2018 Tour Stop #2: London, United Kingdom

Dins Kevin Kearns #244 and Sang-o Park #249 figure out that phones weren't always wireless

Photo by Sam Rosner #245.

Hi, everyone, it's Sam. Let me catch you up on a little bit since Iceland. Following our stay in Reykjavik, we flew into London Luton Airport on the early morning of Friday, June 1st and then left for our homestays in groups. I had the pleasure of staying with my friend James, one of my best friends from middle school who lives in Bishop’s Stortford, right outside London. It was so great to see him and his family! After arriving in Bishop’s Stortford with Kevin, Sang-o, and Patrick, we all had our first authentic English pub meal. I dined on a delicious beef and ale pie with a heaping portion of gravy and classic British chips (to clarify: in the UK, chips are thick-cut fries, fries are thinner versions of chips, and crisps are what we think of as potato chips). British pub food at its best is not remarkably complicated but has a hearty simplicity that makes for a really enjoyable dining experience.

    After spending most of Friday getting settled into our homestays, the Dins all met on Saturday to depart for Oxford, where we spent the rest of the evening. The city is made up of intricate and beautiful stone buildings, some dating as far back as the Medieval period. The combination of the historic architecture with modern commercial culture makes for an aesthetic blend of old and new that is really intriguing. After briefly exploring the city, we got dinner with the Oxford Gargoyles, a jazz a cappella group from Oxford University, and then had a joint performance at the Turf Tavern. To celebrate, we had an after party on the grounds of Oxford University, which included the most intense game of Twister I have ever played in my life. At the end of a very fun, albeit late, night, the Dins made our way back to the Gargoyles’ dorms, where we were hosted for the night.

Dins take Buckingham Palace. We were royally impressed.

    The next day, we headed back to London and enjoyed a free day of sightseeing. I was in a large group that visited Buckingham Palace and on such a clear day, the gold on the gates and the statues was almost blindingly bright. Afterwards, I broke off from the group with Sang-o and Kevin, and visited Westminster Abbey. Although it wasn’t open for the day, we really enjoyed exploring the grounds and viewing the abbey from the outside. While we were exploring Westminster, another group of Dins visited the London National Gallery to the world-famous Monet exhibit. That night, we had dinner with our host families that included bangers (sausages) and yorkshire pudding with gravy.

A picture of the famed London Eye

Photo by Eli Troen #250

    After more sightseeing and free time on Monday (which for me included a trip to Covent Garden and lunch at a fantastic British curry house), we performed at the Lansdowne Club on behalf of the Harvard Club of London. The building has a rich history - the Treaty of Paris was signed there in 1783! We performed for an audience that included members of the Harvard Club, an alum of the Dins who surprised us during Sh’boom, and our generous host families. That night, some of us went out to dinner and ate Fish & Chips with mushy peas before packing and heading off to bed.

    We woke up early the next morning to perform at the Falkner House, an all-girls school in South Kensington. We performed two small sets: one for the girls in the school, and one for students from a local all-boys school nearby. It was such a pleasure to perform for the kids and their parents, several of whom hosted the Dins. After a great performance, we rushed to Gatwick Airport where we caught our flight to Dublin. Stay tuned for more details on our trip to Ireland!

    To Din-finity and Beyond,

    Sam #245

2018 Tour Stop #1: Reykjavík, Iceland

Greetings, and welcome to the Din & Tonics’ 2018 tour blog! If you’re reading this, I’m sure you want to know what exactly it is that we’ve been doing since we left the United States. I am here to fill you in on our all-too-brief travels in Reykjavík, Iceland, our first tour stop. Iceland, a nation near the Arctic Circle that houses only about 350,000 people, is a country that belies its name in a few ways. Most obviously, it is not covered in ice, and due to the ocean currents, the temperature near the coast rarely dips too far below freezing in winter. What is perhaps less known, though, is the warmth of the place’s culture: the incredibly generous culture of the locals more than made up for its occasionally chilly weather.

