Sydney, Australia

Day 54

The next morning, we left early to head back to KLIA2. After all, we had an 8-hour flight to Sydney ahead of us. Nothing eventful happened at the airport except that I tried an iced mocha from McDonald’s for the first time. It was approximately average in quality. I just couldn’t figure out why I had never ordered that before. Anyway. After the very, very long flight to Sydney, and the even longer wait for Australian customs (ok, not actually), we finally met up with our hosts at the airport. Elio and I split off to the house of Ted Blamey, our primary coordinator in Sydney, who has been hosting the Dins for more than 20 years.

Day 55

One thrilling part about Sydney is that it was our second-longest stop of all of tour, after Japan. This meant plenty of time to enjoy the Australian winter! Elio and I took the bus straight to downtown Sydney, where we regrouped with other Dins to grab a bite to eat and admire the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House. Needless to say, it’s an absolutely stunning city. Also, there was a dude with a parrot by the Opera House. We then took the ferry to Manly Beach - one of the best parts about Sydney is the extensive ferry transit that’s available. This would be one of the core aspects of our stay. (Sean and Mattheus boasted about taking 8 ferries in one day.) The ferry included stunning views of Sydney Harbour as we pulled away, and we admired the gorgeous views at beautiful Manly Beach. Elio and I hiked up a rocky area to get a bird’s-eye view as the sun was setting, before returning to Ted’s house to get ready for a gig. We had our biennial performance at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, where we sang two sets for guests while enjoying a fancy dinner and chatting with guests in-between our stay. The important part of the night, though, is that a very kind gentleman named Stuart offered for Mattheus, Sean, and I to join him on his yacht the next day. We eagerly accepted.

Day 56

For Mattheus, Sean and I, our morning consisted of said yacht trip. This was in fact a yacht race out in the harbour, which was peppered with boats everywhere. However, due to the low wind conditions making it hard for the boat to sail with any solid momentum, we had to drop out of the race, resorting to a casual trip with wine, cheese and crackers, and spectacular views. Needless to say, we were thrilled to have this opportunity, and it was definitely one of the most exciting things we did on all of tour. Stuart, who was quite generous to us all day, further treated us to cheese and crackers back at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. That night was a night off for the group. Ted took me out to dinner and brought me to a spectacular and fascinating one-woman performance of Dracula. Finally, I played some piano while Elio sang back at the house, and we turned in for the night with another big day ahead.

Day 57

The next day was one of the more…eventful ones of tour. As a Blamey resident, I had the solemnly sworn duty to help Ted prepare for the big event: the biennial host families potluck at his house that evening. Elio and I spent the day arranging furniture, picking out music, and helping Ted prepare all of his part of the food for that evening. This took essentially the entire day, other than a brief grocery store trip I made with Ted to get some ingredients. Disaster struck that evening. Shortly before the potluck began, as we were putting out the last of the food, some eggplant dip fell on a slice of celery, rendering it unserviceable. Not wanting to waste the food, I decided to simply eat it - logical, right? Well, in my haste to get things ready, and with my guard down, I forgot to check the ingredients. Dismayed, I ran to the packaging, only to discover that the one time I forgot to look, it contained sesame paste. Unfortunate. I informed Ted of the situation and valiantly asked him to carry on with the event as usual in my honor (I’m so brave, aren’t I?). I used an EpiPen and, feeling better after that, opted to Uber to the hospital to keep things simple (don’t worry, it was very close by). I was required to stay in the hospital for 4 hours under Australian law despite the fact that I was mostly fine by this point. On the plus side, the doctor gave me some recommendations for things to check out around Bondi Beach. As I left, I was asked to pay, given that I’m not an Australian citizen. I realized I forgot my wallet in my haste to leave the house. In a comical turn of events, the hospital accepted an Apple Pay from me. I rushed back to Ted’s house in an Uber, hoping the event was still going - sure enough, as I walked into the house, I heard the unmistakable sound of Sh’boom. Timing myself carefully, I ran downstairs at precisely the moment the joke break ended, popping back into the song just in time for the second half, to the great shock of everyone else. It turned out to be our last song of the night, but I was glad to get to participate after all (and there was still food left!). I’m not sure what everyone else did for the rest of this fine day, but I’m sure it was just as eventful.

Day 58

Elio and I headed back to downtown Sydney to enjoy a morning at the Royal Botanical Gardens, as the Dins continued to enjoy our many hours available to explore Sydney. We then headed over to the famous Bondi Beach. Unfortunately, there was no swimming allowed; due to weather, the ocean was in some of the roughest conditions that I’ve ever seen. The pool that the doctor at the hospital had recommended was literally indistinguishable from the ocean because it was so flooded. We grabbed a delicious lunch at Betty’s Burgers while I searched for (and failed to find) a working ATM. That night was a public gig at a jazz venue downtown called Foundry616. The venue was super nice and had a great atmosphere; we tried to make the most of what would be our second-to-last performance of all of World Tour. To cap off the night, the group decided to go out for drinks with Ted. We had a strong enough contingent of tails-clad college students that we got a rooftop bar Ted liked to reopen service for us after they had ended for the night. The place had a great view of the Opera House and the harbour, and we reminisced knowing that this was our second to last day of tour.

