We've just finished the most wonderful two weeks in Japan. As I explained last week, it was my first time there, but even in just a couple of weeks, I've grown extremely fond of Japan: its people, hospitality, clothes, culture, (most of its) food, and definitely its concert halls. I've never been on a trip with such uniformly amazing venues. A particularly special concert for us was the one we gave on Saturday, in Tokyo's Opera City Concert Hall. This is a truly beautiful venue (see pictures on our Facebook and our Instagrams), and had a very warm atmosphere to it when filled with our friends and supporters from Japan's capital city. For me, it was particularly wonderful to have Ellie there, with her parents and their family friends. Ellie's parents hadn't been to a full King's Singers concert since I joined the group, so I was really pleased to be able to show them what it is I get up to!After giving our final Japanese concert yesterday, in a city called Fukui, we spent last night in Tokyo then flew to Taipei this morning, where we're giving a concert tomorrow evening in the National Concert Hall. I can't wait! When we first got to our hotel rooms this afternoon, an alarming text alert - headed 'Emergency Alarm' - came through on our phones (in Mandarin), and a few minutes later an air raid siren starting sounding throughout the city. It was rather spooky to behold; cars stopped in the road, pedestrians were ushered indoors. It was just a drill, routinely carried out here. But the Taiwanese people are feeling the tension rise, as China (who claim the island as a renegade Chinese province) move military equipment to nearby islands. It's not at all my place to comment on this, but as a tourist here in Taipei, to be greeted by the drill brought home quite how palpable the perceived threat seems for the Taiwanese people.For dinner this evening we all went out for a delicious curry - Chicken Saag in my case - and now whilst I'm digesting it, I'm just catching up on some emails and finishing preparation for tomorrow's concert before hitting the hay!
We've just finished the most wonderful two weeks in Japan. As I explained last week, it was my first time there, but even in just a couple of weeks, I've grown extremely fond of Japan: its people, hospitality, clothes, culture, (most of its) food, and definitely its concert halls. I've never been on a trip with such uniformly amazing venues. A particularly special concert for us was the one we gave on Saturday, in Tokyo's Opera City Concert Hall. This is a truly beautiful venue (see pictures on our Facebook and our Instagrams), and had a very warm atmosphere to it when filled with our friends and supporters from Japan's capital city. For me, it was particularly wonderful to have Ellie there, with her parents and their family friends. Ellie's parents hadn't been to a full King's Singers concert since I joined the group, so I was really pleased to be able to show them what it is I get up to!After giving our final Japanese concert yesterday, in a city called Fukui, we spent last night in Tokyo then flew to Taipei this morning, where we're giving a concert tomorrow evening in the National Concert Hall. I can't wait! When we first got to our hotel rooms this afternoon, an alarming text alert - headed 'Emergency Alarm' - came through on our phones (in Mandarin), and a few minutes later an air raid siren starting sounding throughout the city. It was rather spooky to behold; cars stopped in the road, pedestrians were ushered indoors. It was just a drill, routinely carried out here. But the Taiwanese people are feeling the tension rise, as China (who claim the island as a renegade Chinese province) move military equipment to nearby islands. It's not at all my place to comment on this, but as a tourist here in Taipei, to be greeted by the drill brought home quite how palpable the perceived threat seems for the Taiwanese people.For dinner this evening we all went out for a delicious curry - Chicken Saag in my case - and now whilst I'm digesting it, I'm just catching up on some emails and finishing preparation for tomorrow's concert before hitting the hay!
