Can't ping but can access website virtual machine

I'm using a vps using Microsoft Azure, and have a Linux Ubuntu Server installed, basically a stack of light bulbs. The URL is http://jflorescadev.cloudapp.net/, and its public IP is 23.97.56.207. If I put them both on the browser, I can access it fine, but whenever I try to connect to MySQL using MySQL Workbench, it won't connect. Of course I can connect to ssh and do database administration there, but I want to do it on the GUI, so I use MySQL Workbench.

All credentials to connect have been configured like:

GRANT ALL ON *.* to user@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'password'; 
GRANT ALL ON *.* to user@localhost IDENTIFIED BY 'password'; 
GRANT ALL ON *.* to user@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'password'; 

In my Azure portal, the port is already open. So I just use the command line to check:

ping 23.97.56.207

or

ping jflorescadev.cloudapp.net

Both give me a timeout response. why is that? thanks