Day 59

Well, folks, congratulations if you’ve read this far – this it it! The final day of World Tour 2024. Thank you for your time, and I hope you’ve enjoyed our adventures as much as we have (you probably have not, I’m guessing). We hope to see you on the new tour blog page in 2026. Anyway, for our last day, I knew I had just one thing left to do on my bucket list for tour: climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge. On this particular morning, there were no takers to do so, so I went ahead and decided to do it myself. It isn’t all that much of a “climb” - it’s like a walk, followed by a staircase, but you are fully suited up for wind (it’s chilly up there) and harnessed in case you fall. Nonetheless, so long as you aren’t expecting any actual physical challenge or intensity, it’s an incredible experience. By the time we reached the top of the bridge, my jaw was dropped at the stunning views of the harbour and the city. I got some fantastic (expensive, though that’s a given) photos of me up there as well. If you’re ever in Sydney and have the time to spare, I’d highly recommend doing the climb. It’s a blast. Anyway, other Dins also took advantage of our last day, exploring the city, and I believe a contingent went to the zoo as well. I met up with Mattheus and Sean at the Sydney Fish Market after the climb, where we had some delicious fresh fish and sashimi. We all regrouped at Ted’s house for the “Din Last Supper,” where Carolyn had exquisitely prepared a 5-course menu consisting of mostly joke songs or joke interpretations of our songs for us. To celebrate the end of the incredible journey, we each got to choose something off the menu to sing. (Thanks to Ted for sitting back and listening to some of the worst, most deranged renditions of our music he’s probably ever heard.) It was an afternoon filled with laughter and reminiscing, and even some tears as the night approached. But as they say, there’s no crying in a cappella. We had to get dressed in tails because we had a second night booked at Foundry616. We enjoyed another wonderful crowd, really letting ourselves make the most of each song, intro, joke, and everything. Afterwards, several Dins split off to head to bed, with an early flight home the next day. Many of us, though, decided to head out to do some karaoke, an absolutely fitting ending to this once-in-a-lifetime (or twice, I suppose) journey. And thus, that brings us to the end. We’ve all made memories that will last a lifetime, and I know none of us will ever forget what we’ve done together over these 9 weeks. Personally, I’m - first of all - beyond proud of each and every Din for persevering far beyond normal limits of exhaustion and hectic travel and vocal duress every single day. I know I speak for everyone in saying we’re extremely grateful to have had this opportunity. To those who will return in 2026, we will see you in your favorite city then!

Signing off for the final time,
Ben #278

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Day 50

We headed back to Changi airport to head to our next stop in Malaysia. I realized that I should spend some time enjoying the world’s nicest airport before we left, so Jay Hong brought me to see the Jewel and the incredible…well, I don’t even know what to call it, but it’s incredible, if you’re ever in the area. This was the shortest flight of our tour - we practically started descending the moment we reached cruising altitude - and we were all very amused that AirAsia was running meal service on this flight, because we were barely even able to have our tray tables open. Also, many of the Dins were mad at me because I randomly assigned all of their meals and had no clue what anyone would be getting, good or bad. Sorry. Thus is the life of a TM. Those who got good meals were happy with this plan. At KLIA2, we boarded the van that the Harvard Club of Malaysia called for us and took it to our accommodations, which were in an amazing location right on amazing Petaling Street in Chinatown. Needless to say, we had a great dinner. Also, Merdeka 118 was nearby - the second-tallest building in the world. I had no idea about this ahead of time…it’s absolutely terrifying at night. We all just sort of looked up at the same moment and said “what is that building????” and cowered in fear.

Day 51

The next morning, we were honored to meet up with several Class of ’28 Harvard students in KL, who showed our group all around the city. We enjoyed some yummy lunch (including the “NBA Chicken Chop Rice” labeled with the bears from We Bare Bears, which of course I had to try), the famous Petronas Twin Towers, the subway, some really tall frozen yogurt at a mall, the great outdoors, and last but certainly not least, a bookstore where I bought a travel book. That night, we enjoyed dinner and a cultural exchange with the Young KL Singers, a local choir. After our fearless MD Carolyn led both groups in a shared warmup, we were blown away by their performance for us. It was incredibly moving, and having the chance to sit down and listen to a live choir perform after all these hectic weeks on the road reminded me what a privilege it is to have the chance to do what we do in the Dins, and to make the memories that we will all cherish for so long. Anyway, we sang our set for them, which they really enjoyed, and we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep.

Day 52

The next morning brought a whole new experience. We finally met our esteemed host Karen, who has been hosting the Dins for a long time in KL. She was ecstatic to meet us and we enjoyed a special performance and lunch at her high school. Afterwards, we bid Karen farewell and had some time to ourselves to relax until dinner. Many Dins chose to nap or watch Netflix in the hotel, which was justifiable, given that at this point, exhaustion had well past set in, and sickness and food poisoning were abound. Myself, Lee and Mattheus enjoyed a relaxing afternoon at a rooftop pool at a hotel downtown. Incredible decision. One of the best decisions we have ever made. Anyway, Karen hosted us, along with some friends, for a lovely homemade dinner at her house that night. We were so thankful for all of her generosity to host us, and the dinner was delicious. As a thank you, we sang a couple of short songs for her guests, who wouldn’t be able to attend the performance the next evening. We reunited with our student tour guides in the evening to hang out some more. We visited a few of the bars near Chinatown and got to know each other better before turning in for the night.

