Weekend Visit to HK Science Museum

Last time I went to the Hong Kong Science Museum, I was probably still in primary school going on a school field trip with the rest of the class (i.e. looooooong long time ago...) The reason this normally would be considered as an "incredibly educational facility" drew our attention was because of its currently-hosting special exhibition "Wildlife Photographer of the Year".

We saw its promotion poster at many MTR stations. As both Mike and I have been eager to learn to take better pictures, how can we miss such an interesting exhibition, learning from the professional?! =)

The Wildlife Gallery

Upon entering the Science Museum, we couldn't wait but went stragiht to the museum first. The exhibition featured about 200 winning photographs taken by photographers around the world. Below are some of my favorite picks.

Ain't the little birdies adorable?!!! Love the composition and the depth of field.

Have you seen such an AWAKE owl bit its gigantic round orange eyes? The color is amazing too!

Apparently, this well-known "Wildlife Photographer of the Year" competition has been organized by the BBC Wildlife Magazine and the Natural History Museum in London since 1964.

I could almost feel the intense energy of the zebra bursting out from this photo!

We were not allowed to take any pictures of the gallery due to copyright issue, soI am linking all these awesome photos directly from the London Natural Museum website.

These three little monkeys reminded me of the Three Wise Monkeys - "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil".

How did the photographer find a elephant swiming? I didn't even know elephants swim!!!! Really impressive! And such clear water.... (making me want to jump into a beach now!!)

Holy molly!!! How many WERE THERE?!?! The scene was so bizarre and beautiful that I almost couldn't believe it's not a painting instead of an actual photo!! Also, for those who have seen the March of the Penguins - doesn't this picture remind you of it?!

This is no way the best photo in the gallery in terms of skills or quality, but it's the one that I remembered the most! The baby monkey is sooooooooooooooooo CUTE!!!!! Makes you want to hold him in your arms...

We spent almost 2 hours just wandering around in the gallery, looking and appreciating each photograph. I enjoyed it so much that I didn't realize 120 minutes have passed already!

Wandering through the Science Museum

Mike had never been to the Hong Kong Science Museum, so we took the opportunity to walk around as well. We originally didn't plan to spend that much time there, but we had so much fun that if it's not for our poor hungry stomaches, we would have stayed at the museum until it closed... (haha... mostly Mike's stomach, my will power to bear hunger is much stronger than his...)

I have always liked the puzzle area everytime I visited. It was awesome seeing not only kids but adults too were enjoying solving various puzzles there.

Seeing the little kids playing the puzzles brought back so much childhood memory. =)

The Funny Mirror Collection

We somehow discovered the "funny mirror land" and went crazy there~ haha.... Bear with me, I had so much silly fun playing with the various funny mirrors that I took probably too many pictures just at that section!! ;)

The Pair Mirror

Oops... wrong angle!!! (yea, it's my bad, haha)

The Side Mirror

Left

And right...

And left again?!

The Back Mirror

Hey I am taking picture of my back!! Weird, huh?!

The Fat Mirror

"The fat couple" haha~

And the "dancing fat couple"!!

The Skinny Mirror

We looked like two idiots didn't know what's going on!!! =p

Oh mine... Look at Mike's head!!! It's so....... STICKING OUT!!!

The infamous "skinny swan pond dance" ^o^ hohohoho~

Okay, now the swan turned into a chicken~ (^_~)v

Apparently, I was having too much fun and let Mike took all these "animal-like" pictures of me, displaying my "animal" side, hahaha~

The Mirror Maze

I kid you not, they really did build an animal maze inside the Science Museum. It was a bit daunting at first. (Not that I had any doubts in my ability to NOT to get lost.....)

"Douzo (Please come in). Feel free to find you way out!!" - followed by evil laughter....

Mike almost bumped his head into one of the mirrors~

This dark corner was scary - I saw so many images of me through these mirrors....

Doesn't it feel like the magic mirror in Snow White that the evil queen uses?!

"Magic Mirror, Magic Mirror, tell me who is the most beautiful girl in the world!!" (actually... not sure how the answer to the question would be beneficial to me in any ways... besides, I'd probably disagree with the answer anyways.... wakakkakaka....)

Could you tell that there was only 1/6 of an actual table and the rest was just an illusion? Amazing, isn't it?!

The "Reflection Mirror Well". I thought it was really cool-looking!!

I somehow took this picture on accident. Didn't really know what I did, but the effect was wickedly awesome!! =)

Didn't I look like a little kid running lose in the candy shop?!

The Understanding Your Body Section

After all those funny mirrors, we wandered into this "Understanding Your Body" section. Let see what we have found...

First, some really cool kung fu drawings about human body's muscles.

Ohohoho, my favorite 3D DNA model!! (haha... yes, I am indeed such a geek that I get excited seeing a DNA model !!)

