Bonding at the Mind Museum

Training has been twice a day for many weeks now. And Sundays are reserved for those long 100km rides on the bike which is often times mixed with an 8km to 10km run we call Bricks. And true to it's name, these workout sessions never ceases to make my legs feeling like bricks afterwards. The load sometimes leaves me totally wasted and I am reduced to a zombie for the rest of the day.

But I can never be too tired to enjoy a bonding session with my kids. Somehow, my situation makes me treasure every minute I can spend with them.

This Sunday was set for the boys and I to go to the Mind Museum at the Bonifacio Global City.

T-Rex on display at the Mind Museum.

I guess my teammates noticed I was holding back this morning. I purposely eased back on the training so that I'd be "good company" for my day out with the boys.

The Mind Museum is a project of the Bonifacio Art Foundation and is spearheaded by Butch Campos of the Unilab/SAFI group, real estate baron, Fernando Zobel de Ayala, Charlie Rufino, representing the Bonifacio Global City property owners, Antonio Aquino of Ayala Land, Emily Abrera, an institution in the Advertising Industry and Mariano Tan of Unilab.  In the early days, Jimmy Ayala and Manny Blas were the backbone of the project. I attended a few meetings when the pioneering team was still putting things together. This was way back in 2008 I think.

Logo of the Mind Museum.

My two boys and I were excited on our way to BGC. We've heard about the Mind Museum being a FIRST CLASS SCIENCE MUSEUM and both kids are into science as well as going to museums. It's located along 3rd Avenue and is a 5 minute walk from the Bonifacio High Street cluster of buildings. This made it convenient for us to park at Serendra, lunch at Chelsea, do a bit of shopping at Fullybooked then proceed to the Museum.

Signage at the Lobby

It's important to go at specific times as they let visitors in only on 3 hour viewing shifts - 9am to 12nn, 12nn to 3pm, 3pm to 6pm from Monday to Friday and an extra 6pm to 9pm on Saturdays and Sundays. We got there at 2:15 so had to wait 45 minutes. Strange though that there weren't any chairs or benches in the lobby for the visitors. It's not too friendly for kids and the elderly in this regard.

Aide the Robot will greet you at the Lobby Entrance.

The hassle of waiting 45 minutes without benches or chairs was a bit tiring, but I figured it was part of the rules to manage the crowds inside the Exhibit Halls. Aide, the talking robot gave us a very quick overview of the facility and some "house rules".

Getting Ready to Enter.

There are 5 galleries to see at the Mind Museum - Earth, Life, Atom, Universe and Technology. Each gallery loaded with interesting and highly informative exhibits.

Earth:

This is where the T-Rex bones are displayed. This makes it a thrill and a must for kids to learn from and have fun with.

You can get up close to the T-Rex bones.

The head of the T-Rex is as big as my youngest son's full body. That must have been a really spooky Dino when it roamed the earth. Even its poop was scary. It was actually on display.

Fossilized Dino Poop

Universe:

A space outfit is displayed in the Universe gallery. There's also a thrilling film on Cosmic Collisions in this gallery that shouldn't be missed. You get to watch this inside a dome shaped mini theater where the film is projected on the dome's ceiling. You watch the film lying down on your back.

Space Suit on display.

Catching the film lying down.

Life

The highlight of the Life Gallery is the giant brain on exhibit as well as the quick walk through on how life began and evolved to what it is today.

Highlights of the Life Gallery. Very Austin Powers layout.

The other galleries were on Atom and Technology. I wasn't able to take that much pictures here because my phone batt was running on low. But I guarantee that all the exhibits are worth visiting as well.

Building curiosity.

Shopping:

There's also a Mind Museum gift shop which you can brose through before and after the tour. The stuff here are nice but a bit pricey. I guess that's the "cost of education".

Nice stuff for sale.

Entrance is P600 for Adults and P450 (discounted) for kids with valid ID cards. It's a pleasant and relaxing experience.

Excited to enter....

It's a pleasant bonding moment that I'm certain, the kids won't easily forget.

My youngest son who's growing up too fast.

Close encounter with a T-Rex.

Find the time to do this. It will help your relax and be mentally strong for the coming races.

More importantly, it's a form of Work - Life - and Triathlon Balance!