Cutest Kid in Japan....

I met the most adorable kids during my stay here in Japan. They are the children of Chris's teammate Takamichi Fujiwara, or more commonly known as "Wara". His wife Noriko has invited us over for dinner a few times, and I also teach her english 2 days a week. Their son Entero and Karyn were pretty apprehensive to meet Chris and I during the first few encounters. Yet, the children both opened up to Chris before me, but I think this is due to the fact that Chris is a big kid himself. Every time I come over I have to start from scratch, but by the time we leave there is some serious progress. Here is the pic of the very adorable kids after a dinner we attended at their home. "Mr. Cool Guy"!!!!

TIme has passed....So I must post...

Many exciting things have happened since the last time I made a new post. My english student invited me to her home to try on one of her many Kimono's. There are many steps to be done in putting on the Kimono. She helped me with the whole process, but if I was alone I think it would of took me about 20 minutes to do. To my surprise she gave me my very own Kimono to have. It is a wonderful orange/coral color robe and on the Obi (elaborate belt of Kimono) there is a beautiful hibiscus flower. The only part you must get used to is wearing the shoes. They remind me of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for some reason.

Upon finishing this amazing experience, she then decided to feed me a traditional Japanese dish. It is called Natto. This dish is typically served with rice for breakfast. Americans tend not to like this dish due to it's pungent odor. Why the odor you might ask!?!?!? Because, it is fermented (fungus) soybeans. When stirred it creates a sticky like substance around the beans. I will try anything once.......Meaning one time never again...

That weekend Chris had a game in Takamatsu. The city is about 5 hours away from Otsu. Chris left on friday and stayed back till the game on sunday. Chris's team demolished Takamatsu on saturday with a 20 point lead. I set off on my voyage to Takamatsu on a very early sunday morning. The drive was long, but the sightseeing was awesome. We stopped at a famous bridge in Kobe, and it looked alot like San Francisco's Bay Bridge. We arrived in Takamatsu to much warmer weather and also another victorious win by the Lakestars. I am so proud of the boys for all their hardwork on the court. They truly deserve these two wins :)......

This week we had a chance to meet the team dentist. She is absolutely adorable and very petite. She cleaned Chris's teeth while standing up the entire time. I can imagine the size of these boys tends to be a bit of a task for her.

Last night we attended a very nice dinner for the team sponsors and booster. The tables were split up into different companies. We sat with the owner of Dhiatsu (might be misspelled), which is the car sponsor of the team. After a long night of autograph's and pictures we headed home to sleep. Chris has the weekend off and plan to do some tourists things while we have the time. Well until then here are some pics of the town we live in .......

I just want to point out the pigeon who decided to walk right across us as we rode our bikes home. Seriously, I don't know if he was trying to take his life or we should of obeyed the Pigeon Crossing rule :)

Long Week .... Longer Weekend !!!

Chris and I had a very long weekend.... The Lakestar's played two very hard games and were defeated by the 2nd place team from Sendai... Between Chris's school visits to doctor check-ups...this week turned out to be very long and tiresome.The team has a very awesome Sponsor named "Ottoson". He owns various japanese-style restaurants throughout Shiga. Last week after Chris's practice we went to lunch at one of his restaurants....

Chris eats alot more than I do...The picture shows the comparison of my plate to his :)....

I also had the chance to give Chris treatment to his knee....I was pretty good at it :)

I feel 100% again and have a very busy week ahead of me....I will definitely keep you updated :)

English Lesson + Snow = Still Sick :(

Today started pretty early for Chris... He went to a local school today to visit and speak to the students at about 7am this morning. I woke up about 2 hours later to some new cold symptoms. I dragged myself out of bed to start my day at the gym. After the gym I came home still feeling pretty sick. Today was a important day because I gave my first english lesson in Japan. The instruction took place at the nearest Starbucks to my relief. As luck would have it on the way to Starbucks it began to snow.... I thought to myself you gotta be kidding me :(..... Besides teaching my new friend Michi some new english words.... I myself learned two very important words in Japanese..."Mushi Bou" which means "Nonfat Milk"... I've come to realize i've been using whole 100% milk in our house :(.... Upon leaving my lesson, Chris and I met up at the local grocery store to practice my new japanese and purchase some 0% skim milk. Chris prepared an awesome meal of stir fry and rice... This is Chris's 2nd awesome meal this week...Since I was pretty sick last night he prepared some delicious Chicken Noodle Soup from scratch... I'm truly thankful to have him while i've been ill .... There is a big game this weekend, so I need to get better...Well it's 10pm here and my lil Darth Vader is already fast asleep.... I probably should head off myself...til tomorrow :)...

