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I thought Madame Tussauds was over hyped and so never bothered going before. Also it didn’t help that everytime i drove past in in recent times the queues have gone way back. Anyway i finally decided to put another feather in my cap by visiting this place last month (just before xmas) and it was not bad at all. There were no queues at all and we just walked in after collecting our tickets that i had booked online 2 days earlier. The wax works were pretty good. Some were pretty fake looking but some were amazingly accurate and real looking. The 'Scream’ event was not too bad either.
The whole experience should last about an hour which is a shame.

A land of toys is how i can describe this store. A fun place to shop for kids and big kids. They sell almost every range of kids stuff you can think of from bouncy castles to hand held games. It took me 3 hours to browse the whole store and even then i wasn’t sure if i had checked every aisle. You would go in to buy a certain item and you will end up coming out with alot more than you expected. They really do cater for all age ranges from babies to adolescents so its not just small kids pestering you to go there. Parking is free and not a problem which helps as you often find yourself struggling with your new found toys (i mean your kids).

Recently i underwent alot of home improvements and building works and often found myself at Wickes. Now i am quite a loyal B&Q customer so Wickes defiantly offered something to get me shopping there now. I guess it’s partly due to the store being quite empty in terms of customers and there is hardly ever queues with more than 2 people waiting. On top of that they offer a wide variety of diy and building products. They also have a catalogue to order larget items from with quick delievry dates. I ordered 4 internal doors which came with free delivery and a time of 2 days so that was pleasing. Returns and refunds are also not problem with little fuss or silly questions asked.

Per Lui a few years back was a decent designer shop. They had a nice range of mid level designer clothes, footwear and accessories. Recently i have noticed the shop has halved in size and there is very little variety at all. As soon as you go in the centre has a rail which has practically one design of coats but in different colours and sizes. This gives the impression that the shop is definatly down sizing or limiting what they buy and sell. They have also cut down on the different brands they used to sell. It is a shame as there are not many designer shops in Uxbridge so i would have thought they had a niche.

Alongside Currys i think Comet is the leading electrical store. I would favout Comet though as they often have a 'managers specials’ section in the store where you can but items which have been returned in new condition, missing a small part or slightly damaged (cosmetically). The savings on these are often significant and you can always try to get a further discount as they don’t really have a fixed price. I bought a 32 inch lcd tv which was missing the remote and had small scratches on the back which obviously no one will see. The tv was worth £500 but was advertised at £300 in this section. I spoke to the manager and he managed to knock off a further £30 after pointing out a few concerns. So it was a good experience and good to get a further discount in places where you often are expected to pay the tag price. The rest of the store is also full of upto date stock and highly competitive prices.

A fine pleace to shop for your or other peoples babies. They have practically everything you need ranging from pushchairs, bath stuff, clothes, cots etc..
The staff are pretty helpful and pretty well trained. I bought a pushchair all in one which was the last in stock. As i liked it so much they offered me the display model at a discount. It was obviously brand new with all the bits so i took it. Unfortunatly only weeks later when i began to use it did i realise a few parts were missing such as the tyre pump and carry case cover. I went to a different branch as i assumed it was still out of stock at the branch i bought it from and told them the story. They were very pleased to help and upon showing the reciept they provided everything that was missing. Unlike some stores they show some faith in the customers word.

Pizza Express gave me mixed feelings about it. It looked very nice going in and the decor and atmosphere were very pleasant, calm and relaxing. Even the other customers were very quiet whilst at the same time enjoying themselves and unwinding. The menu gave options that were very different if your a loyal Pizza Hut fan so i stuck to a basic Mediterranean Margherita with some green toppings presented on a thin crispy base. When it arrived it looked very different to normal pizza’s. After tasting it i was not very satisfied, neither with the pizza or my appetite. The cheese was thick and clumpy while the base was very biscuit like. I guess it was worth a visit and perhaps the other pizza’s might be alot better. The atmosphere however definatly was pleasing and will probably take me back there.

Marks and sparks is still going strong with customers and this is probably due to the high quality and image they have established over the years. The food range is particularly good quality, the prices are above standard but you really do know you are eating something that has been prepared and cooked in optimum conditions. The carrot and walnut cake is my favourite. It costs justs over £2.50 for a small/medium cake which serves about 4 people but it is definatly worth every penny. Their biscuit collections are also very good and the cookies are definatly better quality than what you would get from your local supermarket.
Marks and Spencers don’t really have many sales but then again everyone knows the quality so will always pay the asking price all year round.

Debenhams is a popular department store which is located in many hight streets and town centres. The have many concessions within the stores which sell perfumes, cosmetics, clothes and accessories aswell as electricals and household wear. The good thing about Debenhams is that they often have a blue cross sale. The last was only 2 days ago where there was upto 25% off the original mark/tag price. This is always handy and the sale was useful as christmas is just round the corner so its a good incentive to gain a little bit off stuff you would normally need to buy anyway. Unfortuanatly the cosmetics and perume counters only had 10% off but the Debenhams own branded stock did carry bigger reductions.

I don’t think Burger King will ever compete with McDonalds and i probably know why. Their prices are more expensive then Macs and the food is not even that good quality. I had an Ocean Catch meal which comprised of a Fish burger, fries and a drink. The meal cost about £5 compared to Mcdonalds fillet of fish equivelent which is £3.59. The burger was very disappointing and the fish stunk! Now i know fish will smell but this was more like fish when its gone off! On top of that the fries were meagre in portion and seemed like frozen chips that you can make at home. This was very disappointing as Burger King is not some small chicken burger shop you find in the corner of your high street. I hope its a one off but a close friend of mine shared the same experience so i will not be eating there again.