April Fool's Day 2025 - A Review

Well, it's that time of the year again.  I think you know the drill, so let's jump straight into it.

 

I should warn you though, that the list of hilarious April Fool's jokes this year is quite lengthy.  I'm guessing that each of these companies and people have been having a long think about what they would do this time around, and I applaud each and every one of you.

 

Remember, you can click/tap on each image to enlarge it, if needed.

 

So, let's freakin' go!

 

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1. NEW WORLD SUPERMARKETS - Wasabi Bread

This first entry came in the form of a Facebook Reel, so you'll need to click here to watch it.  If you were to ask me though, if it were real, I may have been interested in trying this.  It might go down well with shredded chicken or fish.

 

 

2.  P.B. TECH - GGBeancC Computer

 

If it's anything like me, it would be running on gas power.

 

 

3. HORNBY - GREATER HORNBY RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION INC - New IKEA Store

 

Truthfully, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea having it here, but I've seen the construction area.  There's absolutely no room for them to move into the Hornby area.  Not now anyway.  Also, the older style newspaper design of The NZ Herald is a bit of a hint that it's fake.

 

 

4. HANMER SPRINGS THERMAL POOLS & SPA - NZ Bobsleigh Skeleton Collaboration

Cool Runnings, anyone?  Also, a special shout out to Shane Adcock, who appears in this Facebook Reel.  You did good keeping a straight face while announcing this one.

 

 

5. TRADE ME - Facebook Marketplace

 

A short and sweet one from NZ's most popular buy/sell websites.  Taking a stab at their Facebook competition - and rightfully so.  Marketplace is trash.

 

 

6. ReBURGER - Pickleverse

 If any of this year's entries were to make me vomit, it would be this one.  Thank goodness it's not real.

 

 

7. SOUNDING BOARD - The Bruce Tour

This entry comes to us from a group on Facebook called Sounding Board, which is affiliated with the NZ radio station, The Sound.  Group member, Mark Vaudrey decided to play a prank on the group by announcing an unlikely concert tour featuring only acts named Bruce.  Something tells me the guys in the band, Rubicon would disapprove.

 

 

8. LEWIS ROAD CREAMERY - Caffeine-Infused Haircare

To be honest, some coffee-drinkers are so addicted to this stuff, I'm surprised they don't smear it all over themselves already.

 

 

9. R.J.'S CONFECTIONERY - Fusion Fizz

 

Not gonna lie.  I'd definitely buy this, if it were real.

 

 

10. READING CINEMAS - THE PALMS - Pop Rice

I dunno.  If it was anything like Rice Bubbles or Coco Pops, it could be a fun snack.  Although, it would be harder to eat by hand, and the cinema cleaners will hate you for it.  Trust me.

 

 

11.  UP & GO - Down & Stop - Liquid Sleepies

 

A nice idea, but the flavours of choice sound a bit yuck.

 

 

12. NIGHT 'N DAY - Important Menu Update

The comments section for this one made me miss how smart society used to be.  So many people fell for this one, it's quite sad.  There's absolutely no way Night 'n Day would ever do this to us.

 

 

13. KFC - Sweet Sanders Ice Cream

To be honest, I'm kind of disappointed that KFC isn't bringing out another dessert option.  Apart from the mousse and cheesecake options, they've always had pretty much nothing else that's sweet, unless it's a drink.  Just putting that out there.

 

 

14. THE HUB HORNBY - Pet Wedding Chapel

A fun little idea from the local mall that holds pet-friendly evenings each week.  Weddings for pets.  Me-ow, indeed!

 

The original post was accompanied by an AI-generated image of 2 dogs dressed in a tux and dress, but I'm not gonna expose you to that.  Screw AI.

 

 

15. DWIGHT BRUCE - Only Fans

This entry comes to us from a friend of mine.  Because his posts are set to Friends Only, most people won't have seen it...until now.  Note: This is just a screenshot and not the actual video.  However, you do get the general idea.

 

P.S.  If you don't understand the joke, I'm not explaining it to you.

 

 

16. WEET-BIX NZ - Weet-Bix Puzzle

 

If it were real, I think this would be a very challenging puzzle to put together.

 

 

17. CHRISTCHURCH CASINO - Strip Poker

No comment.

