Dinner at SiaBe!!

The family went downtown Beijing on Saturday night to eat out at a Chinese restaurant called Sia Be (pronounced Shy Bay).  It was a very nice place and the kids impressed us with their use of chopsticks.  We have all gotten pretty good at using them!  I still think that if I only used chopsticks I would definitely lose weight though.  We had corn cakes stuffed with bean paste (what the restaurant is known for) and some other interesting but tasty things.  The only thing that the kids were having a hard time with, is that they only serve hot water here.  The Chinese do not think that it is healthy to drink "cold" beverages, so when we go to restaurants and the kids order "bing shui" (which is how you say ice water in Chinese) they get some strange looks.  The dinner was great though and I think that I am fully loaded on MSG to last me a while.  (I had the sausage fingers the next day to prove it too.)
After dinner we went window shopping at a near by mall and enjoyed people watching.  Sometimes it's funner to watch people watching us!  We get some of the funniest looks and of course there is always Ella's many admirers! 

Me-n-Kelly

Ella Claire actually loves using chopsticks!

This was me displaying my fine chopstick skills.....5 seconds later that piece of food hit the table.  (true story)

Julia can use chopstick well, but this girls gets hungry and she likes to eat NOW.  She would prefer a shovel to chopsticks!

Yes the kids loved the greenery too!

This was the chefs cooking up the meals.  There were some interesting things too.  The ever so popular sea cucumber and fish with the eyeballs still intact.  I prefer not to look my food in the eye when I eat it!

I saw this in one of the store windows and thought that Kelly and I would look lovely in this for a holiday party!! NO???

The girls in the streets of Beijing.  They are holding their prized mango juice that we have been looking for.  They love this one particular kind and we found it at a Wu Mart downtown Beijing.  Yes, I said Wu Mart.  That was the name of the place.  It looked like Wal Mart but it wasn't.