Huli Sue’s BBQ is also @
Huli Sues at Mauna Lani Golf Club House
68-1050 Makaiwa Place
Kohala Coast
Hawaii 96743
885-7777

Kwai’s Dish
S.O.B.Burger: Guacamole, Green Chilis, Onions, Ranch & Cheese Served with Fries, Tomato, Lettuce and a Dill Pickle on a Homemade Sesame Bun. Iced Pineapple mint tea.

Yiki’s Dish
Meat Eaters Burger: Beef Chili Topping with Cheese Served with Fries, Tomato, Lettuce and a Dill Pickle on a Homemade Sesame Bun. Fresh Mango Juice.

Exterior
Located on the north end of Highway 19 from Waimea with a small car park beside it (watch out because the ramp into the car park will reck anything other than a 4 by 4). Restrooms are also located outside from the main restaurant.

Interior
Texas BBQ style interior, fully decked out in solid wood. It has a very old school feel about the place. There are tables and chairs and also a stool and bar section looking out onto the road.

Service
Service consisted of one waitress who was very friendly and on the ball.

Toilets
Outside and not great. Avoid if possible!

Review
Back in England when I think of Fries I think of those string like things that you can get in McDonalds but over in Hawaii, I was glad that Fries were the equvalent of ‘Chips’ back home. Even better was the fact that the fries had the jacket on them and were also seasoned well. They had a wonderful crisp texture to them which lingers in my mind still. The burgers were generous in size and were of a high standard. The burgers would beat any supermarket or chain gourmet burger restaurant in the UK hands down, they are even almost as good as my own home made angus burgers. The reason simply being that the beef used in the USA is not the best. USA Angus pales in comparison to Aberdeen Angus and is no fault of the restaurant. The drinks tasted very fresh and a few boxes of local produce were on display to remind us of the locally sourced ingredients. On reflection, my first meal as a married man was very good in quality and value. I would recommend this place ot anyone who wants to try out a really good burger and fries in Hawaii.

Score
13/20

Discuss this review here

In the above video you can see the below transcript as I dictated it. View the above video in full 1080p for the best view.

Maximise the do like the wire recognise words, but as a maximise to service maximise that pair to make default a lot bigger. Speaking reader to easier. Now I’ve set this to be the most accurate Earth face. It doesn’t like it when I say, are you just did her instead of her yeah okay were actually at least it punctuates my stuff, may I don’t have too safe. All the time, I just speak naturally, and it will somehow find out what they said they learned phrases in all sorts of things like that. So the first thing to know is which version you would want to purchase that while it’s got a list on the side here, where are the Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 in her options. Where there is a preferred version and the standard version, they preferred versions come at twice the price man and the preferred version are DG, everything that the standard version has earned the standard version allows you to create documents, e-mail and instant messages, simply by speaking that’s true, I even use Google chat earlier with the friends and now had no problem at all. You can surf the web or voice, I haven’t tried that because any compatible with Firefox and Internet Explorer I use Google grow no enrolment required to get started. Instantly, that’s kind of true it activated online by itself, but I still registered Roger project anyway, I am new on-screen help editorials be an expert users right away them down. And yours truly is not good as Microsoft’s tutorials dictate directly into virtually any Microsoft Windows application. I haven’t tried that yet, there were trying Dragon naturally speaking tend to drag and had their control menus and dialogue boxes by voice and virtually any Microsoft Windows application, her I haven’t tried that either natural commands the Microsoft Outlook express. Dragon voice shortcuts from web and desktop search sorry the last two are actually prepared soap natural commands the Microsoft Outlook and Outlook express is the preferred not to standard Dragon voice shortcuts the web and desktop search is the preferred to everything from here on his own in the preferred her package automatically transcribe recordings from new. Once approved handheld recorders all Pocket PCs wireless Microsoft wireless microphone support including Bluetooth includes new and real speaks of turning text into human sounding synthesised speech of God final draft at a local kennel so do that on their Microsoft’s own product to bear on Bicester. Playback your dictation through easy correction and proofing in search of signature logo or boilerplate text into file with a simple voice command I got no idea what boilerplate is import export your user files to use on any PC would Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Now, one thing I’ve noticed on here is that when I is beat the specialness Dragon pad thing it comes up with what I say in this yellow area here and then it kind of finds out what I’m kind of say and then it phrases it correctly into one whole sentence and that way you can put in the Commons and full stops by itself is far bad it all seems kind of makes sense and Der film I can say I certainly said a lot so far. I certainly would have been up to type this as quickly as this. I would say that it has got everything correct, her life only run this once before and are very used that tiny little bit. So is the first time that I’m really properly using it and the way I’m talking to you is my most natural way of speaking. I don’t dictate any differently, so perhaps that’s why Windows Vista’s speech recognition program didn’t work so well for me. It even recognises the word Vista and doesn’t call it Mr, which is quite cool. That is very cool, I don’t know if it recognises my last thing the it recognises what I said that’s very cool. Very cool indeed. I liked this program, this is actually very accurate to what I’m saying I am very impressed that it can often a lot less time I trained on the Microsoft Vista’s speech recognition program for over an hour, and it took me an hour to do my first article, which will lose about 100 words long at this one seems to have worked for me already and it’s taken hardly any time while I had to read what five chapters are laws Charlie and the chocolate factory by Roald Dahl and another to Toro before it lamps. So you and all the tests and everything altogether took about half an hour in my right ear, about half an hour altogether on quite a fast talker anyway and I can read aloud quite quickly down to a quite clearly from all my water Tewkesbury’s presenter, so maybe that helps them this is really quite impressive on the box it says that you how you can speak to this program out hunting 20 words per minute now most people think well that’s a pile of rubbish per how can anything keep up with hundred 20 words per minute that moment I am, properly speaking, 120 words per minute and it says the coping quite well, what I will do after I’ve said all place and finish this video is posted at my blog exactly are at war is here on this document and you’ll be up to see exactly what was written otherwise can watch this video in 1080 p in your BR to say anyway but if you are interested in reading exactly what was taken on as a mistake or what was taken correctly, especially some of these long phrases, you can save yourself how accurate or inaccurate as programmers from my point of view I think this program at the moment looks quite accurate. I would only have to go back and correct quite a few things and teach it had state corrections, but are giving corrections on this program are a lot easier down on Microsoft Vista speech recognition program, but you do have to pay for this sake the top 10 reasons to buy this program has earned sold by new wimps heard most accurate version ever Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 delivers up to 99% accuracy with no spelling errors will ask as they got dictionary help, but they spell incorrectly create documents and e-mail faster, you can speak more than three times faster than you can hardly wear denied by pretty fast but is comfortable that free easier than ever to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 installs quickly and requires no special script reading new on-screen help and Toros will make you an expert in no time works with favourite programs dictate text directly into virtually any Microsoft Windows program. Browse the Internet with ease search Internet access information and navigate webpages or more by voice get the most from Microsoft Word and Corel WordPerfect natural language commands let you say it your way to perform commands and format text. Corel WordPerfect, who the hell uses that any more works away, he worked at names addresses in other words to your custom speech vocabulary. New quick voice formatting allows you to format and edit your dictate text in record time. Protect your health reduce the risk of developing RSI by talking instead of typing works hands-free and finally number 10. This is the world’s bestselling speech recognition software Dragon NaturallySpeaking products have won more than 175 awards worldwide, but accuracy and ease of use well. There’s kind of bragging fees is also fun and easy to use and you can create documents and e-mail and instant messages and highly by voice turn talking to type say it naturally worked more than three times faster than typing in okay okay enough of the promoting of the product that comes with his microphone to this noise cancelling microphone or which comes with them and throwing bits as well that you have to plug it into both your headphone and microphone socket. You are microphone in & out socket and the microphones got this kind of doom windshield playing so if you breathe on it like it shouldn’t really pick up anything that you say it properly, will the unit on to say. I am saying generally hurl what a cool product, you know I’ll be able to now all make longer blogs are blogs that make more sense blogs that are lengthier Herm and serve more readable, hopefully her because I like to have content in it in each article if you do get this program yourself a preferred all standard version or a third new version comes out dental free to post on my forum put the link in the description. Both your reading the blog up at the end of the blog and Der Berg just talking to it and dirt idea is got some weird thing is that like the Bird in hand. Dirt idea and dental free is not perfect and I would say some of it is because I’m probably mumbling and probably because I’ve been talking all that each hairless mice settle review after doing the Microsoft Vista speech recognition program review and my voice has probably become the little horse and is probably not the same as it was just say one hour ago and I’m probably mumbling a little bit more than I was only wrong. So I’m going to leave and there I would say if I’d skip this rating at 10 from looking at what it caught up with me in. What I’ve said about the product so far just reading it back. It looks really amazing how much is correct, II wouldn’t have to correct too much looking at that. I would say, I would give it a hair than 8/10. I would if I would give it a hair than 8/10 at EC can’t overemphasise things because it will start to do weird things like that, if you talk an SAE to hone all along it won’t go wrong, but it’s only get really excited your voice passengers changes loads if you have ever ever edited. Music will edited your voice before in say, the video you’ll know what I mean her D voice passengers goes cheeks out the roof and it works on that kind of basis, so I would say this program has done very well so far is still learning it still nears it is a beginner to my voice at the moment and my voice has strayed from speaking quite well like a newscaster to the abyss of Chad and East End not say that all Eastenders a chance, but I just think of myself as a chap sometimes not because I am a child for that have been chimed the past, but just that I have caught on the Chad actual attributes from knowing chads and being around cows in the past. Not any more, though and if you don’t know what channel is well Google it until next time take care.

