Under the S.E.A.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Finally! We went to S.E.A. Aquarium. So far, the comments I heard about it was that there weren't alot of fish species (but that was when it just opened not too long after) and that it was really crowded (on a public holiday). So since the day didn't fall into either category, we decided to go and give it a try. Initially, we wanted to go on the day we went adventure cove to get the bundle tix. But the salesperson told us that we need not have to buy bundle to get a cheaper price (because of some student discount and stuff), and so we decided to delay this visit. In the end, we had to pay the full amount because the offer finished when we decided to go. Got so suay anot -.-

Since we didn't take the entrance photo-shoot, I made ourselves a little photo memoir from the photos I took =) Got aquarium feel horh? *satisfied* Best is still saved the extra $$ ya *double satisfied* haha...
There were quite a variety of fish, and also a variety of showcasing methods. There's this like glass plank showcase where we can step onto and feel like we were "standing on water".
There's also another showcasing method where one area of the glass is a convex portion that acts as an magnifying glass (see below, compare the seahorses' sizes!). This idea is quite interesting, but the whole showcase was rather small and only around 3 person can view it at any one time (others will be blocked already). So the area is always crowded and takes quite a lot of time to view.
So there were loads of aquatic species to view, but here I'm only gonna show a few of the nicer and more interesting species I took. Here's one that looks like it inspired Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean. It looks like something with a fish body with an octopus head, and it changes colour when it gets agitated. Heh heh, we know cause we witnessed it. Quite scary though, luckily got the glass separating us if not I think it'll surely go into full attack mode on us. Have the video here but will upload when there's more time!
Okay, here's a pic of a yellow stingray. It's quite small in size but they always look so smiley under those stingyness...and I manage to got one nice pic of it so here it goes!
Another thing praise-worthy about s.e.a. is that their coral reefs are really pretty and brightly coloured which makes the tank kinda attractive. The fishes in it also had very nice colours but the reefs really got most of the attention.
Oh! There's dolphins there too! Loads of them and they kept swimming upright and somersault. At this station, there was this guy who was explaining why the dolphins does this and that and it's quite interesting and educational.
We had a jelly good time posing with some wall decors =)
As advertised, this aquarium has the world's largest viewing panel (36m wide by 8.3m high) and it's really breath taking to be standing in front of the panel. There were many different types of aquatic animals and it's quite cool to see them interact and swim here & there. However, it's quite difficult to take a photo with the panel without so-ever-many people camping by the panel. But one interesting angle was from the side viewing panel, kinda like a mini extended submarine by the panel. There I took this shot which I really like and so I'm naming it the best shot of the adventure! You can really see the schools of fishes swimming about like the ones that made the underwater mirage in Finding Nemo. Cool.
There's this souvenir machine which we "spotted" at a corner & luckily haven't attracted much attention yet when we arrived, and so we proceeded to make ourselves a little penny memory for our visit...
The process is quite interesting and we can get to turn & choose the pattern we wanted to stamp onto the penny. I got a turtle one and he got the stingray one! There are 2 other patterns to choose too (hammerhead shark and just the simple aquarium logo).
Yeah, and so here's another shot of the attractive reefs which this has a glow-in-the-dark effect. 
We also manage to queue for a chance to experience the touch pool creatures. The queue was like 15 mins and then shwoosh, you get directed to move left move left and end the experience in 5. We manage to touch a few starfishes and also an empty shark egg (err...I guess it's for texture experience?). There was the in charge informing the visitors on the dos & don'ts and apparently we shouldn't pull a starfish from its position. So that translates to a "no-carrying of starfish" I guess. Quite different experience from the one I had in Korea where the in-charge just kept taking starfishes to place them on the side rocks and ask the visitors to hold and place them back into the tank (which is much more interesting & also memorable). The Korea one didn't had a queue too and I spent like 10mins by the touch pool looking and sometimes trying to get some tactile experience at my own pace. That one had a wash-area nearby but this one wasn't too bad either as they provided tissues.
Tada! Finally a chance to take photo with an unobstructed panel!
We met this friendly diver & he posed with us for a photo! Not bad huh my photo-taking skills...
Haha! I really liked this random pic of this pufferfish that seemed to be looking in my direction giving the "blur-king" kind of expression just when I pressed the camera button.
Actually, most of the designs of the aquarium are rather new and refreshing. The only thing pulling it back is the problem of over-crowding because some exhibits only cater to such a small number of visitors at a time and yet, people were still streaming in non-stop. Here's one pic just to have an idea of how crowded it is inside...
Of course, the crowd sometimes thin at certain places but seriously, its a non-public holiday and the numbers are already this high...

Nevertheless, it's an experience and I can strike the target to see the world's largest aquarium panel display off my list of to-dos here in my hometown. I've recently learnt how to use a panorama and here's one to end this post! Enjoy!
And one quote to end it all that suits well for this experience and life too:
"Just Keep Swimmin'" - Dory ;)

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