Amoxicillin for Toothaches?!

The Year Level 5: ICC Year blog posts - stories and anecdotes, patient encounters and hospital drama, and the many colors of UP med school from the perspective of a third year. Here's the very first entry, under our two-week rotation with the Family Medicine section of the Department of Family and Community Medicine.

We had our very first one-on-one with patients today at Tondo's Canossa Health and Social Center, which is affiliated in a way that's not crystal-clear to me (yet) with PGH's Department of Family Medicine. The Center, which is run by the Canossian sisters, is sort of a "last frontier," a few square spaces of peace and relatively fresh air right smack at the heart of the urban-poor communities near the notorious Smoky Mountain. It's mostly an out-patient center, but there are also basic lab facilities, x-ray rooms, and delivery rooms, among others.  

Enter Mary Louise (not her real name), who has had generalized back pain for the past six months because: (a) she sleeps on an uncushioned wooden board of a bed; (b) she does not stretch upon waking in the morning; and (c) she has been unsuccessful in her attempt to finish a certain Zumba workout video featuring Jackie Lou Blanco. In her spare time, which she said she has a lot as a stay-at-home mom, she paints.

We sent her home without meds, just advice on proper stretching. But she also told me that she's been having a sort of toothache for the past week, and that to relieve this, she's been taking a cocktail of amoxicillin and mefenamic acid, and it has so far been a success. Who put her on this regimen? No one, not even a shred of prescription - she just goes to the corner pharmacy and buys the drugs when she feels like it.

Let Me Be Your Star, or an Update on Life

Time for a much-awaited update on my life, or what I've been up to besides school, theater, TV series, and home, which is nothing significant. We're now six weeks into the third year of med school, or the most benign year we'll ever have in our arduous, multi-ocean journey to legit doctordom. Playing truant is actually fun when you don't look at it that way. We have more time - actually, a lot of spare time - on our hands, and we are extremely grateful, thank you gods in school, may you grant us more free time if that's not asking too much, Amen, Shalom.

Tomorrow, we're officially out of the classrooms and in the hospital, and our block starts with Family Medicine, which is preoccupied whole year round with drafting genograms for the Human Genogram Project. Wish them luck, you guys! Also, last Friday afternoon, we had so much fun sticking needles on each other's hands and arms for the first time (for me, at least). Based on that one-day performance, I would probably be banned from doing IV insertions and blood extractions.

*     *     *     *     *

Went to the closing performance of the second run of Atlantis' "Rock of Ages." I don't know why I missed this when it premiered last year, because it is such a good production. Great for me, too, to have this show as my follow-up for Jett Pangan, after his horrendous blunder in "Nine." More on RoA next Saturday, or in my post-mortem piece for the Inquirer.

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Currently watching "Smash"; finished the first season two nights ago, now in the middle of the second. My two hypotheses on why it got cancelled: First, because the writing is very inconsistent; second, because for a show that's about a show about Marilyn Monroe, its Marilyn is its biggest liability among its actors.

The pilot episode was actually pretty promising, but somewhere along the way, "Smash" descended down the fiery pits of pitiful soap opera-ness. In "Tech," for example, the lead actor in the show-within-the-show just drops out two days prior to opening night, and nobody or nothing in the contract (were there even contracts?!) could stop him? Or how about the character of Ellis, who's made to stand behind every doorway because the audience couldn't possibly grasp the enormity of his role as sniveling snake. And for heavens' sake, that atrocious, unspeakable Bollywood number!

Or how about the casting of Katharine McPhee? This woman cannot act. CANNOT ACT. She is not an actress. She is a singer who sounds like she swallowed two tanks of oxygen. Whatever you call the counterpart of the monobrow in the realm of facial expressions, she has that. If ever she goes to Broadway, she'd be the Kristen Stewart of theater. Have I mentioned McPhee's not an actress?

But I persist with the show, oh yes I do, plodding on and on and on because - well, for the sake and the joy of watching Christian Borle and Megan Hilty, Jeremy Jordan and Andy Mientus, Ann Harada and Wesley Taylor and Bernadette Peters and Uma Thurman speak-singing "Let Me Be Your Star." 

*     *     *     *     *

Before "Smash," tried "The New Normal." Andrew Rannells is over-the-top hilarious, and so is Ellen Barkin when she's spewing racist, sexist comments. But way above the merits of its actors is the fact that it is an overly preachy show, poorly written (sometimes, it sounds like a lecture from religion class), and that it "speaks" instead of "shows." I stopped after the seventh episode.

