Having been invited to my best friend’s wedding in Mauritius I was fortunate enough to have free accommodation. I set about getting just flights to Mauritius directly, preferably with Air Mauritius or British Airways. I was recommended a few agents that my friends had used before and I set about asking them. I called a local agent in Hertfordshire and was quoted £580 for a month in Mauritius in April. I called Goldwing Travel based on Turnpike Lane and they quoted me £530, finally I called Sunset Flight Club based in Croydon who also quoted me £530.
Goldwing Travel
I found the staff to be very rude and uninterested, the person I spoke to was slow and uncooperative. I was recommended this company by my friend and was very disappointed. I wanted to call a second time to confirm the flight cost and itinerary and the person hanged up on me. I know they have caller ID and they should have had the decency to call me back and apologise! I do not recommend Goldwing Travel!
Sunset Flight Club
This company was also recommended to me by a friend the first time I called the person I spoke to was just not interested he was slow and didn’t know very much. I called for a second time to check the details of a flight; I spoke to a very rude woman who just didn’t care.
I find every time you enquire about flights they always say to you that they are the last few and you must book straight away. In some cases this might be true but in most cases they just want you to hurry up and book so they can make some money from you.
In the end I was so unhappy with customer service from Goldwing Travel and Sunset Flight club that I booked directly with Air Mauritius. It cost me £4 more but it was straight forward and I even chose my seat and meal plan. As Air Mauritius no longer issues boarding passes it’s more convenient to print out the e-ticket and go directly to check in. My grandmother who is 75 years old will be travelling with me; Air Mauritius will take her to board the plane by wheelchair as she cannot walk long distances. The wheelchair service is free and very convenient knowing my grandmother will be in safe hands until I see her again on the flight.
I would thoroughly recommend booking flights to Mauritius directly with Air Mauritius as the service is fast and convenient and they don’t even charge you when you use your credit card whereas the travel agents charge 2.5%.
After joining Gosling Sports Park gym membership it is very handy to see that The Retreat is located just next door to the female changing rooms. Offering a wide range of spa treatments, facials, nails and more for a very good price it is very tempting sometimes to walk past and not have a nosy at the specials board. Just outside The Retreat reception area they have a notice board telling of any special offers and discounted products.
Having a French Manicure at The Retreat – Gosling Sports Park
After booking a last minute holiday and cramming in hours of gym workouts I really needed a time that suited me to get my nails done before going on holiday. I popped into The Retreat to enquire, the basic file and polish for a French Manicure was £17.50. It is quite expensive but as it was my first experience there I decided to give it a chance.
I was taken to one of the treatment rooms and the nail technician used a couch for a table to place the products on. For £17.50 a manicure you would’ve thought they could have a proper room with a choice of colours and better lighting. The room is supposed to be for facials and skin corrective treatments as there was a microdermabrasion machine pushed into the corner. As I regularly do my own nails they had already been trimmed, filed and neatened. The nail technician did notice this and said she didn’t have to do much to prepare my nails for the Manicure.
As I chose my basecoat and nail tip colour I was shocked to notice how bad the bail technicians’ nails were. They were chipped, uneven lengths and with no polish! I do find it quite odd that a nail technician can do wonders on others but not take the time to do their own nails. I did ask her why her nails were in such bad shape and she just said that she is too lazy! I found it hard to listen to the advice she was giving me about keeping my nails healthy and long when hers were in such bad shape.
The French tip smile lines were done free hand, they weren’t very good, I probably do a better job and I’m not even qualified. The nail polish used was Jessica and I find that it doesn’t last very long! Having paid £17.50 for a poor manicure was very disappointing, I won’t be going back and I wouldn’t advice going there either.
With a year of travelling in store and a few weddings to attend in 2010 it was the right time to start going to the gym on a regular basis. There aren’t many gyms where I live so I opted for Gosling Sports Park. Before I signed up for the membership I attended a tour to make sure I was getting my money’s worth.
