STOP! in the name of WHALE!: JUE Launch Party

“Stop! In the name of WHALE!”

(My favorite photo of the night feat. WHALE!’s very own DJ Assassin Eyes)

JUE Music + Art Festival 2012 launched with a massive WHALE! dance-a-thon at 4corners肆角餐吧 bar last Friday night.

The music was blasting, the dance floor was rocking and people were getting sh*t-faced. Just your typical WHALE! party I suppose.

Good thing I took a nap before heading over because every WHALE! thus far has led into all-night ragers. This past WHALE! was no exception. I, myself, managed enough will power to drag myself out at a reasonable hour so that I could be up early the next morning for my Qi Gong workshop at The Hutong with TCM Specialist Alex Tan (more on this later!). But my point to mentioning this is that I missed the point around 3AM when police came and tried to crash WHALE!, but in the end, I hear WHALE! kept going!

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Hutong Mixology: Taste of Spring with Paul Matthew

Spring is in the air.  Wait…is that the smell of Spring or just the pollution clearing away for a few days of blue skies?

After the last bit of snowfall last weekend, I believe winter is behind us and in just a few short weeks, we’ll be on our way to warmer weather and a sense of renewal together with a surge of energy.

Now how do you put that into a glass?

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Run Harrowthon 2012 & Fund Two Baby Operations

Harrow International School Beijing is partnering up with The Hutong Team to put on a 10k Fun Run on March 18, 2012 (their 3rd Annual Harrowthon) to fund surgeries for two babies at Feng Tai Orphanage.

With a goal of raising RMB 50,000, they hope raise enough funds to give two babies life changing operations.

“Zhao Chang Hao is a 3 month old baby suffering from a cleft lip and cleft palette. Chang Hao is hoping to have his first surgery in March and a further operation six months later to solve both problems. His operations will cost 10,000RMB.”

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A Night of ‘Pies and Ales’ at The Hutong

I’m very much looking forward to this Pies and Ales Night at The Hutong. You really can’t go wrong in making a night out of a winning combination of meat pies and a tasting of ales!

Thanks to Two Guys and a Pie, I am now totally hooked on meat pies and will prioritize any opportunity to chow down on these little treats. And to pair up these pies with great imported ales and stouts from all over the world only makes this event that much more desirable.

“From the boutique pale ales of north America to the Trappist beers of Belgium to hand crafted stouts of Australia to ‘slightly-warmer-than-you-would-like’ real ales of England, we’ve got your ale odyssey covered.” – The Hutong Team

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Treat Your Feet to Hummingbird’s Warm Chocolate Therapeutic Lotion

 Try Hummingbird’s New Warm Chocolate Therapeutic Lotion

It’s no secret I’m a big fan of Hummingbird Therapeutic Spa Retreat.  I’ve been one of their best advocates since my first massage there (Hummingbird’s Signature 4-hand massage) when their first branch opened in Central Park in March 2011. Since then, I’ve been going there regularly for all my facials, foot and body massages and it’s even where I purchase gift vouchers for friends’ birthday presents.

Since I’ve been back to Beijing after a 3-week trip to the States over Christmas and New Years holiday at the beginning of 2012, Hummingbird’s newest branch, the Wellness Spa (their bigger branch in Central Park), has launched a series of new treatments and promotions.

Most recently, I tested out their “Jet Lag 2-hour Remedy Massage” using their new therapeutic, warm chocolate-scented lotion! I generally find food-smelling lotions or skin products to be a bit odd, but this is a royal treat for your to little toesies.

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Free Preventative Health Talk by TCM Specialist Alex Tan

A qualified TCM practitioner and educator, Alex Tan of Straight Bamboo TCM Clinic has a degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine and has been practicing for over 8 years.

“Immersing himself in ancient traditions embodied in the lifestyles and culture of everyday Chinese people, Alex is well aware of the problems associated with modern TCM in the hospital system in China and aims at providing a more holistic and personal style of healthcare focusing on effective communication and information.”

On Saturday, February 11, The Hutong is offering a unique opportunity to attend an hour and a half discussion led by Alex Tan to learn how we can use both eastern and western ideas to improve our health and how to incorporate these into our daily lives in both a practical and useful way.

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Be Merry this Christmas: Beijing’s Best Holiday Feasts

Christmas is literally just around the corner (sorry for not posting this sooner!), but hopefully this reaches all Beijingers before it’s too late!  If you don’t have Christmas plans yet and you’re anti-hotels like me, there’s still plenty of quality options for a special Christmas/NYE dinner at Beijing’s top dining destinations.

Merry Christmas and with only a few days left, I hope you all make the best of the rest of 2011!

Christmas Dinner Break Down: (in alphabetical order)

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A Very Merry Kagen Christmas Charity Party for BICCO

Charity Christmas Dinner at Kagen (photography courtesy of Nora Tejada)

On Saturday, December 10, Kagen Japanese Restaurant hosted a Christmas Charity Dinner to benefit the Disabled Chinese Orphans of BICCO (Beijing International Committee of Chinese Orphans) and with about 130 generous patrons in attendance, we somehow managed to reach our goal of raising over RMB 200,000!  That is an insanely high number because that means each person donated on average RMB 1,500!

Originally, the deal was set that for each ticket sold, RMB 500 would be donated directly to BICCO (which was already really generous of Kagen Restaurant), but in the end, owner Alan Wong generously donated ALL ticket sales to BICCO, meaning that the entire ticket sales (RMB 600 each) went to the children of BICCO.

In addition to ticket sales, we also managed to sell a butt-load of raffle tickets (raising RMB 9,400) and many silent auction prizes went for higher than it’s actual value (raising RMB 31,757).

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