Surviving is hard but oh so much fun (sometimes)
On 9 September, another round of pizza at La Pizza, in the back of 3.3; two different types.
Packed as usual. And many Chinese.
The pizzas are really tasty, they only get a little too much burned. Also, they should spread the toppings a bit better. Maybe too busy? Quality needs to be consistent.
Need to talk to the Italian boss once… Feedback…
On 8 september 2016 The Beijinger reported the closure of Heaven Supermarket on Xindong Lu. “Everyone’s favorite half-bar/half-liquor store Heaven Supermarket was shut down this morning as a dispute arose between the management of the popular 24-hour Sanlitun watering hole and its landlord.” Moving trucks and piles of boxes could be seen.
See:
The Beijinger article
I pass there often but usually fairly quickly so I did not notice anything.
Intrigued I went to have a check on 13 September and … it was open again. I asked one of the senior staff I know what time they would really move. His answer was simple: we don’t move but we are looking at a second location.
So whatever dispute there was, the Heaven will remain there, at least as for now.
It has been a real institution in Beijing. It opened in 2011 and is a favorite with many foreigners and Chinese. Service is basically nil, you order and pay for the food at the cashier and take yourself the cold drinks out of the fridges. Except if you buy bottles of wisky or other liquor. Somehow they figured out a way that your food does arrive at your table: in the past that was improvized but now they use numbers.
And no, all the imported beers (immense choice) were genuine (probably parallel import). And really really cheap. I did buy some whisky there time ago, never had a fake. But yes, there are many fakes around in Beijing. Food was actually pretty OK while I always wondered about sanitary conditions. I compared it to “Beijing Railway Station” with the crowds coming and going. At one stage they took over the whole pavement in Xindong Lu, till the chengguan stopped that (everywhere actually).
So what about the new location? See the pic of the poster they show.
I have to go and check where that could be because it seems right on the left side of D-One Sports Bar. Not sure there is an vacant space there. If they would go there it could become a big competition for Legend Beer and D-One.
Diane (our French girl from Toulouse) was here in Beijing for a short internship but attended many of our Rotaract meetings. With her permanent smile and lively humor she made a lot of friends, so we decided to have a surprise farewell party for her. Preparation was typically chaotic at times through a special and “secret” Wechat group but it all ended up just great, despite a last-minute unannounced thunderstorm.
She was feeling not that upbeat because she thought nearly nobody would turn up for a drink.
We finally settled for Beer Mania, as it was a special evening: the 11th anniversary of Beer Mania, the birthday of the owner Thierry and the drink for Belgians in Beijing. And the Belgian bar also launched a promotion of 11 Belgian drafts, some being new.
As it happened it was also the birthday of our Rotaractor Sophie.
Diane was, well, totally taken aback with the whole setup as so many turned up.
Needless to say, beer flowed pretty well, music was great with the disk jockey and Thierry kindly provided a cake.
Great evening thanks to all who joined, and Thierry.