"This year I hoped to take the children to visit Santa through the only Wonderland display I know of at Smith & Caughey's," writes Dee, of Beach Haven. "But at $30 per child (includes Santa visit, Wonderland, collectable bauble and photo) with three children that's $90 plus parkingor bus fare. There are cheaper options e.g. Wonderland only or visit Mrs Claus plus beautiful free window displays, but we want to see Santa so sadly I cannot afford the Wonderland and will go to the local mall instead."
Ten years playing on internet
A Chinese woman who was presumed dead after she went missing 10 years ago has been found after allegedly spending the past decade living and playing games in internet cafes. Xiao Yun, now aged 24, left her home 10 years ago after a quarrel with her parents. She was found when questioned by police for carrying a fake identity card. She relied mostly on handouts from fellow cafe patrons to survive.
Helen writes: "Just after the war I was slogging up our driveway on my way home from school -- 5 years old, wearing a little gingham dress and red sandals, clutching my little cardboard suitcase -- when our neighbours' son, wearing a WWII gas mask, stuck his head out of the hydrangea hedge and yelled 'boo'. I still give hydrangea hedges a very wide berth."
Mmm. Holiday with your husband, or your horse?
Downstairs for dancing
"Years ago I was at a Marianne Faithful concert at the Auckland Town Hall. Some stoned-out hippy girls were trying to dance up at the front, but the bouncers kept removing them," writes a reader. "They appealed to Marianne and her reply was perfect: 'I can't help you. But how about I play some nice, depressing songs so that you won't want to dance'. Perhaps more concerts could be held in places like the town hall, where you can buy seated tickets upstairs -- grand view from up there -- and dancing tickets downstairs. And any dancers upstairs could be trounced."
Set aside an area to boogie
A reader writes: "I'm starting to think the organisers of the Fleetwood Mac concerts needed to have a standing/dancing area and a seated area ... It seems bizarre that for such an iconic band, with so many boogie-worthy tunes, no planning was made for those who wanted to dance. Sending those who want to dance to the back isn't fair. They want to see the show just as much as the people who feel it's their right to sit the whole way through a show."
Video: Not everyone can snowboard or BMX bike, but that doesn't mean you can't look cool with a GoPro camera in your mundane life...