 

 

18. LITTLE HIGH EATERY - Seagulls

Glad this one's fake.  I can't stand them even looking at me when I have food.

 

 

19. INDOMIE NEW ZEALAND - Indomie Perfume

I used to be called Noodle Man at home because I used to eat 2-Minute Noodles on a regular basis.  If I'd kept it up, I probably would've started smelling like them eventually.  If this were real, it would've saved time (although, I'd still be hungry).

 

 

20. WENDY'S NZ - Baconator Frosty

I know people who'd probably try this.  The same people who dip their chips in ice cream, no doubt.

 

 

21. BURGER KING NZ - Soft Serve Burger

While on the subject of fast food, here's BK's entry.  I can already see how messy this would've been.

 

 

22. ALPINE SPAS NZ - Brad Pitt

So many gullible people in the comments section yet again with this one.  I fear for humanity.

 

Also, "Stnff"???

 

 

23. ROCKGAS NEW ZEALAND

Sure, it "might" give off a nice smell, but I don't think the infusion part is how science works - and I failed that subject in 5th Form / Year 11.  I do, however, like the bit about the pulled leg.

 

 

24. DONOVANS CHOCOLATE - New Chocolate Drop Varieties

I can see lemon and bubblegum possibly working well with chocolate, but not so much the other 2.

 

 

25. BLUEY - Can You Find Longdog?

If you're a fan of the Australian animated series, "Bluey", you'll be aware of the fact that there is a "Longdog" hidden in each episode.  The big joke here, however, is that there is no Longdog to be found in these images.  An old-fashioned troll post from this generation's most beloved cartoons.

 

 

26. SUBWAY / BIRD'S EYE - Footlong Chip Butty

Let's be honest - we'd totally eat this.

 

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So, there you have it.  I hope you enjoyed this list of April Fool's posts for 2025 as much as I have.  Those involved have really stepped things up this year.

 

A special shout out to Gary Fox (a.k.a. TahkAnimation), who runs the Kiwi Retro page on YouTube.  His most recently uploaded classic TV commercial - Michael Hill Shoes - would've made the list officially had it not been real (seriously, do a search for it).

Forgotten Favourites on YouTube

 Hello...

 

Yes, I'm still alive.  Just been very busy!  I know it's almost mid-March already and I haven't posted a blog entry since December, but yeah.  So much has been happening, but not enough for me to share on here yet.

 

So, why am I here?  To blog, silly.  On a serious note, I do have a topic to share.  "Forgotten Favourites".

 

As you should know by now, I had a radio show at Plains FM from May 2015 to May 2020, featuring music that often gets overlooked and overshadowed by bigger radio hits.  For a while after the show ended, I had a single playlist on YouTube with every song I played there.  However, as some videos would vanish from YouTube for no reason, it became harder to maintain the playlist when it comes to replacing the missing ones with videos shared by other channels.  Especially with 5 years worth of songs at an average of 12-13 tracks per month.  So, I came up with a plan...

 

From now on, that single playlist no longer exists.  Instead, it has been divided into 6!  Each one representing the years I was at PFM.  With these shorter playlists, it would be easier for me to manage if a song disappears randomly.  Also, it'll be easier for you to find particular songs.

 

Below are links to the 6 playlists.  Enjoy!

 

1. May to December 2015.

2. 2016.

3. 2017.

4. 2018.

5. 2019.

6. January to May 2020.

Upcoming n-Somnia Project Delayed

 Hello everyone.

It's been a while since my previous blog, as you can probably tell.  Seems this year has been a busy one.  Unfortunately, it hasn't all been for the best of reasons.  I won't go into deep details here (at least not right now), but I feel I should explain what's going on with my upcoming n-Somnia release and why you may not see it at the planned time I gave it.

A while ago, I announced that I would be starting work on songs that I created back in high school.  The music that started it all, basically.  For various different reasons, almost none of these songs have been heard by anyone other than me inside my own head.  I've been hanging onto these songs since at least 1995.  No joke.  Ever since, I've been wanting to get these songs out there for you all to hear, but there's always been a hurdle in my way.  Now, at the end of 2024, things aren't too much different, except maybe that the hurdle in question is more serious than some of the ones I encountered in the past.

