mmmm chocolate

Wellington is blessed in so many ways, not least of all with chocolate shops. I’m not just talking about candy stores which happen to carry a nice range of chocs but full on chocolatiers.

There’s de Spa in the Old Bank Arcade, Butler’s Chocolates on Willis St, and Schoc on Tory St.

De Spa’s home base is Christchurch and they’ve been making chocolates in NZ for about 16 years. They produce what I’d call a traditional range of luxury chocolates. They’re beautifully presented with care and attention. The shop in Wellington is small and hidden in the basement of an arcade. They sell through a couple of other outlets in Wellington too but when I go into their own store in Wellington I always wish it were bigger.

Butlers are one of the new kids in town.  They’re not new to chocolates, just new to Wellington and have opened a chocolate cafe on Willis St. The shop is light and bright and lures you in off the street.  As you sip your latte with a chocolate on the side you can’t help but contemplate the other varieties on offer. Chances are you’ll have been back to the counter before you leave.

And then there’s Schoc.  They have to be my faves no competition.  Before I get lost in the deliciousness that is their chocolate I have to say that their website sucks.  It has been slowly improving but I’d put my money on it being done by a well-meaning amateur.  Still, better than no site at all but I long for the day they lose all that centering – centering is not stylish, it is usually the sign od a DIY designer. Back to the chocolates… They have the most amazing array and again the photos don’t do them justice. The flavours are mindblowing and you should try them all – just not in one visit. You must have the Ginger and wasabi truffle though. Don’t be afraid, it won’t burn your mouth – the delicacy of the flavours will surprise you. High on my list are the Pomegrante truffle, the William Ross fortified cabernet sauvignon truffle and the Boysenberry and Whisky chocolate.

Schoc also have a cafe and their hot chocolates are something special. I just have to have a Lavender hot choc each time I visit. So much real chocolate in the bottom of each cup, you can stir it in or eat it up with the straw spoon in each cup. If the cup were bigger you’d want to dive right in.  I’m pleased the cup isn’t bigger – its a treat, a very rich treat and a bigger portion would ruin the magic of it. Savour the drink and start looking forward to your next visit already.

	de Spa	Butlers	Schoc
Website	Good	Good	Poor
Store ambience	3/5	4/5	4/5
Traditional/Funky	Traditional	Traditional	Funky
Taste+	3/5	4/5	5/5
Approximate cost per chocolate*	$1-1.20	$1.20-$1.50	$1.30-$2

+ For comparison I’d rate Roses chocolates less that 1/5 

*Chocolates are sold by weight so this is an approximation of cost only.

dove, we need to talk

You’ve caused me to break a nail and skin a knuckle and I want to know what you’re going to do about it.

 It all started when I decided I couldn’t face the masses at the supermarket after work so decided to pop into one of the smaller stores and just grab the essentials I needed and something for dinner.  One of the things on my list was conditioner and in a rash move I decided it was time for a change.

I was lured by the display of a new Dove range pro-age, I did ponder whether I was really old enough but I’ve always had thin hair and who wouldn’t be attracted by the promise of thicker fuller hair.  So I’m not sure if my hair is looking thicker or not, I’ve been using it about a week or so now. What I’m not liking is the trauma involved in getting the shampoo open. One thing is for sure there’s no chance it is going to leak if I have to travel with it. The lid on the conditioner is fine but the shampoo is something else. I have reasonably youthful strong fingers but I find there’s just not enough plastic protruding upon which to grip, hence the broken nail. Plus there are too many sharp egdes on the plastic, combine that with the force required to open the bottle and you add a skinned knuckle or two to the mix.

So what do I think of it otherwise? I’m ambivalent about the scent – don’t love it, don’t hate it. The smell doesn’t wow me and make me feel luxurious.  After I’ve rinsed there’s an odd metalic smell.  I do like the fact the bottle doesn’t get slippery when wet. It is an odd shaped bottle to look at but easy to grip.  Though the shape causes me other problems – it is a bit big for my shelf of hair and body care products. It does untangle with ease – not quite as well as my previous conditioner but the final result once rinsed is acceptable.

Would I buy it again? Not sure, the fact it doesn’t fit on my shelf is a pain and the shampoo lid is annoying. If it turns out to do amazing things to my hair then I could be persuaded to transfer it to a bottle which does fit and doesn’t cause injury but it is going to have to work hard to find itself in my trolley again.

your call/email/question is important to me – really

Sometimes I’m just busy, really busy.  I’m extremely client focused but sometimes I have no spare time to attend to your needs immediately. You just have to wait.