And before "The New Normal," there was the fourth season of "Glee." Sometimes, it's clear it didn't know which direction it wanted to go. Sometimes, it's just plain messy. It could also be downright offensive (see the school shooting episode that was trivialized in the end). But there were moments of gold, there really were, and there were flashes of light.

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We saw Veronica Velasco's "Tuhog" at the Mall of Asia. Despite its flaws, its tendency to reduce itself to the level of (cheap) evening primetime soaps, it actually put on quite a show. I liked it, is what I want to say. Enjoyed it, to be more accurate. Or maybe it's because I haven't watched enough Filipino films with that baseline caliber of writing.

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Jennifer Egan's "A Visit from the Goon Squad" is literary gold. I think I may be in love with a book, and if that's the case, "Cloud Atlas" and "The Rule of Four" have now found a third member for "Mano Po: The Book Version," starring - literally - books.

THROWBACK SUNDAYS: Marbuena Island Resort, Ajuy, Iloilo, November 2008. Goodness, those crazy high-school moments.

Midnight and Monaco

i.

OS 217 - Infectious Diseases, Oncology, and Trauma - is over! That's four weeks of our lives - a resounding sigh, applause, standing ovation, farewell to this messy, messed-up three-module course. After our first anatomy exam in first year, I highly entertained the idea of becoming an orthopedic surgeon. Trauma did that again. But I realized I'm neither gym rat nor basketball player, if we go by PGH conspiracy theories.

ii.

Saw "Despicable Me 2" on Friday. What is it with the Minions, or what is it that makes these yellow balls of cuteness so, so, so cute? 

Saw "Before Midnight" last night. This is the most beautiful, most gripping of the trilogy. That sunset scene where Jessie and Celine just sit there, and she goes, in reference to the sun, "Still there... still there.. still there... gone," made me shed a few tears. That's an achievement, if we consider how dry my tear ducts are, and this film joins the company of, among others, "Finding Nemo," "Lilo and Stitch," and "The Perks of Being a Wallflower."

iii.

This afternoon, saw the Little Singers of Monaco, all-boys choir from said country, at the SM Mall of Asia. Were they good? They must be; I could hardly tell, what with the mall's sucky acoustics. This had to be the cheapest, most inappropriate place the choir's ever performed in, and it's such a shame, and the hosts or sponsors should be ashamed of themselves for making the group perform in this hell of a place. I writhed in agony on behalf of the choir.

PDI Review: 'I Was Here' - Audie Gemora in Concert

In today's Philippine Daily Inquirer: My article on Audie Gemora's concert, "I Was Here," at the CCP Little Theater, July 5. This concert was the second of a series entitled "Triple Threats" - the first by Nonie Buencamino, June 13; the last with Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo on August 15.

*     *     *     *     *

Audie Gemora in concert - a master storyteller at work

At the CCP Little Theater last July 5, musical theater actor Audie Gemora candidly recalled to a sold-out house his five-second audition for “Miss Saigon,” back when the desperate creative team had just discovered the goldmine of homegrown Filipino talent.

Literally two words into his piece, he was cut off by a nonchalant “Next!” after which he was told that he “looks like he couldn’t hurt a fly.” 

For someone local playgoers had started calling the “Prince of Philippine Musical Theater,” that audition was, for a time, the “ultimate sign” for Gemora that he wasn’t meant to be an actor.

Such anecdotal gems dotted “I Was Here,” Gemora’s solo concert under the CCP’s “Triple Threats” series. And, clearly, 15 years can make all the difference: The actor who flunked his ‘Saigon” audition was long gone. In his place was now a master storyteller and genuine entertainer.

Intimacy, familiarity

The evening’s one-and-a-half hour program was an exercise in intimacy as well as familiarity. The audience – at its core, the names that populate Manila’s stages nowadays – came not only for a night of topnotch singing, which was expected, but also to toast, in chamber-hall fashion, local musical theater’s epitome of the leading man.  

Consider, for example, the manner in which Gemora relayed how he got his start in Repertory Philippines. Through the song “You’ve Got Possibilities” from “It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman,” he crafted a hilarious meta-duet impersonating theater stalwarts Baby Barredo and the late Zenaida Amador dissecting him on his first audition for the company. It’s a scene anyone who has ever attempted to enter Rep (and anyone who’s heard of the duo’s legendary directorial prowess) knew all too well, down to Barredo’s smoke-puffing and Amador’s bulldog demeanor.

