Yes, I know the title of the song is Vincent by Don McLean and not Starry Starry Night. I just thought the title suits this post.

If you haven't guessed it yet, this post is about stars and it does take place during night time. So here we go to the Observatory!

But before that, we had our dinner at Pancakes at the rocks. This would be my second trip to pancakes but somehow I felt the first one was better. Maybe it was the food we chose, but the pancakes were not as filling (ok, maybe my stomach did expand during the holidays) or as delicious. Just so-so I would say.

Because I was working prior to our night out, I was afraid that we would be too late for the earlier session. Hence, we booked the 8 o'clock session instead of the earlier 6 o'clock one. The result? We had to sit in front of the building in a cold winter night as we were too early.

We did explore Arglye Street for a bit and entered a bar (just for a sneak peek), an art gallery and a few stops here and there but it was not enough to kill time.

After sitting on the bench for around half an hour, a security guard came out and seeing us sitting there out in the cold, he allowed us to go in half and hour early! Haha, we must have looked frozen to him. So we had a longer time to explore the free part of the museum which was good given that the last time I was there, I didn't get to go to every single exhibition room let alone thoroughly understanding the displays.

At 8.15 p.m., the tour guide made a call to all of us to gather at the counter and we were ushered into the 3D theatre for a short screening of 3D movies. I was a bit disappointed with the "movie" that he showed us (the first time I was at the observatory, they screened a really good one). The guide spent most of the time pausing at certain planets and talking about them. I guess it's good for adding on to your knowledge and helping you understand better about the solar system but I'm there to watch the 3D effects :( Sigh... (I know I'm childish) The guide also loves to take questions and answer them, makes me feel like I'm in my tutorial instead of a tour. Haha.

After the 3D session, the fun part begins. We moved to the "new telescope" dome and had a look through the telescope. Luckily it was a clear night so we could enjoy views of various stars and star clusters. From what I recalled, we had a look at the Moon, the Jewel Box and Alpha Centauri. The guide also shone his really "geng" laser beam into the sky and showed us where is the southern cross and where the stars are actually situated if we see it with our naked eyes. I really liked the laser because it can shine really really far into the sky... Was really at awe just looking at the laser instead of the stars... -.-"

The funny thing about the dome is that it is built in a way where you can actually hear people from across the room whispering or talking. So, there were practically no secrets when you're in the dome. I mean, you could hear what the person is saying really loudly! Too bad I can't understand all the languages there as our tour group consisted of many ethics.

The guide talked about so many things and answered so many questions that we did not have time to go to the "old telescope" dome. So we ended our tour here... Oh well, not really as worth as my first visit to the observatory but it is more informative this time.

Yes, I know the title of the song is Vincent by Don McLean and not Starry Starry Night. I just thought the title suits this post.

If you haven't guessed it yet, this post is about stars and it does take place during night time. So here we go to the Observatory!

But before that, we had our dinner at Pancakes at the rocks. This would be my second trip to pancakes but somehow I felt the first one was better. Maybe it was the food we chose, but the pancakes were not as filling (ok, maybe my stomach did expand during the holidays) or as delicious. Just so-so I would say.

Because I was working prior to our night out, I was afraid that we would be too late for the earlier session. Hence, we booked the 8 o'clock session instead of the earlier 6 o'clock one. The result? We had to sit in front of the building in a cold winter night as we were too early.

We did explore Arglye Street for a bit and entered a bar (just for a sneak peek), an art gallery and a few stops here and there but it was not enough to kill time.

After sitting on the bench for around half an hour, a security guard came out and seeing us sitting there out in the cold, he allowed us to go in half and hour early! Haha, we must have looked frozen to him. So we had a longer time to explore the free part of the museum which was good given that the last time I was there, I didn't get to go to every single exhibition room let alone thoroughly understanding the displays.

At 8.15 p.m., the tour guide made a call to all of us to gather at the counter and we were ushered into the 3D theatre for a short screening of 3D movies. I was a bit disappointed with the "movie" that he showed us (the first time I was at the observatory, they screened a really good one). The guide spent most of the time pausing at certain planets and talking about them. I guess it's good for adding on to your knowledge and helping you understand better about the solar system but I'm there to watch the 3D effects :( Sigh... (I know I'm childish) The guide also loves to take questions and answer them, makes me feel like I'm in my tutorial instead of a tour. Haha.

After the 3D session, the fun part begins. We moved to the "new telescope" dome and had a look through the telescope. Luckily it was a clear night so we could enjoy views of various stars and star clusters. From what I recalled, we had a look at the Moon, the Jewel Box and Alpha Centauri. The guide also shone his really "geng" laser beam into the sky and showed us where is the southern cross and where the stars are actually situated if we see it with our naked eyes. I really liked the laser because it can shine really really far into the sky... Was really at awe just looking at the laser instead of the stars... -.-"

The funny thing about the dome is that it is built in a way where you can actually hear people from across the room whispering or talking. So, there were practically no secrets when you're in the dome. I mean, you could hear what the person is saying really loudly! Too bad I can't understand all the languages there as our tour group consisted of many ethics.

The guide talked about so many things and answered so many questions that we did not have time to go to the "old telescope" dome. So we ended our tour here... Oh well, not really as worth as my first visit to the observatory but it is more informative this time.