went to nottingham (fondly known, for the wrong reasons, by malaysians as notts) this afternoon with a mate of mine from manchester. i quite love the place. you’d never know by looking at it that the city’s crime rate is in fact quite high, especially that of the gun-related variety. and apparently it’s worse than manchester! shopping is definitely better here than it is in sheffield.

The Portland Building, Council House, fashion on Queen Street, Hard Rock Cafe (yeah, they have one too).

the university’s pretty popular amongst malaysians for its girls malaysian cultural The Banana con Cioccolatta.evenings and the eponymous annual sports meet (which was yesterday). it was difficult to get into its medical school, as it’s famous for its two-degrees-for-the-package-of-one, where in third year everyone does a BMedSci degree. obviously, the sour grapes in other medical schools that have to do it as an intercalated degree would say that a nottingham BMedSci = a piece from the bog roll, but hey, it’s still adds a brownie point to the CV! the medical school interview i had in nottingham was worse than the one i had in downing college at cambridge, i can tell you.

lunch was late which actually equates to us having an early supper. had it at a place called zizzi (previously recommended by another friend a while back). apparently ran by the same people who own the ask franchise. usual italian fare, and their pizzas and calzones are baked using a kayu api oven. as with many new franchised eateries, each restaurant has its own identity (like the pizza express franchise). the nottingham one had a main dining area which is situated in the lower ground, with a bar on the mezzanine above. ambience is lovely, an absolute plus for wining/dining that dream woman. everyone went for pasta, whilst i had the calzone di pesce. the ravioli serving is massive, great only if you’re ravenous as hell. our stomachs were filled to the brim yet there was room for coffee, and err… dessert. if you ever come to this place, try the banana con cioccolatta (caramelised banana, sweet crepes and chocolate sauce, oven baked in a skillet – served with cream or ice cream). hoho.