ginadit

Received our first order from Aussie Shave today, just a couple of days after placing it. The shavers really do seem to be, as they're advertised, just like the expensive brands, but without the branding. We received 3 x 5-blade shavers with a single handle.

As the marketing says: "For too long Aussies have been ripped off by big American brands charging too much for razors." We look forward to sticking with Aussie Shave and their subscription service which, in itself, is an interesting model. The good thing is, if we find we're stockpiling too many razors, we can cancel the subscription at any time.

The Ekka may not be the same anymore but I don't think it's necessarily worse. It seems smaller and there's no more Skywheel ferris wheel or chairlift. The strawberry sundaes are different/better, the showbag pavilion is now in sideshow alley and the fireworks go for longer than ever.

The big letdown of course is the pricing. For kids to have to pay around $10 for a 2-3 minute ride is criminal. For instance, my son works for $8/hr at his part time job and has to work for longer than an hour for 2-3 minutes on an Ekka ride. At 15 he should be able to enjoy the rides for hours but he and his friends have decided to skip the rides/games and just hang out.

It's always a pleasure to go and see the farm animals and it'd be great to watch some ring events but it's very hard to find any easily obtainable information. Even the Ekka website is difficult to navigate and doesn't deliver efficient information.

The Woolworths Food and Wine Pavilion is improving each year. Security is noticeably more prevalent throughout the Ekka.

Have to make a specific comment about 'Beaut' and 'Streuth', the two female 'clowns' who supposedly entertain before the fireworks. The audience's silence was deafening. It really was poor. That said, the Hilux Heroes were great, the BMX bike guys put on a good show and the fireworks were superb.

Just received my Lush order in the mail. Only took two days to arrive. I love Lush products and have bought them in the stores before so buying online was not like flying blind. There are lots of customer reviews of each individual product so they give you a good idea of the fragrances and how the products work and feel.

I feel the prices are a little expensive but then, they really are handmade. Great for a treat, novelty value and in some cases, to remedy skin and hair conditions.

Went to play Trivia for the first time at the Waterloo Hotel and loved it! It's run by Popular Entertainment who also run Trivia nights at the Belmont Tavern, St Pauls Tavern and Elysium Lakeside at Victoria Point.

It's professionally run and there are prizes up for grabs. Throughout the session you can win meal vouchers and jugs of beer and there's a cash prize that jackpots each week if no one wins.

My friend and I didn't win a thing but we still had heaps of fun. Teams can be as small or as large as you like.

On Tuesday nights (which is when Trivia is at the Waterloo), pizzas are 2-4-1. Get out of the house on a Tuesday night and mix with some likeminded folks who, with shared knowledge, can have some fun and win stuff. And it only costs $1 to play!

I've bought the Entertainment Book for many years. Last year, with the influx of so many deals companies, I didn't buy one but still missed out. This year, the deals companies have become less appealing so I bought the Entertainment Book again. Glad I did. I've already recouped my investment, not to mention supporting the Queensland Cancer Council at Bowen Hills.

What I'd love though is if they'd come up with a digital version so we don't have to carry around a ragged book after using many of the coupons. Food for thought for the future :).

You can get a decent meal here and watch several comedians while you eat and enjoy a drink. They often have some pretty good headliners as well. I thought Lindsay Webb was hilarious!

Grab a steak or something else from the pub menu and it's brought to your table. Full bar, coffee and dessert available too. Park underneath or on the street.

Prices are reasonable and if you join the mailing list, you can often go in the draw to win free tickets. This is a good alternative activity to whatever else you may do on your weekends or even on the odd week night.

Well I'm impressed. Thank goodness Flowtoll customers get free travel in the M7 (Airport Link tunnel) to the end of October because I intend to use the tunnels A LOT! It's amazing how much time they save, not to mention the frustration of sitting in traffic.

I WISH tunnel travel would be free because after all, we do pay taxes, rego and so on. But on the odd occasion where time saving is critical, I'll (begrudgingly) pay to use the tunnels.

The infrastructure and planning seems very well done to me, and living where I do, the Stafford Rd entrance/exit is very convenient. I might even bypass Westfield Chermside and use Toombul more in future. Ha! Take THAT, Chermside!

Now that video rental stores are becoming so few and far between, it's good that DVD rental vending machines are popping up. You can't always watch you want on TV so while you're out shopping, grab a DVD!

With Oovie, you can pick up a movie from one machine and drop it off wherever you are next that has one. It's $3.95/night but they email you special offers such as one free overnight rental on the first Wednesday of every month.

The DVDs are good quality, the selection is huge and it's just so easy to swipe your credit card and grab a movie to watch.

I'd never been to yum cha in my life before coming to this restaurant. What a great surprise! I thoroughly enjoyed the food and the fun aspect of all the little trolleys coming around laden with interesting dishes.

I had expected more deep fried or steamed food but there was plenty of variety on offer. And I didn't know the Chinese made desserts such as the little custard tarts with the flaky pastry ... delicious!!

My favourite was something that seemed like a fish cake (crumbed and fried) but which contained minced scallops and prawns. Fantastic!!

I found the pricing to be very reasonable. We paid about $22 each and left feeling stuffed.

The staff are funny, always in a rush but always keen to sell you something. The place buzzes with energy and it's definitely an experience to enjoy when you have a little time to sit and linger.