November 30 was declared a national holiday to commemorate the birth of one of the greatest heroes of the Philippines, Andres Bonifacio. Thanks to him we only had a four-day work week and Friday to be used for relaxation. By browsing the internet, I found out that the Manila Ocean Park has its pre-Christmas ticket promo where you can avail passes for about 50% discount.
We availed the Ultimate Experience plus the Trails to Antarctica promo package priced at Php899 which includes: Oceanarium, Sea Lion Show, Marine Life Habitat, All Star Bird Show, Musical Fountain Show, Jellies Exhibit, and Penguin Exhibit, Slide ‘O Fun and Snow Village which was originally at Php1750.
We arrived at MOP before 3 PM and fell in line on a long queue of ticket buyers. We bought our tickets at exactly 3 PM with the cashier written down the schedules for the different shows.
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All-Star Bird Show was scheduled to show at 3:30 pm so we decided to take a look at the Marine Life Habitat first. It’s only a walkway with a mini pool and a stage where Aira, a female sea lion performs and enthralls everyone with her wit and talent. You can also have a close encounter and a picture taking with her by paying another 350 pesos, which we never tried.
When we got out of the marine habitat, we saw a long row for the bird show so we rushed to fall in line and got into the front part of the showing venue. A big failure for the show is that 3:30 PM is still hot for the audience by the fact that the roof of the arena doesn’t cover the bleachers. We didn’t enjoy the show that much because of this.
Next is the Jellies Exhibit where different jellyfish species from all over the world enclosed in about 10-15 tanks. You will be amazed by the graceful dancing of these sea fairies designed with the newest technology in lighting, music, and multimedia effects.
Sea Lion Show was set to play at 5:15 PM. The cute sea lions stunned everyone with their dance and swimming moves, wittiness, and wacky poses.
After the sea lion show, we never got out of the arena for us to get the nicest view of the Musical Fountain Show.
Around 7:30 PM when we entered the Oceanarium. Oceanarium is where you can witness the wonders of the sea and a breath-taking marine life exhibit. You can discover over 5,000 varieties of marine creatures from around 300 species, all indigenous to the Philippines and Southeast Asia.
The Trails to Antarctica was the last attraction we had visited. When we entered the area, a long line of people was already lined up for the Snow Village so we decided to fall in line. The penguin exhibit is being displayed and can be seen before you enter the Snow Village. TIP: Try the Slide ‘O Fun before falling in line for the Snow Village because when we were nearing to have our turn to go inside, we were informed that we can’t go back to the Trails to Antarctica anymore to have our Slide ‘O Fun experience. A big disappointment!
Our Manila Ocean Park experience ended with a lavish meal at North Park ordering a platter of Fried Yang Chow, Stir Fry Beef with Broccoli Flowers, Wonton Soup, and some lemonade. If you’re planning to visit Manila Ocean Park and at the same time doing a city tour in Manila, book an adventure here.
MANILA OCEAN PARK
Behind Quirino Grandstand, Luneta Park, 1000 Manila, Philippines
Contact No.: +632-567-7777
Website: http://www.manilaoceanpark.com
