Continuing on with the weekend, we decided to head out to Ritan Park yesterday (Saturday 05.02.09). It’s a pretty nice park located east of the Forbidden City (one of Beijing’s oldest parks). It’s a pretty big park with people playing badminton, picnicking and such. There is a large Stone Boat "Cafe" located in the center of the park. We stopped by, had a drink and some dumplings and hung out. It was like being in a coffee house in the middle of a park minus the coffee and the house. It was a pretty relaxing afternoon through the park, though we were very tired from walking around.
On our way to the park we ran across the grocery store we had heard about from Anita the night before. It basically has all western foods that we have not been able to find at our grocery in town. Never thought I would see Fruity Pebbles in China! It's good to know we have a shop somewhat close by if we have any desperate times.
On our way back to the subway station, we stopped into the Silk Market. This market is crazy. So much bigger than the Ya Show market that we were at in Sanlitun. We started from the top floor down (I believe it was 5 stories). I didn't have much luck today, but I did get a couple ties for a couple bucks (yea baby). I figured I would just collect ties while i'm here b/c you could never have enough and when you're paying a buck or so per tie, you're not losing out. Anyway, we were there for a couple hours, but we were pretty tired, so we decided to head on home.
Yesterday marked the 1 month anniversary that we have been in China. It's hard to believe we have already been here a month. So... we decided to have a little celebration at TGI Friday's. This was our first sit down Western meal (aka hamburgers). We had to admit that it was mighty tasty, but we decided we would not return until our 2 month anniversary.
Today I slept in and relaxed all morning and Aaron and I decided to head out to get some haircuts. We went out to the Sanlitun district where he and Greg chilled at the bookworm while I searched around for some DVDs before our hair appointment. We weren't sure what we were getting into for the haircut, but it was pretty awesome (sorry, no chinese stylin' yet). Everyone spoke enough english and it was the most detailed cut either of us have ever gotten (i'm pretty sure he spent about 5 minutes behind each ear). Looks like we've found a place for haircuts (Thanks Blake). Greg stumbled upon a pretty sweet courtyard with a Mexican restaurant while he was walking around, so we decided to check it out. It was pretty good, but the ambience was the best.
That's about all for the weekend. It was a good productive and partially relaxing weekend. Now it's on to the work week. Hope all is well.
Ritan Park
Stone Boat Cafe
A Little Hacky Sack in the park(until being told to get off the grass)
someone got tired walking up the steps
Taking our 6 cent bus ride to Sanlitun 
Aaron's attempt at getting a pic of the haircut
The new world of Manacans
"Created with pride in LA"... interesting
(I thought these would only be found on South Beach...
who would have known)
Sweet courtyard at the Mex Restaurant 
Chips and Salsa in China 
A quick shot Aaron took from the Acrobats (earlier blog)
1 month! i can't believe it. but i have to say, you guys have packed an amazing amount of adventures and sight-seeing and experiencing into that time. i'm quite impressed. I had hoped to go visit Ritan Park, but Brian and i were never really close to it. Oh well. Happy that you put up the pictures, it looks beautiful. How's the chinese coming?
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