"On November 5, we landed in Munich to take part in the live TV show "Millionaer Gesucht" ('Looking for a Millionaire'). After the intense live rehearsal schedule for the past few weeks [ IMAGE 1 | IMAGE 2 ], participating in a TV show actually felt like a nice and welcome change.

The day called for a light re-arrangement, and the band was thankful to have some time to relax. In the evening, the show went well and even the lights were working for us. This was the first time that the guys performed 'Velvet', and they did a wonderful job. The band was in a great mood and Anneli looked like a beautiful angel on the stage.

The next morning, we took off to Japan from Munich airport - together with all of our luggage. After the stories you have heard about losing the luggage, you can imagine the effort that was put into making sure that everything would arrive this time. The travelling party had grown to over ten people, and that was even without counting the crew.

The flight itself was pretty quiet, and most of us actually managed to get some sleep. Only Paul and Lauren were kept awake throughout the trip - little Augie didn't seem to be in the mood for sleep, and thus his mom and dad wouldn't get any either... On such a long flight, you have to try to adjust to the new time zone on the way there, and that always leads to some bodily confusion. The next day, we felt like we'd had six meals in a row without sleeping.

Everyone arrived at Osaka airport in quite a good mood, and we made our way to the dreaded baggage claim... We were waiting patiently at the conveyor belt, and soon enough, passenger after passenger grabbed his suitcase and left. When there were only thirty people left, including us, I felt a slight panic attack creeping up to my neck... But just then, our bags appeared, and a sense of relief washed over us all.

The staff from the Japanese promoter, Creative Man, was waiting for us outside, and everyone jumped on the bus for the hotel. We are travelling with two interpreters in Japan and both of them have travelled with a-ha on their last tour here in Japan, twelve years ago. Talk about coincidence!

When we arrived at the hotel, Paul, Morten and Magne went to their rooms and took some much-needed rest. The band had the rest of the day off, but the crew had to be at work. They had arrived in Japan two days before, so they had had plenty of time to adjust to the new time zone :-)

The next day, we went to the venue quite early, to make sure that we had enough time for the first soundcheck. [ IMAGE 1 | IMAGE 2 | IMAGE 3 ] Shows in Japan start really, really early. The doors open at 6pm, so the soundcheck has to be finished by 5:30pm, and showtime is between 6:30 and 7pm.

When we arrived, the wonderful catering reminded us why touring in Japan is so much fun - where else can you find amazing food such as sushi and sashimi in the dressing rooms? Magne was very happy to to hear that the tour programmes were selling like hot cakes at the merchandise stand. He was involved in designing the programme and it has a definite artsy feel to it.

The hall filled very quickly, and the show started on time at 7:05pm. Just before Morten, Magne and Paul went on stage, everyone was rather nervous. Twenty minutes later, the pressure was slowly melting away. The set itself was beautiful and the audience was cheering loudly - which means a lot, because Japanese audiences are usually very quiet.

After a great set and the encore, everyone went back upstairs to the dressing room. We all had huge smiles on our faces. Now that the first show was under their belt, people were discussing what minute things could be changed for the next show, and the band were talking about all the ups and downs they'd felt on stage.