Jane's reviews
Review of Randa
19 Oct 07, 12:43
Lebanese 
Something was troubling me as I walked past lovely yummy Maggie Jones to have dinner at Randa. Perhaps it was the memory of the time I waitressed for some pretty serious lebanese brothers in Oz - every time I hear a bell ring (they had a bell like Basil's and whacked it with a similar fervidness) I jump to fill up any nearby tomato sauce bottles. Or perhaps it's because I associate Lebanese food, spicy-lamb-in-wrap in particular, with a dreary late night at work as it's often the port of call for dinner-a-la-desk. I marched on, determined to put my troubled, melodramtic sensibility to one side. I was having dinner with loved ones, all that really mattered. It became quickly clear that this is a restaurant that doesn't rely on bells to have good service - the staff are stellar and took excellent care of us throughout the evening. The food was ok. I've come to the realisation that I'm just not a big fan of lebanese food - I don't find the taste surprising - but nothing here to complain about. The loved ones were also good company and the relaxed setting provided a great spot for a mid-week catch up.
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.
Review of Apple Store
19 Oct 07, 12:41
this is not a shop 
I'm so naive. I went to the Apple Store to buy a gift for a friend who has a beautiful iBook. He needed a decent cover so it was well-protected on the road and where better to shop for one but at the almighty Apple store? Sincerely, this is not a shop. I should have gone to Argos, grabbed a little bridge pen or whatever those midget scribblers are called, and ordered from the catalogue. Instead, I weaved through what is indeed an impressive set-up for this Apple world, found two different covers and then went on the hunt to query then purchase.
First stop, querying which cover is better and how do I do that? There are lots of people milling around stroking apple products with dribble hanging from their mouths but who actually works here? ‘You need to find someone with something hanging round their neck and with a pack on their hip and ask them' - this is verbatim. So I find a person wearing all the gear (do they play laser quest with all that gear when the customers leave?) who could only reply, 'I don't know, more people buy this one so I suppose this one.' Ha! More people buy it so it must be the best! Of course. Just like your iPods that die after a year. More people buy them so that fact alone makes the product superior. Obviously I stubbornly chose the one that less people buy, a risk, a chance you might say but I'm not afraid to live on the edge and maybe, just maybe, if more of us bought the things that less people buy, we might just change the world. Apple-lovers, you'll love this store because it's so shiny and white, and beautifully shaped, just like your iPod, your Nano and your Macbook Pro and they're not completely stupid at service, they just have weak batteries. Those yet to be converted will perhaps take a little more convincing. I'd certainly consider going back if they let me stay behind to play laser quest too. That would be mac'awesome.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.