The NSO's 2009 Asian Tour has come to an end, but a few memories deserve special mention:

• Violinist Nikolaj Znaider (who came to the NSO's rescue when Leonidas Kavakos had to cancel due to medical reasons), for his last performance in Seoul, dedicated his encore to his musical colleagues of the past two weeks: the musicians of the NSO and Principal Conductor Iván Fischer.

• The five health questionnaires and six temperature scans as the tour party travelled from one city to another. No one had to be quarantined!

   

• Fischer and Znaider, mobbed at post-concert autograph sessions in Beijing and Shanghai.

   

• The incredible underwater walkway in Beijing's National Center for the Performing Arts ("the Egg").

   

• Iván Fischer, pacing back and forth backstage, memorizing the evening's possible encores in Chinese and Korean.

   

• The baker in Seoul, who, upon being told that his customer was with the National Symphony Orchestra, immediately began piling treats into a carrying box, as his "welcome to Korea" gift to the NSO.

   

• And all of you, who have taken the time to catch up with us while we were half a world away. Thank you very much.