kroniq reviews

Extreme Indoor Karts

A friend of mine organised for a group of us to go karting the other weekend. He rang around a few places and tried to hustle a good plan to get us on the track for longer than any of their advertised rates. After negotiating with them all we decided upon going to Extreme Indoor Karts in East Tamaki. None of us had been there before.

We arrived at the track and were told that the guy we had negotiated a price with had gone home and so the offer originally agreed on was not going to be honered. We managed to get an extra 10 minutes track time for free but this wasn’t as good as we had originally planned for.

Not spending as much time on the track probably worked out for the best. The karts were in very poor condition. During my time there I swapped in and aout of no less than 5 karts. The first one had very stiff stearing, not allowing you to turn easily to the right. The kart after that was good… untill the break cable snapped! The following kart was an older generation and had a full steal frame which made it much slower than everyone else on the track. Each new kart presented another new problem, and before I knew it I was back at the first one. I think we calculated that they probably had 2 good karts.

Putting the actual karts aside and looking at the track it was well laid out. It had plenty of good passing opportunites. It included split option to either go quicker on the outside or cut inside with an extra turn, both ways had a similar time but it was nice to be able to out-manouver a slower driver. It also had a small upper level section of track with added a little bit of extra interest.

Overall the experience was let down by the lack of quality karts. The guys there were flat out trying to keep them up and running but were fighting a losing battle. I probably wouldn’t go back there again as there are lots of other options available in Auckland.

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Abbotts Drainage Truck

Unfortunately a couple of weeks back I was alerted to the issue of some water where it shouldn’t be. I quickly diagnosed it to be a blocked drain. I was also able to diagnose that the blockage would be beyond my reach and therefor needed a professional who had the required tools. And that’s where Abbots Drainage Limited come in.

I discovered them through a vigorous web search. I surfed about a dozen different plumbing and drainage company websites and rang a few of the best looking ones for a quote. Abbotts looked like a very professional company by what I saw on their website. It was easy to navigate, provided comforting information and looked the most professionally designed.

Abbotts had a prompt phone answering service and I was speaking to a real person in seconds. They were very polite and easy to understand. They approach each job the same and they are all important.

I was quoted a time when they expected the tradesman to arrive and advised that he would call 30 minutes before he would arrive. He called not long after I made the booking and arrived when he said he would.

I explained the problem to the man when he arrived so he grabbed the correct tools from his track and proceeded to unblock the drain. It didn’t take him long and he was very courteous not to make a mess. He was polite and friendly and knew exactly what he was doing.

Abbotts standard prices weren’t the cheapest option available, but I had managed to locate a special coupon on a directory website which enabled me to reduce the cost of the callout. With this coupon, Abbots were in fact the cheapest option available, but I would have chosen to use them anyway without this incentive.

If I have another problem similar to this, I wouldn’t hesitate to call them again next time.

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CRS Panel & Paint

Occasionally accidents do happen, and recently my car was involved in one. Luckily nobody was seriously hurt, although a few egos took a hit. The main damage sustained was to my passenger side wing mirror and that’s where CRS Panel & paint come in.

I have used the services of CRS (Collision Repair Specialists) Panel & Paint a couple of times in the past and will always use them again when the need arises.

They have two locations in Newmarket, although they are so close you could easily confuse which one you are going to.

Their staff are knowledgeable and courteous and are happy to explain any of their processes in full detail.

Their results are second to none. No job is too big or too small. They approach each job with the same attitude and the results are always perfect.

All of this would be enough, but they go beyond with the offering of free courtesy cars, free bottles of touch up paint and even chocolates!

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China Yum Char

The other weekend I went to China Yum Char for lunch. I have been to a couple of yum cha restaurants now, but so far the one on Beach Rd in the city is my favorite.

It’s not the flashest place to dine, or the most modern, but they always have a seat when I turn up – without needing to wait. The place is split up into sections with 2 zones on the inside and another outside under a marquee-type setup. There is enough parking in the area and if you don’t think you will be too long you can even park free (at your own risk!) at the Countdown supermarket nearby.

