Yesterday Floyd and I and our friends Mark and Michelle enjoyed a trip to a theme park not far from their home in Hualien on Taiwan's east coast.

 The entrance fee was just 890 NT (less than $30).  It was definitely worth it, even though Farglory Ocean Park is the kind of place you can do thoroughly in about six hours.

It's literally right by the ocean, and though it's not a water park (i.e. no waterslides), the whole place has an ocean/watery theme.

It's built on a hill, but there are escalators and elevators all over - not to mention the cable cars - so it's easy to get around.

 
There were some great views from the cable car that we rode from the bottom to the top of the park (and back... several times...).

There were some fun-looking little rides in the children's section of the park. Farglory is very family friendly!  

I loved that there were no lines to speak of anywhere in the park!  It was a Monday, and hardly anyone was there.

Floyd described the bumper boats as "a little cheesy", but we had fun on them anyway.

There aren't a lot of rides, but the ones they have are pretty good.

 
The log ride (above) was our favorite.  The log boats even went down one of the drops backward!

Can you tell it rained part of the time?  Fortunately, Farglory Ocean Park has roofs over a lot of sections, and many of the attractions are indoors (which also helped in the morning when it was warm and very sunny).  It's the kind of place where you can have fun no matter the weather.

Rides aren't the only attraction at Farglory.  They have a very nice little aquarium with an interesting variety of sea creatures.

Um... what kind of lobster did you say that was?

We enjoyed seeing some of the unusual creatures.  I don't know if blue lobsters are really that rare, but it was our first encounter with one.

Lionfish always look exciting.

The shows, along with the aquarium, really made the park experience.  (The rides, though fun, were too few to be worth the entry fee on their own.)  We enjoyed the sea lion show first.

It was fun to watch the sea lions play volleyball and basketball!

Tell me that cute sea lion (below) doesn't remind you of a bird in this position!

After watching the sea lions, we attended a dolphin show.

Their jumping skills were quite impressive!

My favorite show involved Russian dancers with some amazing skills and gorgeous costumes.  Unfortunately, photography wasn't allowed in that one, but if you ever go to Farglory, make sure you don't miss it!

Altogether we had a great day and made some fun memories.  If you're looking for interesting activities for the whole family in Hualien, I highly recommend Farglory Ocean Park!