Miri - A Myriad of Mines
From Kuching, we island-hopped up to the city of Miri, still in Malaysia, but just next to the border of Brunei. It was here in Miri, where we started seeing huge oil platforms constructed in the waters just offshore. Our learning about hydrocarbons in chemistry happened to coincide with this part of our journey. (I wish I could say I planned it that way, but we just ‘struck oil’ on timing!) During a field trip to the Miri Petroleum Museum, we gained a deeper understanding of the various uses of petroleum, life on the oil platforms, and the processes involved in locating, drilling, transporting, and refining oil. Suddenly, sailing past these mini cities on stilts became fascinating. Who’d have thought that oil would be so interesting?? The first oil well in Miri Kids working hard to pump up oil! Oil Museum The kids were especially surprised to learn that plastic products are made from petroleum. Years ago, we had liste...