Birthday Celebration @ Manila Ocean Park

As planned, my family and I got ready for our planned trip to Manila Ocean Park for my and my sister's birthday celebration on the day of July 12, Sunday. From 9 pax, we became a group of 11 pax since 2 representatives from the Manuel family were able to join! :)

To know more how this trip has been planned, you may refer to this blog post.

Unfortunately, we were not able to leave at 11:00 AM as initially planned. It was a bit difficult to group all of us since a few will be coming from the north. But at around 11:45 AM, we were finally able to leave and make it to Manila Ocean Park at around 12:00 PM.

Prior to the trip, I already reserved 9 tickets so I just had to print the voucher and present it upon arriving there. However, it took me a long time to process our birthday promo since I failed to bring a photo of my sister's birth certificate or passport. I had a copy of it on my email but when I sent it to the admission of MOP, they could not open the file. I had to screen grab the file and send to them to address this issue. There was also a bit of data issues encountered during this which contributed to the delay.

Added to this, we found out that my father was offered discount because he was in the PNP (Philippine National Police). So for the additional 2 tickets, we were able to buy them for only P900 instead of P990 (He only told us about the discount on that day so I ended up paying 3 tickets online for P990 but oh well). It also took us a long time to purchase them since we also got confused on how to claim and pay for them. We had to go back and forth to their reservation office and ticketing booth due to this.

Meanwhile, the rest of the family spent their time taking pictures at the MOP sign while waiting for us.

Sadly, we consumed so much time on getting our tickets. While some of us worked on the tickets, half of the group already went to look for a place where we could eat our lunch. We decided to forego our lunch buffet since there were too many people there and we still had to get in line to eat. Also upon checking, the food was not really that good though if you think about it, it's just P250 so what do you expect?

Because of this, we decided to have our lunch elsewhere. Nearby the Liquid Buffet, we spotted Uncle Ray's Brick Oven Pizzeria. It was a really good decision. The pizza and the pasta we ordered were delicious. 

Unfortunately, no picture of food was taken that day since everyone was just so hungry. As soon as the food landed on the table, it got consumed fast. No one ate breakfast since we were initially planning to have the buffet. Nevertheless, the change in our food plan was a good one. We enjoyed our lunch.

After our lunch, we were all energized to start our main reason as to why we went to Manila Ocean Park!

Sharks and Rays Dry Encounter

This was the attraction nearest to the pizzeria so we went here first. Here, we were given the chance to touch rays and look at sharks. 

We were advised to touch the ray with flat hands to avoid injuring the ray. Sadly, one of them already has a scratch. It was interesting to hear a bit of story from them. We were able to touch a 9-year old female ray. There was another ray lurking around her and according to the trainer, that was the female ray's partner. It was so sweet that he was guarding his mate.

One ray was swimming around and according to the trainer there, that was a 12-year old ray which will soon be released on its natural habitat. That made us think if the ray could still live that way since he spent his whole life living in an aquarium.

Some more pictures of us at the area.

We got to see sharks as well but they were just lying there at the corner, not really doing much. They're probably tired or bored?

They were pretty huge and the area was small so it must be a bit difficult for them move to around. They were also not being carried and being touched unlike the rays.

Oceanarium

The Oceanarium was a fascinating one to visit. It consisted of lots of aquariums with sea creatures of various kinds, shapes and sizes. 

It took us a long time to roam around the area since there was a lot to see. It was a wrong decision for us to get there early since it's the attraction that closes late in the evening and we could have spent more time there.

The first part was an open area with a few aquariums to view and even some reptiles.

Here's a fun photo of the fishes probably thinking that TJ's hand is food so they are all following his hand movement.

This is then followed by a closed area with lots of aquariums for small fishes. Most of these are labeled about their kinds, where there are found and a little bit more fun facts about them.

There are also different kinds of eels.

After viewing these small sea creatures, we were then brought to an area with bigger aquariums to accommodate much larger ones.

There are some sharks of different kinds.

A few more steps led us to an area with a very huge aquarium, giving the visitors an illusion as if we were also part of the sea. 

Look up and you will get to see many of them swimming above you. (If you want to be morbid about the place though, imagine the glass breaking and the people inside drowning! Wah! D:)

It was such a nice spot for photo-op since there are all kinds of sea creatures everywhere.

At the end of our Oceanarium experience, there were Faber Castel pop-ups on which some of us even took pictures just for fun! That small kid inside of us will always be there.

Trails to Antarctica (Penguin Exhibit)

I would have to say this is the attraction I was most excited about prior to going to MOP. I was very much excited to finally see a live penguin! Before entering the area, there was a wall there sharing some info about penguins.

There were also walls sharing a bit of facts on Antarctica. We didn't get to read them though since we could not wait to see the penguins.

Once inside, we got to see the an area covered with glass where the penguins are located. There is an option to have a closer interaction by having a picture while feeding them but with an additional cost (P300 for 2 persons). Most of us decided to go for that experience.

When it was our turn, I got really excited. The penguin was really cute up close. When the fish to be fed was given to us, the penguin could not wait to eat it! 

Here are some more photos with this cute thing. It makes us wonder what he was thinking while we took shots with him (or her?).

Aside from the personable penguin who always gets included in the photos, there were also other penguins there from a far.

Here is another shot of them when viewed from the glass.

I also took a video of the cute penguins.

Here are the photos we paid for. Lucky for these two lovebirds on the first photo, they got to entice three penguins to join them while we only got one!

We were lucky that there was not much people in that area so we got to maximize what we paid for and take pictures and videos of these penguins.

We were told that we were not allowed to touch them. One of us attempted to do that and almost got bitten, probably because the penguin thought the hand was food LOL!

