Monday, May 21, 2018

Manila Ocean Park Is A Family-Friendly Destination You Can Visit All Year Round




Hey Folks! Do you know this song?

"Look at this stuff. Isn't it neat?
Wouldn't you think my collection's complete?
Wouldn't you think I'm the girl.
The girl who has everything?"

Ring any bells? Oh, no! It's not one of Ariana Grande's songs but she can surely create beautiful and unique cover of it on YouTube. Come on '90s babies I'm sure you know this. Without a doubt, your kids have heard this so many times. Okay, how about this one?

"Under the sea, under the sea.
Darling it's better, down where it's wetter.
Take it from me.
Up on the shore they work all day.
Out in the sun they slave away.
While we devotin', full time to floatin'.
Under the sea."

Any guesses? Yeah, you got it! Seems we have a lot of Disney fans today. Am I right? Me too! The first song is "Part of Your World" and the second is "Under the Sea". Both are from the 1989 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney, 'The Little Mermaid'. Omg! Can't wait for the remake.


 

And yes! I can't also wait to be a cute 'Merman'. Lol! No, I'm just kidding. Hello world! Welcome to my blog again and how are you? Oh really? That's perfect to hear. To my super love fellow Filipinos, how are you enjoying the dry season? Have you been to the beach lately? Okay, that's cool!



 So, what's my new blog post? For sure you already have an idea, right? Of course, it's family-friendly again. From the nice and cozy Canyon Woods Resort Club in Tagaytay, we will go back to Manila to visit the world of Ariel, Ursula and Sebastian from 'The Little Mermaid'. Let's go kids!


Lion Fish

Sadly, we will neither go to Disneyland because we don't have that in Manila, nor swim in Manila Bay because it's totally not clean. We will actually go to the first world-class marine theme park in the Philippines, it's none other than Manila Ocean Park.


Puffer Fishes

Are you excited? Well, I'm afraid that we can't really see legendary creatures like mermaids and mermen inside the ocean park but definitely, this is the perfect destination to see Ariel's friends, they are aquatic animals such as seahorses, stingrays, sea lions and fishes. 



You can also find Clownfish and Blue Tang Fish, the real-life counterparts of Nemo and Dory. Yeah, it's so easy to find them and you won't suffer short-term memory loss. Sorry, I still can't get over 'Finding Dory'. That was heartbreaking!


Seahorses

Wait, let me dry my eyes. Okay! Now, I'm back in business! No more talk and no more drama. Manila Ocean Park is located at Manila Bay, behind Quirino Grandstand. It is also near Rizal Park(aka Luneta Park) and Rizal Park Hotel(formerly The Manila Army and Navy Club), two famous landmarks in Manila



The most comfortable way to get there aside from your private car is either by taxi or carpool like Grab. However, if you're really busy and don't have time to buy tickets yet. Not to worry, my blog is here for you! This post will show the inside pictures of Oceanarium, one of Ocean Park's main attractions. It is also the first and largest aquarium facility in the Philippines. 



So, consider this like a Virtual Reality Tour of the park where you're not required to spend money and make effort. Simply, hassle-free! In fact, you already saw some of the photos and all you need to do is to scroll down. Sure! You can wear your VR headset.


Stingray

These images were actually taken more than two months ago, when we celebrated my father's birthday without him. Sadly, he was Mr. Killjoy that day and we didn't win his heart. My bad, I really thought the surprise gift would work for him and he would love the place since he's an animal lover. Maybe next time I should ask him first instead. Know the drill!



I was quite disappointed but we had to go and use the vouchers I purchased on MetroDeal for only 499 Pesos(roughly 10 US Dollars) each. Wow! They regularly sell affordable and legit Manila Ocean Park deals, so I really didn't even hesitate to buy it immediately. But if you don't like this site, you can also check great deals on TravelBook.ph and Klook. Then, compare!



Ocean's Deep Sea Rush: Manila Ocean Park's 5 Wonderful Attractions for P499 instead of P2500. This is the title of the voucher I saw and purchased on Metrodeal. Truly an eye-catching ad, right?



Oops! Speaking of ad, let's have a commercial break. FYI, Manila Ocean Park just turned 10 last March 2018. Belated Happy Birthday! If you're a frequent traveler, you can say that it is a local version of Dubai Ocean Park, The Marine Life Park Singapore and Ocean Park Hong Kong. Filipinos undoubtedly love it because it's somewhat a new destination you can visit in Manila, aside from the usual yet worthy local tourist spots like Intramuros, Manila Zoo, Star City and Chinatown. It's now a household name!



This Ocean Park is also a premiere educational facility, that's why it's always one of the top choices when it comes to "Field Trip Ideas For Elementary School". It's an integrated urban resort with marine life attractions and aqua-themed hotel. Okay, let's go back to my story!



We arrived in Manila Ocean Park before 1pm and went straight to Metrodeal lane. Like in Canyon, we were Fantastic Four(My mum, me, nephew and sis). It was quick and easy, I just presented the printed eVouchers with my 1 valid ID. Voila! We were able to redeem our wrist tags for less than 5 minutes. I thought afternoon was the right time to visit the Ocean Park because we needed to stay there until evening for the lights and sounds show. Heads up! Make sure to read the terms and conditions of the eVoucher before you buy it. It's better to know the rules before you go there, okay?



So, the first attraction we visited was the Oceanarium. Honestly, it's the major reason why we went to Manila Ocean Park, because we'd love to see the 25-meter long, 220 degree curved walkway tunnel with a spectacular underwater view of amazing sea creatures swimming overhead. We'd also love to take selfies with the fishes or sharks, without getting wet. Thankfully, we were able to turn our wishes into reality. The three sections we visited were The Reef, Lost Atlantis and Living Ocean.
The Oceanarium is home to roughly 14,000 marine creatures from around 277 species, all indigenous to the Philippines and Southeast Asia.



After that, we went to the other four attractions. We visited The Barnyard and met Old MacDonald's little creatures like rabbits, chickens and hamsters. Do you want to feed the birds on your hands? If yes, we had that chance inside the Birdhouse and it was ticklish. We also watched the two adorable sea lions of South America at the Sea Lion Show. Lastly, to complete our stay, we watched the huge water fountains and amazing fireworks of Symphony Evening Show.

Attractions Schedule:
Barnyard (Last entry, 5:30 PM)
Daily: 10:30 AM to 6:00 PM
Birdhouse (Last entry, 5:30 PM)
Daily: 10:30 AM to 6:00 PM
Oceanarium (Last entry, 7:15 PM)
Weekdays: 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM
Weekends & Holidays: 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM
Sea Lion Show 
Daily: 11:00 AM to 11:30 AM, 3:00 PM to 3:30 PM, 5:00 PM to 5:30 PM
Symphony Evening Show
Nightly: 6:30 PM to 7:00 PM

How's our somewhat virtual reality tour? Are you ready to visit Manila Ocean Park, for real? I'll tell you, it's fun to see living things in the ocean and learn the importance of marine life to you. At the end of the day, you'll realize that we really need to take care of the ocean. We can help by simply not throwing our candy wrappers in Manila Bay because there's definitely life under the sea. Time is up! Thank you guys for reading my blog and be ready for more posts. 
For other promos and more details, please visit Manila Ocean Park website www.manilaoceanpark.com and their fb page.
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