Now at first glance it doesn’t seem like the software did a great job as there are plenty of errors, but when I do speak more clearly like now, the program has no issues at all. I have since added slang words like chav to the dictionary which helps a great deal in cutting down errors. I also did not use the correction feature which is very accurate and quick to use, especially compared to Microsoft’s efforts. I find myself using the headset all the time now which is very comfortable and now that I’ve spent a few more hours with the Dragon Naturally Speaking, it is now very accurate. One thing I would recommend though is to be in a quiet room and don’t let anyone else try to imitate your voice as it throws the program off and gets added onto your voice file! My wife played with it for a bit and the program found it hard to figure me out straight afterwards when I started using it again. The license is per voice so if you do want multiple users then you need the preferred version.

Grab your copy of Nuance’s Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 software @ http://astore.amazon.co.uk/kwaichisworld-21?node=9&page=2

If you’re after a wireless microphone edition and also have the ability to transfer your voice settings between computers then get the preferred wireless version @
http://astore.amazon.co.uk/kwaichisworld-21/detail/B001AZ4TDS

Upgrade to Windows 7 with free Speech Recognition software @ http://astore.amazon.co.uk/kwaichisworld-21/detail/B002DGS81C

Discuss this video @ http://kwaichi.com/forum/reviews/nuance-dragon-naturally-speaking-10-review

There is also a KFC based in Hilo:
111 E Puainako St
Hilo
HI 96720
(808) 959-1886

Kwai’s Dish
Chicken meal for 2, crispy coating, 2 biscuits, 2 mash and gravy, 5 pieces of chicken with sides of buttery spread & honey sauce.

Yiki’s Dish
Shared Kwai’s dishes

Exterior
Located at the Lanihau Center on a corner. Plenty of easy parking spaces. Across the road is the Kona coast shopping Center. There is no seating outside.

Interior
Interior was geared to have plenty of standing room with only a few tables available for dining in. The area was well kept and very clean which surpassed my expectations of a fast food establishment.

Service
Counter service was friendly and the staff tried their best to help explain what all the things (that we don’t have in the UK) were.

Toilets
Did not inspect

Review
This kfc meal was far better in general than any kfc I’ve had in the uk. For a start I was astonished at the absence of french fries in the meal deals. The menu was geared towards feeding the family or large parties and they also did not offer many other types of dishes apart from normal chicken pieces in original or crispy coating. There were only 3 pictures of burgers on the display wall menu. The biscuit is not what I would think of a biscuit in the UK. Instead it was very much like an english scone except it was salty instead of slightly sweet. Also unlike most scones in the UK, the biscuit was served warm. The crispy coating was very thick and reminded me of the UK spicy wings coating except it was much thicker. The mash was served very creamy with a ring of gravy laid on top. Biting through the chicken some grease came through which is similar to the UK version. One notable difference at the end of our meal was the lack of a wet wipe which is a standard and expected feature of buying a KFC in the UK. A tip would be to take your own wet wipes or take it home. Although standard was higher than expected, it wasn’t mind blowing gourmet cuisine.

