1/23 (Fri.)
We went to the Silk Market and one of my favorite restaurants, 一二三 (yi/er/san).  The restaurant's name literally translates to one, two, three.  I really missed their fried green beans (干煸豆角).  The taxi driver took us on a runaround because I forgot my study abroad college had two campuses. 

1/24 (Sat.)
In the morning, we saw the Olympic Stadium and then came back home because it was too cold.  We wanted to eat at a steamed bun restaurant that we ate at when we went to visit the Forbidden City, but it's closed for renovation until Feb 1st.  Luckily, I bought yogurt - another thing I missed about Beijing.  For some strange reason, the yogurt is so much better in Beijing.  I ate three cups!  For dinner, we went to restaurant owned by Shiela's friend, Ken, in a Five Star Hotel.  The food was great, but I think the fruity tea was the hit of the night. 

1/25 (Sun.) - NEW YEARS EVE
We went shopping with Ken's friend.  She took us to two outlet shops.  I wished I knew about these outlets when I studied abroad.  Each of us got a pair of shoes.  Shiela and I got New Balance sneakers for 40 bucks US, and Kate got a pair of really nice winter boots for the same price.  After all the shopping, we had dinner with Shiela's family at a really famous restaurant.  Colin Powell even went to this restaurant. 

1/26 (Mon.) - HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!
Kate and I decided to give Shiela some quality time with her family.  So, we went off and spent a whole day by ourselves, exploring the city and eating everything that I wanted to eat.  But first, we went to 南锣鼓巷 (Nan/luo/gu/xiang), which is an area that was built according to a description from an ancient Chinese story.  The architectural style was old, but the row of shops and restaurants sold contemporary goods; it was quite ironic (something that I like).  Then we went to another restuaurant to have an eggplant dish (铁板茄子) that I've missed.  After lunch, we took the bus to go to a temple festival (庙会).  The festival was crowded, but I got to eat another delicacy that I've missed dearly: lamb on a stick (羊肉串).  After the festival, we went to a restaurant that Kate's been craving：鼎泰丰, which has really great steamed dumplings (小笼包). 

Finding the restaurant was funny.  We got off the train station, and I knew we were near it but didn't know we were right across the street from it.  Therefore, Kate and I hopped into a taxi, and I showed the driver the address.  He gave me a strange look and said, "We're already on the street you're looking for."  And then I pointed to the second part of the address, and he pointed across the street and said, "That's it!"  We felt so embarassed and got out of the taxi to go enjoy a nice dinner. 
 
1/27 (TUES.)
We went to the Temple of Heaven (天坛) today, which was exciting because I never got a chance to see it when I was studying abroad.  Shiela's dad and stepmother went with us.  Then, they took us to Tiananmen Square.  And to thank them for their generous hospitality, Kate, Shiela and I took them out to dinner at the restaurant we went to a couple days ago. 

1/28 (WED.)
Today was a great way to wrap up my time in Beijing.  I caught up on my sleep, ate at another one of my favorite restaurants in Beijing: 阿达西 (A / Da / See - I think it's Tibetan food).  Then I met up with a teacher from my study abroad program, and we went to Starbucks and chatted for like 5 hours.  I went back to Shiela's home afterward, and her family took us out to a very memorable dinner.  We had lamb spine hot pot; it was delicious!