Sunday
There’s little that would make more sense (given the prevailing heat and humidity of Singapore) than spending this solstice weekend peering at our nearest star through a filtered telescope.
No wait! There’s at least five things which would make more sense. I wrote a whole guest post for Multicultural Kids Blogs on beating the heat Singapore style and, strangely, “stand outside looking closely at something incredibly hot” was not one of them.
Luckily, Singapore is more sensible than we are, and provided enough cloud cover to blot out the big, fiery ball we were seeking. Here we are failing to see it through a small, filtered telescope, despite the help of the lovely people at the Singapore Science Centre Observatory:
This is P serenading everyone with David Bowie’s Space Oddity as we wait to see if the giant telescope can do any better:
Every so often he’d pause for an “instrumental” and someone would start clapping. Then he’d start up with the next line and they’d look embarrassed and stop.
These guys looked like they knew what they were doing:
…but P scientifically refused to rely on their anecdotal evidence when they finally announced the sun just couldnt be seen.
I’m so glad we dragged our friends all the way out there to celebrate with us. As they must also be.
Next summer solstice, we’ll definitely go with ice kachang, and I might even see if I can find an adult-sized pair of diamante-studded sunglasses. Or any of the other options I talked about in my more sensible post on how to tackle Singapore’s summer.
The post Sunday appeared first at Journeys of the Fabulist.
Bet P knew all the words to the song too.
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He did. He really did. I’ll have to get going on that video I was talking to Jen about (above) and show it to you.
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Love the quality activity! We obtained a telescope a few years ago and were instantly disheartened to realize that because we are surrounded by trees we can’t see anything. Our solution: to take the telescope out into the cul de sac in the middle of winter. We can see stuff then.
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Ah yes, trees. We have a similar problem as we’re hemmed in by buildings. Luckily ours is as portable as yours sounds so we can take it to a better vantage point!
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Oh my, P is such a wonderful character! He is awesome! I wish I could have seen the musical performance. 🙂 Looks like lots of fun was had by all!
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I can send you a video if you’d like 😉 . He made me film a whole music video at home.
It would definitely have been cooler without the clouds (not literally cooler – literally hotter, but metaphorically cooler) but the kids enjoyed meeting up anyway, and I think telescopes are just cool even when you can’t see much through them.
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oh yes! Send it to me! I am impressed that he even knows David Bowie… I am a big fan. 🙂
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Haha – really? Okay, let me trim it up a bit to edit the part where you see T showing her “wares” at the end…
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You don’t have to if it’s much trouble! 🙂
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Shouldn’t be, just one of those five minute jobs on a long list of five minute jobs 🙂 . I think P wanted it on youtube anyway.
I’m definitely getting around to responding to your writing process tag, by the way (speaking of jobs on long lists of jobs – that one’s a bit longer, mind you).
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Oh I understand that… I am just now getting back into the swing of things after our trip… So glad to be home for a bit.
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You should take five minutes to put your feet up!
(I’m about to publish my post on Krabi… you can tell us what we missed for next time. Then put your feet up 😉 )
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But it looks like P enjoyed himself 🙂
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He could barely contain his excitement! Bit disappointed about the clouds, but nothing he couldn’t handle.
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Actually I didn’t find the heat and humidity of the tropics unbearable at all and loved getting around on the outside in Singapore. There’s so much of interest there. Singapore is one of my most favourite countries on earth.
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The heat is actually not too bad – it’s low thirties, at worst. I think it’s the humidity that gets most people.
I have to say we’re used to it now, although part of that is having adapted our behaviour slightly so as not to stand out in the sun looking at the sun all day (and having lowered expectations of how fast we’ll be walking from place to place – everyone’s definitely a bit more sluggish).
But I can definitely walk around in jeans, etc without complaining and there’s certainly stuff to see and do outside.
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Ha, I love it. I’d love to get to look through a more impressive telescope than the random decorative one my parents owned.
There is a super fancy schmancy telescope store in my city and I once wandered in by accident, mostly to see the architecture of the building. I ended up talking to the owner for over an hour, it was all so fascinating.
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Those telescope guys can really get going. When we bought ours P asked the shop guy to show him which model he had and the shop guy had to explain that he doesn’t settle for shop-bought telescopes – he makes his own. Which of course just led to so many more questions.
It was a long shopping trip, and not for the usual reasons.
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There was a discussion on the radio as to whether it was the longest night or the shortest day here. Your father rang in and reminded them that the word ‘solstice’ referred to the ‘sun’ – ‘sol being latin for sun’. Everyone was amazed. I read they are bringing latin roots back into the education programme. Could help in situations like these.