We met up and departed Boston Logan International Airport on an Icelandair vessel at about 8pm EST on May 28th. We caught up with each other quickly after a four-week break, ate dinner, and then prepared for a 5 hour flight and a 4 hour time change. Most of us had barely slept a wink when we stepped out into the cold rain that awaited us at Keflavík International at 6 am. We rode the shuttle into Reykjavík, a colorful and vibrant little city, and killed a little time exploring before checking into our spacious but confusingly laid out Airbnb. A group dinner was arranged at a great noodle restaurant near the church Hallgrímskirkja. After, some of us went out to a rooftop bar to take in views of the city. 

A photo of Hallgrímskirkja, the large Lutheran church that dominates the Reykjavik skyline. 

Photo by Kevin Kearns '20

The next day was free and full of sightseeing: seven of us woke up early to go on a “Golden Circle” tour around protected geological areas in the southwest of Iceland. Our tour took us to Þingvellir national park, the site of the oldest continuously operational parliament in the world. It is famously located right on the fissure between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates! We also visited Geysir, a hot spring, and Gullfoss, a dramatic and beautiful waterfall. While we were out beyond the borders of the city, others stayed behind and explored downtown Reykjavík. Some of us regrouped and went for a run out to the peninsula of Seltjarnarnes. Following that, we changed into our very special Din tour T-shirts and traveled to our first performance of tour! It was a relatively low-key affair at Kex Hostel, an up-and-coming hostel located on the city’s coastline. Arnar, the event manager for the hostel, was very gracious to us and we had a great time debuting our sound to a European crowd. Some of us bar-hopped after the gig while others returned home to keep catching up on sleep. 

A brief aside: if you ever visit Iceland, make sure to bring a mask or use very good blinds! During the summer months, it always seems like the daytime, as the country is so far north. I kept needing to remind myself to go to sleep when I would return to our Airbnb at 2 am in broad daylight.

A gaggle of Dins visiting Geysir and the hot springs on our "Golden Circle" tour in Iceland.

Like all my previous stays in Iceland, the last day seemed to arrive far too soon. I woke up at 1 pm and went immediately for a traditional Icelandic lunch at Café Loki with a few others. We enjoyed the dark, sweet rye bread and sheep’s-head jelly more than we were expecting! That night, we had two back-to-back performances, the first at a miniature concert hall in Hannesarholt, the former home of the first prime minister of Iceland (now a restaurant!).This was an intimate affair in which we got to show our music to a small but very enthusiastic audience. Next, we had a more relaxed evening gig in a converted old cinema called Gamla bíó with the Icelandic all-male choir Bartónar. While we couldn’t understand a whole lot of what the group was saying on-stage, we found them to be an extremely affable group of people behind the scenes, with a killer sense of humor.

The thundering waterfall Gullfoss.

Photo by Eli Troen '20

Our last night after the final gig was spent hanging out with Bartónar and friends at Kaffibarinn, a bar that has long been host to Reykjavík’s artistic elites. We chatted with a number of interesting and colorful characters until long past an ideal bedtime, but the conversations were worth it. 

The next day, we woke up, headed back to the bus terminal, and went to the airport. If I had been awake enough to think in complete sentences, I probably would have had something sentimental to say about leaving so soon, but for the time being I could only look toward our next stop in London.

Many thanks are due to all of the wonderful people who made this tour stop possible (Þakka þér fyrir, guys)! Next time you hear back from us, we’ll be talking about our stop in London and Oxford. Until then, please stay tuned!

With fire and ice,

Ethan Craigo #237

WINTER TOUR 2018

DRUM ROLL PLEASE...

We are excited to announce...

That's right, you've guessed it! Starting on January 9th, 2018, the Dins will be traveling to a few select cities across the United States on our 2018 WINTER TOUR, including Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Naples, and New York City.

We have some snappy performances planned for you all - complete with new songs, new choreography, and most importantly, new green socks (trust us, the color is lime green, instead of puke green)!

