Manila Ocean Park - April 27

My sister found an online coupon for Manila Ocean Park just for P400 per person and we availed it last April 27.
My last time here was during my birthday in 2008 where it first opened and much has changed and quite impressed with an almost world class feel to it.











The coupon we got is pretty different from what you can find here on your left where for P500 you could get the Moonlight Adventure or the Marine Life Encounter.
The coupon we got is a bit of a letdown because my sister didn't knew it does not include entrance to the Oceanarium, which Ocean Park has best to offer as you will see below.

I find the facade nice as it can accommodate large groups of people. I reckon, during school days, this is filled with kids from field trips of various schools.

This is where they held shows such as the Sea Lion, Bird, and the Musical Fountain Show which I find the place as nice and pretty world class.

We got the Ocean Park around 10:30AM which is just in time for a scheduled Sea Lion show at 11AM.

Throughout the show, it was all about simple and cute tricks while the two trainers talk to try engage the audience.

There were no nice hard and difficult stunts for the sea lions which you would expect from dolphin shows.  I guess dolphins are smarter than Sea Lions.
From that, there were times the trainers were not able to command the sea creatures for the show.

It would have been nicer if the audience were closer to the stage to get a good sight of the Sea Lions.

This is the closest you could get with the them.

This is the reason people couldn't get close to the animals.  They have place this blocks probably for children trying to get close.
Overall, I wasn't satisfied.

We roamed around looking for our next activity, the Penguin Talk Show.

The entrance has indicated that the next show will be held at 11:30AM is very good after coming from the underwhelming Sea Lion show.
From what it looks and impression to me, I thought we're going to see actual penguins.......

Once in the room, we discovered we're the only ones inside.  We also waited for a while before the show starts but no one came so we, four, are the only audience.  I'm starting to feel awkward due to the fact we're the only ones there which is supposed to be filled with people.

Once started, you will be presented with a quite small, mediocre projector screen with an animated looking penguin.

It was computer generated penguin, where the mouth moves and doing some restricted body movements similar to computer games.  The animation is awful.

As this was a talk show, there was a speaker fluent in Filipino and some English in the background and presents himself as highly energetic, small voiced, comedian.
If you got to experience riding in buses or taxi cabs with FM radio turned on, usually they were listening to these FM stations with very energetic DJs making humor and comedy as much as they can.
The voice behind the penguin was eerily the same.

The whole show is really disappointing except for the cold, cool room and my niece who probably enjoyed because the penguin was interacting with her, which she had never experienced before from watching TV.

I'd rather have this converted to a cinema instead, with cute characters and short story in the life of penguins.

Our next activity is the Bird Show which doesn't start until 3:30 PM. We tried our best to make use of our time going around the accessible places in Ocean Park.

Nothing else to do, we decided to have our lunch at Pancake House.

Good thing their staff is pretty slow to pickup and serve our orders since we really need a place to hangout while waiting for the Bird Show.

Pricey two piece chicken at P175.  Good thing, it is well fried that I could eat most of the bones.

Though pricey, they were good enough to send these crayons to the child to ease her boredom.

It's not FUN especially the Penguin Talkshow.

Even after desserts and coffee we had, we still have time to wait for the show.

By this time, it is almost 3:30 and the show is about to start. Unfortunately, this is also the time where the sun is low and is shining hard at the lower seats of the stadium. We had to seat higher and farther from the stage.

 Guests from the H20 Hotel.

Now that we're sitting high and far from the stage, it's quite difficult to appreciate the birds and what they're doing.

 

These birds seem large, I really wished we were closer.

The parrots were about to compete in a small game of basketball which is an old trick of birds yet still entertaining if we only we could see them closer.

 

They asked one of the audience with a 1000 peso bill which the bird will fetch then give to his trainer.

After a long negotiation, the bird agreed to return the 1000 peso bill to the owner.

This time, the parrot was asked to put various shapes into proper holes.  At first, the parrot was hesitating to the job which I could relate it to the intense heat during that time.

