Day Two - Sleepless Nights, Theme Parks and Giant Pandas

I didn't sleep a wink that first night. I suppose it was a combination of nerves, excitement and Jet Lag. I finally gave up trying to sleep at 4am, and I headed out for something to eat. On my way otu, I found the rceptionist sleeping, on the floor, by the door (and you thought my room was bad), and I had to quickly and quietly step past. Not surprisingly, the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui were dead at 4am, but this actually made it quite peaceful, as my previous exploration of Tsim Sha Tsui had been accompanied by offers of cheap suits and Fake Watches. I wandered for a short time, before discovering one of the few restaurants that were open. A 24 hour branch of everyone's favourite mutinational conglomerate fast food outlet - Mc Donald's. Annoyingly, I had arrived a few minutes too late to have a Big Mac, and just in time to hear a drunk canadian bloke complaining about the lack of Big Macs. This was beacuse, at 4am, McDonald's starts serving breakfast. This comprises of many of the usual suspects, such as McMuffins, but also includes bowlsof pasta with veg and sausage patties floating in them, and ethe Fillet o' Fish (for breakfast!?!). I decided to settle for hotcakes (pancakes), and thse came accompanied not only by syrup and butter, but also by a sausage patty. I decided to eat the sausage patty first, and then the hotcakes. Bliss. I headed back to the hotel room and, still unable to sleep, I sat and watched some movies on my ipod. The following morning, at about 8.30, I headed downstairs and changed some traveller's cheques before heading out to catch the MTR to central. I had initially intended on getting a ferry across to lantau, or catching the star ferry, but I found that I would have to wait. After consulting with the all-holy guide book, I then decided to catch the no.6 minibus to Ocean Park. I shouldexplain at this part that there are two different types of buses in Hong Kong. There are the convenbtional buses, which carry many passengers, and then there are minibuses, which are limited to 16. I took the latter and found that it was quite a comfortable trip to Ocean Park, travelling around the mountains and getting some great views along the way. When I arrived at Ocean Pary, I found that I was very fortunate. Tickets into the theme park were usually priced at HK$208, but, as I was born in the month of August, I was entitled to half price. Brill. When I got into the park, I found that the sheer size of the park was incredible. Where I had entered, there were some animal houses, and a ride called the ocean express. I expected some sort of underwater submarine simulator. What I had found was a funicular which provided an alternative route to the other part of the park (The normal route is the cable car, but more on that later).When I arrived at the top of the hill, I looked and found a sign pointing to the Bay View restaurant and Terrce Cafe. Great, some food! Alas, it was not to be, as both were closed until 11am, and it was only 10am. Thankfully, when I rounded the other side, there were some food shacks, one of which promised fried chicken, sausage and french fries, and juice. Sadly, the guy informed me that the grilled chicken  was not available, so I had to settle for spare ribs with a sausage and fries, and some dodgy tasting coke. I then headed for the rides, which included a loop the llop roller coaster, a log flume, a space wheel (a strange, hard to describe spinning thing, the same as the enterprise at alton towers). These were brilliant, but I was a wee bit disappointed to find the runaway mine train was closed for maintenance. When I went on the Dragon (loop the loop coaster), I had to sit right at the front, as it was the only place for my legs to fit in properly, but this wasn't a problem, as the ride officials were very helpful. I also went on the log flume, but I was alarmed to find no facilities for leaving things which you don't want to get wet (such as a digital camera) but there were signs advising that plastic bags were available. Just before getting into the ride, I asked for a bag, and was given a bag which was far too small, but before I could object, I was ushered into the boat and set off. With a bit of quick thinking, I recalled that I had packed my trusty packaway mac, and so I quickly took it out of its pouch and wrapped it around my camera bag, and my guide book (which I had managed to fit in the plastic bag). This meant that, whilst my trousers and legs were completely soaked, my camera remained dry (thankfully). I then went on the space wheel, which I was a bit apprehensive about, but which actually turned out to be brilliant. The cable car back to the main entrance was also brilliant, with amazing views (photos will be added to facebook when I can (this computer's too slow)). I then headed to the Panda House, and I managed to take some brilliant photos of a Giant Panda. I then headed for the Amazing Asian Animal House, and got some pictures of Red Pandas, and another giant panda. I then decided to head back to the hostel for a quick shower and then some food. On the bus back (a proper bus to Admiralty), I dozed off for a minute, and got a slight shock when I awoke to find that we had arrived. When I got back to my room, I sat down on the bed for a moment......  When I woke up, it was 12 midnight!!!!