Day 53

Our last day in KL was our busiest, no doubt. Myself, Mattheus, Lee and Sean hired a local guide to take us on a Malaysian food tour, which was a very cool experience. We literally just went around the city to different spots trying all sorts of different Malaysian foods. Thankfully, our guide took good care of my allergies (yes, as in any well-structured story, you’ll find out why this detail has been mentioned so many times) and I really enjoyed getting to try the many different kinds of food available, although we were stuffed by the end. We then took a contingent up to the Batu Caves just north of the city, hiking the rainbow staircase up to the stunning and dramatic caves. Our fatal flaw, though, was that we had a bag of fruit that we had brought from the food tour. The monkeys at the caves were incredibly aggressive, and we had to literally hide the fruit under our shirts to stop them from jumping all over us trying to take it. The caves were awesome, though, and we then headed back to the hotel to get ready for our evening performance. At Harmony Hall, our event was open to the public, and we sang a fun set for a lively crowd. Back at the hotel, we hung out with Lee and Jay Hong for the last time, who would be finishing their respective guest appearances at the end of this stop. We also attempted to re-pack all our things, which at this point in tour, is absolutely disastrous to attempt.

Singapore

Day 47

We woke up to the pleasant finding that all of our custom suits had been delivered to the hotel desk. On the bad side, this meant even more luggage to carry, but needless to say, we were beyond impressed with how quickly Pinky managed to put these together for us. We headed down to the airport, where we flew to our next stop in Singapore! Our accommodations in Singapore were at Raffles Institution - the high school home of our very own Simon and Jay Hong. We were staying in the student dorms, which were actually quite nice; we were on the 11th floor and had views of the city. We mostly took the rest of the day to relax, though some of us went to nearby mall to find Shake Shack. A strong contingent decided to take an evening trip to the Gardens by the Bay, a really cool landmark in the city. We explored the indoor, glass-domed jungles and enjoyed a surprise musical theater lights show in the trees? Right up the alley of just about every Din. I think they knew we were coming.

Day 48

Well, folks, here it is. The day that the Dins had been eyeing for several months: our most packed day of all of tour with 4 one-hour performances. We got up early in the morning to be brought to the Pathlight School Campus 1 in a bus. Pathlight is the first autism-focused school in Singapore, with whom we’ve been partnering, along with the Central Singapore CDC, for many years now. The Dins received a special tour of the school, which is just a truly incredible achievement. It’s hard to explain without seeing it yourself, but it really is an amazing place. It was an honor to get to perform there again. We started off with a performance for the youngest age group, so we allowed ourselves to be extremely silly and free. At Pathlight Campus 2, we had our next performance, which was for a slightly older age group, though thankfully, it seemed that they loved the show just as much. We then returned to Raffles Institution, which would be the home of our next performance. It got a huge turnout - with loud cheers for Simon - and was one of the silliest gigs we did on all of tour. I guess when you have this many in one day, this is what happens. We found ourselves changing up song intros and improvising on the comedy, and honestly, I was really pleasantly surprised to see a looser, freer, funner performance! Finally, we quickly jetted (figuratively) over to St. Andrew’s Junior College, where we realized that their mascots were the Saints and sang a very special rendition of When The Saints Go Marching In. (At RI, which we realized was their rival school, we did this as “When The Saints Go Marching Out.”) By this point, our fourth performance of the day, we had truly reached our most delirious point. Intros were flying out of pocket left and right, we had a bowtie-tying contest during Sh’boom, audience interaction was more, uh, interactive than ever before, and Mattheus sung Mack the Knife in an Australian accent (in his defense, I surprised him by saying in the song intro that he would do so, and he one-upped me by actually doing it). All in all, this was maybe my favorite day of all of tour, personally, and I know many Dins felt the same. Our sets were truly at their most fun and fresh, if a little unhinged, by the end of it, and I truly felt it made for an incredibly engaging performance for the audience. We greeted audience members afterwards, then returned to Raffles to enjoy a well-deserved night of sleep.

Day 49

It was sad to think we were already at our last day of an incredible stop in Singapore. (By this point in tour, the days were absolutely flying by.) Jay Hong met up with us at Raffles, flying in from China, and he took many of us on a quick tour of the city so we could at least explore a bit in the midst of all this performing. I was also pleased to discover that Raffles has a baseball team. That night, we performed at the A Very Special Walk charity event, a fundraiser to celebrate the 20th birthday of Pathlight. We were honored to have the opportunity to sing in support of such an important cause, and the organizers, including our longtime friend Mayor Denise Phua, were kind enough to give us all carnival tickets so we could enjoy the event like everyone else. We took turns manning a booth in shifts to sign merchandise; in the end, the line ended up being so long that it started wrapping around the event. Needless to say, anytime we weren’t singing, we were manning that table. We sang 3 fun sets for the attendees in what was truly one of the most special nights of all of tour. Afterwards, Jay Hong and family took us out to get some food, and back at Raffles, several of us held a mini-fashion show to show off our suits while admiring the view and reminiscing, knowing that our time on World Tour would be coming to a close soon.

Bangkok, Thailand

Day 44

For our last morning in Shenzhen, Leo and his family treated me to a delicious dim sum breakfast at a local restaurant. After everyone in the group had a chance to wake up and pack, we met at the ferry terminal for departure. We said goodbye to our wonderful hosts, with great hopes to visit again soon, and boarded the ferry back to Hong Kong Airport, where we flew down to Bangkok. Our flight ended up delayed several hours, so we were lucky to not have a performance that night! By the time we arrived, it was dark out and we were all ready for bed. Our hosts at The Sukosol sent a couple of vans to pick us up and bring us to the hotel. The Sukosol is an absolutely stunning 5-star resort, and after checking in, we were all beyond thrilled with the comfortable accommodations that awaited us.

