The Book Hog is a delightful corner of the world that specialises in unique handmade leather-bound books. In that theme you will also find all manner of metal clasps for your own book-binding needs.

Lining the walls are hard-to-find fiction and non-fictional books, and often books that it would never had occurred to you to look for in the first place, but once you see them you realise you dire need to own them!

It also carries beautiful jewellery and stunning clothes, trinkets for good fortune and peace, and offers tarot and fortune reading.

The shop is beautiful and the staff are just lovely, when you step in there it is like stepping into cool shade on a hot day.

I helped an elderly male friend who has no internet skills gain his RSA (Responsible Sales of Alcohol) and Safe Food Handling Course (Follow Workplace Hygiene Procedures) certificates, as he needed to update his credentials for volunteer community work that he has been doing for years.

We researched and found that the Australian Online College offered reasonably priced courses.

After payment, we hit the first roadblock. He needed to fill out a short government survey in order to start the course. He filled out this survey many many times and each time he hit submit nothing would happen. It seemed to be a dead link, but we could not skip this step, as all steps needed to be completed in order to be considered competent. Finally it accepted it, arbitrarily it seemed.

We did email the support address given, only to discover that the emails would bounce back undeliverable.

He completed the tutorials, watched the videos, and completed the quizzes. he was found competent and downloaded his certificates.

Only to find out that the RSA offered on AOC is not accepted in NSW.

Back to trying to contact the AOC, again, emails are undeliverable. I tried the support phone number. There's a message with NO mention that the number belongs to the Australian Online College, and that the person who the phone belongs to must be busy, or out of range. But, it's a landline.

I try the mobile number that I find on another part of the site, it is disconnected.

Not impressed!

Approximate cost: $50 - $70

I grew up in Canberra, and still visit my family there two or three times a year. I also visit Michelle Williams Hair!

Michelle has a stylish black and white salon under her house in Lyons. She listens to what you ask for, she'll give you advice if you need it, she cuts hair beautifully, and she's endlessly entertaining while she does it all.

Talking to Michelle while she cuts your hair is like blowing bubbles in the sun - delightful! And you walk out feeling pretty to top it off!

Michelle offers standard hairdressing services as well as facial waxing, and eyelash and eyebrow tinting,

She's reliable about returning calls and punctual with keeping appointments.

I love having my hair cut by Michelle, I'm laughing so hard that I forget to feel self conscious!

I choose vegetarian dishes when I eat Indian, so that makes a 3-curry-and-rice takeaway quite cheap. Delicious food, but I always need to ask the servers 'May I please have more potato/paneer', etc in my serve, otherwise I'll end up with mostly the runny sauce.

I always have a cheese naan, and sometimes a spicy potato or vegetarian samosa.

Raj's corner is a staple favourite!

Approximate cost: $10 - $15

I ordered from ourdeal.com.au back in early April, assured that my order would arrive on May 12. On May 20 I started emailing these guys to find out where my order was.

It took a long time to get a reply, and in the meantime I was emailed another ad for the same product, and, ironically, a customer satisfaction survey. I believe it was my annoyed answers to the latter that finally earned me a reply.

Several emails later I was told that it was simply lost in the mail. The supplier would send me another. I asked repeatedly for a postal tracking number. Several emails later they told me that my address was wrong. I was embarrassed, apologised and went to fix it. I discovered that my details were completely changed, my state was wrong, postcode didn't match suburb, suburb didn't match state, street didn't match anything, and my DOB put me at over one hundred years old. I fixed it all and emailed again.

Eventually they offered me a refund. I am still waiting for the refund.

I'm especially frustrated because the product was to be a birthday present for a friend, and she was extremely excited about getting it! Embarrassing!

I ordered 2 books to be delivered in two days time, at less than half the price of similar services. Okay, they came in three days time, but what a service! The books were in perfect condition. $6.50 for 2 day delivery Australia-wide, no matter how big your order is. I also got e-mail notification to let me know how the delivery was being processed.

Apparently you can also pick your books up from the factory.

Approximate cost: $25 + $6.50

The Ritz Cafe serve the best fish and chips in town! I love their crumbed fish - it feels like it shatters in your mouth when you bite into it. Great chips too - I am lucky to live so close to this place!

Not much seating in the restaurant, but I'm more likely to take my food home to eat it anyway.

There is a nice selection of accompaniments, salads and delicious baclava to eat with your meal, too.

The hotel is charming, it's a beautiful old pub/hotel and is really appealing from the outside, and it's got quite a nice view out the back, despite current renovations. Unfortunately the service so was poor that I will never go back.

The meals and drinks were reasonably priced. My friend ordered from the 12 for $12 menu and got a huge plate of bangers and mash which he said was great. I bought a seafood basket (being my usual trustworthy go-to for pub fare) for $17. The girl who took our orders wouldn't make eye contact, and all she said was: 'Yez ready to order?' I also asked for potato wedges instead of chips and she wouldn't let us change that part of the order, despite my willingness to pay extra for the change. When my seafood basket arrived it looked beautiful, but unfortunately the fish was dry, the salt and pepper squid tasted like a mouthful of flour, and the battered prawn cutlets still had their shells on! What a disgusting surprise!

Approximate cost: $12-$25

The staff here are so friendly, and always willing to go that extra mile so that you get exactly what you want. There's a huge variety of interesting pizzas, something for everyone. They also have lovely pasta. My partner loves their ribs and fries too. They have a small selection of american sodas, which is a nice touch to this American-themed pizza and rib spot. They also sell Ben & Jerry's ice cream to top off your meal. They do have tables, but only two, and they're very small, so this is perhaps a better take-out restaurant than eat-in. Great food, friendly staff, you can't go wrong picking up dinner to take home after a long Friday at work!

Approximate cost: $22

The staff here are always friendly, but for me, the WOW factor is their unbelievably good Slurpees! They have 4 flavours at all times, and they are constantly changing them. They're quite cheap, and so yummy! Some of my favourite flavours have been 'Sour Watermelon', 'Sour Apple' and 'Strawberry & Kiwi Fruit'. They also have a selection of well-priced fresh sandwiches, pies and other quick-food. Petrol prices are, well, petrol prices are getting worse and worse everywhere. Petrol here is no more expensively-priced than it is anywhere else. They also have a huge selection of beverages and snack food. If you feel like a real Slurpee-Treat, you can buy a bag of popping candy from the counter to pour into your Slurpee, sounds like a strange idea but it's amazing!