Pluto-nic

One of my earliest dreams in life was to be an astronaut. I've always imagined what it would be like to wear a space suit, ride a space shuttle, and travel all over the galaxy.

This is also the reason why I was a science geek when I was younger. I'd know all the planets and constellations, and would often look up in the sky hoping to catch a glimpse of the planets. And a syzygy.

That was many, many decades ago. And while I never became an astronaut, the fascination for planets never left me.

And seeing the closest shot of Pluto on the web today just rekindled that dream of being an astronaut again.

A Night at the Museum

The Mind Museum, that is.

It was Mark's birthday weekend and we opted to do something new. We've been to a couple of museums in Japan, but haven't really explored any of the museums here in Manila. (Except maybe that art exhibit/museum in Ateneo.) So, I decided to indulge the geeks in both of us and checked the place out.

Since we were looking for some peace and quiet, I opted to buy the evening tickets instead of the usual daytime ones. My objective was to avoid the noisy kid crowd which would flood the museum in the morning or afternoon. They were the same kids who were making a ruckus at Jollibee that same afternoon. I've never heard so much noise in just one place.

I'm a big fan of museums, so I have a tendency to mentally compare and contrast. Size-wise, The Mind Museum is a bit small. But what it lacks in size, it makes up for activity. There's a lot to see and do in the museum, especially if you're into science. (And science was one of my favorite subjects in Grade School and High School.)

You can eat a giant chocolate bar:

You can come up with your own atomic structure:

You can solve problems: (needless to say, Mark's favorite subject was math.)

You can also get chased by a dinosaur! Well, dinosaur bones, if you want to be technical about it.

You can even see dinosaur poop! Oh crap!

You can also watch a 15-minute 3-D movie about how life on earth was created, destroyed, created, destroyed, and created again. Surprisingly, it was a heart wrenching film - especially the part when the dinosaurs died. *sniff*

You can also go whale watching, and see whales up close. Without even diving or going near water. (Yes, that's a whale behind us.)

At those are just the natural science parts. There was a lot more to see in the museum, like how things work and how things are made. But overall, what The Mind Museum taught us - yet again - was the fact that science is a fascinating, yet often forgotten subject. Especially if you're in a non-scientific job, like me.

One thing I also liked about The Mind Museum is they had a lot of clever signs scattered throughout the place. And among the lot, this one is what resonated with me the most:

Yes, kids, please read!

Overall, it was a wonderful night at the museum. And this is just going to be the first museum with many, many more to come.