Without saying too much, earlier this year, I've unexpectedly assumed an important role of being a caregiver of sorts - and no, it's nothing to do with kids.  Unfortunately, it's health-related.  Not my own health, but someone very close to me.  Because of this, a lot of my time has been taken up by helping this person with various needs, whether it be around my home or going out and about with them or on their behalf.  As a result, I haven't even been able to record any demos, or even start writing.  It's not what I wanted, but because of the situation and who's involved, I'd rather put things on hold for their sake.

Keep in mind that this does not, by any means, suggest that I'm cancelling the project!  No matter what happens now or in the near future, the songs from my Swede era will still go ahead.  It's just unlikely at this point that we'll see them on Bandcamp by August/September 2025 like I'd hoped.

So, until something changes in the near future - good or bad - there won't be any further Swede updates.  Whatever happens, you'll most likely get an update soon after.  If anything, you'll probably learn more details to do with the situation first, before Swede stuff.

I'm sorry if you were getting excited about what I hoped to bring in under a year from now.  Unfortunately, sometimes life throws way too many curve balls at once.  We all have to pick our battles, and in this case it's health over music.  I promise to get back into it as soon as possible, whenever that may be.

Thank you for understanding.  I'll keep you posted!

Music Playlists on YouTube For Your Viewing Pleasure

A lot of you should know by now, I have 2 YouTube channels.  One for my personal projects (Stuffed Duck Productions) and one for nostalgic videos of New Zealand's past (Nostalgia Duck, a.k.a. Duckstalgia), which features a lot of old TV commercials among other things.  For some time now, my "Duckstalgia" channel has been featuring playlists (made up of other people's uploaded videos) for music artists.  Some still going, others not so much.

In the past, I've uploaded a bunch and announced them on my "Forgotten Favourites" page on Facebook.  However, in the past week or so, I've created so many of them, it's now at a point where it's easier just to announce all of them here in a single blog post.  So, below you will see a list of these playlists that you can view at any time.  Each will be linked directly to the playlist themselves.  I will include the ones I've already announced on Facebook.

 

The playlists I am mentioning here are the ones focusing on specific music artists and their discography.  There are other playlists, but this blog post won't be covering them at this time.  You are welcome to check out my channel to see the rest though.

Important note: Sometimes on YouTube, videos can vanish.  Whether they've been set to private or removed entirely.  Unfortunately, this can make an impact on any playlists that have added these videos to them, screwing up the order completely.  In my case, I've tried my best to use videos from official sources in an attempt to avoid this from happening, but I can't guarantee that every video will be in all of the playlists for this reason.  I will, however, try to keep them updated as much as possible when I have the time to do so.

With that said, here are the music artist playlists I have featured for your viewing/listening pleasure (clicking each link opens a new tab):

a-ha

Aishah and the Fan Club

Altered Images

Berlin

Blondie 

Bon Jovi

Bros 

Bryan Ferry

The Cranberries 

Dave Dobbyn / Th' Dudes / DD Smash

Def Leppard 

Depeche Mode

Duran Duran 

Eurythmics

Genesis / Peter Gabriel 

Genesis / Phil Collins

George Michael 

Gyllene Tider

The Human League / Phil Oakey 

Ian Morris & Rikki Morris (Jag Moritz / Tex Pistol / Rikki Morris solo)

Icehouse 

INXS + Michael Hutchence (1980-2004, 2015 & 2019)

The Jackson 5 

John Farnham

Joy Division / New Order

Lita Ford

Marie Fredriksson 

Men Without Hats

Michael Jackson 

Nirvana

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) 

Per Gessle

Pet Shop Boys 

The Police

Pseudo Echo 

Radiohead

Robert Palmer 

Roxette

Roxy Music 

Simple Minds

Sinéad O'Connor 

Smashing Pumpkins

Spandau Ballet 

Tears for Fears

The The 

Tina Turner

Toni Basil 

Twisted Sister

Visage 

Ultravox

Wham! 

