That Time Starfish Taught Us Literature in Singapore

Over the course of the school year, my students read the Odyssey, the famous Greek epic about a hero who overcomes all odds to return to his home and save his family. It’s a very personal journey of struggles that symbolically highlights what every human must go through in life.

Just about every story in literature mimics the Odyssey. In fact, Western literature is a vast library of the same old story: a man (or woman) who goes on a quest involving self-discovery and an inevitable call to heroism.

Academics even coined terms for this kind of story: it’s called an “epic,” with the main character being an “epic hero.” Readers learn of both his “internal conflict” and “external conflict.” The hero faces his internal conflict, usually through a series of near-fatal struggles, and dominates his external conflict, sometimes with force, sometimes with wit, sometimes with a pleasant mix of both and sometimes with sheer stupidity.

The hero almost ALWAYS wins in a story. If he didn’t win, there would be no one to celebrate and that can be a major letdown. This story is repeated time and time again. Like how John McClane saved everyone in the Nakatomi building from being killed by terrorists. Or how Harry Potter overcame his complex of being the sixth horcrux and defeated He Who Must Not Be Named.

But in Eastern literature, sometimes heroes don’t win. All that matters is the journey to get them there. If that journey means the ultimate sacrifice of the hero’s life, then so be it. To die for a cause is better than living to receive the praise.

Well, it’s true what they say: travel really does educate because we learned that literature lesson at the SEA Aquarium in Singapore.

Sentosa Island’s merlion The boardwalk to SEA Aquarium, Singapore

The S.E.A. Aquarium is located on Sentosa Island, a resort island full of fun and shopping. It’s a bit pricey to get in to the aquarium at 29.00 SGD per person. But, it’s the biggest aquarium in the world. It’s also the most entertaining we’ve been to. Just the other day, the mister and I visited an aquarium in Long Beach, where I spent a solid half-hour petting starfish. That was very entertaining (I also pet a spiky sea urchin, but that was less entertaining for obvious reasons). Yet, the magnitude of the S.E.A. Aquarium had so much educational and hands-on information to offer.

To get into the actual aquarium from the maritime museum portion of S.E.A., we watched a 4D movie, where we learned about Eastern literature’s take on the epic journey [warning, spoiler alert]: Asian traders had to pass a typhoon to deliver their goods. It was absolutely imperative that they get the shipment delivered to the recipient, so important that it was a matter of life and death. But, the traders didn’t make it through the typhoon and everybody died (typical ending to an Asian movie).

Throughout the movie, the entire theatre descended. We experienced the movie’s typhoon with a light spritzing of water as well as the seats rumbling. Then the doors opened and we were inside the vast expanse of the aquarium.

It’s Patrick. He’s lost a lot of weight. Must be the Paleo Diet.

The S.E.A. Aquarium is amazing for its size. After our literature lesson, we walked through an endless stream of habitat pools. Dolphins were a major attraction, especially because they knew they were being watched by onlookers. They performed cute tricks without even being prompted.

There were many starfish habitats like the one pictured above. While I would love to say that he was performing for the crowd, I think his stature was based more on the fact that he was stuck there.

This Patrick is a little less lively. But life’s tough when you’re spiny.

The stingrays were the most impressive marine animals in the aquarium. They were –to put it lightly–gigantic! The jellyfish were also a great exhibit. The colors in the jellyfish photo are all their own. They’re so majestic, they almost look like they’re glowing.

Jellyfish They just keep swimming.

It was one of the best aquarium we have ever been to in the world (a tall order, indeed). While the price is a bit steep, it is probably also the most educational place we visited in Singapore.

What has been your favorite attraction on your travels? Favorite sea animal? You dig reading the Odyssey? Let us know!

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