Woke up extra early this morning to bring my siblings to the planetarium today. There are a few oddities in this sentence - the fact that my siblings voluntary chose to go to a museum on a day off, and out of my love for them, I woke up super early to drive into the city centre to get there. The building itself was quite impressive albeit abit unkempt. Outside the main entrance there was a guy with a telescope pointed at the glaring sun.
We each had a turn looking into the telescope - it was my first time looking at the sun through filtered lens - so that was quite impressive. But I was more preoccupied at feeling sorry for this man whose job is to stand outside in this hot tropical country convincing people to be interested at his source of discomfort. But he seemed happy enough though.
The museum in the building was quaint. Thankfully the entrance fee was waived today for whatever reason. There were exhibitions on constellations and the theory of how solar systems are formed. Further through the museum, there was an entire exhibition on our sole Malaysian astronaut. "We have a Malaysian astronaut?" asked my brother, quite puzzled at this discovery. "Yes! And we have met him!"
Our uncle was the mission's personal doctor - so for a family dinner many years ago, he brought the nation's astronaut candidates over for a short meet and greet. My brother was a toddler back then, probable explains why he couldn't recall.
Other than videos of the Malaysian astronaut in space eating soup and conducting prayers, there was not much excitement or interactivity presented to visitors - owing to the fact that most buttons were broken and even the opportunity to zip oneself into a sleeping bag (akin to ones in space) lacked an actual zipper. But we soon found a possible explanation to the faulty exhibitions when a group of hyperactive and enthusiastic group of young school children ran past us. The museum is probably fighting a losing battle with sticky, grimy and aggressive little hands that come with constant school trips.
All in all, it was a good day out - more because I got to spend quality time with my siblings who were growing up way too fast for my liking. Sometimes, I wish that we were on a planet with a lighter force of gravity (maybe the moon!) where time would tick by more slowly (see I did learn something today!).
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