Morning Out at UPM - 28 Nov 2012

We've an early start to visit several places in Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang (UPM) - which was once an agricultural school to what is today, a leading research university in Malaysia.

This was the research farm of UPM. Cows were grazing on the field with dirt roads going up and down following the contour of the farmland. Very scenic but unfortunately were unable to stop for photos cos we're travelling in a convoy. No wonder this is a popular place for photoshoot.

We managed to catch the milking process during our 2nd visit. Gotta be there before 8am if you want to see it. 

Cows were gathered at an area while waiting for their turn to be milked. The dairy farmers washed the cow udders before latching on the pumps. 

Younger kids have the opportunities to bottle feed the calves. Calves were separated from their mothers at very young age, to ensure the mothers have enough milk for the dairy farmers. 

Next, we moved on to the horse stables, that could accommodate more than 40 horses. Horses loved the carrots that we'd brought, but you gotta do it right! Wei has the honour of being bitten by an agitated horse, an early morning jolt for him. 

From livestock to dead specimens - WOW factor at the animal anatomy museum!

A python. Many interesting things to see in the museum...

A horse.

An orang utan.

An ostrich.

Intrigued by a king cobra that won't bite. Interested in being a Vet?

Another WOW factor - the 'human anatomy museum' for the medical students of UPM.

Located on the faculty-hospital campus of UPM, this museum has both "real and plastinated" specimens of human organs, embryos and fetuses, skulls, anatomical models etc. It showed the processes of the major body systems: circulatory, respiratory, digestive, reproductive, nervous, musculoskeletal, excretory, etc. 

It's a rare opportunity for us to observe the nature of our bodies and how they work, and what happens if they malfunction. Photography is prohibited on certain real specimens!

An astounding collection of the central nervous system - a display of different angles of the brains!

A staff explaining to the kids what's inside the skull and why it's so important to wear helmets to protect it. She was good to guide us around the specimens in the museum.

Fascinating to see human anatomy that's horizontally sectioned into slices.

We finished the tours at around 11 am and felt like we've accomplished a lot. We're so privileged cos we simply could not demonstrate these specimens properly in classrooms.  

And it got the kids excited. Probably they would be inspired too. Indeed there're so few opportunities like these, may be why most of the kids end up wanting to become pop stars instead.