Stories about his struggles in 1980s America (“when there was still no place for Pinoys on Broadway”) were juxtaposed with a couple of medleys that only illustrated his versatility. We’re talking here of a singer who can easily shift between acting-laced numbers and conventional microphone play (he is, after all, an Awit Award winner “for New Recording Artist – at 32!”).

Fresh touch

A medley of songs from his early years – “Cool” from “West Side Story,” “Oh What a Circus” from “Evita” – was followed by a clutch of pop ditties, or as he put it, “mga kanta ng papa ko” – “Moon River,” “Someone to Watch Over Me,” Cole Porter’s “Night and Day.” 

If anything, Gemora sounded eternally fresh and young as he revisited those old roles, while painting his sincere, personal touch on the standards.

The arrangements were creatively spun by Rony Fortich, Hong Kong Disneyland’s resident musical director. Vincent dela Cruz played double bass, and Karmi Santiago, who played drums, was undeniably another of the evening’s standouts. Hats off, after all, to anyone who could get away with a percussion-infused “Try to Remember” from “The Fantasticks” – a wistful ode to love that’s written like it’s drum-proofed: Try to remember/ the kind of September/ when life was slow/ and oh so mellow.

Polished baritone

Midway through the concert, Gemora, together with guest star Sam Concepcion, launched into a duet of “Deep Within” from “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” an original Filipino musical they first did back in 2003. It was only then that we saw, or more precisely, heard the evening’s first glimpse of Gemora the unparalleled showman. 

Singing the role of the lion Aslan (yes, the one by C.S. Lewis), any trace of pop-chart topper, any remnant of the former romantic lead was quickly shed off. Here, at last, was the polished, strapping baritone.

From there, it was one spotlessly sung musical theater number after another: “If I Loved You” from “Carousel” paired with “If Ever I Would Leave You” from “Camelot”; “Stars” from “Les Miserables” with “The Impossible Dream” from “Man of La Mancha.” To witness him plow through some of the theater canon’s toughest numbers with expertly balanced force and restraint – there couldn't have been a more thrilling sight.

The highest point of the evening was his performance of “Awit ni Isagani” from the musical “El Filibusterismo” (scored by Ryan Cayabyab) – a moment of consummate theatricality as he plumbed the depths of this haunting aria with a rare veracity of character. This was followed by a duet with guest artist Regine Velasquez on “Matimyas Mabuhay sa Sariling Bayan” from “Noli Me Tangere: The Musical” – the harmonies exquisite, the musicality luminous. 

If any were needed at all, here was unassailable proof that Gemora belongs to the stage and wouldn't – shouldn't – be leaving it anytime soon.

Postcards from Fragrant Harbour (4 of 4)

31.

The Two International Finance Center, Hong Kong's second tallest building: [Left] smothered in fog (which reminded me of the Shanghainese skyscrapers), viewed from the City Hall courtyard; [Right] a clear early morning view from the Airport Express station in Central.

 32.

Statue Square. The Legislative Council Building is the one with the dome (I thought it's a church). The Bank of China Tower needs no introduction. This was taken during Labor Day, and the entire place, especially the underground tunnel leading to the MTR station, was filled with Filipinos. A little more to the left and the photo would have captured the Pinoy Labor Day festivities, which included a parade ala barangay fiesta.

33.

On our last night, we walked for thirty minutes from Mira Mall beside Kowloon Park to the International Commerce Center, passing through the park for added fun. The Ritz Carlton occupies the 102nd to 118th floors of the building--the world's highest, as it claims. We hit the lounge and bar at the 102nd floor for an 11PM view of the city. That's three of the world's highest hotels conquered (a refresher course here). [2nd photo] That "artwork" is made of individual crystal-bead thingies.

34.

Two admirable things about Hong Kong transportation: Taxis equipped with an abundance of change (our beloved barya), and health advisories in the train (on hypertension, in this case).

35.

Chek Lap Kok Airport Terminal 2! It's just a check-in facility (three islands), but what the hell. The wavy roof, plus the fact that the place has more dining facilities than NAIA 1 and 2 combined. It also has an IMAX theater.

