I visited this aquarium a few weeks ago and will never, ever go back. There were a number of dead fish and many unhealthy looking fish. I had read somewhere online that it was under new management - I hadn't been before so don't know what it was like in the past, but it can't have been worse than this.

The fish room was dank and smelly, and extremely unpleasant to be in. I felt absolutely awful walking around tanks at those poor fish, and seeing dying fish. I realise that fish die, and sometimes there will be a dead or sick fish in an aquarium - but there's a difference between there being a dead fish, and tanks full of unhealthy looking fish and tanks.

I was looking for a particular item (substrate for planted tank) and the woman I spoke to had no idea what I was talking about, and pointed me to some neon coloured gravel. Another sales person was selling tropical fish to a customer to go in with her goldfish, and giving patently WRONG advice about whether the fish could be kept together, and how to care for them. I find bad service annoying, but when it's clearly wrong information that is going to mean that live creatures are going to live a life of misery before dying a painful death, there is no excuse.

I don't know if the people who have taken over have no idea about fish and/or fishkeeping or they hired some people with no idea - but in either case, I will definitely not be giving any money to this shop, ever.

We get things dry cleaned on a weekly or fortnightly basis now - my husband gets his suit pants and I sometimes get a dress done.

The lady who always serves me is friendly and efficient, and our clothes always come back in great condition and well cleaned. In the past I have had clothes LOST from a dry cleaner, but feel totally confident in this place's attention to detail and care of our things.

They also have convenient opening hours during the week, and are open on Saturdays (until 3pm, from memory?). It's easy to just drop things off in the morning and pick them up that evening, or the next day or Saturday.

I've had the full range of amazing to terrible experiences at Heading Out before, and decided to hedge my bets again. I'd had an ok experience at this particular salon a few years before.
This time I called in early in the day and was able to get an appointment that evening which was great. I didn't want anything fancy, just a trim and tidy up, as it had been ages between visits.

The girl who did my hair was nice and friendly without being overbearing and too "chatty" (which I find so draining!) so the whole experience was pleasant. She did a nice job on my hair and I have no complaints.

From memory the haircut was $65 and I also had a treatment for about $45. I won't get a treatment again, I don't even know when they did it (as they were washing my hair?) or what it was really, so it felt like a bit of a gimmick. There's no noticeable difference to my hair at all from it, so next time I'll just get a cut.

Overall, it was fine - nothing out of this world, but I'm not that fussy about my hair, I just hate bad service. So on that basis, I would go back to this salon.

Approximate cost: $115

I'm a bike novice, I really have no idea about them apart from that I have one, and sometimes ride it. The staff at Velo have always been really helpful and friendly, and totally un-intimidating which is definitely what keeps me going back.

I didn't even know you could GET a bike serviced until taking it into these people, and they made it run like new. I then bought a new bike from them last year and continue to visit this shop every time I want to have a browse or need to pick something up - a helmet, new lights, little gadgets, etc.

If you're looking for a good bike shop or want a new bike, I would absolutely recommend Velo Cycles. Don't worry about seeming like an idiot or knowing nothing, they're really practical and helpful, and are interested in helping to set you up with something that will suit your needs.

Subscape is a great little aquarium hidden away on Victoria St - blink and you'll miss it. The staff are really knowledgeable and helpful, and friendly and approachable. It's clear that they're not just retail people who applied for a job that happened to be in an aquarium, but are actually people who keep and know about fish and aquarium set ups, etc.

There is a room of beautifully scaped aquariums in the front which shows that the staff actually know what they're talking about and can do more than just keep fish alive (which is more than I can say for some other places..). The fish in the shop always look healthy and well cared for, and the shop itself is clean and neat.

There are other aquariums and pet supply places closer to my house, but I am happy to go to the other side of the city to support Subscape.

My only gripe is that they keep their Betta fish in tiny cups :(

This nail salon has only been open for a few months, so I thought I'd try it out. I ended up waiting for an extra 20 mins or so but didn't worry too much about it, because the owner kept apologising and the salon staff were dealing with some really pedantic and annoying customers.

