It's all in the Mind

This is Manuel A. Blas II, one of Philippine Town & Country's 101 People You Must Meet Right Now. Well... I have not only met him. I am friends with him and his lovely wife. How do you like them apples? :P

I could name a million reasons why you should meet Manny Blas: for the intelligent conversations, for his genuine concern and care, for the wisdom he can impart and for the laughter that he can bring. But Town and Country credits him primarily for being the Managing Director of The Mind Museum, the country's first world-class Science Museum. Yeah, that's a good reason too.

The Mind Museum formally opens its doors to the public on March 16. But we were lucky enough to get our minds moved almost a month earlier than everyone else.

The visit turned out to be a mini reunion of sorts for the Singles Apostolate, with probably a little over 200 members coming in full force that day. Some still single, some now married and came bringing along their kid(s). Almost 12 years old, this Apostolate is proof that what relationship God has brought together, no man can rend apart.

SE threeeeeeee

SE siiiiiiiiiiiiiiix

The first stop at the Museum is Adei's corner, whose short welcome spiel prepares you for the scientific wonders you're about to see inside. Once she finishes, a human Mind Mover (more boringly-known as the tour guide), takes over to begin your journey of science.

Aedi is idea spelled backwards

new found friends

I normally like tour guides. I like that they are repositories of information that you'd never have known if you just did a tour by yourself. When I'm with a guide, I like to stick as close to him as possible so I catch everything. Plus, I ask them a lot of questions. Unfortunately, there were still technical difficulties coming from the guide's audio speaker and I couldn't understand anything that he was saying. I know the Museum people are working on that right now but for that afternoon, we just decided to slip away from the pack and dive straight into the exhibits.

this is me, getting at the good stuff

Majority of those on display were built for interaction. And nearly all of them come with instructions. But there is something about being in a place like this that just switches on the inner kid inside of me. That meant I deftly ignored all written things and just started poking around like a 5 year old hyped-up on sugar.

To illustrate, I entered room and saw nothing inside but a large timer and a green button. Not knowing what else to do, I snuck up to the button, thought for two seconds, then decided to press it. I then darted my eyes around the room waiting to see what would happen. The timer started its countdown, a flash went off... and there was my shadow on the wall! Woohoo!!! *grin*

look closely, my shadow is there!

My friends and I played with different poses for a while but we had barely scratched the Museum's surface. So I left the room and went off for further exploration.

looking through the eyes of science

a hair-raising experience (one of my fave exhibits!)

ooooh. look at the pretty colors... (it's an illustration of the food chain)

A lifesize periodic table of elements! Galeng!

and they show you stuff that has that element in it! Here's a banana for potassium

I have to admit that in my excitement, I practically rushed through the first half the museum. Fueled by adrenalin, I was just darting from one exhibit to the next, trying to get to them before the crowds came and ruin my shot. Like the one below.

teh... sino ka? At ba't ka nasa picture ko? hahaha...

Oh well. If at first you don't succeed then try and try again.

me and my baby butanding

I was a little surprised at how small and compact the inside of the Museum was. Especially when you think about how big it is outside. I initially thought that we'd be able to finish the exhibits quickly. I was even afraid that I might get bored. But believe me, that would never happen. This place has got tons to do. If you're not careful, you can actually miss some of the smaller exhibits. Don't make that mistake. Otherwise you'd miss out on the really cool details they put into this place.

...like a tiny Lara Croft telling you about fossils

...or the really tiny dinosaurs

...and this tiny replica of an earthquake

...that comes with a straightforward warning

It's easy to gloss over the small stuff because of the huge massive stuff the Museum has. And it's not like the big stuff were just big for bigness' sake. They were quite enjoyable to interact with and you learn a lot from them (if you bother to read the signs... which I didn't... but I'm assuming they would have been very informative if I did. hahaha). It's the kind of stuff that makes you go, "wow..."

wow... a t-rex

wow... a huge human brain

wow... old people. like really, really, really, really old people

wow.. fossilized dinosaur poo (no. seriously. it's dinosaur poo.)

Besides, their being big just offered you the perfect photo opp moment.

me and my t-rex

me and the guy who walks in space

By the time I had reached the second floor, I started to lose steam. I stopped actively looking for buttons to press and when I couldn't figure something out with trial and error, I move on to the next thing on display. I still appreciated everything up there but I mostly watched other people play with them rather than do it myself. It was still fun and it allowed me the chance to catch my breath.

friends operating the primitive printer (at si kuyang hindi namin kilala...)

friend playing on a harp with no strings and yet plays music

At the end of it, 3 hours was probably just about enough time to see the exhibits and appreciate what a world class Science Museum has to offer. If you spend less time in there, I'd say that you really didn't get to know much of what was put up. Spend more than that, then I'd congratulate you for your thirst for knowledge. It's definitely something I'd love to go back to. I'll bring along my nephews. I'm pretty sure even after my 3 hours there, I probably missed an exhibit or two.

But boy do I feel smarter already!

can you read my mind?

On a completely unrelated note, I sigh unhappily at my pictures. I really should learn how to take better shots. :-S

Meanwhile, I'm not sure how this got into my cam...

The Mind Museum is located at JY Campos Park, 3rd Ave. Bonifacio Global City, Taguig , Metro Manila Philippines. Different ticket types are available: Adults at Php600.oo, Children and Private School Students (including college) at Php450.00, Public School Students (up to college) at Php150.00 and Teachers at Php150.00. Tickets are now onsale at their website at http://www.themindmuseum.org/.