China June 10th and 11th

I had a decent night sleep and we went through are normal morning routing of eating, packing, showering and loading on the bus all at the last minute. The bus ride again was around 2 to 3 hours. We show up at the hotel which I can't remember what it looked like at all. The days have started to mush together due to all the traveling. I remember it being dimly lit in the hallways and full of a dark wood. When we got there we did our normal pre-game routine. We ate lunch, unpacked a little, napped, snack 2 hours before the game and left an hour and half before the game. All of us as tired as we were seemed to be getting a handle on the travel and were ready to play. Our big guy, rob decided to give it shot tonight as well which was nice. He had pulled a calf muscle a couple games before and was resting it. The gym wasn't the nicest we played in so far but I liked the rims. The downer was it didn't look very well ventilated and there was a smoky haze above the court. The game went great for us a team. We ended up winning by 3 to the team we had lost the 2 previous to. I had 20 points in the first quarter and then played 3 minutes the rest of the game because the refs calling phantom fouls. If we would have lost I would have been frustrated but I actually had a lot of fun watching my team beat this team up. It was a good morale booster not to mention it was a good gift for our point guard (Sepo Ginobili) who turned 38. Immediately after the game one of their the big guys from the Lithuanian team walks up to the ref and dumps water in face and throws the bottle at him. UNBELIEVABLE!! I couldn't believe what I was watching. First I thought they were going to arrest him because the police detained him but it turned out all they wanted was an apology. After getting back to the hotel and showering up we head to eat. We stay at the same hotel as the other team and that’s when I found out he had to apologize. Earlier in the day we told our translator that it was Sepo's birthday so we could plan something with the hotel staff. I guess they said they would take care of it. After we were done eating they came out with this double layer cake that had fruit and chocolate icing. It was actually pretty good. The hotel gave him a set of nice chop sticks that came with a table cloth. It was funny because one of the guys that was traveling and helping put a lot together wanted to be in the middle of everything. After Sepo blew out the candles he took some icing and put in on Sepo's nose. Then he wanted to feed him bites of the cake while people were taking pictures! Really uncomfortable but hilarious as well. When everyone had cake they were all ready to take Sepo out for the night. I was tired but thought it was important to go. We asked our translator if he could find out what was close. He said everything might be close except a karaoke bar down the street a couple blocks. This would have been a hilarious night but when we got there they had just shut down. Rob and I decided to go to the all night KFC across the street to get some ice cream while everyone headed back to their rooms. We walk in and see the ice cream machine in pieces. We were striking out left and right. Oh well, I took it as a sign to get back and get to bed because we had to travel the next day which is more tiring than the game in some cases. We get up early and packed, ate and got started a day full of travels which consisted of a 2 1/2 hour bus ride to the airport, a 2 hour bus ride, and a 3 1/2 bus ride. About an hour from our final destination we stop at a KFC that was attached to a strip mall. It was quite the scene. There were camera crews, reporters, and a bunch of random people waiting for us to get off the bus. Obviously someone had staged this. After taking pictures and signing a couple autographs we ate and headed out to what was hoped was the hotel. We quickly realized that we had a police escort in the front and one in the back. For the next 45 minutes we ran every red light while motorcycle cops stopped cross traffic. If felt a bit unnecessary but flattering. The last 15 minutes of the ride we were all wonder where they were taking us because it was water on one side and abandoned buildings on the other side. Then these huge buildings came into view through the haze a couple miles. We come up on this big entrance to this man made community resort island. We pull up to this huge hotel that looked like it belongs in Orange County somewhere. As we walk in the lobby opens with the reception on the left, a sitting area as well as a small scale of the finished island on the right, and a corridor running the length of the building with 40ft ceilings that where painted like the Sistine chapel straight in front. Through the corridor was this wide open eating area with these beautiful columns around the entrance. We got our room key and headed up to our rooms which have their own sliding glass doors that open up to a balcony that overlooks the island. All I’m thinking this is where we should have been staying the whole time!! After getting unpacked and washed up we headed down to eat dinner. Dinner was just as amazing as the hotel. They had lamb chops, duck breast in blueberry sauce, some sushi's, and for some reason the thing I was most excited about; mashed potatoes. Those took me home for just a couple minutes ha-ha. While we were eating were watched the opening ceremonies for the world on this 15 projection TV. The first game started at 10pm and it was about 9:45 when I hit the wall. I headed back up to the room and watched the first 20 minutes and fell asleep. I tried to stay up for another hour so I could talk to my family but I failed!