HAHAHAHA.
- Around the number "150", we were still sitting on our seats in the waiting area. They said that the people inside were the last batch to go in before the mermaid show. During the mermaid show, the boats halted their operations because the same area would be used by the "mermaids" like the ones we saw earlier.
- Tina and I went out of the waiting area, and decided to go with the neon colored jellyfish and the Zoocology area first, before returning to the glass-bottom boat area.
- We started off with the "dancing sea fairies". This was similar to Hong Kong's Ocean Park, when people would be led into a dark room, and clear or lightly-colored jellyfishes were in different aquariums with changing neon-colored lights. The colors would be "absorbed" by the jellyfishes, making the jellyfishes look like they have changed colors.
- After seeing the "dancing fairies", we went ahead to the Zoocology area, located beside the jellyfish area. The Zoocology area was simply a zoo....but with a catch. All animals are dead and stuffed. HAHA. It was kinda traumatic, since I felt like walking through a big animal cemetery. Haha. It' not as scary though, and it's a nice way to appreciate the worlds' animals too. Pictures weren't allowed inside (ergo, we had no pictures), because there was an official photographer inside. It's the type when they would take people's pictures, and people had to pay for their pictures at the cashier if they decide to have a hard copy of their pictures. Hahahaha.
- After the short trip, Tina and I went upstairs again to get the boat thing over with. We still had to wait though, but at least we needed to wait for fewer people. We saw stressed out dude again, and it seemed like the 15-minute break he had due to the mermaid show really gave him a nice head-cooling from all the annoying customers.
- He saw us again, and wished that we could already ride the boat, since he saw our faces the whole afternoon, not making a sound, and not annoying his butt off. He sometimes even joked around with us. He seemed like a really really nice guy.
- FINALLY, after eternity nearly ended, he shouted "190" through his megaphone, and looked at us. He smiled, and even joke with us for a last time. "Ops, closed na yung boat ride." We laughed, since we knew he was playing around, but I told Tina that if ever they really closed the glass-bottom boats, I would really knock his head off. (Hey, if that happened, then the whole afternoon of waiting-for-out-turn-till-sundown ended up in nothing, right??)
- Tina and I put our orange life jackets on. As Dora would say, "Life jackets, so we could be safe." :D:D:D:D To our surprise, stressed out dude was the one who drove our boat (our = Tina, I, and 8 other people + stressed out dude). We went around the large pool and saw all the fishies underneath. It was terribly awesome when one giant sting ray flew right below our boat. Stressed out dude was also able to explain what the fishies were, how the water was purified, etc etc etc etc. He was also very dynamic and open to questions. The best fishies we saw were human-fishies. They were fish that looked really like humans. They even had cellphones. (The human fishies are actually the people in the glass-top tunnel below. It was the tunnel where Tina and I saw the mermaid show earlier. And if it's still now clear, they are not fish at all. They're real live humans. :) :) :) :) )
- After we got out of the boat, the sky was already dark. Both of us decided to have a meal in Makansutra before heading home.
- The Makansutra, like I said earlier, is a full-airconditioned restaurant that has a Singaporean-hawker theme. It was sort of like a food court, with each stall serving a specific type of Southeast Asian food (example, Singaporean, Indian, Thai, Malay, Chinese). It was pretty much what hawker stands in Singapore sold. Again, the prices were playing somewhere in the 100+ pesos area, and the serving were quite big, good enough for 1 to 2 people. Aside from that, MY GOODNESS. The dishes were not only reasonably prices, but the food themselves were very authentic. Definitely a must-try-again-with-more-friends.
- Tina and I even stumbled upon Sharmaine and Jade, two good friends of mine. :D:D:D:D
- The two of us had curry laxa (a Singaporean noodle-soup dish with curry and coconut milk as the primary ingredients for the broth), onion-chicken something (that's what Tina told me. She forgot the name of the dish. It's basically a dish with rice, chicken fillet, and an onion-ginger sauce.) We also had roti prata with curry dip (South Indian flat bread with dark curry dip), and pad thai (the most "basic" Thai noodle dish with peanuts, shimp and beansroupts.)
- I was really impressed by the amount and taste of the food. I'm sorry I really have to say this over and over again. I am encouraging everyone with a taste for (Southeast) Asian food to try Makansutra. I highly praise this restaurant for giving the dishes the authenticity they deserve. It's really hard to find authentic foreign food in a commercial environment.
- With food all gone and bellies full, we rolled, I mean walked towards the exit. Good thing a cab was already at the cab stand. How convenient. We told the driver to drive us to the UN Ave. LRT Station. He even told us it was near. Hahahaha. (Yes it's near, but not as near when traveled by foot. Besides, it was dark, and the way to the LRT station is not a good place to walk to at night.)
- We arrived at the Doroteo Jose Station around 7:30. Since the Ocean Park until the Doroteo Jose Station, I couldn't text to my mom that I wasn't going to eat dinner at home. Well, I figured out soon enough that Globe was acting crazy again. Tsk tsk.
- I arrived home around quarter to eight after a long, tiresome, fun, happy, amusing and most of all RANDOM trip. The Ocean Park did change a whole lot since the first time I went there last 2008, when it newly opened, and when there was absolutely nothing inside.
- I want to go here again, obviously. I just hope that the next time I go here, it would be a weekday, and it shouldn't be a holiday. That would immediately cut the number of people down....especially the annoying and pushy ones. :D:D:D:D