The Art of the Lip Sync

By now, we should all be familiar with the lip sync.  In fact, a lot of today's music "artists" make a living off of it.  Which is why I have strong feelings about how I think Milli Vanilli was unfairly judged.  They became the scapegoat.  Sure, they never appeared on the albums they released before getting caught, but that doesn't mean they didn't try to do it for real afterwards.  Either way, I still blame their producer for putting them in that position.  It was his idea after all.  Why nobody else that did this never got a slap on the hand still baffles me.

Anyway, my introduction to the concept of the lip sync came out of the late 80's or early 90's.  It could've been earlier, but as a small child, I didn't know any better.  I probably assumed that the music videos I watched on "RTR Countdown" each week were performed with a hidden microphone or something.  This would change as I entered my teen years when I watched a short documentary about Roxette, called "The Making of Joyride".

A few years before this was when I actually learned about what lip sync actually is, and it wasn't just because of Milli Vanilli.  It came in the form of 4 young Pacific Islanders from my class at the time, when they decided to do a lip sync performance for the camping trip we all went on.  It was around 1992 and we all went to Hanmer Springs Forest Camp for a week.  Keeping with the school camp tradition (which was known to me from 1990 onward), the final evening (Thursday) would have what was called a "Camp Concert".  Those who wanted to could perform an act of their choice for the rest of the kids.  In the case of these 4 boys, they chose to do a lip sync of the R&B group, Color Me Badd.  They did so well, they actually had encore performances (yes, plural).  In the end, they performed the first 4 songs of the band's debut album - "I Wanna Sex You Up" (a bit controversial for a lip sync performance from 11-12 year olds), "All 4 Love", "Heartbreaker" and "I Adore Mi Amore".

Sadly, the 1993 camp I went on didn't feature a lip sync in the Camp Concert.  But as I went into my high school years, more lip sync performances would appear in the form of a competition dedicated to the art form.  One of my friends, Tali Feterika (pretty sure he was in the previously mentioned group) made an appearance on the high school stage in a lip sync group called Taro Overdose.  I can't remember what song they did, but it took me back to our primary school years when Tali would often take part in this sort of thing.  If not the same year, later on during high school, a few others performed as the Backstreet Boys.  There were quite a few notable performances in the lip sync competitions, right up to the time I left school.  As you'd expect, by the late 90's came our own version of the Spice Girls.

There was one group that actually came in from another school to perform between the final act and the announcement of the winner.  They performed as B*Witched with the song "C'est La Vie".  This performance is notable not just because they were outsiders, but also because of the blooper that took place right at the beginning.  As the song goes, it opens with the line, "Uh oh!"  This ended up being quite symbolic, because right at that moment before the "Uh oh", the tape stopped - leaving the audience looking at 4 girls with their mouths wide open.  Cue hysterical, childish laughter.  Turns out the tape got caught in the machine, so the organisers had to use another for the girls to finish their performance.  Thankfully they had one, otherwise...we would've just had this instead. 😮😮😮😮

One more high school era lip sync story that I will mention comes from my final school year.  I can't remember the guy's name, but I'm still surprised he got away with what he did.  Short version - he performed a striptease to Joe Cocker's "You Can Leave Your Hat On".  You read it correctly.  A striptease - right down to a novelty thong - at a high school.  Something I didn't need to see, but here we are. 😨

Anyone who went to school with me and knows about my love for music, and the fact that I was playing in a band at one point, must be wondering...how come I never actually performed in any of the lip sync competitions OR the Camp Concerts?  The answer is simple, really.  I just never really had the right people to accompany me on stage for it.  There would've been a time where I'd have been open to doing a lip sync as Roxette with a group of friends, and there was even a time where I pondered the idea of doing a lip sync with my band using one of our recordings.  This didn't happen because of the quality of the recordings we had available, which is a story I've told before on the Supertrip website before.  It's a shame, really.  I wanted to get into it.  There were just too many setbacks.  Even with the primary school's Camp Concerts.  I was getting into acting and comedy around this time, especially Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean (as well as his live stage shows), so I would've been more than happy to have done a reenactment or similar...if I wasn't so shy back then.

I will close this blog entry with a question, and please feel free to leave a comment with an answer.  Lip sync competitions and Camp Concerts...are they still a thing in 2024?  I'm interested in knowing if they're still going or did the fad disappear into the abyss that is the world we live in today?  If there isn't, then maybe someone should look into a revival of some kind.  Perhaps I could play a role in it somehow.  Let me know! 😁

April Fool's Day 2024 - A Review

 It's that time of the year again!  The time where I gather the clever moments I witnessed on social media (primarily Facebook) and compile them into a single blog post.  Let's see how 2024 did this time around...

