> you may have actually mentally "turned" the cube to "look" at the other sid

As a visual thinker, I could have rotated the cube if I wanted, but I actually looked at all sides at once, if it makes sense. I could "see" all sides of the cube at the same time. I am not sure how common this is, but in addition to seeing it as an "image" I can sometimes, not always, also sense the total structure of a construct and be aware of all of the physical "sides"