I can’t believe it has taken me this long to finally order a pair of custom shoes in Beijing. Tonight, after I got home from the office, I went and got myself a Valentine’s Day present.
So, where to? How about … “Mr. Billy’s Hand Made Shoes Work Office” (yes, that’s the name and oh yeah, there’s a registered trademark symbol on that sign). Mr. Billy opened up across the street from my apartment complex a couple months ago, so I figured I’d give him a try. Only, I don’t think Mr. Billy was there … a fairly attractive younger woman was … but there were pictures of Mr. Billy in the store.
Now to the hard part…she spoke zero English. OK, I can do this in Chinese…I think. Well, I did. It wasn’t as bad as I thought and felt kind of proud of myself afterwards…maybe I am making more progress than I thought.
The cost? Not bad at all … when I walked in the door, the cost was RMB780 (That’s about $108 USD). Well, after she measured my feet, the price went up by RMB100 … so, total cost is $122 USD. That’s a hell of a price for custom made shoes. I had them copy a pair of John Maddens that I really like.
So, in 15 days, I’ll go back over to Mr. Billy’s (hope he’s there next time), I’ll try on the shoes, he’ll make some adjustments as needed and then give me my finished pair of shoes a few days after that. Not a bad deal, can’t wait to see/feel how they turn out.