As always, this is in no particular order:

1. NIGHT 'N DAY.

The Night 'n Day store's Facebook page is already known for the occasional snappy and witty posts, so it would be no surprise to see an April Fool's Day entry of theirs making the list.  This year, they offered a Coriander & Lime Deluxe Shake.  The very thought of it is enough to make you cry.

2. McDONALD's.

Pickle lovers out there would've loved this, but that wouldn't make those people any less weird. 😑

3. MUCH MOORE ICE CREAM.

Considering that one year, Metro Mart once released a Beef & Chocolate Pie (no joke, I've tried it), I'm surprised this hasn't been attempted in real life.  But then again, I'm also not surprised.  Schrödinger's Surprise, if you will.

4 & 5. HORNBY - GREATER HORNBY RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION INC.

This Facebook page posted more than one prank this year.  First up, they proposed a "planned" zip-line option for making it easier to cross the street near The Hub Hornby mall area.

Second, they did a similar one using a hydroslide system from Hornby High School to the new swimming pool complex (opening soon) to give students easier access to the facilities.

6. KFC.

A new take on the KFC bread rolls.  It seemed OK at first, until you continued reading.

7 & 8. BURGER KING.

The first one of these was posted by a group I'm in called New Zealand 1980s Memories and 1990s Memories.  Going back to my comments on the Metro Mart pie, this one could work...maybe?

As I was gathering info and taking screenshots for this blog, I went to the Burger King NZ page to find this one, but I couldn't (an overseas one, maybe?).  However, I did find this one on the NZ page...

9. AIR FORCE MUSEUM OF NEW ZEALAND.

This was one of those pranks you had to witness in person, but thankfully for us online folk, we got a photo taken for our viewing pleasure.

10. WATTIE'S NZ / BIG SAVE FURNITURE

The collaboration you never asked for, and most likely never will.  Can you imagine the mess?

11. SUBWAY NEW ZEALAND.

A classic Kiwi snack, only this time it's a foot long.

12. TAHKYN.

 My final entry for this year's April Fool's Day highlights comes from someone I know personally.  Tahkyn is a digital artist, and this year he decided to take his artwork to the next level - or so it would seem. 😜

For more of his artwork, you can see it here (not a sponsored post).

 

This concludes my April Fool's Day 2024 post!  I hope you enjoyed the list as much as I did collecting entries on the day.  Without a doubt, 2025 will be just as creative.

2023 - A Review

 So, apparently I haven't been blogging in 6 whole months.  Anyone would think I've been busy.  Reality is, it's been kind of boring.  A lovely start to a blog entry that's supposed to be a review of the past year.  I guess it gives you a rough idea already of how it went.  But I'll press on anyway.

To be honest, I don't think this year's review will be as detailed as the others I've done.  There's been a lot of things either forgotten or just not worth bringing up again.

With that said, I may as well start off with what I've blogged about already in 2023:

1. On January 17 - which is quite late even for me - I did my review for 2022.  Not much more I can add to that.

2. The next entry would happen on March 1st, which was a little rant about so-called close friends cutting you out of their lives.

3.  March 7th had an entry, making this the only other blog post within a short space of time after another.  That one was a wishlist for the next (7th) entry for the video game franchise, "Sid Meier's Civilization".

4.  On April 2nd, I shared this year's best social media posts for April Fool's Day.  Wasn't as funny as the 2022 posts, but they were still amusing.

5.  Finally on July 31st, I did a list of 5 buffet restaurants within my home city.  Then I pretty much went silent on here for half a year, until now.

Apart from that, there's not really that much I'm willing to cover in this review.  Sorry.  I guess 2023 has been quite dull, and from what I've seen other people say about it, I'm not alone.

In closing, I guess I could share a few of my plans for the near future.  I won't go into great detail though, because I've done this in the past and it's felt as though I've already done what I said I'd do, even though I hadn't, and all it did was lead to procrastination or not achieving my goals at all.  So I won't be spoiling my ambitions this time.

