O perfil de NizPerson

Went to this store after a very, very long time yesterday. Never thought of going in because I’m always attracted by the better laid out and appealing stores like BHS, John Lewis etc. but thought I’d give it a try. Was looking for children’s clothes.

Oh dear, wish I’d never bothered. The shop looked like it needed a good tidying up. There were so many pieces of clothing on the floor and the racks were very messy. No semblance of order according to age group etc. You had to go through the whole rack to find a particular age item. Saw some pink cord trousers for my daughter but couldn’t find the size. Had to look in all the shelves and rails because pieces seemed to be all over as if people had just put them back wherever and staff couldn’t be bothered to sort them back into the right places.

The last time I went to H&M was to buy a dress for my then 6 month old daughter (so over 1 1/2 years ago), they have the SAME design still, in several different colours. Styles don’t get changed much here then I suppose.

Not many staff members in sight too. Went to pay and there was no one at the counter and no sign to say which counter to go to etc. On the other side was a solitary girl at a pay counter. I smiled at her but maybe I looked weird/scary/whatever because she didn’t return the smile, just rang up the items and waited for the cash. Didn’t mention the amount, didn’t ask about hangers, nothing. I wont be going back.

We went here today with my two children aged 6 and 2. It is a holiday at her school so it was a quiet afternoon with hardly any people about.

The Watford branch of Gambado is brand new, so everything is sparkling clean and attractive to look at. The whole area is large and well spaced. Taking focal point was a massive playframe. There was a large four-lane slide as well as some of those rotating slides (not sure what it’s called). There was a seperate area for under-2s. Tame enough to keep older kids away but still fun for the younger ones. They had large building blocks too, a nice touch. Next to the playframe was a climbing wall.

The cafe was okish, nothing too great. Food was well presented but limited in variety. The only hot meal options seemed to be pizza and sandwiches. There were some nice salads too. The cafe had nice seating, transparent rounded chairs in different colours. Very well spaced out tables, not your typical softplay cafe. Prices were a bit on the high side.

They had some areas with big chalkboards for the children to scribble on. And another place for musical experimenting, different things to bang on and make sounds. They also had some magnet play. Under some clear glass thingies were magnet shavings, pins etc. that children could pull a magnet over, causing patterns. There was also a fairly large track for dodgem cars.

For adults there was a seperate lounge. There were computers with internet access, newspapers etc. It didn’t look like children were allowed there, the notice said Adults Only. Strange that, who’d be watching the kids while the parents sat in a seperate area?

It cost £15 entrace for me and the kids. By far the most expensive place for this sort of activity. You didn’t have to spend any money inside though (unless you want to eat), everything was unlimited. There were plenty of lockers, clean and spacious, to deposit your belongings. It is free to use and you only need a £1 coin cif you want to lock it (it is refunded). Toilets are reasonably clean too, but I don’t know if that is because it was a quiet day.

Would recommend it if nothing cheaper is close to you. Works out quite expensive for a small family even.

The Sponge Pastry shop, located on Galle Road close to and opposite McDonald’s has the most delectable array of pastries and cakes in Colombo. A must-try is their seafood vol-au-vent. Heavenly. Most of their pastries have creamy savoury fillings inside.

Their almond cake is fabulous too. They have a mouth watering selection of gateaux, they are a little on the expensive side though! Don’t forget to check out their marzipans. Shaped like teddy bears, different kinds of fruits etc. it’s a feat in good craftsmanship! Marzipan in Sri Lanka tastes different to regular marzipan. That is because they use cashew instead of almond, The Sponge is worth trying out simply for the marzipans.

A savoury pastry or two and a slice of chocolate cake, washed down with a glass of iced coffee. A scrumptious snack/meal for anytime. Recommended.

This is a very nice mum and toddler group within the Garston Community Church for children under 5. They have 2 1/2 hour sessions every Monday and Tuesday morning and is quite a small and personal group. The charge is £1.20 per family. There is a large room with a cordoned off area where children “drive” cars and the rest of it has an assortment of toys and a small slide too. At the far end is an area for babies, with playmats and activity gyms. That area also has cushioned low seating for mums to breastfeed.

