MilindSingh

Day 21: Hong Kong The only reason we were in Hong Kong, instead of ending our tour the day before, was that we would be performing with the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong (or CCOHK for short). After breakfast on my 21st day of the tour, we took a ferry to an island where we did some sightseeing and had lunch. We then went to the Hong Kong City Concert Hall, where we would be rehearsing and performing with the CCOHK. We had a four-hour rehearsal in which we went over the Michael Haydn Mass. We slowly went through each movement of the mass to see what it would sound like with the orchestra. We also went through the other pieces we would be performing with the orchestra. Finally, the rehearsal was over, and it ... read more

Day 11: Chengdu Day 11 was the first day after four days of going from city to city. I was happy to not have to step on a plane that day. After another great meal at the Sheraton in Chengdu, I went shopping. To clarify, my friends and I were given about two hours to explore the “old town” of Chengdu, which was basically two streets, old houses, and a bunch of shops. I knew my dad loved to read, and I always saw him using the weirdest things as bookmarks (and never actual bookmarks), I bought him two wooden handcrafted bookmarks with cool designs. My brother loves eating Chinese food, and no Chinese dish is complete without chopsticks, so for my brother (and myself), I bought a set of four chopsticks with pandas carved into ... read more

Day 1: Newark > Beijing The morning of my flight, I was up an hour before I had planned. I couldn't contain the excitement in my stomach. After hastily getting ready, I made sure that I was at school before the call time: 6 AM. I double checked my duffel bag and backpack to make sure everything was there. The doors to the bus were the point of no return. I had to make sure I had absolutely everything ready to go. The ride to the airport felt forever long, but finally, we reached Newark Airport. Under different circumstances, I wouldn’t have wanted my parents there. This time, though, their smiling faces and continuous photo-taking made me feel less nervous. I wasn’t embarrassed because of my parents. This was one of the biggest moments of my ... read more

Alright this one is going to be a little different. All the other past trips I have written about have either been with my family or school. This trip to Europe in March of 2019 was the first time I traveled completely alone to another country. During my trip, I visited Switzerland, France and Belgium, albeit small parts of each. The trip started in Switzerland, and then I went to France and then came back to Switzerland. I flew back home from Belgium. Some of the highlights were skiing in the Alps, the Geneva International Motor Show, and Belgian fries. The last is one especially exciting. In total it was a ten day trip starting on March seventh and ending on the seventeenth. For me, the excitement started on Monday, and my flight was on Thursday. ... read more

My family loves to travel together and see new places as much as possible. We recently visited Iceland in the summer of 2017 for two fantastic weeks. It was not just another place to check-off on a list, but, a life-changing experience. I hope to return there someday. This vacation was the first time I went on a road trip across a whole country. One of the most memorable parts of this vacation was that we planned the entire trip ourselves. Or rather, my mother planned the entire trip herself. Because of this, we went where we wanted to when we wanted. We had complete freedom to explore at our own pace, and that made the vacation so much better. If you ever have the chance to go to Iceland, make sure you go and try ... read more