Start young.

My earliest memory of playing with Lego, is when I was three. The set was a small house, and had only bricks. None of the little yellow-headed minifigures that would soon come to be an integral part of my childhood (and subsequently, adulthood!). Since then, the collection has grown and currently fills two suitcases that sit under my bed back home. That Papa is in the merchant navy and has been the greatest contributor to our collection, is only a plus!

DIY brilliance

An interesting feature of IKEA products, is that they are flat-packed. That lets you transport them easily and then assemble them without a fuss. Founded in 1943 by a 17-year-old Swede, the name IKEA is an acronym for Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd (Ingvar Kamprad being the founder's name, Elmtaryd the farm where he grew up, and Agunnaryd his home parish). There are a hundred different things that make IKEA a unique brand - be it the design of their stores, or their interestingly named products. Read about them here and discover more here.

This is an ad campaign

One for the road

Volkswagen is one of my favourite automakers. I have to say, I'm not a car nut but purely from the point-of-view of a person who ought to be reading Cars for Dummies, they make some really lovely cars. Fellow German automakers BMW, Mercedes Benz and Porsche also churn out some serious mean machines, but VW has been the only one to put out cars truly affordable to the masses.

What is most fascinating about all these autos is the German engineering that goes into them. There are endless rows of dials and buttons and indicators that can leave slightly less-experienced drivers fumbling, but each function