Upon arrival there is ample parking and the reception staff are very friendly, I met with one of the managers who asked what I was interested in and he then proceeded to show me around. As I walked into the Gym I was amazed at how many different types of workout machines they had, it wasn’t cramped and the trainers are always smiling and happy to advise. From the Gym you can see the swimming pool directly below; it is very small and not very deep. There are a few seating Jacuzzi areas within the pool to relax tired muscles as well as a shower, sauna, steam room and other spa rooms that I have not yet ventured into.
After seeing all that was on offer to me I decided it was the right decision to make and immediately signed up for membership. The monthly off peak rate I paid was £37 with a one off joining fee of £49; this membership includes the use of the gym between 9am – 4.30pm, unlimited use of the swimming pool and spa rooms and access to fitness classes. The membership is for 6 months so you can cancel any time after that upon giving a months’ notice. I then booked my induction for the following day.
When I arrived for my induction there was only me and another new member waiting, we were shown the equipment and how to use it; we then were told that the entry keys that were given to us when we joined had to be paid for. We were not told of this before and unless we paid the key wouldn’t grant access to the entrance, pool or gym equipment. You are also entitled to free sessions with the trainers who will then programme your key with a customized exercise program to help motivate you. You can have them changed whenever you feel like you just need to pre book an appointment. There are also private one to one sessions with personal trainers at a fee of around £25 an hour. This comes in very handy when you need that extra push to lose those stubborn few pounds left to lose.
I have been going to the gym for 3 months now 5 days a week Monday to Friday, it was the best thing I have ever done. I’m in so much better shape and I know if ever I need a private lesson I can get it all at the same place without having to go back and forth.
I recently had an anniversary to celebrate and after moving to Hertfordshire, was set on eating out in an Indian restaurant. I’m not sure why but there doesn’t seem to be many reviews for restaurants in Hertfordshire so I really had no choice than to just follow my instincts and choose a restaurant. There really isn’t that many restaurants near me so I made reservations and travelled to St Albans to eat at Asia Dining.
Upon arriving in St Albans there isn’t much parking surrounding Asia Dining and it’s a shame they don’t have a parking area at the rear. We went on a Tuesday evening so it wasn’t really busy; the staff was welcoming and very prompt and efficient. The speed of service was also very good.
The food
We ordered Punjabi Swordfish with Mustard and Honey and my partner ordered Mango and Papaya Spring Roll as our starters. The Swordfish wasn’t very nice and I had to leave it; it was really bland and didn’t taste like it had been marinated. The Mango and Papaya Spring Roll was delicious; it was a very different starter that we wouldn’t normally go for but in this case it was well worth it.
For the main course we ordered Dhaba Ghost, Sag Aloo, Chicken Rogan Josh with Naan bread and a small portion of rice. We washed is all down with a lovely Mango Lassi. The Dhaba Ghost was very spicy and we found it very hard to finish, the Sag Aloo was very nice as I wouldn’t normally have spinach with potatoes. The Rogan Josh was very tasty as was the Naan Bread. As always we ordered too much food and had to take it home with us. It was still just as nice the following day and even the Naan Bread was still soft and edible.
I would definitely recommend Asia Dining in St Albans to all my friends and family as the service was excellent and so was the food, the only inconvenience would have to be the lack of parking.
I’m very lucky that by choice I choose not to celebrate Christmas by spending silly money on gifts for friends and family. I personally believe that Christmas should be about spending time with family and friends as we all lead such busy lives that it’s impossible to keep up with all the latest news, good or bad. I take this opportunity to invite everyone round to catch up and drink and eat without feeling guilty.
Over Christmas and New Year I’ve had up to 20 people round to visit with the majority of them staying over, in food and drink alone I have spent over £500! If I were to buy presents for everyone then I would never go on holiday and would not be able to but my mum and sister presents for their birthday which falls the following month.
How to not let Christmas ruin you financially?
Many people that I know use the January sales to stock up on things for the following year. For example this year my sister-in-law will use the sale to save up to £100 on decorations and a new Christmas tree for the end of the year. Decorations can be sold for as little as 25p and a Christmas tree worth £60 sold for as little as £10. The same goes for Christmas crackers, tinsel and Christmas cards. We should all take this opportunity to get organised and save some well deserved £’s for the end of the year. My best friend also used the sales to buy toys for her children that will be 5 and 7 this Christmas she saved £300 by buying reduced presents.