Keep checking our website for performance specifics! They will be posted so very soon! 

SEE YOU THERE!!

Special Announcement: New Babies!

The Harvard Din and Tonics are beyond excited to announce a very special event: the birth of an unprecedented eight baby Dins this past Saturday!

These gentlemen will be singing with us for the 2016-2017 academic year. Their numbers and names are as follows, from left to right in the picture above:

#239 Patrick Moran
#240 Brian Rolincik
#241 Michael Giles
#242 Peter Chang
#243 Mason Sands
#244 Kevin Kearns
#245 Sam Rosner
#246 Austin Lentsch

Over the previous week these babies braved nerve-wracking solo auditions, fast-paced group repertoire performances, and even fire alarms to earn themselves highly coveted spots in the Dins. We can honestly say that each one deserved it just as much as the others.

Here's to a wonderful year ahead with these great singers and all-around class acts!

Signing off,

Ethan Craigo #237

Stops #14 and #15: Sydney and San Francisco/Fallen Leaf Lake

Sydney

After waving goodbye to Ethan and Lee in Singapore, the Dins arrived at the airport in Sydney, to a warm greeting from all of our homestays.  Most of us spent the afternoon sleeping off the redeye, after which we reconvened at Ted Blamey’s house for a delicious potluck dinner and, of course, more singing.  To our surprise, we weren’t the only performers of the evening, as our newfound friend Blake performed a wonderful musical theatre number and Ted himself recited the Cinderella story entirely in a variant of Pig Latin.

It was off to Waverly College (a high school for boys) for a performance and workshop the next morning, as we celebrated our final early call time of tour!  After giving our performance, we spent some time warming up and studying an excerpt from Sydney’s arrangement of “The Very Thought of You” with the boys.  Following a delicious lunch from the school, the energetic and well-uniformed students gave us a very detailed tour, which culminated in some wonderful views of the city from the rooftop.  The Dins then broke off into smaller groups, spending the afternoon exploring Bondi Beach, visiting Harvard friends, and shopping in downtown Sydney.  In the evening, several Dins joined Ted at a reception for the Harvard Club of Australia, at which we had the pleasure of meeting several newly admitted students.  To finish off the night, several Dins relived their childhoods at a screening of Disney/Pixar’s Finding Dory.

The next day was free until the evening, and after a hearty sleep, the Dins were ready to tackle the city.  In a day full of art, Danny and I explored the Contemporary Art Museum:

Danny basking in the glow of modern art

before reconvening with the other Dins at the Art Gallery of New South Wales:

The Dins outside the gallery

We explored the galleries for a while, then began preparing for our performance there in the evening for the gallery’s “Art After Hours” event.  After narrowly escaping disaster in the form of a forgotten dress shirt, the performance went off without a hitch, and the Dins met up with some friends from the good ol’ USA for a night on the town.

The next morning, after a beautiful lunch on the Harbor, several Dins were lucky enough to catch a performance of Stravinsky’s famous Rite of Spring by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in the Opera House!

Danny, Jacques, and Billy at the Opera House

Dins continued to explore the city, finding koalas and new friends at the Sydney zoo.  A few of us even managed to sneak in a trip on the ferry to the beautiful Manly Beach:

Taking in the ocean breeze

before returning to the Foundry 616 jazz club for our final performance in Sydney.  Ted Blamey topped off his perfect attendance record at our shows by making an appearance with several friends.  The next morning, we began our long (but eagerly awaited) journey to the USA and to the wonderful Barber family!

Billy Cox #230

San Francisco and Fallen Leaf Lake

Another day, another redeye!  The Dins arrived at SFO airport to a warm welcome from not only Mr. and Mrs. Barber, but also one of our favorite Din alums, Vibav Mouli, who joined us to celebrate our final weekend of tour. After kissing the sweet American soil and making a pit stop to take in the beautiful San Francisco Bay, we proceeded to the Barbers’ wonderful home in Orinda to prepare for an evening get-together and performance.  There we enjoyed food from a delicious taco truck and reconnected with Lee, serenading the local Din alumni, friends, and family in attendance.  Always ready for more travel, the Dins decided to pack their bags and make the drive out to the Barbers’ summer home in South Lake Tahoe later that night, arriving at the shore of Fallen Leaf Lake in the wee hours of the morning.