Score
6/20

Discuss this video @ http://kwaichi.com/forum/reviews/kfc-hawaii-island-review

I am trying to get used to the Microsoft dictation software that comes free with windows vista. Even though I have taken the training on three separate occasions, I am having difficulty with dictating this document. I had to continuously correct myself on a continual basis because the dictation software keeps getting me muddled up. I think the main problem is that when we dictate our documents we speak very differently to how we would speak normally. We are supposed to speak in a newscaster fashion and this may not come naturally to most people even a trained presenter like myself. I have found many instances where I’ve had to correct words of context in a sentence such as the word to and two. I started this document at 11.10 AM and it is now 11.30 AM and I am finding that I’m getting used to this newscaster fashion of speaking although it is not as fluent as a program you have to pay for such as Dragon naturallyspeaking. I do like the fact that you don’t have to pay for the program if you already have windows vista although I’m starting to feel like you get what you pay for. It is now 11.35 AM to give you an idea of my progress. I have found it increasingly annoying that the computer will go and select something that I have already dictated as it gets confused with my commands with my dictation. I have to admit that the program is learning quite quickly the things that I’m saying at a relatively quick pace. Since taking the tutorial and three advanced voice recognition stages, I have launched wordpad and started typing this article without once lifting my finger to move the mouse or keyboard. There aren’t too many words in this article so far yet it is already 11.45 AM and I certainly don’t have 99.97% accuracy rate, for the amount of words that have been written I would say it’s closer to a 30 per cent accuracy rate but it is definitely going up. Compared with dragon naturallyspeaking I would estimate that this technology that is included with windows vista Is equivalent to dragon’s software couple of years back. Annoyingly I would have thought that the computer would now have picked up a mistake that has been reoccurring throughout this article and interestingly enough that mistake is to the word VISTA. Instead of using a noise canceling boom microphone I have opted to use my lavalier microphone clipped onto my shirt. I don’t think it has made any difference whatsoever though. It is now 12.02 PM, my throat is becoming hoarse, my mouth is dry and I am surprised I have been this patient so far. I am now going to go and buy a dragon naturally speaking and I pray that there will be 20 to eight million times better than this experience. It’s great that this piece of software is free but I awards this is generous five out of 10. I think it’s high time that I regained control, turn off my microphone, and get back to clicking and typing

Just for the record is now 1210 PM!

As I had made so many corrections to the software I figured it was ready and fair to review for video.

So to compliment the above video, below is what got spat out. Enjoy what was right and what was wrong with the transcription. The rating for the product is also in the transcription

Are finding out solution type of it deleted everything what the hell did what was its fighters laughed and to understand what was it got what the hell are a comedy deed is deleted everything that was unbelievable that is unbelievable sharks what are you wonder to read the whole transcript of Glory can only what you want an eight by whatever is left of the document I will close stop house at had this is meticulously in a one thing I found so funny when I was dear Mr. Other day I found that one I want to say I’m running this user Microsoft’s vista programme speech recognition program I notice that the word sister conduct as Mr. Own lanarkshire that Microsoft Mr. Programme it did, so he does learn what it doesn’t learn that while the had a difficult about what it’s Derek if you have learnt i.e. at had looked for a motor trader Ivan again and you don’t the a cheese Leon are Shay widening quickly by saying so one I had to keep going back there and changing and dispersal earned in real time say estimates is a mistake once an enticement three times its players never make do returned yet whenever I said this to it would come up with the word Mr. Year while this time is money, with Mr. Lister now turns into a almost early start her O SE’s of why this is followed so although Yardley you would think that sister would be a word in the dictionary on Microsoft’s own programme leg get it disk and colour with them Mr. or something else and now it’s just talking absolute garbage are everything that’s coming out lose the speech recognition program just doesn’t make any sense whatsoever to flow into a year on talking quite well the most the financier eat my words very well known is not classic their feet up in a way as it were a piece dinner in line I do Armenia sometimes but you would think that the speech recognition program 10 generations on with your Tacoma’s Colin thinks wild interplay programme becomes with this day comes with windows seventh so might have a go yourself if you got windows Mr. or you’ve got windows seven them at all speech recognition by an been activated until the training is in your control panel and ER in even the most basic version of Mr. Has got the program so does go into a try at yourself open up burn this programme he had no word hadn’t start talking and see what you come out with try and earn talk about something may be about programme Alan copy and paste to a all the stuff that comes out with online forum are believed linked in D a description of video and also on the end of the block so you can find easily and a host what the house there will be quite fund had to say whatever one has come up with what if you’re asking me R know what I would get this out of 10 are I would had to say it’s a very clever programme how the inaccurate his there is quite a clever thing you to a speech recognition turning points a interpolated ones and zeros must be so incredibly difficult and emotional angst and I really appreciate what the developers had done honestly but as for the program itself I would say that if you speak anywhere faster them what you can possibly time then it doesn’t keep up with the very were a little learn best can see from the client to meet debts are as I talk are art and I’ve talked about animal for them all have I hadn’t actually been rooting out ability you are in I can tell the tale of mistakes and if you can imagine trying to go back incorporate or your mistakes them to one of your mistakes you have to actually do all the corrections through the voice program itself could if you don’t it will never learn estate that is trying for a time consuming in itself very time consuming so it fit and mother just earn do our them may be dying dragon or something nor or to a home order online you on a your online access scheme is your fortune is video to fit so well to start a program there are gala programme what I have got the criminals once, microphone hadn’t right here in reckons it and learn speaker 120 words per minute into its programmes eighth or contacted the test quite soon and turn as for this program however clever and is how the rear is is made by Microsoft one of the biggest companies in the wild and software why should be all right up there and it has failed big time to for so widely of this are whopping two out of 10 unto our next time take care listening

Discuss this video and post your dictation results @ http://kwaichi.com/forum/reviews/microsoft-vista-speech-recognition-review

