rodb4

The Palmy is famous for its parma's - I'll never understand Melbournes obsession with Parma - but really they are merely good, not great. My opinion of the Palmerston is that it's a bit of a shabby pub without a lot of atmosphere or space - it gets quite cramped in there. It's an ok pub to go to if it's not busy and you're just after a beer, but given there are a number of other options in South Melbourne I'd recommend going elsewhere for a feed.

The Spottiswoode is a bit of a surprise package these days. Gone is the seriously dodgy and grotty topless bar that it used to be - it's had an awesome makeover and is now a great family pub/restaurant with fantastic decor. I haven't eaten there yet (just had drinks) but I've heard from friends that the steaks are tasty and huge. They have good beers on tap (and ciders) and the prices are pretty low compared to other pubs in the area. Can't wait to go back for another bevvy!

This store is definitely the go-to place if you want some NBA merchandise, and also stocks a good range of shoes. The prices are crazy however - Like ridiculously stupid crazy. My sons were desperate for some NBA singlets so I naturally went to kickz101 (after it was recommended to me by a Malaysian guy in Kuala Lumpur believe it or not) and I was absolutely floored by the prices - $140 for a singlet. Went to Rebel and found them for $100, which is still ridiculous but at least was cheaper! Only for massive basketball fans with more dollars than cents

Outstanding little bookshop with a surprisingly great range (for a shop so small), and with the latest releases as well. The atmosphere in this shop reminds me a lot of an old school bookshop, with books crammed in everywhere, and I think such places are both romantic (for bibliophiles like myself) and exciting. The prices are much the same as a Dymocks or Readers Feast (some are cheaper, some are dearer, some are the same...it all balances out) but as an experience Paperback is not to be missed.

My family has been FOTZ for many years now and have definitely reaped the benefits of this program. They offer a whole heap of exclusive benefits, not least of which is free entry to Melbourne, Werribee and Healesville zoos as many times per year as you want. You also get priority access, as well as access to school holiday care programes (which, based on the experiences of my sons, is both educational and rewarding on many levels). On our recent trip to Werribee Open Range Zoo we were also offered participlation in making toys and meals for the monkeys (which we declined due to time restrictions only, but its an example of what you can get access to that general punters cannot).
Unfortunately my boys are now getitng to the age where we probably wont renew our membership, but I can hand-on-heart say that its been a very worthwhile exercise, and as long as you go to a zoo more than twice a year it pays for itself.

A good local staple of the Newport area, Mamma Teresa has a great range of pizza's that taste great and are competitively priced - the gourmet pizza's go for around $14-$15 and the more traditional pizza's are a couple of bucks less than that. They are pretty generous with their toppings, but dont go over-the-top. They take orders over the internet which is pretty cool, and they deliver in a timely manner as well.

This rewards site is pretty good but it does seem to take a LONG time to accumulate points, which gets pretty annoying. The great thing about it - other then getting reward points for shopping with their online partners - is that you can take your rewards points from myopinions.com.au and transfer them over to here, which IMHO works out better because the redeem-for-cash incentive is better at Rewards Central than at My Opinions. Slowly, very very slowly, working my way up to redeeming $100 - its taken me about 6 months already and the way its going it'll be another month before I get there.

The website itself is messy - cant say that I like it very much, but once you get used to it its ok. I'm sticking with them.

I took my 12 year old sons and their friend to the zoo during the school holidays and was thinking before I got there that this wouldnt work because they'd be too grown up and "cool" for it but I couldnt be more wrong. Its been a few years since I have been to Werribee zoo and am happy to report that it is still excellent and value for money. The safari ride is a must as its the only way you'll get to see the truly big animals such as the rhinos (awesome!) and the giraffes, however the walk around is cool as well because they've got hippos and lions and cheetahs and gorillas - all in large spaces and obviously well maintained. I'd recommend bringing your own food and drink however as they gouge you something fierce at the shops there.

Cant say I'm particularly impressed with this site. Out of all the survey sites you could go with I'd probably rate this one last. I find the actual site to be messy and not really intuitive. I find the surveys to be quite haphazard and the reward value for them quite small, and it takes a LONG time to accrue a meaningful sum of points. In short, when there are other options out there and reward you far better in terms of surveys and in points, WDYT rates pretty poorly in comparison.