The Movement Control Order will come to an end on April 14, and by now many Malaysian would have already gotten used to staying at home. While some may enjoy it, others can find it awfully hard to keep themselves occupied with so much free time on their hands, especially the younger members of the family. It’s even harder for those free spirits who love to travel.
Fortunately, there are some virtual tours available online to help us keep the boredom at bay. With a good computer and internet connection, you are now able to explore from the comfort of your home. If you’ve already watched all the programmes on TV or streaming services, why not enjoy seeing the world in a whole new light?
Here’s where to start:
1. Watch a theatre play
Your dreams to watch a play on Broadway can now be realized from the comforts of your own home. Broadway HD has a seven-day free trial period where you can stream popular plays such as Kinky Boots, Swan Lake, Peter Pan, The King and I, Romeo and Juliet, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Death of a Salesman. Over at Marquee TV, the 30-day free period lets viewers stream plays such as La Traviata and Anthony and Cleopatra.
The British Museum in London, perhaps one of the best museums in the world, has opened its doors to the public online. Visitors will get to ‘wander’ along the Great Court and the museum’s halls to see world treasures like the ancient Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies. What’s interesting is that each exhibit comes with a short description and sometimes a voice clip.
Google Arts & Culture holds a treasure trove of artworks from galleries around the globe. Visitors get to tour fantastic museums worldwide virtually from their couch. Best of all, you can view the artworks for as long as you need because you don’t need to fight off the crowd. Head over to Google Arts & Culture and click on ‘Collections’ to view your various options!
No money and no training for a trip into the Alaskan wilderness? No worries! Just open up your laptop and tour the Kenai Fjords National Park virtually. Navigating the interactive tour is engaging because it’s like playing a video game. Visitors get to enter caverns with the tour guide and see the magnificent fjord in awe.
During the Cliffs of Moher virtual tour, visitors start from the Main Viewing Area and end with a twilight view of the cliffs. To make it even more surreal, there’s an option to set it up in VR mode. However, you may need to put on the sound of waves and the wind to complete the experience.
Most aquariums worldwide already had live cams or virtual tours set up long before we were all quarantined. One such aquarium is the Monterey Bay Aquarium, with pre-recorded live feeds showing animals such as sea otters, penguins and moon jellyfish. There’s even a live feed of animals and sailboats on Monterey Bay.
Yosemite National Park is a dream destination for many travellers. Over at Virtually Yosemite, visitors get to tour the beautiful park from the comfort of their home. There’s even the noise of other tourists so it’ll feel like you’re really there. If you truly want the solo experience, take the opportunity to mute the crowds on your laptop!
If you’re tired of humanity, you can hop off to Mars. Thanks to the collaboration between NASA and Google, everyone can tour Mars without putting on an astronaut suit. In the 360 mode, visitors learn about the Curiosity mission and get to travel with the rover to other mission sites on the planet. Along the way, visitors are shown pictures taken by the rover.
9. Have fun at global music parties
Musicians worldwide have done their part to hold a Livestream concert on their respective social media platforms, especially Instagram. With old school tunes by @dnice and music from Backstreet Boys, Chris Martin of Coldplay, P!NK and John Legend, staying at home is much more bearable.
Michelin-starred chef Massimo Bottura is holding cooking classes online via his Instagram. His videos provide an opportunity to learn new recipes even though we’re stuck at home. So far, he has demonstrated ways to make Taka’s Japanese Soup, Bechamel sauce for mac and cheese, Thai curry, and tortellini in a thick parmesan sauce.
