In love with the Land Down Under

SYDNEY Opera House

BEFORE continuing, I would like to first and foremost thank everyone who made my Down Under Tour possible: promoters Carolyn Manaloto, Zenie Low, Cocoy Gara and Liz Honey; my agent Josh Pultz; musical director Larry Yurman; our musicians Christmas, Stephen, Isaac, Mick, Sebastian, Kate, Stan, Dominic, Noel, Hiroki and Michael; and finally, all the support acts from each city who sang and danced their hearts out!

Thank you all so very much for what turned out to be a great two weeks in New Zealand and Australia!

All four performances went very well, and we had the most receptive and amazing audiences. To everyone who came to the shows, my most heartfelt thanks.

However, as we all know, tours aren’t a case of “all work and no play.” We were all able to squeeze in a bit of fun, and a lot of food.

In Auckland, our gracious host Zenie treated us to a home-cooked meal of roast lamb, chicken, and loads of salad and vegetables, ending with a magnificent Japanese mille crepe cake (imagine, 20 layers of paper thin crepes, with custard or great tea cream in between). Because it was Zenie’s birthday, it was sweet of her to have us celebrate with her.

Once in Brisbane, we thought we would treat ourselves to a night out on the Gold Coast after our early show (the concert started at 5 p.m.). However, because it was a Sunday, almost every place we could head to was closed for the night.

We walked around, and drove around … nothing. Until we found an Irish bar that was playing live music. We got ourselves a table on the balcony and ordered drinks. This was my first time trying Guinness, and oh wow. It was yummy!

We had an extra day off at the Gold Coast, so we headed to Glass Dining and Lounge Bar for a low-key dinner of oysters, beef cheeks and polenta, salmon, chicken, and fancy cocktails. They have this really beautiful jalapeño margarita that we really enjoyed. The night ended early as we all had an early flight the following day to Sydney.

Special tour

Once we landed in Sydney, we hit the ground running. We did a special tour of the Sydney Opera House (thanks to Veronica, our wonderful tour guide), visiting the Concert Hall (one day, I shall perform in that space, mark my words), the Joan Sutherland Theatre, the lobbies and other public spaces. Just walking toward the actual building took my breath away. I ended up taking lots of photos, with just a sampling uploaded to Instagram.

That evening, it came time for dinner with friend and fellow “The Voice” coach Delta Goodrem at Café Sydney. The atmosphere was chill and calm, and we noshed on fresh oysters and barramundi, and loaded up on vegetables. And being the singers that we are, we sipped hot tea with lemon and honey. We each had early days, so we called it a night.

The following morning, I had myself a sweet reunion with David Campbell (my Chris in “Hey, Mr. Producer!”) on the morning show, “Today.” We performed “A Whole New World” accompanied on the piano by Larry, and despite the early call, we had a fabulous time.

It was also really cool to see posters of “The Voice” in the Channel 9 lobby (Channel 9 is the station that airs “The Voice” in Australia). I headed right back to the hotel for a nap before we headed out to another dinner.

Our next night out was thanks to my “Sound of Music” brother Javier Arriaga at a restaurant called the Riley Street Garage. We got the tasting menu, which was perfect for sharing. There was salad, crispy pork knuckles, chorizo corn dogs, chicken liver parfait, fish ’n’ chip tartare, grilled mushrooms, and an assortment of really artfully prepared desserts. I also ordered the really yummy Bloody Caesar cocktail, which is like a Bloody Mary, but … dare I say, bloodier?

The next morning, our “The Voice Kids” audio guy Tom Brickhill, took me for a monumental walk along the Australian coast from one beach to another: Coogee, Clavelly, Bronte, Tamarama and finally, Bondi.

Breathtaking coastline

The coastline was breathtaking! The weather was also perfect, as evidenced by the surfers dotting the water. For lunch, we stopped at Bogey Hall Café, where fresh juice and cauliflower soup was the order of the day for me. That evening, adding more friends: producer Enda Markey and lighting designer Chris Page (colleagues from “Do You Hear the People Sing—Shanghai”), we headed to Dos Senoritas for Mexican food. The fare is what one might expect to find: tacos, burritos and enchiladas. And it was all very good.

Once we hit Melbourne, because our time was extremely limited, we didn’t get out to enjoy the town until after the concert was over.

And oh, we did! I fell in love with Milk the Cow, a fromagerie that pairs cheese with wine (I had the dessert wine flight … exquisite!). There was also a mini-“Cats” reunion (to Darren Tyler, Stephanie and Brent Osborne, and Caleb Bartolo, it was so great to see you!) amid the baked Camembert and glasses of beer.

And to end the trip, Enda along with his friends Jamie and Bobby (from the cast of “Blood Brothers”) took us to The Peel, a gay dance club. Once we got in, the music and the atmosphere were fun! But perhaps my days of clubbing are long behind me, as I was one of the first to head home. Besides, I needed to pack for my flight home.

And now I’m home, with the Land Down Under still fresh on my mind. I do intend to make a return in a couple of years to concertize and further explore what New Zealand and Australia have to offer. Maybe this time, I’ll get to hug a real-life koala. Maybe.