If it's Wednesday, this must be Osaka

It's 10:20 p.m. here on December 13; that's 5:20 a.m. on December 13 back home, so my body is kind of confused, after having left the house around 6:00 a.m. on December 12. It takes a LONG time to fly to Japan, but the trip was incredibly smooth, from BART to plane to bus. We drove for about an hour from the Osaka airport and there were high rise buildings as far we could see, the whole way. This city is huge. We checked into the Hanshin Hotel then Michele, Tess, Sunghee, Ruben, Jason and I went to an Italian restaurant for dinner. They were all out of seafood (in Japan!??). For my my mom I have to report on the toilet at the restaurant. It had all the fancy features like heated seat, bidet, some other water spray function, but the coolest thing was that there was a spigot coming out of the top of the tank, and the tank top was shaped like a sink with a drain in it. When the tank fills, the tap runs and you can wash your hands with that water that's just going to to out with the next flush anyway. Tomorrow we can sleep in; we have a rehearsal at 1:00. Our first concert is on Friday. It will be great to rehearse and play concerts without the distractions of the usual daily schedules. Stay tuned for a scary picture of Jason on the airplane (if I can find a way to download it in the next day or so).

Need sleep.....

Patti