There could not have been a better place to spend our final few days than Fallen Leaf Lake.  We want to thank the Barber family for several delicious meals and wonderful hospitality throughout.  The Dins had a blast sleeping under the stars, relaxing, playing cards, and partaking in several amazing aquatic activities, including stand-up paddle boarding:

Danny and Billy stand-up paddle boarding in the lake

And cliff jumping:

Will posing for the camera in midair

Our second night we gave our very last performance of tour at the general store on the lake to a wonderful audience—we love when everyone knows all of the jazz standards!  After that, it was time to get sentimental, as we all huddled up in blankets on the Barbers’ dock and gave our final toasts to each other, spotting shooting stars all the while.  There could have been no better venue than Fallen Leaf for us to sing our family song, “My Lord, What a Morning,” one last time together.  From Reykjavík to Monaco, Osaka to Sydney, we couldn’t be more grateful to everyone who has helped make this tour possible.  Every stop, the hospitality and kindness we receive from our hosts has been unmatched; never have I felt so welcome so far from home.  Stay in touch, everybody!  We hope to be able to see many of you again in two years.

Until then,

Billy Cox #230

Editor's Note: To all of you who have followed this blog on our tour, either from the beginning or after a certain stop: thanks for keeping up with us! Writing posts and finding pictures on our downtime wasn't always easy while we were still touring, but it has created a record of an amazing experience that we will be able to cherish for many years to come. We hope that you've enjoyed the stories we've had for you, and that this tradition can continue for more tours in the future.

It's been a great ride. I'll let our Reykjavík friend Svavar Knútur play us out with the unofficial anthem of Tour 2016:

Signing off,

Ethan Craigo #237

Stop #13: Singapore

Greetings from Singapore!

Singapore was one of our longest and busiest stops yet, offering a wealth of rewarding opportunities.  The Republic of Singapore is the world's only island city-state, and is poised as a unique financial and commercial hub in Southeast Asia.  Walking through the Changi airport and driving through Central Singapore, we witnessed what a masterpiece of infrastructure and urban planning Singapore is.  We checked into the beautiful five-star Pan Pacific hotel in the heart of Marina Bay on July 24th, and we couldn't have dreamt of a better location and accommodation!  In the evening, we were welcomed by our tour contacts with a dinner at Tony Roma's, whose American barbecue cuisine felt quite nostalgic after spending almost a month in Asia. At this dinner we met Ms. Denise Phua and Mrs. Ng Sock Kian, who were to help us greatly with our performances over the week. Denise is mayor of Central Singapore, the main commercial section of the country.

A panorama of Marina Bay and the main commercial district of Singapore

The following morning, we performed at St. Andrew's Junior College, kicking off our week that featured many school performances in Singapore. We were incredibly energized by the enthusiastic reception from the students, who would continuously delight us with sunny welcomes and avid curiosity.  That afternoon, we produced a promotional video for a benefit event on Saturday run by Pathlight school called "A Very Special Walk".  The event fundraised to support children with autism, and was a goal we spent the week working towards.  We chose the song "Stand by Me" as it relates so well to the theme of dedicating ourselves to the needs of the autistic community, and sticking with them as they seek meaningful lives into adulthood.   Adopting a fun "flash mob" style approach, we chose to spontaneously sing in the trains and stations of Centra Singapore alongside children from the Pathlight school.   Combining music with a powerful message in this way was one of the most meaningful experiences of our tour, and Singapore would have many experiences like this in store for us to come!  The video was shared by the wife of the prime minister of Singapore, and posts sharing it eventually garnered hundreds of thousands of views.  You can watch the video at the link below!  