Day 45

I think by this point, all of the Dins were enjoying living life in luxury. We slept in but woke up in time to enjoy the Sukosol’s delicious breakfast. It was without a doubt the most incredible, diverse, and gourmet buffet breakfast many of us had ever seen - another huge perk of staying here. We then made the trip out to Pinky Tailor to fulfill the age-old Din tradition of getting custom made suits there. We were worried about having enough time to do so, given that we had just 2 full days to spare in Thailand, but we talked with the store on the phone and they insisted they were happy to make the suits overnight for us. So a strong contingent of us came in, chose fabrics and materials outside and in, and stood for fitting. Some Dins made a point to not let the others see their materials, so that it would be a surprise for a “fashion show” that we wanted to hold at a later stop. Obviously, we all look like runway models, so this was a fitting way to display our brand new fine attire. We left the tailors to their…tailoring, and took the subway back to the hotel, where everyone enjoyed some much-deserved free time. Myself, Sean and Kavi chose to spend the rest of our afternoon at the luxurious rooftop pool, where we ordered drinks and food and relaxed to the extreme - that is, until it started raining, as is apt to happen on these kinds of tours. Anyway, it was just about time for rehearsal, so we didn’t mine too much. That night, the Sukosol provided a delicious dinner for us, and we then sang a sold-out performance, of course staying behind to sign merchandise and mingle afterwards. To cap off an excellent day, we took a trip to one of Bangkok’s night markets - no one ended up buying all that much, but we had fun exploring the area. Eventually, we landed at what was meant to be an Irish pub - the only natural thing to do in Thailand - and hung out over drinks before returning to a wonderfully comfortable night of sleep.

Day 46

Our mornings were all spent differently. After another amazing breakfast, I went out to explore the Royal Palace, which was absolutely stunning. I met up with most of the rest of the group via taxi at our lunch spot - a Michelin-star Thai restaurant. Needless to say, it was one of the most jaw-droopingly good meals we had all of tour. Even better, they were trained carefully with regards to allergies, and consistently brought me delicious substitutes when I couldn’t eat the main dish being served. We regrouped at the hotel, barely in the nick of time due to traffic, where we realized this was the last time we would see our host contacts, with a morning flight the next day. Thus, we said our goodbyes and took some pictures (plus received some awesome purple elephant branded stuffed animals). We then headed to The Siam, another absolutely beautiful and luxurious hotel. We received another great dinner before performing, this time in a more intimate environment. We considered another night out exploring the city, but with the group tired, settled instead to enjoy some drinks at the beautiful bar back at The Sukosol. They had a number of special drinks, which were all absolutely delicious, so we had a pleasant evening of chatter while I sorted out rooming assignments for the next stop (the work of a TM quite literally never ends). We enjoyed our last night at the beautiful Sukosol - we can’t wait to come back in 2026!

Shenzhen, China

The remaining blogs were typed by the incredibly large and capable hands of our President and Tour Manager, Ben Arthurs #278.

Day 40, part II

The Dins departed from Japan on a flight into Hong Kong, then had the privilege of taking the ferry from HKG into Shenzhen. It reminded me why ferries are the best mode of transit - cruising across the bay while the sun set into the islands in the background was definitely 20 times better than any other way we could’ve gotten there. After clearing customs, the Harvard Club of South China gave us a warm welcome at the ferry terminal. We took a couple of group pictures, then split off into our separate homestays. Several of us ended up meeting for a barbecue dinner, where my host student Leo diligently protected me from sesame by translating for me. Thanks to Leo in advance for the fact that he would do this literally every meal for the next four days. Leo, if you’re reading this, you’re a lifesaver. We headed to bed, and I think I speak for everyone in remaking at the incredibly hospitality of our hosts! We all felt so at home.

Day 41

Thankfully, we didn’t have a performance today, so we enjoyed a day of sightseeing in Shenzhen - a welcome respite from the intense schedule of the past few days. Leo and I kicked off the morning by meeting Carolyn for McDonald’s - spoiler alert: it was better than US McDonald’s - and then enjoyed a tour of DJI, a drone store. Several of us even got to try a VR headset where you could fly a drone while looking through its POV camera, which was nauseating and trippy because I was literally watching myself fly it in third person, but it was cool. We stopped for bubble tea before heading to a van that was waiting to pick us up. (Also, along the way, I saw what seems to be a Shenzhen version of The Bean. As a proud Chicagoan, this was probably the best moment of all of tour.) With our hosts and members of the Harvard Club, we headed to the Tencent HQ, where we were given a special welcome and a tour of the facilities. The Tencent building is absolutely mind-blowing; they have incredible amenities including a rock-climbing wall, a ping pong floor, and more, and we got a special presentation about the company as well, complete with striking views of the city. We then went to the Shenzhen Museum, where we learned all about the unique history of the city, including the fact that it was a fishing village merely 40 years ago. It’s made an incredible transition to a sprawling tech city in a very short amount of time. We split off for dinner; Leo and I met up with friends of mine in the area. I tried some of the first of many foods that were, well, interesting to me over the next few days - just to get them out of the way, this included chicken brain, fish eye, chicken foot, beef intestine, and more. I think those of the Dins who had not experienced this kind of cuisine before (me included) were making a strong effort to be open and try new things, even if they seemed strange to us. I’m not sure I would eat them for enjoyment at home, but hey, it wasn’t so bad. We saw the city’s light show across its skyscrapers, which was much bigger than I expected and totally stunning. We capped off a great evening as Leo showed me the miniature scale versions of world landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and the Pyramids near his house.

