I saw Alex to get our car's airconditioning re-gassed on the recommendation of our mechanic. He cleaned the system out and then re-gassed it - always quite meticulous about his work. I told him that last time we had it done (thru someone else), it only lasted about a year so he added dye to the system and I'll go back in a week to see if he can find where the leak is (requires an ultra-violet light to see the dye). There was also a strange noise coming from the engine when the air-conditioning was running and we took the time to figure out that this was coming from the timing belt. He tightened this up and recommended we replace this somewhere else but didn't charge anything extra for this extra time spent on the car.

Approximate cost: $125

I needed to purchase a whole lot of vouchers for WOMOW members. Firstly I rang head office to see if these could be ordered on the phone and mailed out. I was told to go into a store. So I went to the city store and was at the homewears section as I also needed to purchase a wedding present. I asked the women serving there about buying about 50 vouchers and they said they couldn't do it there and I'd have to go upstairs to the customer service department. After waiting at the counter for someone's attention, I explained what I was after and they told me they couldn't do it, I'd have to go downstairs as they were too busy. There was about 4 people serving and probably another 2 people had lined up by then. After I told them I'd already been downstairs and was told to come up here, they said I'd have to speak to their corporate accounts. Told them I'd already done that so they reluctantly agreed to serve me. Said it would take a couple of hours to process the vouchers and I'd have to leave my credit card with them (meaning I couldn't do the other shopping that I needed to do). Extremely annoying - especially considering how much money we were spending with them. They then said to me that they couldn't do it as they could only process 40 items on one transaction. It didn't seem to occur to them that they could do 2 transactions - which of course, I suggested!

After seeing all the great ratings here on Roti Boti, I decided to go there for a family dinner with my parents. We were not disappointed! The food was great and the service was impeccable - the best Indian I've eaten in Melbourne. It is a bit noisy, but I'd much rather that than go to a place that's deserted. Just make sure you have a booking as it was full.

Approximate cost: $17

A group of us visited Nepal and trekked to Everest basecamp a few months ago so we thought we'd have a get together in this Nepalese restaurant. The atmosphere was pleasant enough but I was a bit disappointed with the service - nothing particularly wrong, but they certainly didn't go out of their way to make us feel welcome or help us enjoy the night. The food was ok - actually quite similar to real Nepalese food which is fairly bland.

Approximate cost: $20

Jacqui Harrington is one of the podiatrists here and I'll state upfront that she's also my sister. But despite this, she is an excellent podiatrist. I have long had problems with my feet and she's always given me sound advice. Disgusting as it is, I also see her to cut the calluses and corns off the bottom of my feet.

I went back here for a girls lunch after not being for close to a year. Found everything to be excellent. The food was great - I ordered the calamari salad and loved it. We also had dips and breads beforehand and shared a dessert over coffees. The service was impeccable. I'd actually booked for a bigger group than we ended up having on the day but they were fine with that. Two of my friends had kids there - one a toddler and the wait staff were great with them, even playing with him and doing drawings for him.

Approximate cost: $20

We decided to get some WOMOW Tshirts made up and wanted them to be orange Tshirts with white and grey printing on them. Initially, I didn't realise that this is not easy to do at low volumes. After calling around a bit, I found that everyone was telling me that they couldn't be done - well not at a reasonable price anyway.
David from Aqua-Tech initially said the same thing but did have some other ideas. But a day or so later he called back saying that he had found a way to get them done for a reasonable price. I went down to his shop and checked out the base Tshirts and they seemed fine so we went ahead. A couple of weeks later, we had the Tshirts as expected and they look great.
Aside from T-shirts, he also does things like branded coffee mugs, mousemats, hats, desk accessories and other promotional items.

A friend put me onto this place and it is the best I've found for good quality maternity clothes at a reasonable price. The shop itself is fairly small but there's actually a lot there once you look. And I really liked a lot of the styles - unlike some places that have really frumpy stuff. Great value with lots of tops and crop pants around $25-$40.

I've heard about this place many times but somehow only managed to go there for the first time this week. (I can't believe no-one else has rated it yet!) It's a fantastic place for catching up for a drink and a bite with friends - especially when it's warm as the outside area is huge. I went on a Tuesday night, and the place had a great atmosphere to it. I'm told that on a Friday night in Summer, the massive lawns are covered with people. We ate inside. It's kind of traditional pub / Belgium food. Lots of steaks and they also have lots of mussel pots. I had an entree of calamari which was ok but then had the Chocolate Waffles for dessert - which was fantastic.

Approximate cost: $22

Tucked away, this is a great place to meet up in St Kilda if you want to be away from the hustle of it all. I had coffee and a muffin with a friend while she had brunch her 1 year old had an omlette. The staff were very accomodating with making sure everything was just right. And the small amount of food I had was delicious. They bake their own breads and cakes and they're very yummy!

Approximate cost: $15