Jin Soon nail bar, New York

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Renowned as one of NYC’s best nail salons, Jin Soon now resides at three different locations, catering to girls with nail needs in East Village, West Village and the Upper East Side.

I visited the West Village spa and was impressed with the service from start to finish. The selection of nail colours on offer ranges from deep winter reds and browns to the palest neutrals and I was glad to see some fluro brights on display too. Jin Soon doesn’t restrict the collection to just one brand, instead offering polishes from Chanel, Essie, Opi and many more, all lined up on shelves against the wall, ready for application.

The nail bar is petite with a few tables for manicures at the front, and several reclining chairs for pedicures at the back. You can tell immediately that the staff here are experienced and prepared for every treatment. I received a speedy and thorough mani-pedi simultaneously (which is what happens in New York) from the lovely, efficient and friendly girls. With a mug of mint tea in hand, slumped in a sofa chair, I felt totally relaxed as my hands and feet were pampered… total bliss. The girls pummelled, exfoliated, trimmed and filed away, working meticulously to perfect my previously abandoned fingers and toes.

As well as the spa salons, there is the Jin Soon Lacquer line to invest in. These polishes have been a hit, bold thick glossy colours that add extra glamour to your nails. Their snazzy glitter colours have been particularly popular over the festive period and feature in all the major magazines.

Jin Soon is a revolutionary nail bar in New York – in under an hour they will transform your hands and feet, Cinderella-style.

More information here: www.jinsoon.com

Many thanks to NYC GO for their help with this trip, and Virgin Atlantic for flights.

THOROUGHLY MODERN MAN: Paul Klee, Tate Modern

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In an ideal world you would be able to walk around the Paul Klee exhibition at Tate Modern choosing Christmas presents for your family and friends… the pictures are such desirable objects, almost everybody finds them charming and most pieces would not require more than a single sheet of wrapping paper.

It is the modest scale and sweetness of Klee’s work that has stopped him from being valued as highly as his Modernist contemporaries and yet his imagination and invention surpasses all but a few of them. He was abstract before almost everybody else, he was surreal before the Surrealists and he explored technique for its own sake in a way not seen again until the Minimalists.

The extensive Tate exhibition is a pleasure from start to finish, which is not to say the art lacks darkness; on the contrary, a sense of the sinister or uncanny is present in almost every work on show. Klee’s childlike drawing and paintbox use of colour don’t conceal but rather reveal an extraordinary, elegant and sophisticated personality. He said “I want to be as though new-born, knowing nothing, absolutely nothing… ” He would have been 134 years old yesterday.

Paul Klee – Making Visible continues at the Tate Modern until 9 March 2014, more information and book here.

Written by a Thoroughly Modern Man, Chris Kenny.

Asia Gardens, Alicante

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 A guarantee of 300 days of sunshine a year makes Asia Gardens in Alicante the perfect winter sun destination. You may not return to Blighty tanned and glowing but you are sure to get a bit of Vitamin D brightening up your body.

Just a two hour plane journey away, Alicante is an unlikely but wonderful place to spend a weekend, when you have a hotel like Asia Gardens as your home. On the final few days of November I visited the hotel for a girls getaway hoping for some much needed rest and relaxation. We enjoyed sitting by the exotic pools, soaking in the luxuriously big baths in our huge bedrooms, and dipping strawberries in the chocolate fountain at breakfast. For supper we indulged at the fine Thai restaurant (Koh Samui) where I’d recommend the Pad Thai and the curries, which were spicy, thick and wonderfully flavoured.

Near to the property there are caves and mountains, vineyards and seaside wonders to discover. We treated ourselves to a decadently delicious tapas meal at Alicante’s top eatery, La Taberna del Gourmet where we gorged on the very best red wine, Iberico ham and Paella. When night fell we braved Benidorm, the local party town, and spent the evening hanging out with the locals, watching a hilarious drag show and embarrassing ourselves at karaoke.

If you’re fed up with the English winter, you could book a holiday in Asia Gardens where it feels like summer every day.

More information and book here.