We've just finished the most wonderful two weeks in Japan. As I explained last week, it was my first time there, but even in just a couple of weeks, I've grown extremely fond of Japan: its people, hospitality, clothes, culture, (most of its) food, and definitely its concert halls. I've never been on a trip with such uniformly amazing venues. A particularly special concert for us was the one we gave on Saturday, in Tokyo's Opera City Concert Hall. This is a truly beautiful venue (see pictures on our Facebook and our Instagrams), and had a very warm atmosphere to it when filled with our friends and supporters from Japan's capital city. For me, it was particularly wonderful to have Ellie there, with her parents and their family friends. Ellie's parents hadn't been to a full King's Singers concert since I joined the group, so I was really pleased to be able to show them what it is I get up to!After giving our final Japanese concert yesterday, in a city called Fukui, we spent last night in Tokyo then flew to Taipei this morning, where we're giving a concert tomorrow evening in the National Concert Hall. I can't wait! When we first got to our hotel rooms this afternoon, an alarming text alert - headed 'Emergency Alarm' - came through on our phones (in Mandarin), and a few minutes later an air raid siren starting sounding throughout the city. It was rather spooky to behold; cars stopped in the road, pedestrians were ushered indoors. It was just a drill, routinely carried out here. But the Taiwanese people are feeling the tension rise, as China (who claim the island as a renegade Chinese province) move military equipment to nearby islands. It's not at all my place to comment on this, but as a tourist here in Taipei, to be greeted by the drill brought home quite how palpable the perceived threat seems for the Taiwanese people.For dinner this evening we all went out for a delicious curry - Chicken Saag in my case - and now whilst I'm digesting it, I'm just catching up on some emails and finishing preparation for tomorrow's concert before hitting the hay!
We've just finished the most wonderful two weeks in Japan. As I explained last week, it was my first time there, but even in just a couple of weeks, I've grown extremely fond of Japan: its people, hospitality, clothes, culture, (most of its) food, and definitely its concert halls. I've never been on a trip with such uniformly amazing venues. A particularly special concert for us was the one we gave on Saturday, in Tokyo's Opera City Concert Hall. This is a truly beautiful venue (see pictures on our Facebook and our Instagrams), and had a very warm atmosphere to it when filled with our friends and supporters from Japan's capital city. For me, it was particularly wonderful to have Ellie there, with her parents and their family friends. Ellie's parents hadn't been to a full King's Singers concert since I joined the group, so I was really pleased to be able to show them what it is I get up to!After giving our final Japanese concert yesterday, in a city called Fukui, we spent last night in Tokyo then flew to Taipei this morning, where we're giving a concert tomorrow evening in the National Concert Hall. I can't wait! When we first got to our hotel rooms this afternoon, an alarming text alert - headed 'Emergency Alarm' - came through on our phones (in Mandarin), and a few minutes later an air raid siren starting sounding throughout the city. It was rather spooky to behold; cars stopped in the road, pedestrians were ushered indoors. It was just a drill, routinely carried out here. But the Taiwanese people are feeling the tension rise, as China (who claim the island as a renegade Chinese province) move military equipment to nearby islands. It's not at all my place to comment on this, but as a tourist here in Taipei, to be greeted by the drill brought home quite how palpable the perceived threat seems for the Taiwanese people.For dinner this evening we all went out for a delicious curry - Chicken Saag in my case - and now whilst I'm digesting it, I'm just catching up on some emails and finishing preparation for tomorrow's concert before hitting the hay!
We've just finished the most wonderful two weeks in Japan. As I explained last week, it was my first time there, but even in just a couple of weeks, I've grown extremely fond of Japan: its people, hospitality, clothes, culture, (most of its) food, and definitely its concert halls. I've never been on a trip with such uniformly amazing venues. A particularly special concert for us was the one we gave on Saturday, in Tokyo's Opera City Concert Hall. This is a truly beautiful venue (see pictures on our Facebook and our Instagrams), and had a very warm atmosphere to it when filled with our friends and supporters from Japan's capital city. For me, it was particularly wonderful to have Ellie there, with her parents and their family friends. Ellie's parents hadn't been to a full King's Singers concert since I joined the group, so I was really pleased to be able to show them what it is I get up to!After giving our final Japanese concert yesterday, in a city called Fukui, we spent last night in Tokyo then flew to Taipei this morning, where we're giving a concert tomorrow evening in the National Concert Hall. I can't wait! When we first got to our hotel rooms this afternoon, an alarming text alert - headed 'Emergency Alarm' - came through on our phones (in Mandarin), and a few minutes later an air raid siren starting sounding throughout the city. It was rather spooky to behold; cars stopped in the road, pedestrians were ushered indoors. It was just a drill, routinely carried out here. But the Taiwanese people are feeling the tension rise, as China (who claim the island as a renegade Chinese province) move military equipment to nearby islands. It's not at all my place to comment on this, but as a tourist here in Taipei, to be greeted by the drill brought home quite how palpable the perceived threat seems for the Taiwanese people.For dinner this evening we all went out for a delicious curry - Chicken Saag in my case - and now whilst I'm digesting it, I'm just catching up on some emails and finishing preparation for tomorrow's concert before hitting the hay!