Day 42

On this day, the Dins visited Shenzhen Middle School, one of the best high schools in all of China, and the school that our host students attend. The tour was rather impressive - I geeked out briefly over the fact that this school had a quantum physics lab. Can you imagine if I had had that in high school? Where would I be now??? Anyway, we sang a performance to a packed auditorium of students there. Several of us had the pleasure of interviewing with the student newspaper to discuss our experience in Shenzhen, and then our whole crew - Dins, students, families, and Harvard Club hosts - headed to a nice restaurant where we enjoyed a huge meal with more food than I could ever hope to eat. After a toast, the Dins sang a couple more songs to thank our lovely host families again.

Day 43

The next morning we geared up for our public performance in Shenzhen, sponsored by the Harvard Club of South China. Wait, I missed something. Leo took me to Chinese Walmart in the morning. It was…well, it was definitely Walmart. Except with more chicken feet and things like that available for sell. It was a nice reminder of home. Ok, back to the main quest, we were set to perform at Sky Concert Hall - a concert hall on the 81st floor of one of the most towering skyscrapers in Shenzhen. In fact, it holds the Guinness World Record for concert hall highest up in a building. We literally sang at the world’s highest concert hall. Isn’t that crazy?? Anyway, being there was just as mind-blowing as promised. There were gorgeous 270-degree views over all of Shenzhen and Hong Kong. It really felt like singing in the sky. After a sold-out performance, myself, Carolyn and our dutiful translator Simon spoke about our college experience on a panel regarding education. In between, we chatted with audience members and signed some merchandise. All in all, it was definitely the most spectacular venue we’ve had the chance to sign in, and we expressed our gratitude as we said goodbye to our Harvard Club hosts afterwards. After this, groups split off to explore. Many attended a hot pot dinner together with their host students. Myself, Mattheus, and Kavi went to Hong Kong to see a friend and explore a little bit while we had the chance. We only had a couple of hours, but we had a great time and came back on the last train at 11 PM (which, by the way, was incredibly fast).

Osaka, Japan

Day 33

Hello everyone! This is Noah, a Din of the class of 2022 and brief interloper on the Osaka and Shenzhen legs of tour 2024. Only a few Dins (Lee, Ben, Ria, Mattheus, and Carolyn) know I’m coming, so I’ve been having fun the last few days telling Dins I know that I’m “heading to Detroit for vacation” (true–I have a layover there) or that “I think the Dins’ next stop is in Japan, right?” Heheheheh.

Anyway, my mini-tour started at the crack of dawn at the Newark airport, where I bought a neck pillow, hopped on a plane, and proceeded to pass out until we landed in Detroit. One flight down. I was less lucky on the flight from Detroit to Tokyo, however, as I found that I simply could not sleep no matter how hard I tried. WIth about nine hours left in the flight, the guy next to me woke up and asked if we were there yet. Oof. The guy–whose name I would later learn was Rabby–tried to fall asleep for the next hour or so, but to no avail. So, there we were–two insomniacs on a plane with a bunch of sleeping people. We talked (quietly!) about archaeology (which I studied while I was still at Harvard), commiserated about going to school during COVID, and shared stories from our respective adventures around the world.

After getting off my sleepless (but not unbearable–thanks Rabby!) flight a bit early, I headed to the Shinkansen station to meet Mattheus for our train ride to Osaka. It was a tight connection, and I was exceptionally lucky to have gotten off the plane early, because I boarded a train going in the wrong direction at the airport. Oops. I made it onto the train with less than a minute to spare, found Mattheus, and got his Sparknotes summary of tour through Italy. As an aside, I’d just like to say that the Don sounds like a pretty cool guy. Mattheus’s blog post doesn’t do him nearly enough justice.

Once we got to Osaka, Mattheus and I hung around in the train station waiting for the rest of the Dins. They showed up with long-time friend of the Dins and host nonpareil Nao-san, whose planning skills and immense generosity made Osaka my absolute favorite stop in 2022. Nao-san led us to the hotel, which was the exact same one we stayed in during tour 2022. Being there was like a blast from the past–strange, but absolutely in a good way. I was absolutely wiped by the time I had unpacked my bags, but exhaustion took a backseat to hunger, and we got some incredible udon near the hotel. Then…at long last, after over a full day of travel, I got to sleep.

Day 34

I woke up before my alarm today (note from future Noah–this was a running trend for the entire trip), had some of the snacks that I bought last night, and headed to rehearsal. After rehearsal, we headed to Kokoku High School, where we got a tour of the school (which absolutely put my high school to shame) and had a brief cultural exchange lunch with the students. It was here that I discovered that, for some reason, being aware of Shohei Ohtani makes me very cool to Japanese high school students. I’ll take it!

