Reflections Day 6 - Group 1

Today was our second day in London and it’s been awesome!
We had our breakfast and met our blue badge London Guide in the Travel Lodge’s lobby. Afterwards, we proceeded to the nearest Southwark Station and realized that we couldn’t obtain tickets so we went to the Waterloo Station and began our tour around London.
Firstly, we went to admire the Big Ben. We missed the chimes by 5 seconds Besides snapping photographs of these historical monuments; we also gained a better understanding of the British culture. The tour guide explained to us that the name of Big Ben came from a famous architect, called Benjamin, who designed the huge bell in that building.
We passed by the Westminster Abbey and learnt that 28 king s and queens were coronate there. The tour guide told us much about Britain’s medieval times and its rich history of religion. We discovered that a major religion group was Christianity which is one of the major religious groups in Singapore among our diverse cultural background and visited some Methodist Church.
Next, we moved on down the streets of London towards Buckingham Palace. At the Covent Garden, we witnessed the rehearsal parade for the Queen’s birthday. It was a magnificent sight to behold as we see the Queen’s men and horses parading down the streets. From there, we got to learn about the Queen’s birthday and other important English holidays.
After lunch, we spent a short 45 minutes at the Churchill’s War Museum and learnt about one of Britain’s most important political character, Winston Churchill, and his life and contribution to the Second World War.
Lastly, we went to the British Museum and gained much insight on ancient history, partially of Greece and Egypt. We were stunned by the exhibits and intricate architectural designs on the building and the preservation of such monuments.
We ended the day in Chinatown. It was a fruitful day travelling on the tube and navigating our way through London opened my eyes to the world beyond Singapore. Through the various museums that we visited, we can tell that the British places great emphasis on its glorious past, not only on their national heritage but also of the fact that they had been one of the greatest and most powerful world powers. The British Museum for example, has a variety of displays of Britain’s international gains (e.g. The Rosetta) and the ancient Greek Gods’ sculptures. However, Singapore places more emphasis on its own national heritage and has a relatively short history as compared to the British whop had once been our colonial masters and our National Museum only contains local artifacts. Hence, we can infer that the British were widely travelled and their international gains show their influence and affluence in the world and their rich history (e.g. colonialism). Moreover the British Museum does not require an admission fee whereas the National Museum in Singapore requires an admission fee. This goes to show how much support the British Museum receives from the general public.