gavinski's User Profile

Date registered: May 29, 2009
Region: China
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Profile • Forum Posts (5) • Classifieds (1) • Reviews (5)

Latest Classifieds

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- March 5
  
  Respond
- Brand new Sinomax memory foam pillow for only 400 RMB. Still in original box. (half the price of Ito Yokado!)
  Classifieds > Buy & Sell > For Sale
  I recently bought a wonderful, super comfortable Sinomax pillow in Carrefour. Was 700 RMB, made of some kind of combination of memory foam and bamboo. Although I only wanted one, there was a special offer to buy 2 for 800 so I took a chance and bought them, hoping I can sell the other one, which is completely unused. These pillows cost 800 each in Ito Yokado. I am extremely happy with mine, and particularly like the fact that the addition of bamboo makes these more healthy than regular memory foam pillows :)

Latest Forum Posts

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- August 19, 2011
- Forums > Living in Chengdu > He doesn't want to study in America
  
  Penningnites advice sounds good. You might actually also show him this page and everyone's comments and he will see how his behaviour will be perceived by non-family members and non-Chinese. This kid really needs some kind of shock or scare to force a major change in his thoughts and deeds/
- May 13, 2010
- Forums > Living in Chengdu > not from concentrate OJ in Chengdu??
  
  hey, have to agree with the above post. You can easily buy a juicer/blender combo for about 300 kuai. I imagine in China a litre of Tropicana costs about 30 kuai a carton. A kilo of oranges might cost about 5. If you want the 'bits', you can juice some, then also blend one or two oranges in to the mix...
- June 19, 2009
- Forums > Living in Chengdu > music store?
  
  you should be able to find these kind of things around the music university near xin nan men bus station.
- June 19, 2009
- Forums > Living in Chengdu > Bike? bicycle? I want one...
  
  paying more than 80 is not being hustled - they have some really quality bikes at jiu yan qiao. i recently picked up a 'second hand' electric bike there for 650. seems a lot, but new it would have been 1700.
- June 19, 2009
- Forums > Food & Drink > Country Style Cooking (CSC)
  
  Yes, CSC is pretty good quality for fast food.I think you can also get as much soup as you like. I'd still rather have an 8 kuai huiguorou in some backstreet or other, though...

Latest Reviews

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- gavinski
  September 26, 2010
- Chengdu > Underground
  通道酒吧
  Ate there yesterday. The burger was great (MUCH MUCH better than in most of the expat bars) and the British style thick chips went down well. Very good attentive service, and Gary the owner is indeed a very affable guy. The bar is not totally my cup of tea in terms of decor but plays great retro British music and I will definitely go here to eat regularly. Chengdu needs more places like this with good, fresh-tasting western food.
- gavinski
  May 28, 2010
- Chengdu > Tianyuan Vegetarian
  田园素食
  I really like this place. I'm not a veggie, but the food here is a refreshing change from most of the restaurants in Chengdu. Has nice big pictures for every dish I think, and also shows the spice-level of every dish. In warmer weather, the balcony outside is a really nice place to sit. I think you can also smoke there, though the inside is non smoking. The decor inside is tacky as hell - it's very clean but also very, very 'old ladyish', as another review mentions. Kind of like the Ke Hua branch of Peter's, but cheaper looking. Service is really excellent - attentive and polite in a way that comes across as very genuine. Would expect a bill of at least 40 a head. Not a fan of their non-alcoholic beer - it's full flavoured but has a strange sourness, and costs nearly 20 kuai per bottle.
- gavinski
  March 27, 2010
- Chengdu > Del Mar
  地中海餐厅
  It gives me great pleasure to write this thumbs down review of Del Mar in revenge for the number of times I have come away swearing I would never return. Why does this place get my heckles up? And why do I come back? OK, OK, one at a time. First, maybe it is the fact that every time I'm there they only seem to have one waiter. And that if you sit outside you almost always need to go inside to let them know that you have arrived, or to order anything else. The tables outside also don't have any condiments, or even napkins or toothpicks. Maybe it is the ridiculously small piece of butter served with the complimentary bread that gets my goat. Or the fact that said bread usually doesn't arrive for about 15 minutes. If it even arrives - today when I finally asked where the bread was, I was told they had none left. It might also be that the bread is not even tasty to begin with. Come to mention it, most of the food here isn't even that good either. Starters are tiny. Pasta is not cooked al dente. Risotto is OK. Most of the the other stuff is out of my usual price range. I don't mind paying for good food and good service, but given my experience with the cheaper items on the menu here, I'd rather go someplace else if I want to dine in style. The service is indeed reasonably friendly, but inept (no sugar brought with coffee, forgetting orders, bringing the wrong dish). And if you can't speak some Chinese you may have a hard time, as they speak very little English.
  So why do I come back? I love the location. Sometimes if I fancy eating alone with a nice book and want to sit outside in a quiet, relaxed environment in Tongzilin, but can't face the stodge of Pete's Tex Mex, it seems like the perfect idea...alas, it never fails to disappoint.
- gavinski
  June 19, 2009
- Chengdu > Machu Picchu
  马丘比丘咖啡馆
  Absolutely ranks among my favourite bars in Chengdu. A friendly, alternative, mostly Chinese crowd with just a few foreigners so you get to practise your Chinese; good music at just the right volume (Jah bar take note!), a decent-sounding guitar to jam on, lots of greenery, good coffee, 10 kuai beers, a few tables outside. And the bread is indeed very good...
- gavinski
  June 19, 2009
- Chengdu > Jah Bar
  家吧
  I have had some amazing nights at the Jah bar. The jam sessions can be very good fun. The view over the river from outside is wonderful. The one problem is that the music from the bars next door forces the Jah to play its own music a bit too loud. And the acoustic guitar for jamming is a piece of crap...