36.
HKIA Terminal 1! Never gets old.

37.
Airport photography is one of the best things in the world. The eastern side of the airport (spot the Air India). CX 773 and A330, and plants. CX A340 and coffee drinking. 

38.

This is how you capture an airborne, post-take-off plane: Find a nice spot, and wait.

39.

Take-off views of the airport. Let's play spot from the sky: [1st photo] Two Uniteds and a Thai Airways; [2nd photo] PAL 747 and Aeroflot 77W; [3rd photo] Tsing Ma Bridge.

40.

Home sweet home in Clark, featuring the bluish blur that is Mt. Pinatubo.

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PDI Review: 'Disney's Tarzan' by Viva Atlantis Theatricals

My review of "Disney's Tarzan" by Viva Atlantis Theatricals is in today's Inquirer - here! Show closes tonight.

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'Disney's Tarzan' swings - and barely hangs on

Towards the climax of Act II of "Disney's Tarzan," the short-lived Broadway musical running until Saturday at the Meralco Theater as Viva Atlantis Theatricals' second offering of the year, its titular ape-man, torn between remaining with his adoptive gorilla family and following his newfound human friends back to England, frustratingly exclaims, "I'm so confused!"

Well, that's just about our overall sentiment after sitting through this clunky, two-hour production that has exactly two standouts.

The first is American actor Dan Domenech, whose credits include "Rock of Ages" on Broadway and a spot on the fourth season of "Glee." Now, as Tarzan clad only in a traditional "bahag," Domenech shines with a portrayal of commendable consistency. His attention to character - the slightly hunched posture, fists as locomotive devices in the manner of gorillas - makes for a compelling interpretation of this Disney-fied man of the jungle. Simply put, when he's an ape around humans, you believe him, and when he's a human around apes, you also believe him.

The second is the set by Lex Marcos, the same brain behind the enchanting flying carpet scene in last year's "Disney's Aladdin" and the underwater kingdom in "Disney's The Little Mermaid" the year before (both staged by Atlantis Productions, by the way).

This time, Marcos has created a jungle out of the aged theater. The proscenium is "overgrown" with interlacing leaves and branches, the stage constantly awash in shades and shapes of green, and a scrim is put to perfect use in depicting horizon and distance.

Where's the magic?

Unfortunately, lush scenery and a good Tarzan do not a compelling show make.

For starters, how about a book that has no intent whatsoever of becoming its own person, so to speak? The musical, based on the 1999 Disney film that in turn took after Edward Rice Burrough's "Tarzan of the Apes," tells the story just as it appeared in cinemas 14 years ago, give or take a few elements.

A family of three washes up on a beach after a shipwreck, the parents get killed by a leopard, and female gorilla Kala takes the human infant as her own, to the dismay of her mate Kerchak. The baby grows up to be Tarzan, and one day, he meets Jane, who's come to the continent with her gang of Victorian Brits with varying agenda.

The essential love story, singing troop of apes, tree-swinging and high-flying stunts - they all made it to this "Tarzan" of the Great White Way. Yet, the sad fact is, David Henry Hwang's screen-to-stage translation comes off as largely uninspired - seemingly a bunch of animated storyboards sheepishly set to the "Play" button that, not surprisingly, falls flat on its behind with more than just a faint thud.

In other words, where's the magic?

Shaky accent

 

The score by Phil Collins is not much of a charmer, either. The film's songs are still there; "Son of Man," "Two Worlds," and the Oscar winner "You'll Be in My Heart" have to be the most familiar. The extra baggage, however, proves rather forgettable (and here, we try and fail to name at least one of the new songs).

Onscreen, "Tarzan" was an exciting dive into the life of the African jungle; for the stage, Hwang and Collins have created a mere copy of the film, sans any spark of the original work. A tragedy, then, that director Chari Arespacochaga can only play shepherd to the turn of events, which is all at once plodding and flitting. A scene unfolds and a song gets performed, but nothing really sticks to memory.

There's also the matter of Jane Porter, the female lead. Onstage, she has been reduced to this wide-eyed amateur scientist who rattles off Latin animal and plant names for a first song. (That number deserves the honor of being the show's strangest: The dancing insects and plants look more out-of-place than exotic.)

Rachelle Ann Go, who made quite a splashy theater debut as Ariel in "Disney's The Little Mermaid," can belt out the score alright, but her shaky British accent and one drop too many of that young-girl, over-the-place naivete weigh her down.