Grab your copy of Nuance’s Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 software @ http://astore.amazon.co.uk/kwaichisworld-21?node=9&page=2

If you’re after a wireless microphone edition and also have the ability to transfer your voice settings between computers then get the preferred wireless version @
http://astore.amazon.co.uk/kwaichisworld-21/detail/B001AZ4TDS

Upgrade to Windows 7 with free Speech Recognition software @ http://astore.amazon.co.uk/kwaichisworld-21/detail/B002DGS81C

Kwai’s Dish
1lb Rib eye steak with a loaded 1lb potato (sour cream, bacon, cheese)

Yiki’s Dish
40 USD sunday special 1lb Rib eye steak with a loaded 1lb potato (sour cream, bacon, cheese)

Exterior
Located at the Mauna Lani shopping mall on the 1st floor (2nd floor for our US friends)

Interior
Layout was Chicago gangster style tables and booths with super large tables with clean thick white cloth on top.

Service
Served by one waitress, female mid 40s. Service was friendly and food was transported on a luxury looking cart.

Toilets
Toilets were very clean and well maintained.

Review
First thing’s first – everything here is big! The layout is big, the space between tables is big, the doorways are big, the tables are big, the seats are big, the waitresses are, um…. Anyway the place is comfortable and the mood is very warm with nicely polished hardwood everywhere. It’s like all those old American gangster films where the bad guy orders the hit! So on to the food. We chose the cheapest thing on the menu which on the day was the Sunday special. It comes out on a gigantic plate on a gigantic trolley with a side of a gigantic 1lb baked potato with an enormous portion of random toppings like fake bacon bits. The steak is not cooked on the large flat side like most places or at home, instead it’s cooked until burnt on the outside of the steak. To accomplish this the steak is very thick cut. One advantage is that you can see when the middle is cooked to the preferred done state. One massive disadvantage is the seasoning, the middle tasted of nothing. The experience was texture only, it was so bland in the middle I almost cried. On the outside where it was burnt it was pretty inedible but the parts I could chew, I felt an explosion of salt. In between the burnt crust and the bland middle was a great steak, but the middle and crust took up too much of the steak.

If you are bold enough to call yourself a steakhouse then make sure your steak is great! Big does not equal great, it’s all about the quality! The execution from the kitchen did not meet the expectation of the atmosphere or the service. Overall I was sadly disappointed, it’s like going to a great looking new cinema only to watch the movie on a 12 inch black and white TV.

Score
8/20

Discuss this article @ http://kwaichi.com/forum/reviews/ruth’s-chris-steak-house-hawaii-island-review

Click here for a tour of the Mauna Lani Spa, gym and tennis courts
Click here for a view of the Mauna Lani resort & Ocean from one of the Hotel’s corridors.
Click here for a review of the Mauna Lani Breakfast Restaurant, The Bay Terrace
Click here for a review of Ruth Chris Steak House @ The Mauna Lani Mall
Click here for a view of the Ocean from One of Mauna Lani’s Ocean Front facing Deluxe rooms
Click here for a tour of a Mauna Lani Deluxe Ocean Front Facing room

They also have a branch in Hilo:
Cafe Pesto
Historic S. Hata Building,
On the Bay,
Downtown Hilo,
Hawaii Island,
Hawaii,
USA
(808) 969-6640

Kwai’s Dish
Special of Linguine with breast of chicken with a sauce of shitake mushrooms and normal mushrooms and cooked ham

Yiki’s Dish
Sweet potato mash and mushrooms, Crab and shrimp sandwich with cheese

Exterior
Located at a dead end on a road nearest the coast with a few other restaurants and shops. Parking is on the tight side by US standards. Parking stop blocks are present.

Interior
Small casual feeling restaurant. Not cramped but not loads of elbow space. You do feel like you are close to the other tables.

Service
Served by 1 waiter, man in his 20s. Service was a very friendly to the point of cheesy. The waiter recited the specials easily and was quick to recommend dishes on request.

Toilets
Toilets were clean and well maintained.

Review
My dish really lacked consistency with the ham part being really salty while the linguine was really bland and far too soft. Yiki enjoyed her sandwich which was served bruschetta style so not a sandwich at all. For the hype of this place on many review sites, I was sadly disappointed with the lack of care over the key ingredients which just did not compliment each other.

Score
7/20

Discuss this review by clicking here

Above is a video of Kwai Chi, John Skellon and Tim McArdle having breakfast on the day of Tim’s wedding at the Brewers Fayre in Hayle, Cornwall. If you don’t have time to watch the video then please note that Brewers Fayre serves a totally rubbish breakfast.

Pizza Patio’s website is http://www.pizzapatio.co.uk

Pizza Patio restaurant details:

Pizza Patio Al Fresco –
Hayle
35 Commercial Road
HAYLE
Cornwall
TR27 4DE
Tel: 01736 753745

Pizza Patio Al Fresco – Newlyn
4 New Road
Newlyn, PENZANCE
Cornwall
TR18 5PZ
Tel: 01736 363446

Pizza Patio Al Fresco –
St. Ives
31 Fore Street
St. Ives
Cornwall
TR26 1HE
Tel: 01736 798235

This product is now available form Kwai Chi’s online store @ http://astore.amazon.co.uk/kwaichisworld-21?_encoding=UTF8&node=9 This has got to be the loudest alarm clock in the world! The clock is made by Sonic Alert who specialise in items for deaf people. Please see the above video to find out more.

I review the silver laced moisturiser in the above product review. The product is only available in Germany as far as I know.

I review the number one instant noodle snack in the above video

In the above video review I get to grips with the ergoflex mattress. ergo flex are an online manufacturer and direct seller of their memory foam mattress. This 2 year old company has been making waves in the industry and have also been featured on programmes like Deal or no Deal. ergoflex pitch themselves as an alternative to Tempur but personally I see them as a direct competitor.

When researching online I kept seeing myths about memory foam mattresses which I would like to dispel:

Memory foam mattresses get too hot when I sleep on it
Whilst this may be true for a minority of people it certainly isn’t the case for most people. If you do find yourself getting too hot on any mattress you can simply put a good quality cotton mattress protector on top. New Tempur mattresses come with an air circulation structure to allow heat dissipation and the ergo flex has a cool-sleep airflow system.

