Tried this out for lunch the other day. Had the lunch special chicken ramen at 8.50 - spicy, you can have it mild also. Ramen really needs to have an excellent base or there is no depth and it ends up tasting like two minute noodles. This did not have an excellent base so it was pretty ordinary and I wished I'd only spent 2.00 on some 2 minute noodles. I waited a long time for lunch but it was busy. I'd probably give this place a go again but I'd skip the ramen and try the sushi, that looked alright and it is ready made so you don't need to wait.

Approximate cost: $8.50

Went into Howards after we moved into a new place and my husband accidentally damaged a fixture. We went to all the upmarket kind of bathroom and kitchen places and found similar things for minimum 80.00. Went into Howards one day to find something else and there it was - almost a perfect match and only 30.00. Surprising I always thought this was kind of overpriced but it is reasonable and obviously a great place for hard to find items.

I have bben coming here for ym cha for years and the food is always great. They have all the standard yum cha offerings - loads of dim sims, exotics like chicken feet etc. It is so full of different trolleys I have actually witnessed trolley traffic jams here. My favourite is the mango pudding with coconut milk and the mango pancakes are also great. I am only marking this down to three as the service is very average, busy or not. If you don't order a drink and the chilli sauce as soon as you sit down - don't expect to get it.

Some stunning lingerie here - sizes go up to a j cup in some lines. It is a gorgeous new shop in Leichhardt with everything from very sensible pyjama sets and nighties to pure luxe bras and undies in silks satins with lacey bows and frou frou. They have maternity bras too, really lovely not the usual unattractive purely practical type. They also do fittings. It is not cheap though, so consider it an indulgence or put them on your Christmas list. I picked up some really cute soaps shaped like macaroons as a Christmas present and they were 19.95 exquisite scent. Have to say though they are over the top on the fittings and will not leave you alone to make a selection - they hound you around the shop and steered me away from just about every bra I liked. They also hound you in the fitting room and wont give you any privacy - every time I go in there they try to fit me again and wont leave me alone so that has really put me off - it's too much, I really hate not having privacy in the fitting room and having someone wanting to see how my undies fit. Ugghh.

This is a great place to take the kids on a rainy day (if you have a shopping urge). They have great puzzles and chemistry sets for kids, crystals and bug catchers etc. Children can let their imaginations go wild here as they look at all the amazing science and you can buy some very cheap things too like little amethyst and rose quartz crystals which kids love. I bought the bug catcher which has a funnel with a lens on the end so when you look through it the insects are magnified. Spent the next couple of weeks chasing anything that crawled, with/for the kids. Definitely worth a look and great for gift shopping.

You can buy these books from schools or community groups and a percentage of sales go to the organisation that sold you the book. It is full of discount dining options for the best restaurants and cafes, also discounts for accommodation, shopping - just about everything. They are a great source of information also - with loads of venues (and discount vouchers) to keep the kids amused in the holidays or ideas for new places to have a meal. I defy anyone to use every voucher in the book but it is very easy to recoup what you paid and a load more also. Great idea!

Approximate cost: $60.00

New discovery. Beautifully clean restaurant and you can see right into the kitchen where they prepare your food. I noticed their food safety certificate of excellence from the City of Sydney on the way out, confirming my overall impression. The laksa was delicious - just the right amount of chicken, packed with noodles and fresh curry leaves floating on the broth. Just the right amount of coconut too - ask for chilli if you like it spicier. All the staff were friendly and happy. The manager came out to talk laksa with the woman at the table next to me and I heard her remark this is the best laksa in town. I have to say it is pretty close especially when you consider the cleanliness, restaurant setting with food hall prices and they accept all the major credit cards. I like my laksa and I definitely appreciated my laksa here. It also arrived in about 1 minute - super fast, super friendly, overall 5 star experience!

Approximate cost: $9.50

Had a steak here and it was about the worst I've had in a long time, tough and chewy, lacking flavour. This place is popular with the office crowd who mainly come here to drink and especially at happy hours (everyday I think) where the drinks are fairly reasonably priced, I think around 5.00 for champagne and it starts at 7.00 so it is worthwhile if you want to wait around. I prefer the 5.00 o'clock start for happy hour.

This is a very quaint cafe on a quiet street in annandale. They have a kids corner with toys to keep toddlers entertained while you have a quiet coffee so it is very popular with families and is often busy, especially on a Sunday morning. You can also sit outside on the footpath. Breakfast is good here - fantastic ricotta pancakes and good eggs. They also put on some unique breakfast specials like a Thai style breakfast that sounded good but I did not try it. I stuck to the pancakes which were lovely. They also have kids smoothies but the berry one was really bitter and not at all popular with my child who tried to compensate by piling loads of sugar in - somewhat diminishing the overall health value of the berries.

You receive around 30 rewards points for each survey you complete for this research agency and each survey takes about ten minutes. To receive a ten dollar reward voucher you need to make 500 points. That is about 17 surveys at 10 minutes each so 170 minutes (almost 3 hours) for 10.00 and they are charging large companies a fortune for the valuable information you provide for 3.00 an hour. Does that sound like a fair and equitable rate for squeezing information out of you on your buying habits, movie viewings, work practices and every other aspect of your life? Doesn't sound good to me. Sounds like exploitation. Steer clear of this site unless you have more time than sense. Another negative is amount you will receive in rewards is not clearly laid out on,you only find out at the point of redemption so you work away to accumulate these points only to discover it's all for a measly $10.00.