Outstanding voices

How about Ima Castro as Kala and Calvin Millado as Kerchak? Both are outstanding voices (Castro, in particular, has the flavorful task of belting out "Two Worlds" and "You'll Be in My Heart"), and both are actors of certain acclaim (Castro as Kim in "Miss Saigon," Millado as Roger in "Rent").

Yet, when placed beside Domenech's Tarzan, their "un-gorilla-ness" is glaring. How they move and carry themselves, which is very much Homo sapiens, render them the least gorilla-like among the entire troop.

Jeffrey Hidalgo as Tarzan's sidekick Terk is a more consistent package, but he's hardly given major exposure, while Eugene Villaluz plays Jane's father Archimedes with understated elegance.

Speaking of apes, how about Eric Pineda's gorilla costumes? They look like a cross between a Pacific tribesman and an encyclopedia illustration of the Himalayan yeti. But they're nothing compared to the leopard (the musical's most thankless role) whose headpiece could have easily come from a party clown's closet.

After two hours of acrobatic gorillas (courtesy of choreographer Cecile Martinez), shouting child actors, sparse laughs, and a considerable amount of belting, the rhetorical question becomes altogether unavoidable: What. Was. That?

This is a "Tarzan" that swings - and barely hangs on. Here, emotions are often expressed in terms of decibels, and confusion - be it in individual characterizations or whole scenes - seems to ring louder than clarity.

Postcards from Fragrant Harbour (3 of 4)

21.

Heaven descended upon us like the Niagara that afternoon in Ocean Park. We bought the fancy plastic raincoats. We headed for the aviary, but the trail had transformed into a pool, so we sought shelter in Whiskers Theater, just in time for the sea lion show. This was when they showed us how they train the sea lions: Teach a trick, let it do the trick, give it a treat. They tried the technique on the poor kid.

22.

The Chinese alligator: second best animal in Ocean Park (after the octopus).

23.

The rain dispersed the hordes of Chinese tourists, sending them scurrying towards their buses. We virtually had the park to ourselves then (that's what it felt like, but feelings can be deceiving). Imagine the rides without the lines! An eagle and the Pacific Pier lighthouse were harbingers of good fortune.

24.

We ate at Maxim's in Hong Kong City Hall on our last day. During the absurd wait (I don't think the place ever runs out of customers), I paid the City Hall theater a visit--well, just the outside of it. Hong Kong Repertory Theater calls this place home, which reminds me of our Repertory Philippines in Onstage Greenbelt 1 (and I wish they'd do "Pippin" next year).

25.

Cosette, Fantine and Eponine sing in Cantonese!

26.

While looking for Hollywood Road, which we ironically had no problem getting to during our first day, the Hong Kong Fringe Club looked inviting (maybe because I was thinking of "Defending the Caveman").

27.

The massive Abercrombie and Fitch in Central. For art lovers, the walls. For everyone else, the model. Half-naked at work, more fun in Hong Kong.

28.

The strangest photo shoot ever, at apm, a mall in Kwun Tong (near what used to be Kai Tak Airport), where most of the outlet stores were closed during Labor Day (surprise!).

29.

Evening shopping in Mongkok! It was like Little Manila there. But the standouts had to be this store full of cats, and sidewalk octopus (fried and breaded). I bet if we just looked hard enough, there'd have been steamed horse dumplings or hammerhead shark ramen as well.

30.

Night views of Hong Kong's four tallest skyscrapers! Clockwise from top left: Bank of China Tower (4th), Two International Finance Center (2nd), International Commerce Center (tallest), and Central Plaza (3rd).

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'Forgetfulness: A Series'

As mentioned last January, my poem, "Forgetfulness: A Series," was accepted for publication in the 2013 Bacopa Literary Review, which is based in Gainesville, Florida. The Review was released last month, and I still haven't received my contributor's copy (they initially sent it to Iloilo, Philipines [sic]). [Update, June 29: My copy's finally here!] The writers, as stated in the website, come from India to Ireland, Canada to the Chuvash Republic, Indonesia to Nigeria.

https://writersalliance.org/bacopa-literary-review/bacopa-literary-review-back-issues/

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i.