The way yum cha restaurants work is that they wheel different types of food around and if you see something you like, you grab it. It can be beneficial to take along someone who is familiar with Chinese cuisine or can speak mandarin as some of the dishes are a little hard to identify. China Yum Char offer a lot of different foods so you will most likely find several dishes which appeal to you. Sometimes you might not get a specific dish which you had last time, but that’s also what makes this type of dining a bit of fun – it can be full of surprises!

As long as you have selected a dish which appeals to you, then you will find the food is well prepared and tastes good. The many people walking around with food only take enough to go around part of the restaurant, this results in the food always being hot/warm and you know it hasn’t been sitting around for extended periods of time.

On average you will be looking at spending about $15-20 per person. This will include tea and a good selection of different foods. You tend to keep eating more food until you are left feeling full and satisfied.

It’s a great place to take people for a delicious variety of food for a reasonable price.

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Banzai Sushi

Can you believe that I had never even tried sushi until a few months ago, now I can’t get enough of the stuff. I have eaten sushi from a few different places now, but the number of different places offering sushi in Auckland is unbelievable. This review is on Banzai Sushi located at 213 Symonds St, Newton, Auckland City.

They are located on the corner of Symonds street and Newton Rd. There are one or two parking spaces on the street if your lucky, but for me it’s walking distance, so don’t take the car when visiting this place. They have plenty of seating inside which is good, because it can get quite busy in there at lunchtimes.

Upon entering, you are greeted with a food display cabinet with dozens of different types of sushi. After grabbing your plate and personal serving tongs you move along selecting individual pieces of sushi which take your fancy. You have to be careful as there are so many different flavors which all look delicious. As you near the end with the counter you smell the final selection of sushi which has been deep fried and served hot. You must try one of these. All of the different sushi types are continuously being restocked by freshly made versions as they begin to sell out.

The sushi itself is well constructed. Other sushi I have tried can fall apart if you try to eat it in more than one mouthful, this stuff generally remains intact. The volume of ingredients is consistent as is the total portion. I have been here several times and have not once been disappointed. The sushi tastes excellent. Some flavors might not be for you, but as there is so much to choose from you will not be left out.

As they sell each item individually, the cost is slightly higher than other places. Each sushi can cost from just over a dollar to above two dollars per unit for the more fancy stuff. This however has not been a stopping factor for me. The quality of the sushi and the range is worth every cent. I am also a big fan of mixing and matching, I never get more then one type of the same sushi.

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Indoor Cricket

Since moving to Auckland I have played a variety of indoor sports (football, netball, cricket etc..) and at various venues so I feel I have reasonable experience as to what a venue can offer. Action Indoor Sports has many locations but I will be reviewing the one on Dominion Rd.

First off, location. It’s located on a main road so is pretty easy to find. It’s tucked behind a Caltex petrol station, so if you know that you will have no troubles finding it. It shares a car park with an Asian supermarket which is both good and bad. If you have an early game, you might find yourself competing for parks, however anything after 7pm and you have more than enough car parks to choose from.

The facilities are excellent. The 4 available courts are well maintained. Since I have been playing there they have re-turfed the floor and replaced the nets. There is plenty of seating for spectators and players, plus they have extra seating in front of a large projector screen which always plays Sky Sports when a game is on. They sell beer as well as other refreshments and snacks.

The staff are always cheerful and seem genuinely happy to be working there. They provide umpires and referees for the games, and as with all officials at any level of the game they can make decisions which you might not feel are correct, but overall they are knowledgeable and usually consistent and fair.

The organisation of the sports are excellent. They provide a website which lists your game times and which court for the whole season. You are also able to view the ladder and past results. The games run on time every time. At the end of the season the top 4 teams play off for prizes. The winning teams then get to choose from trophies, bar tabs or t-shirts.

Most teams which play at this venue continue to return each season, and that speaks for itself.

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