If you need any more proof that I'm not a fun travel buddy, a terrible human being in general, and the last person you should get to plan itineraries, it's the ArtScience Museum. It's a place I absolutely loved because I am actually a five-year old, but I can't say the same for the Actual Adults who were with me.
Future World is a permanent exhibition in ArtScience Museum. Apparently they change stuff sometimes so things may be a little different when you visit. When were there, the Nature area had Black Waves. It's a dark room with bean bag cushions in the middle where you can lie down as you watch the waves projected on the walls. It's very, as the cool kids say, Aesthetic™, and I feel like if you're a better photographer than I am, you can take really fantastic photos here.
Of course, you don't have to take photos or Boomerangs at all. You can just sit back and relax, which we totally did. Unless you're not good with cold. This place is like a fridge.
I think it's absolutely possible for older people to enjoy this exhibit, but it's clear when you get to the Town area that it's a place for kids. Even though adults are also welcome, everything is kids sized. There's a short slide where you have to take your shoes off and some interactive stuff where every change you make does something to the exhibit.
In the Town area, there's a city projected on the wall. There are tables and chairs, and paper with drawings of cars, buildings, planes, and the like, which you can colour with the oil pastels provided. You scan your work at the scanning station and they show up on the virtual city! There's also a separate set with butterflies and other animals. They show up on the projection on the floor, but they're not as easy to spot as the ones on the city.
There's a small room where you can scan your vehicle or building to make a papercraft version. I wish I could have brought home mine, but I figured I have nowhere to put it anyway even if I managed to bring home the papers without tears.
The next area has a similar interactive thingy. This time it's an underwater scenery. Most people chose jellyfish so at some point the screen was filled with differently decorated jellies. There were other kinds of fish too, like swordfish, that you can colour in and scan, but I suppose jellyfishes are easier to decorate.
You can also interact with your drawings! If you touch the vehicles, they do a little jump. The sea creatures swim away from you if you touch them. You can also touch the bag of fish food that occasionally drops to feed the fishes.
On the other side of the room is a small area for really small children. There are two small tablets where you can design a hopscotch course that will be projected onto the floor for kids to play on. Even I, a very small human, was already too big and old for that part, but it was interesting trying to figure out the hopscotch course maker thing.
A little further down the room is another wall where symbols fall down and when you touch them they transform into elements or creatures. Apparently it's called The Story of the Time When Gods Were Everywhere, and it really feels like you're some ancient god creating a new world.
You can also interact with your drawings! If you touch the vehicles, they do a little jump. The sea creatures swim away from you if you touch them. You can also touch the bag of fish food that occasionally drops to feed the fishes.
On the other side of the room is a small area for really small children. There are two small tablets where you can design a hopscotch course that will be projected onto the floor for kids to play on. Even I, a very small human, was already too big and old for that part, but it was interesting trying to figure out the hopscotch course maker thing.
A little further down the room is another wall where symbols fall down and when you touch them they transform into elements or creatures. Apparently it's called The Story of the Time When Gods Were Everywhere, and it really feels like you're some ancient god creating a new world.
While we were at the Space area, there were two young women who held up the line because they wanted to take the perfect Instagram photo without regard for the other people in the exhibit. The girl literally said, "Bahala sila diyan," which is pretty much like "Let them eat cake" if it was spoken by some asshat blocking the way in a light installation instead of a princess about bread shortages during the French Revolution.
As a result to this rudeness, I wasn't able to take a decent photo here and we even got told off by the attendant even if it wasn't our fault the line got held up. I hope those women always have shiny faces in their photos and their internet connection is always slow wherever they are.
Anyway, there was a small space in the middle of the Park area where you can play with beach ball-like globes that light up in different colors. You have to take your shoes off for this. The space was divided into two, for the bigger balls for older children and adults, and for the smaller balls for younger kids. It's really fun because I'm five years old. I kept falling and I might have lightly scraped my knees. According to the description on the website, the colors and sounds change depending on how you play with the balls. I never realized this! I was wondering about the sounds and thought maybe it had something to do with the colours, but I didn't figure out how to really play with it!
It was still bright out when we left the exhibit so we hung out at their cafe for a while. I thought their muffin was pretty tasty, although it tastes exactly like the muffin I ended up eating the next day at Starbucks. They have a few other cool nerdy stuff on display on this level (the ticket counters and exhibitions are downstairs) and this cafe is also aesthetically pleasing. If I were a rich nerd, I'd definitely hang out here a lot.
They have wifi, by the way, so you can upload your photos to whichever social media you have. There are outlets hidden in the slots in the middle of the table too. I assume you can do some work on your laptop here. It's quiet on a weekday.
If you buy a ticket to Future World, you get free admission to this Digital Light Canvas in The Shoppes. I'm not sure if it's a limited promotion. We only saw kids and their guardians here, though. I'm not as comfortable being a total loser in the middle of a mall as in a closed museum, so we didn't avail of this.
When the sun started to set, we walked up to the Helix Bridge to snap a few photos and kill more time before going back to the Gardens by the Bay. There were people on bikes and rollerblades passing by. I think it's really cool! I kinda wanted to cycle too. There's probably a place nearby you can rent bikes from...
When the sun started to set, we walked up to the Helix Bridge to snap a few photos and kill more time before going back to the Gardens by the Bay. There were people on bikes and rollerblades passing by. I think it's really cool! I kinda wanted to cycle too. There's probably a place nearby you can rent bikes from...
We ended the day at the Supertree Grove. After the garden symphony or whatever it's called, we ate dinner and went back to our hostel. The next day is our last in Singapore! There's not much to talk about, but there's still a few pictures so maybe I'll write a bit on my final thoughts about this trip. Gotta milk this for all the blog entries it's worth, right?
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