manila ocean park

i was able to visit the ocean park at last after putting the trip on hold so many times. it has been my most awaited weekend (sort of) get away from the office, the boring atmosphere, nonsense politics, ramblings etc. 

my family and i got there a little late because my sister was not able to get off from work until past nine in the morning and as soon as i left the office myself i head straight home to check my snail mails and email notification from Meralco regarding my electricity bill, was sidetracked with tons of stuff then off i go. my mom and dad arrived past 11am (i think) then we hurriedly hit the road hoped to elude the ever snarling traffic jams since it's 'the weekend' and damn, we didn't.

manila's weather is very hot like you're being roasted inside an oven (possibly over 80•F yesterday). we reached the ocean park past twelve noon and as expected people clamored and hogged the ticket booths. i hate hot weather, damn. i don't think i could anymore endure this kind of temperature.  the ticket was not cheap for 400php (adults) and 350php (kids) but if the child is below 4.5 ft. then they're free.

the line was like a maze and everything was just on disarray. we basically followed few people hoping they knew where they're going since the Marshalls just kept saying 'keep left for those who have tickets...' unfortunately when we reached the middle of the so called 'line' we've followed people for nothing and we were asked to follow this line yadda yadda again. so, this basically caused an argument between the customers falling in line and the so called marshalls. Some cussed, some ranted, some were angry as hell. nevertheless, everything was settled and we got our turn to view manila's first oceanarium.

the oceanarium was packed which is not something i anticipated. it was so hard to take pictures because people kept passing by. we went to 'AGOS' first which is an open space area under the scorching heat of the sun. it was a pretty and refreshing site to see. they have those mini water falls and wooden stairs which also served as entrance to the oceanarium which housed the many humongous aquariums. it was a pretty sight although we expected so much more and bigger space as seen on TV.  the ocean world was phenomenal plus the artificial seabeds. i just hope that people should be more obedient in following the rules not to take photos with their camera flash on because it may be very stressful to those sea creatures. remember, this is not their natural habitat, the ocean park is like a zoo, the only difference is that these are all water creatures contained in a gigantic glass enclosure however the concept is the same. 

the underwater world is such a wonder but i do not appreciate that some people make money depriving these beings from their natural habitat. on the other hand thank you for bringing them close to people who do not have access to the underwater world for possibly the purpose of educating us all on marine life but, i just hope as well that the huge aquarium walls are one way wherein we can only view the fishes but they can never see us so that the sea creatures won't be disturbed at all. the place was cozy especially if it's not too packed. i loved the fishes and i even enjoyed it when one of the stingrays playfully showed his tricks when people started looking, what a show off lol. i wasn't aware that aside from dolphins some sea creatures love to be adored ;)

i enjoyed the place because the sight of underwater world never cease to amaze me. my dad even said that nothing beats Palawan's sea creatures, if i found the oceanarium awesome the real thing is even more. i don't know, maybe it's just the sight of the underwater world, it's just soothing and tranquil. the cool blue sea, the coral reefs and colorful fishes. i loved the barracudas by the way when they started to swim in unison, so awesome. 

we headed off to the nearby restaurant for some grub as soon as we left the oceanarium. the meals were actually cheap for 100php per rice topping. almost every meal is below 100php under the canopy of the blue umbrellas.  i had some roast beef and mango shake whilst my sister b-b-q and sinigang.

to sum it up (hadn't for the hot temperature outside) it was a cool experience to see the oceanarium along with the beauty of manila's harbor area. the cost for the entrance was pretty hefty though. maybe the prize will drop once the entire place is done. obviously some areas are still under construction.  Manila Ocean Park did not exceed my expectation but it was a nice experience to at least have a sneak peek of the underwater world for less than an hour.