Macao Science Center field trip

This morning, we took a group of UM students to the Macao Science Center, a sleek semi-cone designed by I.M. Pei, jutting out into the Macau-Taipa strait near Fisherman’s Wharf.
The planetarium dome

The main building (still under semi-construction)

Susan and I got there a little early, so while we were waiting, we saw several busloads of younger students coming for their own field trips. We couldn’t help but smile at the youngest ones: girls had plaid jumpers (with pockets) and the boys had little bow ties!
So cute!

We first went to see a 3-D planetarium show entitled “Dawn of the Space Age,” which was quite technically impressive: the theater is dome-shaped so the 3-D images really popped out, plus the seats vibrated during every rocket launch, so I guess it’s what some places might consider a “4-D” experience. The narration was mainly broadcast in Cantonese, but we tried to get the students to use the headsets that provide the (original) English narration…not sure how successful we were, because it was too dark inside to see if they were using them!

After a group photo in the atrium, we all split up to go wandering around the main exhibition space. The main building is kind of like the Guggenheim Museum in New York: a huge spiral with halls around the outside, so it was easy to just walk up the ramp and poke our heads into whatever looked interesting. I should note here that the exhibits are primarily aimed toward the 10-and-under set, but we still found many things of interest/amusement. Central display in the atrium

This young man got very good at tossing the balls into the whirlpool

Chibi-Newton!

Susan and Austin playing a jumping game (they tied)

A robot that would scurry away from antennae touches (but move forward if the back one touched the wall)

One of the halls I found most interesting was tucked away on the ground floor behind the rocket in the middle of the atrium: an exhibit on ancient Chinese technology. It included classics like a dragon/frog seismograph and printing blocks, but also some things I hadn’t seen before like an odometer, bamboo paper-making, and a multi-jar clepsydra (aka water clock).
Dragon rocket (inspiration for Mulan?)

A rather clunky odometer (used only for keeping track of how far the emperor traveled on his tours around the country)

The multi-level water clock (design circa 1316)

We finished the trip with lunch at the “Café I Kuong Chiu Fok II,” a little noodle shop on the corner of the NAPE area. Clearest sign of a good restaurant: you see lots of locals eating there. The fare here was simple: rice or regular noodles with a variety of toppings such as beef tendon, meatballs, curry chicken, or even intestine. Medium-bowls are 16 MOP, large ones are 21 MOP, and you can add pepper/chili flakes to suit your own level of spiciness. Simple, but filling =)