Tell me again of that city we built
with only the mud and stone that filled the garden
behind our house. It was beautiful, yes? How the buildings
spiralled to the sky with blatant ambition, how their windows
reflected the light coming from the stars, seeming to create
towers of fire visibly burning from a thousand miles.
I remember the chimney with its red brick,
the front door pavement chipping away on the edges,
the moss that colored the white-washed walls
perpetually wet with rain and sprinkler water.
I remember the morning views from our bedroom, how the clouds
would seem to glide past the shrubbery thriving on the terrace.
Those were cold mornings, weren't they? How we'd shiver
in bed, layer our bodies with blankets bought fifteen years ago
in some flea market in Bangkok. Good times, I remember.

ii.

Remember, grandmother says, the stories you once knew
by heart. But my grandmother is fast fading away,
too eager, it seems, to take her shadow's place on the wooden floor.

Her sly lips no longer part as often, no longer spill the secrets
she kept from the ten thousand people she'd met in her life. She only
    sleeps
to the gentle sway of her rocking chair, only speaks in her dreams.

Remember youth. Remember running down endless leaf-laden trails,
spending nights in haunted woods, waking to mornings filled with
    singing
from a hundred curious animals. How you stood on a cliff

gazing longingly at the bluish blur of a distant castle. Those days
were the best of your life, when adventure not merely consisted
of midnight trips to the bathroom or boiling water in the kitchen,

but much more, much farther. Substance comes to those
whose age deserves it - but my grandmother, who sits silent
on her rocking chair, never had a voyager's soul, nor a hunter's heart.

iii.

Think only of one thing, of something that will make you remember:
the gifts, the boxes of jewellery, the bouquets that cost a fortune.
The meanings we crafted for our words, the pictures we painted with
    our sentences.
Think of the tender kisses we planted on each other's neck, of our
    hands
searching the maps of our bodies for islands lost forever in the ocean
of skin-draped flesh. Afternoons standing on the balcony, a naked
    embrace
displayed before the sea and the sunset. Good times, I remember.

Postcards from Fragrant Harbour (2 of 4)

11.

The happiest place on Earth never gets old. The happiest man on Earth would look into the Mirror of Erised and see only himself, exactly as he is. Because it shows our deepest desires, like a slice of Fantine's pie for Bamatabois. Fact: Disneyland Hong Kong is the smallest in the world, but you already know that.  

12.

My first trip to Disneyland in 2007, I found The Festival of the Lion King enchanting and The Golden Mickeys rapturous. Not this time. The former  has become a sloppy, floppy song-and-dance cycle inundated with overindulgent props and cheap acrobatics for the easy-to-please. Simba was girlier than Nala, and the singing was devoid of life. The latter was a more consistent show, but I didn't like the Quasimodo; Bebe the host was a hottie though. And the Mainlanders beside me had terrible halitosis.

13.

Facade of "It's a Small World," or the dolls exhibit. Different zones with pediatric mannequins dolled up according to region - Africa, China, Rainforest (which is to say, the regional divisions don't even make sense). The titular children's song plays in different languages as one rides a motorized Westernized banca down the chlorinated waterway. If you reach the end without passing out from an auditory overdose of the song, you get a prize.

14.

We had this hotel guide book that I swallowed start to finish as a kid, and one of those featured for Hong Kong was the South Pacific Hotel!

15.
First time in Hong Kong, we stayed in the Park Lane [right]. Second time, we did The Wesley, which is now the OZO Wesley. I was with adults, who are theoretically more difficult to travel with. 

16.

I loved "Iron Man 3," but haven't seen the first two, so don't take my word for it. But the wit! And arrogant Robert Downey Jr.! And Ben Kingsley! Honestly, this film was enough to wash away the muck of last year's "Avengers."

17.

I'm immature this way. Tagalog speakers rejoice!

18.

One of the competitions MTG Philippines joins is the Po Leung Kuk Primary Mathematics World Contest. I don't know if this is the place,  but I got a bit giddy upon seeing this. Maths used to be a huge part of my nerdy life, because "the limit does not exist!"

19.

Ocean Park is almost unrecognizable after seven years! There is now just one mega-aquarium, which is really much better and more convenient. Lobsters in action! Octopus! (Thus, one of my dreams was fulfilled.) Hammerhead shark!

20.

There used to be just two giant pandas in Ocean Park. Now there's at least five of them. Plus the smaller reds. These two pandas made blankets of bamboo for themselves, which must be how they do things in animal bum world. However, you have to feel sorry for anyone or anything that poops balls of undigested plant matter.

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