They have a new packet of manicure "instruments" (I guess they're called?) for each customer, so everything has been sanitised etc and comes in a little sealed packet. I haven't seen that in any salons that I can recall, so I was pleasantly surprised. Also, given the LOW price of this place, it seemed amazing.

I got a shellac manicure and a (non-shellac) pedicure and together, it was only about $60-something.. I often pay around $50 just for a manicure, so I was surprised how cheap it was! My pedicure was great, but my manicure is pretty shoddy.. if I'd just had a manicure, I wouldn't ever go back there, but I'm really conflicted about the place.

On one hand, the manicure was pretty blah. The shellac isn't well applied at all and a few fingers look pretty yuck. But the actual experience was really good - the staff are really lovely and as strange as it seems, given my so-so manicure, there is lots of attention to detail. I imagine that if I had a different girl doing my nails next time it could be great, and I think I'll give it another chance based on the business owner's clear desire to set up a great salon.

Approximate cost: $65

I had two of my dogs groomed here a few weeks ago - both came out looking absolutely IMMACULATE. I have a Toy Poodle who had the neatest little poodle clip she's ever had, and a 13 year old Poodle mix who is a bit of a grump. The staff seemed concerned to make sure that my older girl was ok, and both dogs came out happy.

The only thing was the price!! I have paid anything between $50 and $90ish per dog for a groom, and this was definitely among the most expensive grooms they have ever had. I stupidly didn't ask the price beforehand and died a bit inside when I handed over my card at the end.. I suppose you get what you pay for though, and the girls were really well looked after and the grooms were beautiful

Approximate cost: $190 for 2 dogs

I purchase most of my dog related things from vet-n-pet direct now, as they are much cheaper than I can find in retail stores, have good value postage costs and quick delivery.

Anything that doesn't need to be seen in person and isn't needed urgently (eg flea/worming treatments, sometimes toys, or products that I am familiar with), I buy from this store. I presume they are able to have lower prices because it's an online store only - whatever the situation is, it works. They have very very quick delivery, to the point that most of my deliveries have arrived at least a day or so before I had expected them.

They also often have cheap or free shipping periods, and sales on particular items - eg 20% off worming tablets - which are really great to take advantage of. As well as being good value, they're things that you're going to keep needing, so the sales are actually on USEFUL things, rather than a gimmick.

Debra performed the service at my father's funeral in early 2013 and did a beautiful job - it was a respectful but refreshingly positive funeral, and definitely did NOT feel like a cookie-cutter speech that had been delivered numerous times, with only the name changed.

By chance, my (now) husband and I found her ad and engaged Debra to also do our wedding - which seems a bit weird, but we only realised after we had met her that it was the same person! She made the whole planning process really easy, which was great for us, as neither of us are the kind of people who had been dreaming of our wedding for years.. we really had no idea what we wanted, apart from Not A Big Deal. Debra was great, she had all sorts of suggestions and it felt like planning something with a friend. We had a great time working with her!

I actually had a few people come up to me AT the wedding asking for her name, and have been contacted by others since, who all thought she was fantastic and wanted her to do their wedding. It's such a hard thing to pick someone to help you with a one off event, but people were clearly impressed with her and the atmosphere she created for us. It was a really fun, relaxed, enjoyable day.

Debra is the kind of person who will tailor the ceremony to you, your personality and the style of your event. Ours was really relaxed, and we actually both giggled the whole way through - it was a wonderful experience and Debra conducted the ceremony perfectly. I'm so glad someone knew what to do, because neither of us did!

My sister is hoping to engage Debra to do her wedding also, and I have been recommending her services to everyone I know.

I had my car serviced by these guys last week - I booked a $99 special introductory service online, got a call to confirm, and they did a great job.

I got a call in the early afternoon outlining that there were a few things that they wanted to do - swap front and back wheels, windscreen wipers, air filter.. just a few things, all of which I was totally happy to do, and which were itemised on the receipt as he discussed.

My car was ready for pick up that afternoon, and the whole thing was really hassle free. My car is now running really smoothly and I can definitely notice the difference - I'd been putting off servicing it for ages because I didn't know of a good local place and have been ripped off in the past. (I have no idea about cars at all! I just .. drive it!) I will definitely be back to these guys though.

Approximate cost: $290 service + a few extra things as required