After lunch, we had another rehearsal before performing at Kokoku. While I think we gave a great show, my vote for the most memorable performance of the night goes to our emcee (who also happened to be Kokoku’s vice-principal), who gave the most rousing rendition of a school anthem I’ve ever heard. Seriously! The guy had real singing chops and infectious enthusiasm. We left with more desserts than we can possibly eat before we leave (another note from future Noah: we absolutely could and did eat all those desserts), Kokoku merch, and–stay with me here, folks–*self-heating beef and rice dinner boxes*--courtesy of Kokoku’s principal.

Day 35

Today, I walked to the Shinsaibashi-Suji shopping street to hang out with Carolyn. We went to the Peanuts store (where I learned that Carolyn loves Snoopy!), the Capcom store (where Carolyn convinced me to get a mystery souvenir box, the contents of which were very bulky and difficult to get home…but totally worth it), and many different clothing stores. We also looked for the Pokemon Cafe, as my brother has been begging me to get him a souvenir plush from there, but alas, despite my having been there in 2022, we couldn’t seem to find it. We got bored of the hunt and left to get coffee floats nearby as a treat before sitting down at an okonomiyaki shop. Unfortunately, we misjudged how long the okonomiyaki would take to make, had to rush back to the hotel without eating, threw the okonomiyaki in the fridge, and *still* almost missed the call time for tonight’s performance. But we made it! (I’d also like to note that once we DID get to eat the okonomiyaki, it was delicious. I bet it was even better hot…)

Tonight’s performance was at the Yamamoto Nohgakudo. The Dins performed here in 2022, and, like the hotel, I found it both strange and wonderful to be back. Like in 2022, we wore tabi (split-toe socks) without shoes, which was *quite* the look with our tails. After the show, we were treated to dinner by Nao-san and a few of her friends, among whom were some of our hosts from 2022! I personally had a great time catching up with Nori, who showed me around Osaka last time. The biggest development of the night, though, happened when one of Nao-san’s friends misheard “Ben” as “Benki” (toilet), leading to the emergence of “Benki Ben,” a nickname which will last either for the rest of time or for the rest of the week. Time will tell. Anyway, after dinner, Lee brought most of the group to karaoke, but I decided I was too tired and headed back to the hotel to get some shut-eye.

I stayed up until 5 AM talking to the other people who had the same idea. Oops.

Day 36

Today, we spent almost the entire day in transit to and from a performance at a concert hall in Kyoto. There, the Elio fanbase was out in full force–they filled an *entire Ikea bag* with gifts–and the performance itself went quite smoothly. The other group with which we performed was excellent, as well. We headed back to the hotel, and I passed out almost immediately.

Day 37

Today, we had a performance at Osaka International, another repeat venue from 2022. The welcome we received in 2022 was excellent, but our welcome this year blew it out of the water. Osaka International had a school mascot this time around–a blue penguin named Migaku, which Lee told us means “to refine”--and she was so adorable that Ria was literally moved to tears. We may have been the performers today, but Migaku truly stole the show. Once we were finally able to pry Ria from Migaku’s feathery embrace, we headed back to the hotel, where almost everyone–except myself, Lee, Mattheus, and Ben–took a nap. Lee, Mattheus, and Ben headed out to Kyoto, but I decided to go back to Shinsaibashi-Suji on a solo mission to find the Pokemon Cafe and get my brother some souvenirs. I succeeded this time, and with time to kill and a stomach to fill, I also got some excellent matcha soft serve nearby. After I finished up in Shinsaibashi-Suji, I met up with Ben, Mattheus, and Lee to try what Lee repeatedly referred to in our group chat as “pork-forward” ramen. I asked him what that meant, and he just repeated himself. So, dear reader, I tried the ramen, and let me tell you: it was indeed pork-forward. Anyway, after finishing the pork-forward ramen, our small group went to a spot Lee recommended called Bar K, where I had the absolute best mocktails I have ever had in my life. I got back to the hotel to find everyone (still) asleep. Good for them. They earned the rest.

Day 38

Today, we took a day trip out to Nara! I woke up EXTREMELY early (jetlag is a blessing and a curse) and went for a walk around the hotel before deciding to depart by myself to our meetup spot in Tennoji. There, I realized that I’d gotten up not only before the Dins but also before Tennoji–absolutely nothing was open. Oh well; Tennoji looked pretty cool, even if I couldn’t actually do anything there. Once the rest of the gang arrived, we headed to Nara, where we saw Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples side-by-side, a beautiful traditional garden owned by friends of Nao-san, and lots and lots of friendly deer. My favorite part of the day was the garden visit–the garden was closed to the public for the day, so we got a private tour of the grounds and adjoining museum, partook in an intimate tea ceremony, and sat outside to enjoy the weather without any distractions. All in all, it was an absolutely wonderful day.

Day 39

This morning, we had a fun performance at a radio station, after which I split off from the group with Ria and Sean to get lunch at a very fancy-looking sushi restaurant. There, I got the best sushi I’ve ever had for about 10 bucks. I love Japan. Ria and I then took a trip out to a nearby mall, where we explored Uniqlo and the Nintendo Store and got some souvenirs for friends. We then made a quick stop at the hotel to drop off our things before meeting one of Nao-san’s friends at his house to learn about the Tanabata festival and try some delicious tea and mochi.

Day 40, part I

Our last day in Osaka! We had an early train to the airport, so I woke up even earlier to explore. My main destination was Osaka Castle, but no sooner had I gotten through the gate than it started pouring. And wouldn’t you know it, I didn’t bring my umbrella. Or my rain jacket. Or a poncho. I showed up back at the hotel looking a bit like a wet cat. But! Not all was lost. I managed to dry off before meeting Nao-san at the train station so I could give her a hug and thank her for yet another amazing time in Osaka.