We've just finished the most wonderful two weeks in Japan. As I explained last week, it was my first time there, but even in just a couple of weeks, I've grown extremely fond of Japan: its people, hospitality, clothes, culture, (most of its) food, and definitely its concert halls. I've never been on a trip with such uniformly amazing venues. A particularly special concert for us was the one we gave on Saturday, in Tokyo's Opera City Concert Hall. This is a truly beautiful venue (see pictures on our Facebook and our Instagrams), and had a very warm atmosphere to it when filled with our friends and supporters from Japan's capital city. For me, it was particularly wonderful to have Ellie there, with her parents and their family friends. Ellie's parents hadn't been to a full King's Singers concert since I joined the group, so I was really pleased to be able to show them what it is I get up to!After giving our final Japanese concert yesterday, in a city called Fukui, we spent last night in Tokyo then flew to Taipei this morning, where we're giving a concert tomorrow evening in the National Concert Hall. I can't wait! When we first got to our hotel rooms this afternoon, an alarming text alert - headed 'Emergency Alarm' - came through on our phones (in Mandarin), and a few minutes later an air raid siren starting sounding throughout the city. It was rather spooky to behold; cars stopped in the road, pedestrians were ushered indoors. It was just a drill, routinely carried out here. But the Taiwanese people are feeling the tension rise, as China (who claim the island as a renegade Chinese province) move military equipment to nearby islands. It's not at all my place to comment on this, but as a tourist here in Taipei, to be greeted by the drill brought home quite how palpable the perceived threat seems for the Taiwanese people.For dinner this evening we all went out for a delicious curry - Chicken Saag in my case - and now whilst I'm digesting it, I'm just catching up on some emails and finishing preparation for tomorrow's concert before hitting the hay!
We've just finished the most wonderful two weeks in Japan. As I explained last week, it was my first time there, but even in just a couple of weeks, I've grown extremely fond of Japan: its people, hospitality, clothes, culture, (most of its) food, and definitely its concert halls. I've never been on a trip with such uniformly amazing venues. A particularly special concert for us was the one we gave on Saturday, in Tokyo's Opera City Concert Hall. This is a truly beautiful venue (see pictures on our Facebook and our Instagrams), and had a very warm atmosphere to it when filled with our friends and supporters from Japan's capital city. For me, it was particularly wonderful to have Ellie there, with her parents and their family friends. Ellie's parents hadn't been to a full King's Singers concert since I joined the group, so I was really pleased to be able to show them what it is I get up to!After giving our final Japanese concert yesterday, in a city called Fukui, we spent last night in Tokyo then flew to Taipei this morning, where we're giving a concert tomorrow evening in the National Concert Hall. I can't wait! When we first got to our hotel rooms this afternoon, an alarming text alert - headed 'Emergency Alarm' - came through on our phones (in Mandarin), and a few minutes later an air raid siren starting sounding throughout the city. It was rather spooky to behold; cars stopped in the road, pedestrians were ushered indoors. It was just a drill, routinely carried out here. But the Taiwanese people are feeling the tension rise, as China (who claim the island as a renegade Chinese province) move military equipment to nearby islands. It's not at all my place to comment on this, but as a tourist here in Taipei, to be greeted by the drill brought home quite how palpable the perceived threat seems for the Taiwanese people.For dinner this evening we all went out for a delicious curry - Chicken Saag in my case - and now whilst I'm digesting it, I'm just catching up on some emails and finishing preparation for tomorrow's concert before hitting the hay!