After a few weeks or so, I plan on working on my next n-Somnia project.  This one is an important one as it won't actually be released until around August or September of 2025, if all goes to plan.  The reason for this is because it's an anniversary of sorts.  Back in 1995, I started writing what would become my first set of song lyrics.  If I've told the Swede story to you before, you'll know the significance of this.  But if you're unfamiliar with it, you'll have to wait a little longer.  All will be revealed either as the project continues or once it's done.  One thing I will say though is that this project will actually require me spending some money to make things happen this time.  I'm a frugal kind of guy when it comes to getting what I need, but there are times where investing is unavoidable.  This is one of those times, unfortunately.  Hopefully the end result will lead towards making my money back eventually.

With that said and done, this is my 2023 blog done and dusted.  I hope you have a safe New Year celebration.  See you in 2024 with some more blogs!  I promise to do them more often next year.

5 Great Buffet Restaurants in Christchurch

Oh look, I have a blog!

Sorry it's taken so long since my previous entry.  I've been rather busy.  More on that another day.

For now though, I want to shine a spotlight on a few of the restaurants in my home city that I think are worth looking into for a decent feed.  In this list, I'm focusing on buffets.  I don't need to say much more about what they are as I'm sure that everyone reading this is more than familiar with the concept.

I will state though that this list will be specifically talking about buffet restaurants that provide a wide variety of dishes.  Any that I don't mention probably fit into their own category.  For example: Top in Town, or Tony's Teppan Yaki are restaurants that are exclusive to their own cultures (in this case, Indian and Japanese).  I may talk about them in another buffet blog at a later date, but for now I will be looking at the ones that have a lot more than just one culture group.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The prices mentioned in the list below are based on what they were on 31 July 2023.  They may change in the future, especially with the cost of living crisis at the moment.

Also, the list will be arranged from least expensive to the most.  Let's begin!

~~~

#5 - Nor'West Buffet.

 

This restaurant can be found in the northwest suburbs, of all places, at the Papanui Club.  Their current rate is $29.50 per person, and kids are $1 per year of age up to 11 (kids over 12 are full price).  I must also point out that they're only open from Thursday to Saturday from 5:30pm and from 5pm on Sunday.

It may not be the biggest buffet I've seen in terms of floor space (the food area - there are plenty of tables and seats), but that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of food.  You do still get a decent amount for what you pay.  The atmosphere is also quite nice.  Plenty of room to move around (nobody likes when tables and chairs are too close together when you're trying to get in/out of your own).  I highly recommend this one.

#4 - Chalmers Buffet

I have to confess here that this entry is actually one I haven't been to (yet), but I've been meaning to.  As the image above suggests, this one is $35 per person, children at $2 per year of age, up to 12.  The only thing is that it's open once a week on Sundays from 4:30pm.

As mentioned earlier, I haven't been to this one yet, so I'm unable to say much more about it at the moment, sorry.  Think of this as an honorable mention of sorts. 😊

#3 - Gengy's Mongolian Buffet

This one is actually the reason I'm doing this blog, because I went here for the first time last night to celebrate my lovely wife's birthday (more on that in a moment).  Firstly, I know I mentioned earlier that I wasn't going to focus on buffets with an exclusive culture, but in my opinion, what I ate from here last night could be a combination of more than just Mongolia.  I can see a few others in there with some of the selections (the sauces especially).

The current rate is $41.95 for adults, $34.95 for teens (13-17) and seniors (65+) with ID, $39.95 for army and police tertiary, $7 + $1 age for children (3-12), but if you're celebrating your birthday (within 7 days on either side of the actual day), you only dine for $1! 😍  They are open from 5:30pm onward.

You can find them on Cranford Street next door to Empire Chicken, sharing the same carpark area as Cobb & Co.

Based on my first visit, I strongly recommend going to this one.

Also, it's pronounced Gen-geez, as in Genghis Khan.  It's not Jenjis Khan, so your argument is invalid.

#2 - Garden Hotel & Restaurant

Located on Marshland Road in Shirley, this one is open for both lunch and dinner.  Their current rate is $29 (Wed-Fri lunch) and $35 (weekend lunch), $27 (Wed-Fri lunch) & $33 (weekend lunch) for Super Gold Card holders (65+), $42 (Tues-Thurs dinner) and $45 (Fri-Sun dinner), and $40 (Tues-Thurs dinner) and $43 (Fri-Sun) for Super Gold Card holders.  Adult prices start from age 13 onward.  For children, it's a little complicated.  Instead of me typing it all up, I recommend looking at the prices here instead.

This one has always been the go-to for my family and friends.  In recent years, it's probably one of the most well-known of Christchurch buffet restaurants.  My family and friends have been going here for special occasions for a number of decades now.  As one of the city's most popular buffets, I highly recommend this one as well.

#1 - Valentine's

The old favourite that came and dominated the buffet scene in the 90's, then seemingly vanished for a lengthy period of time before its inevitable comeback in recent years.  My first experience dates back to the 90's, but that was the initial incarnation of the franchise.  Valentine's as it is now is slightly different, but still enjoyable.

Located beside The Hub Hornby on Chalmers Street, between Subway and St. Pierre's Sushi, their current rate is up to $31 for weekday lunch and $37 for weekend lunch, and up to $47 every day.  For the full details regarding children and seniors, go here.

Also, added bonus, this one is actually open 7 days.