Tuesday was quite packed, as we were up early to perform at Victoria Junior College, and also performed for Anderson Junior College before the early afternoon was finished!  In the evening, we performed in various areas of the Pan Pacific hotel.   The Pan Pacific club lounge, the Atrium Bar, and the buffet restaurant called "The Edge" each provided beautiful and intimate performance venues for us to serenade the guests of the hotel.   With that, perhaps our busiest day of our summer tour was complete, and we were rewarded with a free morning and afternoon the following day to rest and sight-see.  

Dins performing, while a number of junior college students watch on

On Wednesday evening, we were treated to a dinner at the Baskerville household, where we sang a few short sets among the company of family and friends.  The Dins would like to extend a special thanks to the Baskerville family for graciously offering their organizational and outreach efforts that made our stop so special!

On Thursday morning and afternoon, we visited the Pathlight school, and received a wonderful presentation by Denise on the development of the school and the challenges it faces.  The special-needs school aims to the unique needs of the autistic community while trying to remain competitive with academic standards at large.  Moreover, the school offers special vocational training opportunities, holding ties to Autism Resource Center (ARC), which is a not-of-profit organization founded by professional and parent volunteers dedicated to serving children and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). That night, we had what was to be our biggest performance in Singapore – a very well put-together concert hosted by the Central Singapore Community Development Council at the Toa Payoh HDB Hub mall. We had gigantic LCD screens and walls with our logo behind us as well as a sizable crowd watching on as we ran through our set. The council had even set up an Instagram hashtag for us, #dinscentralsg, to publicize the concert, which was very cool. We felt a little bit starstruck to be on the stage that night.

The stage set up for our very large gig at the Toa Payoh HDB Hub (a few seats filled up after this, we swear!)

Posing slightly off-stage with Denise at the mall gig

Friday morning provided our last school performance at the Raffles Institution, one of Singapore's finest junior colleges. In fact, one of our group's alumni, Kai Huang #213, attended this school! After a short photo shoot for a Singaporean magazine in front of a school building, we went on stage and once more gave it our all.

Forming our infamous "McDonalds Girl" arch at one of our junior college performances

After a short relaxation break back at the hotel, we traveled to the Chijmes building complex for another Central Singapore-organized concert, this time more of a corporate event. We had an excellent dinner at one of the restaurants in the complex before performing in the central building, which was formerly a Catholic church. The acoustics were excellent, which made the gig all the more special to us. This was our last gig with Lee, so we made sure to sing our family song "My Lord, What a Morning" as an encore. We rarely perform the song live – only on special occasions – but we felt the generosity that we had been shown over the week by Denise and her organizations warranted its inclusion.

At the end of the concert at Chijmes, there was a brief ceremony in which we were all presented with stylized giraffe stuffed animals for our work over the week. The giraffe suggests the quality of "sticking one's neck out for others" so to speak, to echo the themes of our charity work with Pathlight.

A picture of our beautiful venue at Chijmes

On Saturday, we saw the efforts of our week culminate in the fundraising carnival open to the public at the Enabling Village.  The turnout to the event was wonderful, and the weather was lovely!  We opened by singing two songs, Stand by Me and The Bare Necessities, with students from the Pathlight school.  We sung a few sets throughout the day, and enjoyed interacting the kids, and raising awareness for an amazing cause.

A nice appearance in a prominent Singaporean newspaper, for which we were interviewed on Saturday

A particularly fun highlight came from participating in the dunk tank booth.  Some even took a dip in tails!

A few wet Dins captured shortly after being dunked

The Dins enjoyed a relaxed day before leaving Singapore on the night of July 31st, but not without taking wit us some of the inspiration and impactful spirit of the great cases that we encountered.  The incredible charitable events and programs we witnessed were driven by intense empathy and selflessness.  For this dedication, we especially thank Ms. Denise Phua, Mrs. Ng Sock Kian, the staff of the Pathlight School, and the prime minister and his wife.  Our hearts are full as we travel on.