If Christmas is very important for you and your family you should start putting money aside as early as August. Most people fail to realise that you still need to pay bills at the beginning of the month so by planning early you shouldn’t have to default on mortgage, council tax, gas and electricity bills.
Remember Christmas isn’t about spending obscene amounts of money of everyone but to have a good time and catch up with all the people you love and don’t get to see as often as you would like. It’s also a time to reflect and make positive changes to the forthcoming year as this is the time of year people of for a career change.
Having worked for many different NHS hospitals, clinics, doctors’ surgeries and Trusts I was compelled to write about how I felt working for Chase Farm Hospital. Previous to applying to work for Chase Farm Hospital I worked for Salford Primary Care Trust in Manchester. The post I applied for at Chase Farm Hospital was working for the Histology Department in the Pathology department preparing MDT cases.
Upon arrival the Histology department had no signage I was lucky enough to bump into a porter who then directed me. The door to the offices were completely blank, after walking into the main reception (for pathology specimens) there were no signs to lead me to any departments, I just wandered along until I saw someone. I was called in 15 minutes after my interview time and it lasted 30 minutes. I then had a practical exam to make sure I could count and this involved sorting 5 digit numbers into numerical order. I was called back a few days later and offered the job, which I then accepted. The whole HR process was slow and I had to chase them several times, I started on the 28th of February so had a long way to go before getting paid.
On my first day I had my basic induction but even then basic things like breaks, lunch and annual leave procedures were not explained to me. For the second half of the day I was given very basic filing to do which was so repetitive and boring. All in all the job just consist of filing, filing and more filing, some input data, some detective work and chasing up results. After a week I was ready to go!
The manager for Histology just didn’t want to be there, I later found out that the only reason she got the job was because nobody else wanted and she was just given it. She can be very rude, abrupt and has absolutely no communication skills whatsoever. There was a lot of favouritism in this department and bullying, staff were not professional and did very poor work.
Some of the consultants were nice but a few were a little too over friendly and this was not helped by the young staff that were encouraging this. Management seemed to have no idea of the inappropriate behaviour between admin/lab staff with the consultants.
Overall Histology is the worst place to work ever, there is no praise for hard work that you do and no communication between managers and staff. Other departments were told to go home early for Christmas and New Year whilst Histology had to stay behind, I could understand this if there was work to be done, but there were no consultants there over this period!
Having not had my hair cut in over three months I thought it was time I went and had myself a trim. I decided to try Saks in Welwyn Garden City as it was my local and everyone at work was raving on about its service and reasonable price. I am quite generous when it comes to beauty and I will pay up to £150 for a good haircut. Saks cost me around £47 for a haircut with a senior stylist; it was quite disappointing as because it was near the end of the day she was uninterested and boring.
After explaining that I wanted a simple bob with bangs down the side she still cut it too short and it looked really old fashioned. When it was time to put in a few layers the scissors were blunt so it felt like my hair was being ripped out. The salon itself it quite small and run down, the lady on reception was very friendly and helpful, but staff seemed really distracted and inefficient. After the stylist had finished I went to pay and was given over £50 worth of money off vouchers for my next haircut, I distributed them amongst my work colleagues.
Before choosing Saks I did read a few reviews but like always you don’t really know what to expect until you go and see for yourself. There may be other Saks salons out there that have professional, competent staff that really know what they are doing but the one in Welwyn Garden City just doesn’t have a clue. Remember that if you are an NHS employee you can get a discount, for example on your first visit you can get 50% off and 20% on visits after. You may be tempted by such offers but in some cases you get what you pay even if it is 50% off. Tesco employees are also entitled to a discount at Saks.
Saks has become well known since Andrew Barton has appeared in shows such as 10 years younger, Ready Steady Cook, GMTV and LK today so after seeing some of the transformations he has participated in you feel that they are providing a good service. The best thing to do is to try out a few of you local salons and decide for yourself to avoid disappointment, when visiting a new salon go for a simple trim until you decide to change your hairstyle.
Having been to many different salons this was probably the worst haircut and experience I’ve ever had!