Manila, The Philippines

Day 29, part II

278 signing back on. You know, I wouldn’t have included this travel day on here, but it was actually quite eventful as far as full travel days go. We departed our now infamous stay at the villa in Lucca early in the morning via several trains, headed to the Milan Malpensa Airport, and saying goodbye to our wonderful time in Europe! Our next stop - and the first stop of the Asia stretch of tour - would take place in Manila, Philippines, and we had a Turkish Airlines flight with a layover in Istanbul to get there. The layover was supposed to take place around midnight to 4 AM local time, but alas, as Dins tours usually go, we were faced with some sort of maintenance-related delay, and this layover quickly became a midnight to 6 AM layover. So we set out on an approximately 6-hour, delirious late-night stretch in the Istanbul Airport, which for those who don’t know - myself included until I walked into the place - is one of the world’s fanciest airports. There quite literally was an entire shopping mall of fancy clothing stores that were all open the entire night, and what’s more, the airport was alive and packed with people drinking coffee and shopping even during the midnight to 6 AM interval we attended. I was absolutely flabbergasted. Kavi and I considered booking ourselves into “sleeping rooms” to get a nap, but we quickly realized that this consisted not of the small room we first saw, but the sea of dystopian individual pods laid out on the floor behind it. Absolutely not. No way. I reconciled my differences with the sleeping pods by drinking coffee and going out to explore the airport. I purchased a burger from Shake Shack that cost approximately 25 euros. I can’t say it was worth it, but it was…well, it was an experience. Anyway, 6 hours in the airport blew by. It was so massive with so much to see that we filled the entire time easily by exploring. If we ever need another layover between continents, I know where I’m booking. (This or Doha, where Sean went on an individual layover as he headed to the Philippines early to see family and reported a similar phenomenon.) Some of the group opted to get some sleep in across the chairs at the gate instead during this time, which objectively was probably the right call. Anyway, by this point it was July 1, and we set out on our flight to Manila.

Day 30

Ok, I don’t have all that much to say, but in my defense most of this day was spent on the plane. I watched Moneyball twice and also didn’t eat any food because of my allergies. When we arrived in Manila, we were given a lovely welcome by Sean’s family and we tried Filipino Denny’s in the airport. We headed to our accommodations at the Seda BGC. As it turned out, we were given a VIP treatment, getting huge rooms with kitchens, living rooms, and even our own washing machines and dryers. It’s a shame that we didn’t have more time to spend relaxing in the room during our time here, but the comfort was much appreciated after a long two days of travel from Italy.

Day 31

Our morning began swiftly with an 11:00 AM performance at Makati Med, the most major hospital in Manila. It was a privilege to get to perform there, and the hospital staff gave us a lovely welcome. As we were warming up, a curious thing happened: a young fan named Niko approached us to take a photo. We were honored to do so, but when we returned from warm-ups to sing the actual performance, we were blown away by what was a HUGE turnout. The entire lobby was packed full with people, most of whom were recording parts or seemingly all of our set. Needless to say, we had a blast performing and chatting with everyone as we signed CDs afterwards; what we didn’t realize was that this would be the trend that would continue for the next several weeks. More on that later. We ate a delicious lunch at a restaurant in the city - the first foray into Filipino cuisine for many of us - and me personally, I did not die due to my nut and sesame allergies, which is in itself a win. That evening, we performed as part of a private event at the Executive House of the University of the Philippines. The President of the university invited a couple of local a cappella groups to perform, both of whom were absolutely incredible, and we had the great opportunity to chat over dinner and even sing together a bit to wrap up the evening. We returned to the hotel exhausted and went straight to bed. This was a great first adventure in the Philippines, but we were bracing ourselves for our next gig, which would take place at 4:30 AM the next day. Between this and the travel the day before, well, a lot of coffee was needed for this stretch.

Day 32

I groaned when I woke up to my 3:45 AM alarm to put on classic Dins semiformal (we were specifically asked not to wear black and white for this gig due to the reflective nature of the clothing), but it was well worth it. At a prompt 4:30 AM, two vans from GMA, a Filipino national news network, arrived to pick us up and bring us to their studio. We would be performing for a nationally broadcast morning show called Unang Hirit. Despite the early morning, this gig was a highlight of tour. It was incredibly cool to experience being in the studio and filming the show, the hosts and crew were nothing but lovely and friendly and genuinely interested in what we do, and the performance was fun and lively. We sang a brief snippet of Fly as a “teaser” before our full segment, then returned after commercials to sing Copacabana (of course) and talk with the hosts. It was an amazing morning, and thankfully, we returned to the home of Sean’s grandmother afterwards to catch a quick nap before the rest of the day’s activities. By the time we got there and had some breakfast, we only had around 15 minutes to nap. Kavi, Elio and I attempted. Only Elio succeeded. At this point, I think that the Dins had collectively lost all concept of time zones and circadian rhythm, and we had proved that you can be a functioning human being on inanely low hours of sleep if you just reeaaaally put your mind to it (and have literally no other choice). For lunch, we met with Sean’s entire extended family, who booked out a local restaurant for all of them to come eat with us and hear us sing. We enjoyed singing a casual set for them in exchange for their extreme kindness and hospitality, but the highlight of the meal came when myself, Kavi, Shannon and Kieran took a pass at balut - a Filipino delicacy that consists of, for lack of better words, a, uh, fertilized egg. I’ll spare you the details, but the entire family had to count down from 20 in unison in order to get us to finally put it in our mouths after a long time considering. Kieran and I finished ours. In terms of taste, it’s really not that bad, but I do not think I could ever do it again. Everyone was rather amused at having gotten to experience this. It will live on in this year’s lore forever, no doubt. We stopped briefly at a Filipino mall, then headed to our evening gig at at ball presented by the Harvard Business School Club of the Philippines. We fit right in at this fancy event with our tails and enjoyed an excellent dinner backstage when we weren’t singing. We bid our farewell to an excellent stop in the Philippines - the first in Dins history - and we can’t wait to return on the next tour!