DNA was one of my favorite study topics in Biology in high school! And I still want to enter the bioinformatics field someday when I am tired of coding and also have time (and money) to go back to school !!! Looking forward for that "someday"....

"Time for our regular body check!!" (Remember those body height/weight checks in each semester when we were in primary school?!)

Ohhhh... somebody was sad that he gained weight..... (hehehehe....)

Skeleton playing tennis?!!!

The interior and all the exhibits were all in very good condition. They almost looked cleaner and newer than what I recalled in my memory...

I failed the tiptoe test.... Not a very "light-weight" person... Q_Q

Somebody was extremely confident at his "tiptoe-ness".

Oh my gosh... he indeed beat my score!!

You can "feel" how the sound vibrates through this gigantic vertical drum!

Surprising it was not very loud. Mike and I took turn to try to hit it to make a loud noise... both failed.... What a big sneaky drum!!

The Dancing Beads

This is one of my favorite exhibits in the museum. You can change the frequency of the sound from the music tones and see how beads in the long glass tube jump and dance according to the frequency change!!!

It was so captivating watching them dance in the tube!!

I could imagine just how the little school kids would just crowd around the tube (like me) and watch the beads jump according to beats!!

They were ALIVE!!!!! =D

The Air Section

The hanging ball in the air!!

The running-lose sea lion from Ocean Park is now performing at Science Museum now!! (hehe.... I know I know... I am mean.... haha~)

Another interesting air trick that captured my full attention was this thing which blew air from the bottom and sucked in air from the left, creating a small rectangular entrance (hole), where a ball would always float its way into the entrance... I wish I had a picture of the front of the exhibit - it was a really cool air trick!!

The Shrinking House

I am sure everyone must have been to this house at least once at some point...

Yea, I could finally become a TALL person!!

Drunk-Mike Walking

Don't worry, he's fine at the end. I waited for him to turn "sober" ;)

Visual Illusion Section

"Aiiiiiiiiii - I am so dizzy!!!!!"

Silly me trying to figure out how the illusion works.

Ohohoho, the infamous "Reverse Mask". I liked how its eyes just follow you where ever you walk. Creepy!!

Ever wonder how fish see things?

Fish's eye-sight is so weird!! No wonder they can't tell if the bail is actual food or just a hook to trick them sometimes! (hehe.. j/k)

The Jumping Contest

This exhibit tested how high up one can jump. It does so by measuring the highest point where your hand can touch when standing-still and jumping.

"Are you ready?"

Mike's attempt!!

(Not very high, hahaha... due to the lack of basketball playing ....)

And now the shorty's turn - WOW - I actually could jump pretty high!!! Yay!!!

Next: The Balance Contest

Surprise surprise, with such a high center-of-gravity, Mike actually did pretty well on this one!

Me? Hmm..... (see me struggling?)

You were supposed to stand on the tiny metal platform and balance yourself on it. The timer would start counter once both sides of the platforms were not touching the ground.

My "concentration" look. (more like my "struggling" look...)

"I got it I got it!!" (Finally.... after my 32th attempt...)

Body-Detection Video Games

The museum even has a separate room for body-detection type video games, with a huge flat screen!!

We both sucked at the bouncing ball game.

We didn't take a picture of it, but you are supposed to wear those 3D glasses when you are playing the games, which I found making the game harder. (Either that, or I was just trying to find excuses to blame for my low game score, hahaha...)

The Power/Electricity Section

And here comes my favorite Physics topic!!!

The exhibits look so funny and colorful!! Probably aim to attract little kids to learn while playing...

Like this!! (^_~)v Mission accomplished! (for the museum)

The little kid was so cute. He hopped from one exhibit to a different one, playing and absorbing every little bit... I'll definitely bring my kids to science museums when they are old enough to explore science!!! hehe!!

Gigantic battery!!! (With a huge red button on top that you are not supposed to press in all circumstance!!!) Hehe... I like pressing those dangerous red buttons the most!!

Gigantic light bulb (coming out from my head)!!!

DING!! - I got an idea!

The Transportation Section

Obviously, that floor was about transportation. You could tell by looking at the huge airplane model hanging from ceiling.

Let's go for a ride (flight)!!

"Ready? Set? Go!!!"

Apparently, I like being a pilot!! haha...

Something suspicious came up?!

We missed the preset daily show times to see how metal balls run through this three-floor tall complex chain system thing.... I want to see it!!!! =(

Mike's childhood favorite - dinosaur!!

Leaving Museum.....

Mike finally gave in to hunger and dragged me to leave the museum.... He's a bit unwilling to leave too.... But his overpowering stomach.... (grin)...

But overall, we had a fantastic time at the Hong Kong Science Museum today, appreciating the wildlife photography gallery and having tons of fun exploring the museum (semi-randomly).

I felt like turning into a curious primary school student all over again in the process ;) It recalled so much joyful childhood memory!! ^_^