We had dim sum for breakfast!

Dim sum is the name for a Chinese cuisine which involves a wide range of light dishes served alongside Chinese tea. We shared a big bowl of congee (porridege) and had shrimp dumplings, shaomai (small steamed dumplings with pork inside a thin wheat flour wrapper) and the very popular char siew bun! Our favourite is the char siew bun. The buns were steamed to become fluffy and white, with Cantonese barbecued pork filling which sent us drooling! It feel great to be savouring these delicious dishes together on a round table.

FYI: Cantonese phrase dim sum means literally "touch the heart" or "order to your heart's content" and dim sum remains a staple of Chinese culinary culture, especially in Hong Kong.

After which, we rushed down to watch Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra's open rehearsal.



Although the rehearsal was only open for us for 30 mins, we saw how skillful and professional they are. Despite the fact that they are skillful, many of us noted in our reflection dialogue that the orchestra lacks team spirit, the spirit of helping one another, for instance, helping those who cannot side-read fast enough. We realised once again that, an orchestra will be stronger than it can be, when all the members are united and selfless.

We also made one interesting observation: the replacement of cello and double-bass with gehu (革胡; pinyin: géhú) in HKCO.



Finally, our long awaited moment: OCEAN PARK, here we come!



We boarded gondola lift, which connects the two parts of Ocean Park. The scene outside the cable car was beautiful as we looked out onto South China Sea.






This is one of the most exhilarating ride of the day--the Abyss Turbo Drop. We were raised up and dropped straight down in free fall in 5 seconds! We also took many other rides, such as the Dragon (asteel roller coaster with a maximum speed of 77 km/h with 842 metres of track. The ride lasts approximately 2.5 minutes), Ferris Wheel, Crazy Galleon and Raging River. We have screamed our hearts out!



We managed to catch the spectacular show at Ocean Theatre. The show preaches about wildlife conservation and that people should live with the animals in harmony through a lively storyline. Cast includes seals and dolphins.



We took this Ocean Park Escalator, the longest we have ever taken! At 224 m (745ft), it is the second longest outdoor escalator in the world. It is outdoors but weatherproof.

(this photo only shows a small portion of the escalator series)




Observation of the Day: Construction of a hotel on the slope by Ocean Park

Unlike Singapore, Hong Kong is mostly hilly and mountainous with steep slopes. Hence, they develop technologies in constructing safe and stable infrastrucuture on these slopes. It is amazing for Singaporeans like us when we see how high-rise buildings, such as this hotel can be constructed on such a steep slope.

The hotel is built to allow Ocean Park to remain competitive against the other local attraction--Hong Kong Disneyland, which already has a hotel of its own for tourists. As the saying goes, "the only constant is change", it is through constant innovation can we remain competitive in this ever-changing world.



We end our day with second round of shopping at Ladies' Market.
This time round, we were much familiar with the places and haggling tactics and it was indeed much fruitful than the previous shopping trip!