Vignesh

Pre-Trip Reflections @Changi Airport: 

Pre trip reflections

1. What do you feel about the upcoming trip?

      I feel optimistic about the trip mostly because of the itinerary that I viewed weeks before the trip. I saw the presence of the most unique and very impressive observatories in the agenda.

2. 3 things I am looking forward to:

      
      The view of the night sky in Penang which I heard was stunning with the presence of the milky way. ‎I am looking forward to encountering new experiences that I did not previously encounter in Penang. I am looking forward to improving my astronomical knowledge.

3. 3 things I am looking forward to learning in Penang:

      I am looking forward to learning about the best night sky in SEA. ‎I am looking forward to learning about how to identify constellations even with light pollution. I am looking forward to learning ‎more scientific content (in all fields).

4. 3 things that I am looking forward to learning from my friends.

      I am looking forward to learning about everyone's preferences so I can adapt myself to the situation. I am looking forward to learning about unique traits and personalities that are in my seniors and juniors. I am looking forward to not gain any bad habits from my friends.

5. 3 things I hope to learn about myself

      I hope to learn how to adapt to be more adapted to specific situations. I hope to learn what my learning capacity is and I hope to learn how to improve it if it is not high enough.

6. 3 challenges I give to myself.

      I challenge myself to learn as much as I can in Penang. I challenge myself to be happy with what I have. I will challenge myself to step out my comfort zone to do whatever it takes to learn.

7. My expectations of Penang

      I expect Penang to be ridden with a night sky that soundly puts other SEA countries to shame. I also hope Penang to be offering different varieties of food to everyone. I expect that travel time in Penang would not be that long seen as it is a relatively small island, compared to the rest of Malaysia.

Daily reflection:

   Day 1

The best thing that had happened to me today was the visit to Dr C.K's makeshift observatory

which I found to be interesting because it can produce images as stunning as observatories on Hawaii mountain and wasn't significantly smaller in size. At first, I could not believe it, but after seeing the results, I could not come away not believing it. I wish I can go back there.

Something I have found out is my unyielding passion for astronomy, especially in a place that the Milky Way can be seen with our own naked eyes.I know I need to change the way that I get irritated at the number of flies in the vicinity. I really admire the idea that this makeshift observatory can capture images that are as good as the best observatories in the world. I learn best when everything is hands on much like this activity. I think that this learning expressed the astronomical side of me that is eager to learn about the stars above.

I believe that this activity is the best eye-opener for me. My point of view is that this activity is better than what we have in Singapore. I disagreed at first that this observatory would be better than the one we have at SG. But now, I agree that this observatory is miles ahead of any other tropical observatory.

Day 2

Somethings scary that happened to me was the g drop and the walking rooftop bridge. These were scary because they all involved heights. I am not a fan of heights. But in the end, I bit my tongue, and then I just did it (Aka conquered it). I was scared of the first roof top bridge because it was on the top of a very tall building and we had to wear some shoe protector which made it very slippery. So I was naturally scared, but I overcame it after I saw how good the look of Penang City was. The g drop was a whole different matter mainly because I had motion sickness from the ride before and I felt like vomiting. So I felt like I could vomit but I still managed to pull through and have fun.

I believe that this experience was a new experience for me as this was a different way on combat my 'fear' heights. I would like to look at the different points of views in my team as I wonder that if my team members have the same 'phobia' like me. In conclusion, I have felt that today's activities were fruitful regarding everything.

Day 3

Something nice that happened to me today was the learning experience I had gained at the school observatory. An example of what I had learnt today would be the implications of a rooftop observatory and how hard it would be to install. For example, one of the lenses in the telescope cost nearly as much as a decent Mercedes Benz car. This has made me value the telescope more as I thought that these would not cost nearly as much as they would mainly because of how simple the design is. But the science behind making the lens is not.

I believe that this experience was very enriching mainly because that this school observatory was making use of Penang's rich night sky and the modern technology. I would like to know if my teammates were as astounded at that as I was mainly because it was a beautiful sight from start to finish. In conclusion, this experience really makes me want to have an observatory on SST's rooftop.

Day 4

Today, the most important thing that has happened to me today was the main visiting of the various landmarks in Penang such as the various religious places, heritage sites and shops meant for food buffs. Through this, I learnt the diverse culture of Penang as culture can be directly derived from the food items. Coffee indicates the presence of the Dutch and the bread items indicates the presence of the British.


I believed that the presence of the various communities have taken their toll on the land of Penang in a positive manner; because of the Dutch, there was good food such as coffee and its derivatives and because of the British, there was good infrastructure. In the future I would like to do a bit of research on the country I am visiting so I can keep an open mind and learn as much as I can.