Eventually, the parrot gave in and finished the task given to him so he could take a rest under a shade.

Another parrot then was given the task to solve a math problem of addition which the announcer made an incorrect answer which the parrot did correctly. It was probably intentional though since this is a well rehearsed trick so that parrots gets the right numbers.

This is the closest the parrot had been to the audience which I forgot what they were doing, hehe.

This is another bird but came from the audience area and was tasked to fly to the stage then perch to a participating audience's arm.
It took a while before the bird was convinced.  It probably thought it was crazy hot at the stage to fly in there but still did anyway thinking he might not have dinner if he did not, hehe.

There's a missing bird according to  crew which they found hiding under one of the seats.

I won't tell you what the bird is as not to spoil the show if you decide to watch the Bird Show.

The speaker introducing the trainers before ending the show.

The birds rolled down the posters, ending the show.

 

That's how the show ended, releasing a flock/flight of birds to the sky.

The Bird Show was better than the Sea Lion and way, way, better than the Penguin Talk Show.
If they just conducted the show here, near our seats, then we will be close to the birds and will be a great experience.

Our next and last show to attend is the Musical Fountain Show which starts at 7:30 PM.
That's pretty far from the current time and decided to spend time in a mall.

Though a bit far, we went to Mall of Asia.

I can't stop shooting this magnificent Ferry's Wheel of the mall.
We didn't try it as the sun is still out, striking the clear windows of passenger cars/capsules which would experience pretty bad.

The air is warm and we're feeling hot so we went to Timezone for a few games and chilling.

She's enjoying her sunglasses.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2

After that, we went to National Bookstore for supplies for a children's party to be held at home the next day.

The MoA baywalk is always filled filled with people starting from the afternoon till late night.

I just want to take more pics of the sunset before heading back to Manila Ocean Park.

Wow, look at that arm! I supposed to like this shot.

That's the sunset image set I have and I'm pretty satisfied with it since there's no plan to shoot such sunset but the outcome was great.

A few more shots before leaving the area.

If we could recall, summer has longer days than other seasons.  It was already late in the day when we left Mall of Asia and just in time before the Musical Fountain Show.

I wasn't expecting much from the Musical Fountain Show but later on, I found out, it was a world class presentation! :)
How could I say that?
I've been to Singapore the previous year and Sentosa has this similar fountain show only done at the beach.  Though the one is better in most aspects, it's pretty close to what can be had here in Manila Ocean Park.

I will be spamming you with images from the show and a Youtube video at the last.  Please don't watch the video if you intend maximum satisfaction if you plan trying this yourself in the future.

There are disappointing parts though.  Mainly, the show really doesn't have a story.  There's a small of story of character Chef's chasing shrimp looking characters to get captured then probably cooked.
Aside from that, there's nothing happening in this show except showcasing the lights, lasers, fountains, and fireworks.  

There was a part where a "Nemo" looking Clown fish character appeared suddenly which impressed the audience.  Afterwards, a couple of other cute, fish characters were shown.  I thought it was going to be a story but it was not.
All they did was introduce themselves and never appeared again.  I'm guessing that these fish characters will perform in a story in a future version of the Musical Fountain Show.

Partial video of the Musical Fountain Show

After the show, you will a get a chance to take pictures with the live cast.  Well, the line is short despite many watched.  These characters doesn't have anything such as a name or story about them.

Conclusion:

What do I think of the Four Hundred per Person coupon that we got? 

I think the P500 promo they offer is of better value wherein you get to see the Oceanarium and the Musical Fountain Show above.  You see, the Oceanarium is their prime offer here in the park as it is the biggest and most valuable attraction.  I would come back after not seeing it for four years.  For just 100 Pesos more of our coupon, we'll get to see the best Manila Ocean Park has to offer.  

I just wish the other shows will get better in the future so that people has a reason to return outside the Oceanarium and the Fountain show.