Rocky and Chris (Japanese Style): The Schlatters come to Japan :)

I'm back to bring you up to speed on our latest adventure. Chris and I had the honor of hosting two very special people.... His parents !!! Craig and Nancy braved the 12 hour flight to Tokyo, Japan. Chris and I took the bullet train to meet them in Tokyo at the hotel. They were hit with some airport transportation issues so Chris and I hung in the lounge sipping on $15 dollar latte's :)....

Once they arrived we headed upstairs for drinks then off to bed for the busy weekend ahead of us.

First things first we headed over to a very popular temple in Tokyo by the name of Sensoji Temple. Many buddhist followers pilgrimage to the site to pray for love ones and prosperity. They commonly throw coins into the altar with their wishes and pray they come true. I prayed for Chris's knees :) If you know him... you know the knees can get a little rusty :) We then left the temple and headed down on a boat on the river to take relaxing trip back to the train.

Later that evening Nancy had planned a eventful night in the Roppongi Hills. First on our agenda was attending a concert for a "Beatles" cover band by the name of "The Parrots". It was an awesome show. I'm not quite familiar with all their catalog of music, but I was fortunate to have Nancy there to educate me on the history of "The Beatles". She also knew all the words to every song they sang .... Go Nancy :).

After the show we went directly across the street to the most amazing restaurant (Sorry Nancy I can't remember the name :( ).

This restaurant let's you choose the ingredients you want them to cook over a open flame. The food was delicious and we had such a good time.

The food was so fresh and was cooked right in front of you :)

The next day we spent the day in the famous Harajuku district. Upon first arriving in Harajuku we stopped by Meiji temple, which is in the same area. We were fortunate to see many wedding cermonies that were taking place that day.... For some reason no one looked happy :)....Come on it's not that bad !!

After our day in Harajuku, Nancy and Craig made their way to Otsu to or home sweet home :)

On Chris's day off Nancy planned a very cool trip around the artisan part of Kyoto. First on our list was the honor of seeing the work of a famous Gold Leaf artist.

This is an ancient technique used to make gold leaf thread for many art pieces and expensive clothing. They were very hospitable and their home was simply amazing. There are only four families that still do this craft today. Currently this famous artist and his son still create amazing masterpieces using various metal leaf :)

After leaving the first artist's home we headed to the home of another Japanese art icon. His name is Shotei Ibata and he is a very famous caligraphy artist. He teaches forums throughout the world and also has many of his pieces hung at airports and galleries in America. His technique requires using a huge brush and writing words in both Chinese and Japanese.

We were so lucky to see him work while we were there and also doing some caligraphy ourselves.

This was definitely a once in a life time experience :)....

As our day came to end we headed over to a beautiful temple on the northern part of Kyoto. This was not any visit, we had the opportunity to meet with their resident Monk and join him for a Japanese tea ceremony. He gave us many wise words and also explained the importance of your "KOKORO" which means your "heart".

Chris had quite a different lesson to learn :). He was told his posture needed a little work. The monk felt he could not fully work on his Kokoro if he slouches over all the time :)....I feel kinda to blame because he is constantly bending over to talk to me....

Another cool landmark at this temple was the smallest "Tea Room".... just take our word for it ....it was tiny :)....

We also had the chance to check out the aquarium in Osaka :)

The coolest thing I got to see was the the crabs....THEY WERE HUGE !!

(picture evidence below)

Speaking of fish....Throughout the week we had some pretty awesome sushi. I have to say the white fish pictured below (squid) is not exactly my favorite....

But the algae soup cannot be passed up :)

During his parent's stay they got to see Chris doing his live radio interview. I couldn't understand the whole interview, but his english portion was great !!!

This past weekend the Schlatter's caught very good game by Mr. Christopher Schlatter :).... The lakestars were victorious in beating the #1 team from Okinawa. Chris played an amazing game and had a very strong 4th quarter presence to win both games.

Gotta get you very own Chris Schlatter #4 pin..... I know I did :)

Let me just say that they knew exactly who Chris's father was....like immediately :)

Another important person came to visit this weekend!?!?!?!??!..... Miss Hope Grahme :)....She is the adorable fiancee of Chris's teammate Luke Zeller... She is great and I'm so happy that we had the opportunity to meet her :)

The Schlatter's departed back to the states on a beautiful monday afternoon. They truly made our adventures in Japan more exciting and I cherish all the memories that were made. I am also happy they came to see Darth play basketball here in Japan. Chris is truly blessed to have not only dedicated parents, but two of the greatest #1 fans :)

Later that evening we headed over to our favorite local indian restaurant to have Chris's weekly feast. The owner is a one man show.... He cooks, He waits on all the customers, and also cleans when your done. We love his food and I will miss seeing him every week :(