Onward to Sydney! 

#234 Sydney Mukasa 

Stop #12: Bangkok

Beautiful architecture at the temple of Wat Pho near the Royal Palace in Bangkok

Greetings from Bangkok, Thailand, the home of beautiful temples, reckless tuk-tuks, and most importantly, Pinky Tailor. We arrived very early Thursday morning on the first flight from Hong Kong (thanks to our wonderful business manager who also happens to be writing this post), and upon arrival headed straight to legendary Pinky Tailor for our traditional suit fitting and shopping spree. As Pinky himself would explain to us while carefully taking each and every one of our measurements…twice…the Dins have been going to his shop for over 10 years. Each year we show up in full force, wide-eyed like kids in a candy store as we head to the third floor to search through hundreds of fabrics and linings, and each year we leave with the sleekest and finest looking suits we could possibly ask for (and at a great price too…for all you parents reading, don’t worry – we haven’t completely maxed out our credit cards just yet). We returned that evening to the Sukosol hotel for whom we would be performing for over the next few days, and where we would call home during our time in Thailand. From its gorgeous pool to its endless buffets the Sukosol was the sanctuary the Dins needed after a busy stop in Hong Kong and before an even busier one in Singapore.

The exterior of Mahatun Plaza, where the legendary Pinky Tailor is located

It was not long before our resident foodie, Lee Seligman, had us out and about in search for food, and we came to one of the most delicious street Pad Thai restaurants in all of Bangkok called Thip Samai. The line was down the street, winding around ten or more chefs, each frying shrimp or artfully making a fried egg thin enough to engulf an entire helping of Pad Thai. The freshly squeezed orange juice paired well with our main course, of which we each had two, and we joyfully returned to the Sukosol to get ready for our full day of singing and sightseeing to come. 

Everett and Leon chowing down on the "Superb Pad Thai" at the fantastic Thip Samai restaurant

Our first performance of the day began bright and early as we traveled down the street to Sri Ayutthaya School to perform for the students, and get our first taste of “fame” as many of the Dins were swarmed by students after the performance to chat and take pictures. We returned to the hotel to the best surprise of them all…CLEAN TAILS!!! Yes, you heard me right…The Din & Tonics would once again smell fresh and clean for the first time since…well you probably don’t want to know. We split from there, with many Dins heading into the heart of Bangkok to test their bartering skills at the markets and eat more savory food. We ended the night with a performance in a banquet hall of the hotel. It was a great success and a chance to officially unveil our brand new album “The Dark Side of the Lime.” 

On-stage in casual gear at the Sri Ayutthaya school

Saturday was our last full day in Bangkok and was filled with return trips to markets, more delicious food, river boat rides, temples, and of course, more singing. The Sukosol’s boutique hotel is called the Siam. It has to be one of the most spectacular hotels I have ever seen, and served a perfect venue for our final performance in Bangkok. With only 39 rooms it is an intimate setting, but that did not stop the Dins from putting on a great show for our audience, which included the owner of the hotels and foreign ambassadors. We concluded our brief tour of Bangkok by hitting the town Saturday night. A small group of us went out to Sukhumvit Soi 11, a famous night market and bar street in the city. The beer was good and the people-watching was even better. And with that our stop in Bangkok must come to an end as we gear up for Singapore. So long Bangkok! We will see you again in two years. 

En route to our next stop!

Signing off,

Will Jaroszewicz #228

Stop #11: Hong Kong

Hello from Hong Kong! After a long night of travel and a late arrival, the Dins were thrilled to arrive at the Mini-Hotel in Causeway Bay. There, we enjoyed the comfort and privacy of individual rooms, a luxury not even guaranteed on our beloved campus.