~~~

So, which of the listed buffet restaurants are your favourites?  Are there any I've missed?  Let me know as I'm always keen on learning more about buffet restaurants around here.  After the quakes in 2010/11, they almost vanished completely.  It's always great to see a revival.

I will end this blog with a list below of honorable mentions of past buffets that are no longer with us.  These mentions are ones that have come and gone for whatever reason, but they will always be in our hearts.  If only they could be in our stomachs as well:

The Cabbage Tree - Took over from Valentine's when it was on Moorhouse Ave.  Site is currently used by McDonald's.

Riverview Buffet - Often mistaken for Oxford on Avon (which was actually the restaurant downstairs), this one was on the upper level and it was brilliant.  Sadly taken from us by the 2011 quake.

Sequoia 88 - As a restaurant, the venue actually still exists, but not as a buffet.  It was once a strong competitor for the Garden Restaurant, but sometime in the past decade, they ditched their buffet menu for pizzas instead.  Probably lost a lot of customers in the process as the buffet was the main reason most people went.

Rumpletums - One of the first buffets I dined in and most likely what started it all.  Disappeared sometime in the 90's, its original site (Avonhead Tavern) is currently occupied by the One Good Horse, another decent restaurant franchise.  By the way, it was never "rumble tums".

April Fool's Day 2023

Well, it's that time of the year again!  I was so impressed by the online pranks in 2022, I thought I'd share my favourites from this year as well.  There weren't as many as last year though, but there were a good amount for a blog entry, so there is that.

So here are what I considered to be the best April Fool's Day jokes from 2023.

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1. The Hub Hornby.

I imagine the sound this would've made would be less of a boom, but more of a "tink".

2. The Drawing Room Ltd.

The Scots would LOVE this.

3. New Zealand 1980s Memories and 1990s Memories / Burger King

I couldn't find this on any official BK page, but the nostalgia page mentioned above shared it, so maybe one of the admins did some Photoshopping?  Either way, I don't see this product hitting our shelves anytime soon...unless it's like one of those Beef & Chocolate pies that I tried from MetroMart a while ago (that one was actually real)...

4. Airline Secrets Exposed

Whether it would be a useful add-on or not, it looks rather pathetic, if you ask me.  Trust me, I'm a bit of an aircraft fanatic.

5. Grace Vineyard Church

If you think Christians don't have a sense of humour, then you're wrong.

6. The Royal Albatross Centre

Fly, my pretties!

7. Christchurch Casino

Casinos: Helping you hit rock bottom since ages ago.  Now available in Fast Mode.

 

8. How to DAD

Since this one is a video, I can't really show you the joke with a screenshot, so you'll just have to watch it here instead. 

9. Rick Astley.

I saved the Rickroll for last.  Literally, a warm and fuzzy one to end my list with.  Don't worry though.  He's never gonna give you up.

And that concludes my selection of April Fool's Day jokes for 2023.  It seems that this has become an annual thing, so let's do this again in 2024 as well.

Stay tuned for more blogs in the near future!