I've been looking forward to the opening of Brooklyn for some time now, as it's just a stone's throw from my apartment. I wasn't disappointed. The pizza is fantastic and so are the drinks, especially the mojito and the martini, which are both pretty strong! The atmosphere is friendly and the staff genuinely welcoming without being sycophantic. I also like the fact that a night at Brooklyn doesn't leave you stinking of smoke, as the ceilings are high and it's well-ventilated and clean. Great place, I'll definitely be one of the regulars.
Dr Dawn Liu is a truly amazing dentist. I went for a clean this morning and the procedure was perfect. No pain, no blood and nothing to fear. Her English is great and she explained everything and answered all my questions. It only cost 100 RMB and worth every last mao. I'm going back next week for a check and I plan to have some further work done there in future. Better by far than my dentist in the UK, who is always booked months in advance, always causes me pain and is about ten times the price! Smile Clinic is highly recommended.
I joined Hosa recently at Heping Square and got a 'special offer' of 1500 for one year's membership. This includes unlimited gym visits and access to all facilities, including various fitness classes (which I haven't tried yet). The gym is clean and modern with a good range of all the usual equipment. It's usually quite busy when I go at 6pm weeknights, but I can always find a free treadmill. Helpful and friendly staff too. Look out for Steven who speaks a bit of English.
I booked a short course of one to one business Chinese classes at Aushi School which were arranged to suit my schedule into 2 blocks of three hours each. My teacher, Ning, spoke some English and helped me to choose a suitable textbook from their wide range. The classes were very intense involving situation role-play and forced me to think creatively in Chinese which I found challenging at my low intermediate level. In the first class I learnt around 16 versatile new words, role played introducing colleagues/attending a trade show/selling a computer and created my own Chinese name card. Ning corrected my poor pronunciation often and really whipped my tones into shape. She spoke entirely in Chinese, only translating when I was totally stuck.
All in all a friendly and positive introduction to studying Chinese for business. They cater to all different levels and offer a variety of other classes in groups and privately. 60 yuan per hour for my one to one business class and the price varies for larger classes and different levels. The school also runs Chinese classes at Intel and Accenture, among other companies. I think they also offer general Chinese classes, for people who want to study Chinese for daily life. Definitely worth trying.
I first met English-speaking tailor Luke before Christmas when my American friend took me to his shop. I was sceptical as first but she raved about him so I decided to give it a go and ordered a pair of lined wool trousers and an evening style top. Luke measured me and then took me around the market to find fabric. There is a HUGE selection and it can be a bit overwhelming. He bargained for me and the total price will include the price of the fabric plus the workmanship charge. It totalled about 300 yuan. Ten days later (not good if you like instant gratification from shopping!) I came back to collect the stuff and found the quality to be excellent. The trousers were too big but Luke adjusted them until they were perfect.
There's really no limit to the things you can have made. Just use your imagination and maybe take along a magazine picture. Highly recommended.
Note: Luke speaks some English but it is limited so be patient with him.
Alessio