I find it hard to turn in bed
Everybody tosses and turns in bed when they sleep. Whilst memory foam mattresses will encourage you to stay sleeping on your back for a better night’s sleep, it certainly is not going to stop you from doing so. Having gone from pocket spring to memory foam mattress I can definitely say that I would prefer to lay on my front on a memory foam mattress to a pocket spring as it hugs my tummy as well as it does my back.

A density rating of 85kg per metre cubed is too dense
Whoever makes up optimum figures is talking out of their backsides. With Tempur being the market leader of any mattress sold with a memory foam density of 85 to 110kg per m3 it is mind boggling how anybody without research can tout anything lower as being optimum or better. Tempur are a market leader for a reason – there is more to their mattress than hype or marketing, it’s down to their research. In fact without Tempur there would be no memory foam mattress of any sort on the market! Don’t forget that in countries where mattresses can be prescribed for bad backs the doctor will usually always opt to prescribe a Tempur mattress.

Any myth where 85kg per m3 is supposed to gobble you up/make you too hot/is too hard/is too soft is totally unfounded and without any research. Personally I find it extremely comfortable. Higher density basically means that the air bubbles in the foam are smaller and therefore more reactive (not less reactive and slow as many would suggest).

9cm of memory foam is too deep
Anyone touting that there is an optimum depth is either a bed salesman selling something shallower or just scaremongering, after all we’re all different. 9cm certainly won’t make you disappear and is well suitable for those who are 50kg or 100kg. Having slept on one for a while I can honestly say that it gives a very luxurious feel. anything under 5cm in depth may as well not be there at all.

I can’t make love on memory foam
Oh yes you can! I’ll leave this one at that lol…

If I go for memory foam then I should go for one that is on pocket springs and double sided
First off – what is the point of wasting that expensive layer of memory foam on your slats/divan base? It’s absolute nonsense and that’s why there are hardly any manufacturers mad enough to do it. It is purely a gimmick and nothing else. I have personally slept on a few mattresses that had memory foam sat on top pocket springs and there is a massive difference in the quality when it comes down to how much it cost. The cheap ones are seriously nasty! The more expensive ones are comfortable as the foam tends to be denser and better quality/better built.

The recovery rate of 85kg per m3 is too slow
As you can see in the above video this is certainly not the case! If anything because the cells are smaller they are more reactive the more dense the foam.

I should buy from an independent reseller because they can buy in the best quality at lower prices
This is not true as it is not true in other industries. Take the PC industry for instance – the market leader are Dell and as a manufacturer they also sell direct to consumers. Independent resellers of PCs do not have the buying power of chains like PC World and are often around for only a short time as their stock can’t shift and their debts pile up. Dell has recently begun selling their PCs via chains but the credit worthiness of independents and a risk to their brand name being cheapened means they are far less likely to go with them. As we have seen in the last year chains can also go bust.

So I said the same goes for the mattress/bed industry and it does. Companies like Tempur and Ergoflex do not want their brands to be cheapened by independent ebay resellers where accusations of fake memory foam mattresses are rife. With companies going bust, often with very little notice, it is much safer to put your money on a product that you will receive in a matter of days/straight away than something you have to gamble on for 6 weeks plus. Because of the construction of memory foam mattresses on reflex foam they often come vacuum packed and rolled up which means that it is less risky for bed stores to keep in stock and are usually available to take home or delivered pretty quickly. Any pocket sprung or open coil constructed mattress will not usually be kept in stock and the reseller will basically act as a middleman for the manufacturer who may make your mattress on demand to save money. There are exceptions to this like mattress next day but my previous experience with them was less than satisfactory and the salesman was not at all knowledgeable. Oh and my mattress did not arrive next day! As I have reviewed the ergoflex mattress I am happy to say that the delivery was also great with the mattress being delivered when they said it would and a tracking number for my peace of mind.

I’ve seen reviews saying that memory foam mattresses are rubbish
There is loads of competition in the bed industry and you find that many independent resellers and chains will post on forums and review sites claiming to own and hate their memory foam mattress. Look out for experts too who appear to help people decide what to buy as they often have an ulterior motive to shift their own stock. Some will say that memory foam is all hype and some will say that memory foam is only suitable on a pocket spring mattress and must be double sided. Some will say that a certain shallow depth and low kg per m3 density is optimum for a mattress but do a little research and it’s usually because they don’t stock it themselves. They’ll come up with all sorts of half reasonable explanations like ‘I only stock mattresses that I believe in’, but read between the lines and you’ll find that it’s all hot air. Remember that if a people tend to only post problems in reviews rather than positives, so when you do see lots of positive reviews like on reviewcentre, you have a pretty good idea that it’ll be good.

I’m safe if I buy it on ebay
This is normally true. As you always have the option of paying on ebay via paypal you have can get your money back quite easily if nothing turns up or if the product is dodgy and the seller is refusing to take it back. On better sellers there will actually be a checkbox allowing you to pay a premium for a full money back guarantee via paypal if you’re not happy within 45 days. Watch out for seller feedback too which is different to total feedback which can be disguised by the seller buying lots of products on ebay (artificially boosting their score). Look out for comments that suggest problems with the supply chain too as their manufacturer may have gone bust recently or even worse – the ebay shop has gone bust and hasn’t closed down their store.

Remember that an ebay store is relatively easy to set up and can be closed and set up as a different company relatively quickly.

Kwai Chi reviews one of the more exclusive hair holding products on the market in the video above

I review the Tempur Queen sized pillow in the above video. enjoy!