The children start by having some unstructured play where they can run about and do whatever activities they choose. About an hour and a half in they are called for a snack, they sit in a circle and are told a story and they munch on their biscuits while listening. Once storytime is over they move over to do the craft activity for the day, it is usually related to whatever they’ve been talking about at storytime. At the end of the session there is a bit of singing before going home.

I’ve found it an enjoyable time for both me and my toddler.

This is a chippy that has been voted the Watford Observer’s Fish and Chip Shop of the Year. They sell, fish and chips of course, and the usual kebab shop fare as well. Food is as tasty and greasy as you’d expect it to be, with ample portion sizes too. One more thing I found was that the prices were slightly lower than those of other chippies in the area.

The management is very friendly and alway ready to talk. They do delivery but charge a small fee for this, unlike other chip shops in the area that does it free.

One of the best chippies I’ve found in our area.

This place is all about one thing - convenience. You have plenty of shopping and eating areas on your doorstep. The hotel is fairly small but well-kept. It offers good value for money and is close to all amenities. Hotel staff are very helpful and are happy to answer questions you have.

This is a fairly basic hotel, rooms are reasonably sized and quite comfortable. We never ordered food from the hotel as right outside were so many restaurants and eateries to explore.

A good value hotel in a bustling area of KL if you’re not looking for the height of luxury.

What a treat, a massive supermarket stocking almost everything you’ll need and great prices too! This Asda is really huge, and I have so much browsing to do in every department of theirs. It takes me hours to finish looking.

I especially love the George clothing collection. When I have to get several bits and pieces for the kids I can get them all here without breaking the bank. They are of good quality and washes well too. The only exception are the multipack clothes. Although very good value for money they always have at least one ugly item stuck somewhere that you can’t see properly until you go home! I always wait for Asda baby week where I stock up on baby and children’s essentials for the coming months.

This Asda also has all the other features like pharmacy, photoprinting etc. Then there’s a salon, shoe shop, furniture shop, travel agent etc in the same premises. It’s a sort of one-stop shop for everything you could possibly need.

This is a very, very large Tesco, the biggest one I’ve been to. You’d be hard pressed to find something they didn’t stock there. We even buy toys from there when we have to buy a gift in a hurry, they have such an extensive collection. I have also found some good bargains among the toys and books in addition to groceries.

Having a Krispy Kreme outlet is another plus. It’s nice to be able to have something fresh and tasty while grocery shopping, we always wait for the sign to light up. They have plenty of trolleys for different needs. For two babies, or a baby and a toddler or those car type trolleys that the toddler “drives”. They are open 24/7 so we have the option of late night shopping too. Great supermarket for the whole family.

I have always been a fan of Sherlock Holmes so was thrilled at the chance to see “his” house. I wasn’t disappointed. It was exactly how I imagined it to be, the details were incredible. They even had newspapers from that period on a table.

We weren’t rushed through and had plenty of times to browse through the knick knacks in the room and take pictures as we liked. Staff there would take your picture for you, wearing Holmes’ hat or smoking Dr. Watson’s pipe if you wish.

You can examine all the rooms in the house and get a feel for what things must have been like in that time. Upstairs you can see wax figures of some of the characters like Prof. Moriarty and also scenes from the books. Loved it!

This is a multiplex cinema located within the Woodside Leisure Centre in Garston. We usually buy our tickets online so have never had to queue up to buy tickets. There are plenty of machines to insert your credit card and get the tickets printed out for you. Just buy your food and go straight in.

The food is fairly expensive, as cinemas usually are. The staff there always try to make you spend as much as possible, saying things like “for 50p more would you like a larger size” or “for only £3.50 more would you like a bottle of water with that?” etc. Beware of them!

The cinema is fairly clean and well kept. We always go for the kids movies, with cheap film tickets as well as the adult-goes-free-with-kid offer. Quite a cheap day out at the movies.