Trails to Antarctica (Snow Village)

Another area on the Trails of Antartica was the Snow Village. Basically, it was just a small area with this Chistmas-themed spots where you can take pictures. 

It mimics the feeling of experiencing the snow. However, according to my mom, the cold there was not comparable to the coldness in Canada. Personally, I didn't like the cold!

To make picture-taking much more interesting, the lighting there also changes so you could capture different moods.

One more family shot with family (minus my dad since we went lurking around to other attractions!).

Jellies Exhibit

I was not really expecting anything there until I was finally in that location. But it turned out that this venue could be rented for parties.

Jellyfish is called "dikya" in tagalog. When we asked my dad where he was, he said he was at the "dikya". My siblings heard this and for some reason, enjoyed mentioning this tagalog term. LOL.

Being there at the Jellies Exhibit was definitely relaxing. The changing of the colors was fun to watch. Playing around and taking pictures were even more fun.

Yexel's Toy Museum

The toy museum was not really part of the package we paid for. But for the metrodeal packages, this could be included. Only the three kiddos went to visit this place for P150/each. Currently, there is also a promo in Metrodeal offering an entrance to this for P99 only. Eventually, we plan to visit this as well but for now, I opted to steal some photos from my sisters who got to experience touring this place.

Some Star Wars toys to see.

TJ getting into that Iron Man feel.

SO. MUCH. MINIONS!!

Guess who can go upside down?

TJ and Amiel playing around with some Lord of the Rings setup.

Spot any difference? Amiel claimed she was cuter. LOL.

My brother and I were most jealous that we did not get to experience to sit at the Iron Throne since we are such huge Game of Thrones fans. Someday.

All Star Bird Show

The All Star Bird Show presented different kinds of birds with their own interesting talents.

For one segment, my family volunteered me to participate wherein I needed to have a P500 bill. The bird's talent was to get the bill from my outstretched hand and placed it in a box. When the trainer turned the box around to the audience, it showed that it's a "donation box" and he joked by thanking me for the P500 donation.

I was just laughing then since the P500 bill was not mine and was my brother's! But they did return it to me. Lucky me, I got to have a picture with the bird but to get a copy, I needed to pay P200. It was an unusual experience so we did not mind paying for that extra something.

My apologies though but I did not really find the whole show that much interesting. I guess I just wasn't much into birds. LOL. No pun intended.

Sea Lion Show

The Sea Lion Show was a really cute show to watch. We wanted to make sure that we're close so that we could watch them properly.

While waiting for the show to start, Ruel and I decided to take a selfie. Hihi.

After a few minutes, two sea lions finally appeared. They were really entertaining to watch with the younger one described as the "prettiest" and the other one the "smartest". 

The whole show was a bit funny to watch especially with the younger sea lion not always following her trainer. But the older one was definitely smart and she knew how to follow her trainer.

Here are some videos of the entertaining sea lions as they show off their talents/skills.

After the show, we had a chance to have a closer encounter with the sea lion but with an added cost. For P250, a maximum of 5 in a group can take a picture with one of the sea lions. My sister, Amiel who's also celebrating the same birthday as I was even had the chance to be kissed by the sea lion.

Here are the photos we got from MOP.

Fish Spa

Most of us in the group were looking forward to the fish spa experience. 

The thing about the foot spa was that the sensation when the fish starts biting you can be very ticklish.It took a long time for me to get used to the feeling. I can't really say that I got used to it as I was still constantly removing my feet to the dismay of whoever was sitting beside me as any quick movement tends to scare the fish away, including of those beside me. 

Symphony Evening Show

We left the Fish Spa late that we were not able to make it to the 6:30 PM Symphony Evening Show. Thankfully, it was not yet their last show as advertised in their website. Upon arriving there, we saw a bunch of people in line wearing raincoats. We were then told by the guard there that there was still a 7:15 PM show. We were a bit surprised though that we needed to wear a raincoat since it was unexpected for us that there would be a chance for us to get wet.

Upon entering the "stadium", the audience opted to settle at the far back from the stage to avoid getting wet. However, my sister, Sara and her boyfriend tried to brave it out and at first sat in front. Eventually though, they want back with us, far from the chance to get wet.

The Symphony Evening Show consisted of a play of lights, waterfalls, fire and some background music. Due to my fear of my phone getting wet, I decided not to pull out my phone anymore.

The whole show was okay for me. There were many parts wherein there were different creatures being projected to the waterfalls. I didn't like that part a bit since I didn't get the concept or theme of the whole show.

My mom kept on mentioning that the light show in Sentosa, Singapore was so much better compare to what we were currently watching.

However, the finale part was definitely a spectacle especially with the additional fireworks at the end of the show. Nevertheless, MOP's own light show was still worth watching.

Missed Attractions/Shows:

Unfortunately due to time constraint, we ended up missing some attractions/shows that should have been included in our package. Hopefully, we'll still have the chance to experience them the next time we come back.

• Birds of Prey Kingdom
• Penguin Talk Show - we decided not to proceed with this since we found out that there's no real penguin in this show. This really got us disinterested. 
• Back of the House - According to the description, this is supposed to be a 30-minute tour

All in all...

The whole MOP experience was a fun and memorable one for me and my family. There were things that we wish should have done differently but we decided not to dwell on this anymore. The important thing was that we get to spend and enjoy our time together. 

I so love my penguin stuff toy! We bought 3 for us Tres Marias. :)

Throughout the whole experience, there was a part of me that felt bad for these creatures for getting locked up into aquariums and just simply being in this human park when they should be out there in their own habitats. However, there is a part of this whole thing that reminded me that this place is also for the humans to understand, appreciate and care for the animals.

I guess it would also be a matter of picking up what we learned from an experience. I am very thankful that I got to spend this special day with my family! :)