Couple of pics from Sunday's Game :)

Shiga Lakestars vs. Hamamatsu Phoenix....

They are currently number one in their conference, so sunday's win was big for the Lakestars :)

Some Shiga Lakestars PIcs :)

# 4 Chris Schlatter :)
All the Shiga Lakestar Boosters !!!!
The Lakestars Cheerleaders getting down!!
Gymnasium is decorated with all the team colors!!!

Go Go Lakes !!!
Inside the Lakestars Gym :)
Get it Darth !!!

Congrats to the Kelati Family :)

We want to send a huge congrats to Thomas Kelati and his family on their new addition ...Little Maya Azieb Thomas :) was born on January 6th, 2010 at very healthy 8lbs :)... She joins her adorable older sister Lily into the Kelati family.... We are so happy for you and can't wait to meet her :)...

I miss my lil nuggets...

I wanted to dedicate this post to my nephews back at home... My godson/nephew Octavio "tavo" Lopez is taking Youtube by storm with his adorable videos... He sings and he raps.... These videos make me smile, laugh, and make nina cry..... Seriously, I'm writing this and crying at the same time :).... Cut and paste these to your internet web address bar.... They are too cute :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Fllb_97p-Q

* This one is Tavo's version on Justin Beiber's "One time"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZSvGZ6qXuM

* This one is Tavo's version of "Ice cream paint job " ( This one is Chris's fav)

I love it!!!!

Time to catch you up on our adventures :)

I (Rocky) arrived on a very cold night in Osaka on December 29th. My airplane arrived early, so with this said Chris was not waiting there for me :(.... But he also wasn't aware that my flight would be arriving one hour early... It also did not help that I flew from SFO to Japan with a wife of another basketball player and he was there to pick her up on time...I'm just saying :)...

I was very thankful that I was able to spend christmas with my family and the people that mean the most to me before heading back to Japan:)....

Above are some pictures on my nephews supporting Chris with their very own personalized jerseys :)...

My poor Chris had a very different experience since the team was on the road for christmas....Below is a picture of them on the bus at Christmas time...They look so peaceful...

Chris and I were able to spend New Years together attending various parties thrown by the team sponsors. Before the clock hit midnight we all caught a cab to head to another party to celebrate. Right as we stepped outside to hail a cab it started to snow :)... It was a beautiful sight to see!!!! FYI: I was wearing a dress, so with that being said.... I was FREEZING!!!!

Snow = Very COLD!!!!!.... From New Years Day to now I have experienced various degrees of being sick... From headaches to a runny nose...:(....This is why there has been such a huge delay in my posts....

During Chris's vacation time we headed to the movies to watch Avatar in 3D.... I came to realize very early in the movie that the Na'vi people reminded me of someone....Then it hit me, Chris is a Avatar !!!!!...I have a posted a pic for evidence.... The pic reflects the moment in the movie that I realized Chris maybe one of the Na'vi people.... The funny part is Chris is already one of the biggest guys in Japan right now, so when the movie finished we stood up to leave and all the movie patrons stared at us....I know they were thinking the same thing I did :)....

I had an opportunity to meet a very awesome girl named Autumn

who was here visiting from California for 2 weeks. Since the team was away this Saturday and it was her last weekend here, we decided to have a girls day and head to Osaka. It was awesome!! We shopped and ate at El Torito... I also got to meet Sonic the Headgehog...

Don't tell Chris, but I think we made a connection ;)... As we walked back to the train station to head home we had a chance to see beautiful downtown Osaka with all their beautiful lights for the holidays.

I had a awesome opportunity to travel to Hamamatsu to watch Chris's game this sunday . I have a new friend and her name is Michi... She is one of the biggest Shiga Lakestars fans... if the not the biggest!!!!... She offered to take me to most of the away games, which is a huge favor considering I usually have to take the train....The team played very hard and came home with a win. The team boosters all call me "Chris"... I guess that means I'm his girlfriend...

I'm so glad to be back with Chris in Japan... I'm truly blessed and can't wait to explore this country further with my Darth Vader :)....