Today someone emailed me, then they emailed with an urgent flag. A few minutes later my phone rang and not long after that a text arrived.  I just happened to be doing something which was more important. Then the over-eager communicator appeared at my desk.  The found me engaged in conversation with someone far higher up the foodchain than themselves but still they hovered.

 The industry I work in is not life theatening.  However important the work is that we do, no-one is ever at risk of death or injury. And when it came down to it the request wasn’t super urgent, the over-eager communicator just wanted to do it next so they could tick it off their list. Their relentless pursuit just added to their stress and probably cost them half an hour of wasted time filled with frustration. If I’d had time to answer the first email when it arrived I’d have done so.  Pestering me doesn’t make your request more important.

i’m grumpy therefore i blog

So perhaps grumpy is a little strong. Tonight I went to the supermarket and to be fair it isn’t something I enjoy.  I didn’t have much time so I went to the New World at the railway station.  That reminds me, New World – your advertisement is wrong.  You say you are the only supermarket in a railway station.  You’re not! Many places in the world have supermarkets in railway stations – it isn’t that special - really!

So what made me grumpy? It was all in the packing – if you can call it that. I don’t know why I bothered selecting the best and least blemished fruit I could. By the time checkout operator A had thumped the fruit on the scale,  shoved it into the bag and thrown a few tins in on top it was thoroughly bruised. The Easter eggs were chucked at the bottom of a bag and a bottle of shampoo thrown on top as well. I don’t think she gave it any thought.  She didn’t look grumpy, I suspect she was just grabbing and scanning and shoving each item in a bag, not much thought involved.

It made me think back to high school, a few years ago now.  I remember my friends who had jobs as packers at the supermarket were trained and tested before being let loose on a customer’s packing. They’d study tip sheets over lunch breaks memorising the order in which to pack, which item could be packed with which.  Does this happen anymore? I suspect it is all about speed these days and keeping the lines moving.

One of the things I like about the times I’ve lived in the UK is that you have to pack your own groceries. All the items for the fridge end up in one bag, likewise the fruit.  It makes unpacking a dream.  If I offer to pack here I usually get strange looks or am told I’ll pack too slowly. I wouldn’t want to pack other people’s groceries for a living but I’ll happily do my own.  With all the practise while I was in the UK, I’ll pack fast enough to keep up too. 

i’m just not that into Borders

Specifically I’m talking about Borders bookstores in New Zealand. Now I know there are many reasons to dislike them not least of all the potential to damage the local independently run bookstores.  Wellington is blessed with some brilliant stores and I hate that Borders attempts to lure me away from them.

Now I won’t deny I’ve purchased at Borders, those special deals are hard to walk past. The chance of me shopping there much more are lessening by the day. They annoyed me right from the first time I went to their website.  They asked my to pick my favourite borders and yet my all time fave Borders is in Europe and that one wasn’t on the list. Actually they wanted me to pick the closest store to me – it isn’t my favourite and never will. Say what you mean, don’t be all cutesy about it.

Why is it, every single time I buy at Borders they insist on asking if I get their emails with the deals – WHY? I’m so sick of it, all I wanted was the newspaper, I’m already signed up, leave me alone. And then there’s those emails and their special offers. Hey, I’m happy to take that 30% off a DVD or whatever the offer is. But, seriously, you want me to print out the voucher wasting paper and toner and bring it into the store. Even worse you tell me I can use it up to four times and you want me to print four copies. How many trees does Borders waste on vouchers each week. It is really starting to annoy me. Dymocks have a plastic card and give me a percentage of every purchase back in discounts. Unity has a ten trip card again giving a percentage off my 11th purchase.  Why are you so environmentally unfriendly Borders?

So, you can use the Borders vouchers four times, well, if you take in four copies of each voucher that is. But do you know what? You can’t use them in a single transaction. You can stand at the till and do four separate transactions though.  How crazy is that. Those rules just make you look silly Borders – SILLY.

Now I have even more reason to detest Borders. To show their commitment to the environment they now charge 10 cents for each plastic bag.  Now I turn down plastic bags most of the time. If it is pouring with rain outside and I’ve just spent $100 on books or DVDs is a bag too much to ask for. I can’t help but feel Borders is being a complete hypocrite here.  If it really cared for the environment it wouldn’t make their customers print out discount vouchers to bring into the store.  And if they really cared for their customers they wouldn’t make them go through the farce of the checkout merry-go-round on the odd occasion a customer wants to use more than one voucher.