I review one of the best toilet bleaches on the market in the above video. Contains graphic images

I review the Veetee rice range in the above video

OK, so watching loads of movies means that I also watch rubbish movies even when I know they’re going to be bad. Bratz was one of these movies. Bratz is a line of kids dolls based on bling and ‘real’ girls. Translating this onto the big screen must have been a challenge as they would have to keep up the appeal to young kids and mums so that they continue buying these morally wrong toys. There were so many things wrong with this movie so I have listed some here for your perusal:

• The Chinese girl can get changed and have a hair makeover in about 30 seconds in public into an outfit that stays with her for the rest of the film.
• The black cheerleader turns into a 30 something white overweight woman when she does cartwheels.
• The poor soccer girl turns into a 30 something overweight woman when she plays football.
• Oscar winning Jon Voight couldn’t give a **** about being in this film and puts in a stunningly poor performance as a crap headmaster/principle.
• The deaf kid can hear himself talk and therefore speak perfectly.
• The deaf kid can lip read without looking at lips.
• The kids age by 2 years by driving motored vehicles but dress up exactly the same way.
• The bad girl in this film is exactly the same type of bad girl seen in about every tween movie including high school musical.
• A scholarship is awarded to the winner of the talent contest. Since when does a scholarship go to someone good at singing over someone who is good at maths?
• The poor girl is looked down upon and pitied by even her own friends in the film making any viewer with less than £400k in their bank account feel like wringing all their necks.
• The girls seem to make the party food with play dough toys.
• The girls appear to make play dough food.
• The songs are really bad.
• The plot is really bad.
• The poor girl mimes over a singer who sounds a lot older.
• All the girls have walk in wardrobes yet none have an ensuite bathroom.
• The kid who gets a football in his belly squeals at the most pathetic kick.
• The bad girl wanted to win the scholarship. She would not need a scholarship.
• The bad girl had an MTV sweet 16 party yet her dad is only a headmaster.
• All the kids in the school want to go to this pretentious party even though no one likes the girl.

The flaws go on and on and on! With all things reflected the director (Sean McNamara) should stop making kiddie movies and concentrate instead on fermenting cheese. At that note I should say that this film deserves nobodies time. I feel really sorry for those parents whose kids will be receiving this film as a DVD as they are going to probably play this aweful thing over and over again studying the fashion if that’s what you want to call it. Even High school musical is better than this absolute trash. With that in mind I award this film a whopping flat zero out of 20 million.

Jim Carrey takes another outing in a silly comedy film. Up alongside him is kooky Zooey Deschanel. To cut a long story short Jim Carrey plays a guy who runs away from everything in life and as a result gets nowhere in life. One day an old friend persuades him to go to a Yes seminar and it changes his life forever – as long as he keeps saying yes to everything. A run of luck is rewarded to him as a result and he meets equally crazy Zooey. They fall in love but then a run of poor luck follows Jim for bit until we get to the predictable end where everyone leaves the cinema feeling happy and smiling.

Some of the jokes in the film are funny. Other times it’s a little cringe worthy. In the right mood this film can be just what the doctor ordered. With a mixed bag of goodies I give this film a 3 out of 5.

Following on from the success of the first film, writer/director Eli Roth was at it again with a sequel. Based back in the same place as the first film – the story was very familiar. Not diverting the story much from the first film, I was left feeling a little cheated of originality. What’s wrong with making up a new story for a sequel? So many sequels these days are just rehashed revisions of the original and Part II was no exception.

If you saw the first one, then you know what will happen in the second one. Instead of seeing men getting slaughtered, you get to see women getting slaughtered. One of them even gets fully nude hanging upside down from her feet. Apart from the twist at the end there was little else on offer with this film. Not at all interesting and not worth a watch if you saw the first one. If you haven’t then it may be worth watching so I’ll give this a generous 2 out of 5

Rating 1/10

I was hungry the other night and decided to order in using hungryhouse.co.uk. I chose Zulfi’s even though I had reservations choosing a place that not only specialised in a good curry but also pizzas, burgers, chicken and kebab! To put this in perspective,when was the last time you had a decent curry at Pizza express? What the hell I thought to myself – it seems that many of the other takeaways on hungryhouse.co.uk near me are up to the same gig.

I got the meal deal #8 which included a large chicken bhuna, large keema dopiaza, 1 tarka daal (side), 1 bolied rice, naan, 3 chapati, 1 mushroom bhaji, 2 popadom, 1 mango chutney. I requested cooking with no ginger and keema to be replaced by chicken. My requests were all met which was great but the food was of a poor quality.

I’m a curry fanatic and this cooking was just lazy. The lentil dish was so bland and overcooked. They could not even get the popadoms right which are so easy to make. All they had to do was deep fry but they had left mine out somewhere for too long and it was stale and soggy by the time it got to me.

The worst part of the service was the delivery. First I got a phone call 10 minutes before the latest time they should have delivered by asking me for my post code and address. I swear the whole point of this website is that details like this are not necessary! It was not like he was checking either – he just didn’t know! 20 minutes later I get a call from the delivery driver asking where I live. I had to open up google maps to help guide them in but the guy kept hanging up on me while I was explaining where to go so he kept getting lost. I don’t live in the middle of nowhere either – I live in Headingley! He kept asking me to go outside to the middle of the road so he could see me but I was trying to explain to him that he was still far away. Add to that it was -3 degrees outside and the last thing I was going to do was venture out in the cold. That kind of defeats the purpose of having a takeaway delivery doesn’t it? Otherwise I would have just taken the car out somewhere! Finally the guys arrived with me standing in the middle of the road freezing my arse off. They apologised for the delay but I was cold enough to freeze water into ice by that stage. I’ll definitely try a different place next time. Zulfi’s is a place to avoid! I award them a lowly score of 1 out of 10.

This is the film with Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio in it. It was directed by Ridley Scott, the guy who made Gladiator, Blade Runner, American Gangster and loads of other movies. The film is set mainly in the Middle East where there is all sorts of terrorist activity going on. Back in Europe places are being bombed left right and centre.

To cut a long story short, Russell Crowe is the top dog trying to call the shots in the comfort of his home in the USA while his eyes and ears Leonardo, gets his hands dirty in the Middle East. Leonardo tries to get to the bottom of the terror cell by befriending the Jordan main intelligence but Russell keeps getting in his way by being the clumsy and arrogant American. I won’t say anymore because I’d give away the story.

It is a film that is interesting in parts but easily confusing. It is a thought provoking film but only if you managed to stay awake through the endless boring dialogue and confusing plot twists. The film could have been better in so many ways including Russell Crowe’s performance where I felt he couldn’t be bothered. The saving grace was Leonardo’s captivating acting but that is not enough for me to award any higher than 2 out of 5.

