Beshy Adventures 2014: Manila Ocean Park

October 10, 2014

With beshy's board exam approaching we both agreed to a stress-relieving trip to the Manila Ocean Park. It was actually my first time there and her second. I had a lot of expectations but some of them were crushed by reality but heck the rest of the day was fun! We availed the cheapest tickets (550php) which includes 3 attractions and 2 shows:

• Oceanarium
• Jelly Exhibit
• Sea Lion Show
• Dry Encounter
• Musical Light Show

We first dropped by the Sea Lion show because it was on at 11 am and the park opens at 10. We were a bit lost at first while we tour most of the shops.

We got some great front seats although it got a little sunny at the latter part of the show.

Most of the people were hyped by the entrance of the sea lions, Isabelle and Vincent. I immediately thought how Vincent looked older than his female counterpart. He was a little sluggish but still good nonetheless. I'm afraid of what would happen to him in the future. Anyway, I don't want to spoil anything here so here are some shots we got that time:

After the sea lion show, Beshy and I decided to have lunch. We could get the ball rolling non-stop later that afternoon until the evening. We got into this empty shop because we were attracted by the unusual pasta dishes, jelly & tako. Sadly we didn't get to order them because neither are available. We ended up having carbonara.

Upon finishing the meal, we tried their parfaits. At least those were really good.

With our bellies full and happy, we went to see some sting rays~ OMG they were really soft and slippery. We were told not to touch their eyes and tail. Who would want to have their eyes poked, I wondered. I was being playful with the ray and flapping his sides, just like how one plays with a paw, when I got scolded by a staff. I didn't mind a more appropriate tone but what that staff did ticked me off a lot. It ruined all the fun. This is one of the things I didn't like there. Some staff needs to learn how to speak more politely to their guests. Touching the sting rays and being irritated by the staff might have contributed to how itchy I got moments later.

Fortunately we finally got to go to the Oceanarium. I really thought it would be like a mini-pseudo-ecosystem under the sea but it turns out it was just some big man-made aquarium where you can't even see the fish pass by overhead. There were lots of interesting species but it wasn't as magical as I expected. I guess kids would find it better though.

As we exit the area, we passed by a faber castell booth letting people color some line art for free. Guess who found the kid in themselves?

We almost got lost while looking for the exit to the shops. Along the way, we were getting excited for the Jelly exhibit. We stayed there the longest and had the most photos as well.

It felt like we could stay just there for a whole trip and watch jellies float around.

When we had our fill of the exhibit, we went to look around for a cafe to sit. All that walking was really hard on out feet and legs! I suggested Linsanitea because I wanted to have tea. Luckily, they were having a promo of 20php bread for every purchase of their drinks. We talked about a lot of things and was also browsing the internet while we were having our rest.

The last part of this trip was the musical light show. I couldn't take anymore photos because I was too busy watching/ criticizing the event. It was good to be honest but I would have wanted more variety of light especially when they use water effects.

 This was a good bestie-moment. A lot of walking but enough fun all throughout the area.