A Day to the Science Centre

Went to the Science Centre with Slug on a nice sunny afternoon. The Science Centre was really crowded because it was the September holidays and excursion buses were unloading throngs of eager school children there. We bought tickets for admission to both the Science Centre and the Omni-Theatre which cost $12.80 (whereas single tickets cost $6 and $10 respectively).

The Science Centre folks have revamped the place (slightly) since my last visit a year ago, and much to my chagrin, removed my favourite kinetics exhibit originally at the main entrance. What is there now is the Water Works park with many cute water exhibits and a large fountain a la the one at Bugis Junction for kids to frolic in. The first section is the Mind's Eye with many visual exhibits, followed by the Physical Sciences section with exhibits on biology and plant & animal life. I LOVE the Marine Alcove BEST because it houses coral reef and sea creatures like puffer fishes (the authentically spiky kinds), sea urchins, star fishes, stone fishes (kudos to their camouflaging), barracudas and the common saltwater fishes.

Our IMAX movie was screening at 4pm, and we proceeded to get to the Omni-Theatre on an off-the-beaten-track route through the Ecogarden. Embarrassingly we got lost there and time was running out, so we had to run back to the Science Centre and get on the orthodox path. On the way we passed by the Atrium where a dramatic demonstration of live electricity was going on. Beautiful electric sparks that are akin to natural lightning were generated from the 3.5 million volt Tesla Coil, and the results were 5-metre long purple eletric sparks, deafening buzzes and a mesmerized audience. Sadly, we had to skip that demonstration as we had to continue running towards the Omni-Theatre.

Luckily, we got there just in time. The movie we were watching was Deep Sea, a 40-minute documentary narrated by Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet. It was a spectacular movie experience because of the humongous screen. The documentary gave us a low-down on the balance of the marine ecosystem and how it is maintained by various marine creatures. For example, the Crown-of-Thorns Sea Star has a voracious appetite for coral reef and basically eats as it moves. The Triton Trumpet Snail saves the reefs by swallowing the starfish whole (seems impossible, doesn't it?). Other impressive scenes include the wolf eel and its ability to munch on sea urchins (ouch), the Mola Mola that has no tail, the green sea turtle that becomes vegetarian upon entering adulthood and thus is erm, green in colour, the adorable Mantis Shrimp with powerful claws used for opening mussels, the Rainbow Nudibranch (a magenta sea slug) that appropriates the Tube Anemone's tentacles, swimming scallops that look like dentures, and translucent Sea Nettle Jellies. The best scene is that of coral spawning, which only takes place on a certain day of each year and only for an hour. Gazillions of eggs are released from the coral reefs uniformly and then dispersed, but only a few will survive to succeed the reef colony. This phenomena is magnificent yet mystical. The ending brought us to the sad reality that humans are greatly upsetting the balance by pollution and overfishing.

Held in conjunction with this movie is the Deep Sea exhibition that showcases information about the deep sea (a high-pressure sea environment 150 metres below the surface which only submersibles can reach) and animal specimens like the lantern fish, chimeras, hatchet fish and some other bizarre creatures. Too bad they are dead and their luminescent properties cannot be seen, so they appear black and weird. Slug and I were extremely impressed that these creatures had been caught from the extreme depths and presented to the public. Other than these, there were three huge and live Tasmanian crabs and Australian Snow Crabs kept in a chilled enclosure.

After that, we had less than half an hour left to explore the Science Centre so we had to skip the sections that we were not that interested in like the Aviation and Human Body sections. We visited the classic chick incubatory, but sadly, none of the eggs have hatched yet, though one of them already has some cracks on its surface. Then we went back to the Ecogarden to look at various plants there like the cotton plant (ready-to-be-used cotton from its fruit!), maize, sweet potato, papaya trees, taro, orchids, and grape vines etc. There is even a cute tree house there amidst lush greenery and the evening tranquility.

It was soon 6pm and everyone was ushered out of the vicinity. I did not even have the chance to play with the kaleidoscopes at the retail shop there. Slug even wanted to get a crystal-growing kit. As usual, we swore to come to the Science Centre earlier next time, but we always get chased out at 6pm sharp feeling that we have not completely explored every acre there. We had dinner at the in-house Sakura restaurant. The tempura prawns and ice-cream are not to be missed.

To top our day there, we went to the Observatory after dinner because there was a star-gazing program lined up from 8 t 10pm. Unfortunately, the sky was filled with reddish clouds and there was not a single star in sight. Nevertheless, the two very sweet helpers still made the effort to explain to Slug and I about the huge telescopic apparatus and the various stars that can be seen on a clear night (including Jupiter!). They even dispelled the Mars hoax (the stupid urban legend that says Mars would be nearest Earth on 28th August) when we mentioned it. I was so disappointed with the weather but we promised them we would come back if the clouds cleared up. So we waited at the Science Centre park which has a conducive environment for making out (tee hee!), but maybe God thought we weren't stupid enough, so he let down a drizzle. I insisted on waiting for the stars but the drizzle got heavier so Slug had to drag me home. So much for waiting for the stars, aaargh.