I literally roamed the supermarkets of the UK to bring you a totally blind taste test of all the butter miniature mince pies I could find. There were a few rules, like the packaging had to state the ‘mini’ size and they had to be the all butter variety. There are many more pies on the market outside of these restrictions and notably there were no value or no frills pies on offer, only standard or premium offerings. If you haven’t watched the video above yet, I put the pies in individual punnets labelled ‘a’ through to ‘j’. This threw out any preconceptions of branding or pricing. The test scores went purely on flavour and texture. I have rearranged the list below to reflect the test ranking out of 10.

11th j) Sainsbury’s Mini Lattice Mince Pies (12) £1.99 (17p each) 0/10
Sainsbury’s was founded by John James Sainsbury in 1869 – starting life as an equivalent to a modern butcher store of today. Groceries were later introduced in 1903 and soon grew to become the UKs largest grocery retailer. They stayed top of the pile until they got overtaken by Tesco in 1996 and then knocked further down the pile by Asda in 2003. Sainsbury’s standard offering looked unique compared to the other pies on review with it’s lattice top exposing 4 holes into the filling below. With the first bite I took the crust was far too thick and chewy. The crust was overpowering and took away from the mincemeat inside. Taking a second bite to assess the mincemeat inside I was sadly disappointed to find a really liquid filling with no flavour whatsoever. This odd and poor combination led to the lowest score in my blind test.

10th d) Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference Mini Mince Pies (12) £2.99 (25p each) 1/10
Sainsubry’s premium brand ‘Taste the difference’ come decorated with 3 holes in the sugar coated crust lid. When I took my first bite into the pie the first thing that came to mind was the thick hard crust followed by a sudden intense sour burst that was truly revolting. The only saving grace for these mini mince pies is that they are not rock bottom of the list – unfortunately, the bottom, is the other Sainsbury’s pie!

8th h) Marks & Spencer Classics for Christmas Mini Mince Pies (12) £3.29 (27p each) 2/10
Marks & Spencer started life way back in 1884 as a market stall in Leeds Kirkgate Market run by Michael Marks who was a Russian born Polish refugee. 10 years later Michael Mark’s business was failing and Thomas Spencer came to the rescue with an investment of £300 and exceptional organisational skills. Initially dealing mainly in textiles Marks & Spencer branched out into selling food and became one of the main suppliers of food during the second world war. These days Marks & Spencer are known as M&S and are the largest department store chain in the UK. Their food court is very popular taking in more than half of all their business. This mince pie was their standard offering and was really disappointing. The crust was so thick and dry and not at all buttery. The mincemeat was also really dry like congealed jam. M&S is well known for providing high quality foods but I was not at all impressed this time around.

8th i) Morrisons The Best Mini Mince Pies (9) £1.69 (19p each) 2/10
Morrisons was founded in 1899 by William Morrison as an egg and butter merchant in Bradford’s Rawson Market. They were based mainly in the North of England until they took control of Safeway in 2004. Now Morrisons are the 4th largest supermarket chain in the UK fitting out their stalls to look like an early 20th century street market. Morrisons did not have a standard pie to offer – only their ‘The Best’ premium brand. This mini mince pie was topped with a snowflake and sugar. The crust was very thin with little ‘bite’. The filling was nutty but there was very little else to offer in terms of flavour. As there was nothing good to say about this pie, Morrisons’ only entry scored poorly.

6th k) Waitrose All Butter Mini Mince Pies (12) £1.99 (17p each) 4/10
Waitrose started life as a joint venture by three men with surnames Waite, Rose and Taylor. Taylor left the other two and their stores became known as ‘Waitrose’. They were taken over by John Lewis in 1937 making all the staff in Wairose co-owners of the whole group – a bit like a coop. Based mainly in the south and concentrating on selling only high quality food, Waitrose has been aggressively expanding upwards through the UK. Waitrose offered the largest sized mini mince pie in this blind test coming up close to some supermarket offerings of standard size mince pies. The crust was really thick and the filling was both sweet and sour. I could taste the brandy but it added nothing to the overpowering flavour inside. At £1.99, Waitrose supplied a surprisingly competitively priced miniature mince pie against the main major supermarkets. Unfortunately the quality was sub standard – especially for Waitrose whose reputation suggests better than average food.

6th b) Tesco Finest Mini Mince Pies (12) £1.99 (17p each) 4/10
Tesco is the largest supermarket chain in the UK founded in 1919 in East London. With profits exceeding £2 billion they are the world’s 4th largest retailer. Tesco’s Finest brand is their premium brand so I would have expected more. The crust was thick & crumbly but soft enough that it melted in the mouth. Unfortunately the mince meat mixture inside was very poor. The flavour was far too sugary and tasted artificial. At £1.99, Tesco’s ‘Finest’ offering is priced competitively against it’s supermarket rival’s equivalents, being cheaper per pie than all the major 3 rivals Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s . Although cheap – these pies are average at best.

4th e) Selfridges & Co Traditional Mini Mince Pies (12) £6.99 (58p each) 5/10
Selfridges started life as a single mammoth department store in the heart of London on Oxford Street in 1909. Selfridges was and still is the 2nd largest store in the UK after Harrods and the innovations and marketing techniques that Mr Selfridge introduced transformed the way people shopped forever. The Selfridges food court offers fine foods from around the world as well as their own branded products. Selfridges offering was by far the smallest and easily the most expensive mini mince pies on review. They were so small that I wasn’t sure how they would be made up. Would the pie be thick with little mince or would the pie have a thin crust with lots of filling or somewhere in between? Well halfway through biting I had my answer. It was so thick that it was like biting down on shortbread. I like shortbread – don’t get me wrong, but it felt wrong for a mince pie. The mincemeat inside was like dehydrated jam without the flavour. I give this pie a 5 simply because the crust is nice on it’s own merit. More attention to the filling would have easily scored more points on taste.

4th c) Marks & Spencer Connoisseur All Butter Mini Mince Pies (12) £4.99 (42p each) 5/10
M&S’s premium brand ‘Connoisseur’ is rarely seen outside of the Christmas trading period and is usually exceptional in taste and quality. Taking the miniature mince pie in my hand it looked nice enough with it’s single star on it’s sugar topped crust. The crust was very thin and the filling was laden with nuts but what was missing from this year’s Connoisseur offering was the flavour! Where had the currants gone? Where was the brandy? It was like eating a thin crusted nut gel pie. It’s a real shame but the score is fair for M&S’s disappointing premium offering. In fact, for the price, it feels like a rip off!