P’s disappointment reminded me of the time you had a Halley’s comet sleepover with your class at school when you were in Grade 4. The sky was clouded and so the comet couldn’t be seen. Everyone was disappointed but you had fun.
Wish I’d seen 800 witches – just for a spell. What a sight! That’s 800 black cats also!
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Do you think they’d all have cats? Or would there be some lizards, toads, and maybe one or two ferrets in the mix?
Or are ferrets a wizard thing?
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Ha, love the singing part! Funny kid! 🙂
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The original (pre-cropped) picture is funnier because in addition to the bemused adults in the background there’s also two girls, about two or three years older than P, standing behind his right shoulder wearing these looks of disbelief and distain.
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Ha ha! Mean girls 😉
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Exactly! It was exactly like that. I so wanted to put the uncropped version up for general comment, but, people’s kids, you know.
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Yeah, I guess you have to be a bit careful there!
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I am thinking that the 5th Dimension’s, “Aquarius: Let the Sunshine In” would be an appropriate song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06X5HYynP5E 🙂 Curt
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That should have been the next song after Space Oddity! It’s also going to be the song stuck in my head all evening.
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Worse things have happened. Somehow, when I was young I heard the song “Does your chewing gum loose its flavor on the bed post over night?” It haunted my brain for months. 🙂 –Curt
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Ok, wow, turns out you can google anything:
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I refuse, refuse, refuse to listen to that song. LOL –Curt
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Okay, I confess I listened. I bet you thought I was kidding. 🙂
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I took you seriously! I feel betrayed.
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You did, and my bad. Now I have to listen to “Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor” roll around in my head for the next month. LOL You have your revenge. 🙂 –Curt
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Oh, sorry… I didn’t think that through very well, did I?
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🙂
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What a bummer. But the clouds made our 39 Celsius bearable. I could do with some Ice Kachang!
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The temperature was definitely more pleasant with the cloud cover. You just can’t have it both ways!
Hope you get your ice kachang. 🙂
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haha, yes…I imagine the humidity has been killing everyone here (including me!) Trying to keep outdoor activities to a minimum actually or evenings out instead. I was out walking around Chinatown yesterday and the sun totally zapped me of my energy!
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Yes, going out after dark is definitely the sensible thing. It’s amazing how much less energetic you feel in the heat.
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the 2-year-old – and therefore me too – celebrated the longest day by literally making it the longest day, waking at 6am and not sleeping until midnight. I’d have gladly sent our dawn sunshine your way.
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Ooh… 6am til midnight… any naps?
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A mid-morning nap for him. Sadly not for me.
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Ah yes Bronwyn, but P still has the brightness and warmth of his loving Mother even if the sun isn’t visible.
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Ha! Now there’s a song I can sing. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine…”
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It was our Winter Solstice yesterday. Our weather has been very bizarre here in Sydney – It was about 25 degrees celsius today (like early summer) but still cold at night although I’ve heard it didn’t stop 800 local witches from celebrating 😉
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Eight hundred witches! That would have made a more exciting post than not-seeing the sun through a telescope. We work with what we’ve got, I suppose.
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We are constantly seeking the big fiery ball. Love that phrase. Looks like P was in his glory. 🙂
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He was pretty excited – and unfortunately disappointed. But after a quick look through the telescope to verify what he was being told (why would they lie to him?) he took it on the chin.
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One of those life lessons the sun doesn’t always shine when you want it too. 🙂
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Very poetically put! I must remember to put it like that to him tomorrow.
Or in song. The way you put it reminds me of a song, but I can’t quite figure out which one. I just have this feeling there’s something I should be singing in response to that…
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I wouldn’t dare sing as the windows would crack:)
Some of my kids beat life learnings came from disappointments and heartache. Tough to watch at the time as a parent though that’s for sure.
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I’m sure they wouldn’t physically crack (although I’ve been worried in the past that some of my listeners might crack them in their attempts to escape) but over the soundless comments section there’s no pressure, so we don’t have to argue 🙂 .
Definitely lots to learn through heartache. Bit of a tough teacher, though, it’s true.
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Fun memories! Even though it was cloudy! 🙂
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Yes, bit of a shame about the clouds. We’ll have to try it again one Friday on observatory night – looking at the stars this time!
It was definitely a good idea for celebrating the solstice.
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But it’s winter! 😛
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Haha. I know how you feel. I can’t quite get my head around June being the summer solstice either. In my defence, I do start my guest post my clearly referencing the northern hemisphere.
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