Some hungry Dins getting very excited for their food

The next morning, we embarked on what would be our main mission for the week to come: finding the best food and bubble tea in the Causeway Bay area. Divided into two groups - those preferring Asian food, and those looking for a good old steak - the Dins were thrilled to experience the culinary variety and multiculturalism that the city has to offer. In the afternoon, we met with our contacts, Wing and Karina, who would accompany us through the rest of our stay, helping us to navigate the island. Our first performance took place at the beautiful Queen’s Garden, where residents of the complex came to enjoy some food, drinks, and music.

More Dins eating more food

The next day, still led by the wonderful Wing and Karina, the Dins performed at the International Finance Center (IFC) Mall, where passersby halted to enjoy a few of our songs. From there, we took some time to look around Hong Kong’s bustling Central District, before returning to our hotel. There, we started the tradition of sitting in the Mini-Hotel’s lobby to play cards for countless hours.

Dins finding inventive ways to cope with the air conditioning

After a good night of sleep, we headed to the Dragon Center Mall. Clad in everyday clothes, the Dins blended in with the crowd before starting an impromptu pop-up performance in the mall’s food court. As we were singing, we hopped on an escalator, and were followed by a crowd down a few flights of stairs – one of the many perks of using no instruments.

Walking through Stanley Market

Later the same day, we headed to another location of the Mini-Hotel, in Stanley, where we would be spending the night. The residents of the Mini Studio in Stanley got to enjoy a lobby performance before Wing and Karina treated us to some delectable dim sum. In sum, some Dins dined on some dim sum.

The Dins in full tourist attire on Stanley's beach

Upon waking up in Stanley, we decided to get a whiff of the local air by checking out the local attractions. First, we took a stroll through the streets of Stanley Market. Second, and most importantly, we feasted on some more dim sum. Finally, armed with sunscreen and umbrellas, we braved the scorching sun on Stanley’s beach where the water was barely cool enough to make the temperature bearable! Then came the time to make our way back to the center of Hong Kong, where some of us went to see the city’s skyline brighten up from across the river for the daily musical light show.

"A Symphony of Lights," the Victoria Harbour light show

The following day, the Dins completed their tour of the Mini-Hotels in Hong Kong, performing first at our basecamp, the Mini-Hotel Causeway Bay, and later at the Mini-Hotel Central. Sadly, this night was our last one with Wing and Karina, who took us yet again to an amazing restaurant before we parted goodbye.

Matt and Wing taking a graceful goodbye selfie

But the Dins’ experience in Hong Kong wasn’t over quite yet. With two more days to spend in the city, we went to visit some more traditional tourist spots. Some went to see Macau with its casinos and its enchanting Portuguese influence; others went for a scenic experience on the Peak, offering a breathtaking view of Hong Kong. A third group, with clearly better priorities, went to get lunch at Tim Ho Wan, the cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant in the world!

At the top of Victoria Peak

In the evening, the Dins were invited by the Rainbow Foundation at Noah’s Ark, a themed educational amusement park. There we got to share a dinner with children who were part of a program conceived for the underprivileged youth in Hong Kong, organized by the Rainbow Foundation. Its founder, Mrs. Kwok, also joined us. After dancing with the children and getting to know them a little bit, we performed for them, and for children from the Foundation’s basketball training camp. The evening was filled with joy, laughter, and heart-warming moments with the children. Later, we reconvened in the lobby for yet another round of cards; at this point, the staff and residents of the Mini-Hotel would have been surprised not to find us there…

Dins and children dancing at Noah's Ark

For our final day in the city, the Dins still on their gastronomical quest went to Sing Heung Yen, a street restaurant specializing in tomato flavored noodles; a unique and delicious cultural mix. Finally, in the evening, we were invited to perform at Bond, where we got to enjoy some refined cuisine alongside Mr. and Mrs. Kwok, as well as their son, Dominic Kwok ’16, recently graduated from Harvard!

Performing on the terrace of the restaurant Bond

And so, stomachs filled and bags packed, the Din train keeps on rolling, Bangkok bound! Stay tuned for more of the Dins’ adventures.

Until then,

Jacques Berguig #233