Their tunnels were well lighted and the tunnel's ceiling had traffic signal arrows or signs indicating if everything was green and go the rest of the tunnel or one should slow down in event of a yellow light and best shift to another lane in event of a red - which would possibly mean that obstructions to traffic flow were up ahead. Just like any city that was influenced by the British, traffic flow in H.K. was obviously at the left side of the road (as opposed to the Philippines and other U.S. influenced country wehre traffic is normally driven at the right side.
The weather was cloudy and rain was continuing to pour - and this would stop at times. Our main worry would be that the weather might become too bad that it would entail stopping the use of cable cars - which were the main transport in Ocean Park. A quick glance towerds the cable cars showed that they were still operational, so that fear was settled.
We finally arrived in the Renaissance and approached the hotel's concierge, to check in and ask for arrangements and directions to Ocean Park, and were lucky to discover that one of the hotel's staff was a Filipino. Still, even without our 'kababayan' we would have been well received since the hotel's staff were very competent and professional. A slight problem occured though, see... unlike Disney's Hotel, it seems that Harbour View's rooms were not that large - more specifically, their beds were small, making it difficult to billet all four of us in one room. Apparently, our travel agent already took this into account and reserved two rooms.
We asked the hotel staff to see what cold be done to arrange for us to be in one room - or barring that, ensure that we had adjacent rooms - the ones with a door between rooms (no go either, it seems), so we settled for adjoining rooms - sans connecting door. After all, we were on a schedule.
We were given rooms apparently at the 40th floor - an area that not everyone could reach without having to insert their room keys into the elevator's slot... something that was not mentioned and we had to figure it out after a few trials. I noticed the slot and played a hunch and... presto! We finally reached the 40th floor. We then fixed our stuff, then went back to the lobby for more formal directions. Though it was around 1:30 - and we had not had lunch yet, we decided to take lunch in Ocean Park, since, as barbie reasoned out, there would be places to have lunch there.
Apparently predicting the need of their guests, the hotel had ready-printed cards with the hotel's address on one side, and names of the possible attractions on the other side - both in English and Chinese (designed for Cab drivers who were unable to read or understand English), this helped us direct our cab to where we wanted to go... skipping an otherwise big barrier - language.
We arrived at Ocean Park as the park gates were closing, in observance of, and a seeming show of solidarity for the victims of the Earthquake that happened one week ago in Sichuan, China. The casualties, after all, were staggering, and the nation really tried doing what it could. Three minutes of silence was observed by all in the nation, beginning at the exact time the quake struck.
Before the formal observance of 'silence', Barbie decided to take this picture of in front of the Ocean Park entrance, for posterity. As you can see, there were hardly any people lining at the gates, probably because they were likewise observing the silence.
There was even a news crews taking the whole thing in, thought I doubt we appeared in any television - and even if we did, I wouldn't have known... besides, I'm sure there were a lot more graphic images to be played in the early afternon and evening news, regarding this observance of solidarity (and prayer - at least for those who prayed. I wouldn't put it as a far fetched idea though... notice the body language of the park staff near the right, looks like she's privately doing just that).
We eventually got in, and went straight for the cable car... even as the rains were once again beginning to pour. Still, this did not dampen our enthusiasm (as you can see in the picture with the kids) to see what this particular place could show us. Prior to arriving here, we were told that the kids might enjoy Ocaen Park more than Disney, simply because of the park's more natural and scientific features. So you can imagine my curiosity with what we might be seeing.
I wonder though, how would people arfaid of heights travel from one place of Ocean Park to another. I had not noticed any alternate transportation - though I imagine that there would be... not just noticable by people who would love to experience the cable car ride. Barbie. of course, was just hamming it up for our benefit.
I, on the other hand, just wanted to enjoy the view afforded by the cable car ride. It was, after all, a rare occasion to see a majestic view of one's surroundings - seeing all greens - yet seemingly well manitained greens at that - as evidenced by a garden collage of a sea horse on the mountainside (at fist, I thought it was an H.K. symbol of sorts, hence my mistaking it for a stylized Dragon). 
The cable car was built to travel near the top-side facing the ocean, hence anyone riding the cable car could view the waters as well.
The cable-car ride was quite long, as it seemed to transport us from one side of the mountain to another - where we would find the aquariums. For any nature-tripper (at least the moderates, and not the purists - who might still balk at the encroachment of human-made structures through all these greens), this was a great start for experiencing the theme park.On a side note: my camera's spare battery was acting up - it would show that it was fine, then when I would use flash photography, it would show the red signal of needing ot recharge. Unfortunately, my otehr battery was charging back in the hotel - so I had to select my picture-taking moments from here on. Lucky for us, I was not the only one wielding a camera - as Barbie had also brought hers along, and was obviously not experiencing any such problem with her battery.