Signing off,
Ben #278

Lucca, Italy

Day 26

Buon giorno! Following several days of hearty Alsatian fare, the Dins set a new culinary course a few degrees south in search of even finer cheeses, wines, and cured meats. Thinking it was a perennial house plant, Carolyn purchased a pot of basil at a farmer’s market in Strasbourg. Upon learning of the plant’s utility in a diversity of dishes, perhaps most famously the Italian “pesto” sauce, she insisted the Dins bring her to the cultural bread basket, or pasta pot as might be more appropriate here, of basil-rich cuisine. So, after scaling the mighty snow-capped Alps (in an airplane, alas), the Din & Tonics arrived at their final stop of the European leg of their World Tour: the sun-kissed hillsides of Toscano, Italia. 

Across the scorching tarmac of the Galileo Galilei airport in Pisa, the Dins were greeted at long last by an old friend of the group: Signore Vito Scuolo. Sig. Scuolo, who went by his business name, The Don, has long been the group's exclusive fashion consultant. In fact, the very hue of lime green the Dins now use for their pocket squares originates from a dyed swatch of premium Tuscan cotton created by The Don himself. Legend has it that he keeps it under lock and key in a temperature-controlled glass chamber manufactured by the same company that protects the Mona Lisa behind several inches of bullet-proof glass. This is a valuable item, to say the least. 

The Don waved to us stiffly from his black Mercedici SUV. After piling our luggage in the back, he drove us through the foothills of the Alpi Apuane. Although we thought we would be spending our few days in the boot within the walls of the medieval city of Lucca, The Don surprised us with an offer we couldn't refuse: his villa on the outskirts of the city. 

The car winded up a narrow road set amongst olive groves. Once we crested the hill, a majestic view of the Tuscan countryside opened below us: golden-tinged rolling hills of olive grove after olive grove splashed with the red paint strokes of terra cotta roof tiles. We were in The Don's country now, and we couldn't be more grateful. 

Day 27

We were gently woken up this morning by the friendly coo of doves singing outside. The Don's steward of the house, Maria Teresa, prepared a sumptuous breakfast of pastries, fresh fruit, and coffee. As we sipped on our espressos, The Don emerged from the kitchen with a plate of cannoli. Acknowledging first that this delicacy was a) more of a dessert than a breakfast and b) a pastry of Sicilia more so than Toscano, he invited us to enjoy the treats. Kieran, who in all efforts to reduce the Dins' food waste, brought a couple leftover Alsatian buns from our breakfast in Strasbourg the day before, slipped one on his plate from underneath the table. The Don immediately noticed and an inquisitive look came across his face. “Would you like to try this?” Kieran asked. “Leave the bun. Take the cannoli,” The Don smiled. 

In the evening, after the Dins performed a tailored set at the villa by inserting “The Don” into every song in their repertoire (“It's Another Day of Don,” “Sh'Don,” “When the Don Goes Marching In,” “The Lady is a Don,” “Blue Don,” “BeDon, BoDon, and BeDonDon,” etc), The Don treated the Dins to an opera performance in Lucca. Set against the walls of the fortified city, Riccardo Muti conducted a 130-piece orchestra with 6 soloists celebrating the most beautiful compositions of Lucca native and legendary composer Giacamo Puccini. At the end, Muti, who we learned is a distant cousin of The Don, reunited with his relative. We took a few photos together before The Don pulled Muti close to his chest and whispered in his ear, “A man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man.” Muti composed himself, shook The Don's hand, and promised to visit again whenever he returned to Italy. It was a wonderful evening. 

Day 28

We had the opportunity to explore Lucca today! The Don had business dealings to attend to, so he arranged for his bodyguard and truffle-hunter Vincenzo Della Scarpia to show us around the city. We rented bicycles and traversed around the city's wall, scaled a Romanesque-Gothic tower, sampled a few gelato places, shared some focaccia, explored the narrow and winding streets, and dined in style inside one of the town squares built upon the foundation of a Second Century Roman amphitheater. 

Upon our return, The Don and Della Scarpia treated us to a bottle of their finest Prosecco and we toasted to our final night in Europe. On these evenings, surrounded by so many great friends and good company, I had to pinch myself, as it almost didn't feel real. 

Day 29, part I

After a brief morning photo shoot under the rising Tuscan sun, the Dins departed from Lucca for a train bound for Milan to catch their onward flight to Asia! So long, Europe. You've been so kind to us, and we cannot wait to return! Arrivederci!

Grazie mille,
Mattheus (#262)