3rd f) Tesco Christmas Mini Mince Pies (12) £1.49 (12p each) 6/10
Tesco’s standard mini mince pie was the cheapest in my review at just 12p a pie. The single star on top of the sugar coated crust didn’t prepare me for the delicious soft thick crust as I bit into the pie. At first the mincemeat flavour tasted of nothing but then the after taste kick came through and was remarkably delightful. The combination of a great crust alongside an understated filling was rewarded with an above average score.

2nd g) Asda Extra Special Rich Fruit Brandy Mini Mince Pies (9) £1.68 (19p each) 7/10
Asda started life in Leeds in 1949 and has had a turbulent time since, with mergers and acquisitions being passed around until the giant Wal-Mart bought the chain in 1999. Asda is now the 2nd Largest supermarket in the UK and accounts for half of all international sales for Wal-Mart. Asda had no standard mini mince pies on offer but the premium ones they had on offer looked great with a dusted topped snowflake on really great textured crust. The bite was thick and soft with the mincemeat consistency a compromised blend between sour and sweet. The taste was not too intense or rich making this a great choice. The pie could have scored a little better if the crust was a little more buttery in flavour.

1st a) Duchy Originals Miniature Mince Pies (12) £4.59 (38p each) 9/10
Duchy Originals Limited was established by HRH The Prince of Wales in 1990 to promote organic food and farming. Duchy also aimed to help protect and sustain the countryside and wildlife. Every time someone buys a Duchy product, all profits go to one of Prince Charles’ many charities. Duchy Products are available in Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Budgens, Somerfield, Booths and Morrisons. Duchy’s offering in this blind test was average in size with 3 punched out holes at the top crust. As I bit through the all butter miniature mince pie I felt a wonderful sweet blend of currents and Brandy swash around my mouth as the very soft thick crust melted on my tongue. The only words that could come out of my mouth were ‘That is absolutely delicious!’ before I just had to take another bite. At £4.59, these pies are on the expensive side but with money going to charity , you can feel less guilty. Absolutely sublime flavour and texture make these mince pies far and away my top pick for the festive season.

In Conclusion
With only 3 pies on test taking home a score of 6 out of 10 or more, the average all butter mini mince pie is generally poor. If I had not done the test blind I would probably not have gone near the supermarket offerings, sticking to the safety of M&S. Having tried an M&S pie during mid November though, I was bitterly disappointed with the drop in quality from which I usually expect and that was confirmed in this blind test. At less than half the price per pie, Asda’s premium brand tasted far better than Marks and Sparks premium offering.

Asda’s Extra Special mince pie was my biggest surprise followed by the revelation that the Tesco standard offering tasted far superior to their own premium brand. Sainsbury’s 2 different pies were bitterly disappointing and having contacted Sainsbury’s, their spokesman reassured me that they would be taking the blind taste test seriously and would pass on the results to their product managers to rectify future supplies.

Duchy’s pie was no surprise topping the list with their sensational mince pie. They’re expensive, but knowing that my money is not feeding a large corporate giant – but instead paying farmers a fair wage and all those deserving charities – gives me a comfortable feeling inside. The mince pie I definitely would not bother wasting my money on is the ridiculously priced Selfridge’s mince pies. I was shocked at the price and would have expected better. It was average at best but coming in at over 3 times the cost of Asda’s offering, it feels like an absolute rip off.

So I conclude that if you have a party of people to feed at a budget then go with Asda’s Extra Special mini mince pies, otherwise just go Duchy!

A different and original twist sees a bunch of unknown actors stranded in the middle of the ocean with no help available to get back to shore safely. A sailing trip goes wrong and the disaster victims end up in the water with no way back onto their boat. It’s an interesting and compelling watch but at the end of it you are left feeling a bit cheated as there wasn’t much content to the film. The back story could have been developed better but I think the film was going in the right direction. I would say more in this review but I don’t want to give away the rest of the story if you haven’t yet seen this movie. For the originality I give this film 2.5 out of 10.

This slowly tense but captivating thriller starring Kevin Costner and Demi Moore utilises strong character development as expected from Kevin. Kevin plays Mr Brooks who is a Schizophrenic killing addict trying to quit. Mr Smith (Dane Cook) appears at his workplace to blackmail Mr Brooks with photos of a crime scene with Mr Brooks in. Mr Smith has a taste for blood and wants to learn from a master serial killer and they hang out together to find someone to kill. Tracy (Demi Moore) plays the multi millionaire detective on their tail and soon finds herself the target for some blood letting. I’ll leave the rest for you to watch but I have to warn you of the slow Kevin Costner pace induced in this film. It’s nice to see him in a different role as he does shine in this film. Demi Moore and Dane Cook could have done better but this film is all about Mr Brooks and therefore I give this a slightly higher rating than I would usually of a film of this caliber at 3.5 out of 5.

One of Anthony Minghella’s most recent works before his death sees familiar faces in Jude Law, Juliette Binoche, Martin Freeman and Robin Wright Penn on screen together. Miro played by Rafi Gavron plays a bad kid who’s not that bad who is also a parkour thieving nut. Jumping from roof to roof he steals a load of high tech loot (a bunch of macs) from Will (Jude Law) and Sandy’s (Martin Freeman) work place. Will finds out by stalking his own workplace and stalks Miro whilst his home life goes all depressed on him. Being depressed and trying to escape he befriends Amira (Juliette Binoche) who is Miro’s mum. Amira figures out what will is doing and they go through a clever and well thought out relationship which makes it interesting for the viewer as we discover more about these characters through all the peripheral charachters. 

Breaking and Entering took me by surprise as I am so used to watching Jude Law acting like a wooden spatula. I actually felt depth in his role this time around and I was truly captivated by the strong character development in the film. I would have liked to have seen more of a resolution at the end of the film but that’s a personal preference. I would rate this understated film amongst Mingella’s finest works and I give this a 4 out of 5 rating.