More about our trip to California

Friday evening Jim headed off to the rehearsal at the church in Rancho Palos Verdes about a half hour away. I decided that I wasn't needed at the rehearsal and headed off to the hotels outdoor pool for some relaxation and swimming. After I had been there awhile I ran in to our friends the Winners, minus Drew who was also at the rehearsal. It was great to see Charlie and James and Ann again. All of us meet up again at the rehearsal dinner which was held at a private banquet/restaurant place right on the water in San Pedro where we had delicious salmon. There were lots of toasts and speeches made by Toshi's family and friends of the family and he had to work very hard translating them. My favorite part was when he was translating his mother's speech in Chinese and translated one bit as "lots of embarrassing compliments about me..." He refused to clarify this later.

After the dinner we delivered our Japanese guests back to the hotel and then went back downtown to meet Toshi and Susan and the "younger" set at the Sheraton to do Karaoke. It was a blast to see and hear Toshi and Susan do the duet of the 70s Carpenters song "Why do birds suddenly appear every time you draw near...." complete with a dance in the interlude. I did get up with one of the groomsmen and his fiance who I had just met and sing "Go Greased Lightening". We were terrible, but had fun. We all packed it in and went home about one in the morning.