Excellent Clare Formal

I went for an exchange formal with Clare college today. It is possibly one of the best formals that I've had in Cambridge. We were invited over by the MCR for the formal and we had our pre/post dinner drinks in the MCR. I arrived there early, and as I was waiting for the rest of the MCR to arrive, I took a few interesting photos.

Let us start with the food. Simply put, the food quality was great! We had a special gnocchi starter. I've had lots of pasta before but I've never had spicy pasta. It was interesting to say the least. The spiciness came entirely from chillis in the sauce. It was just spicy enough to give it a strong taste, without causing any of the 'angmoh' to choke on the food.

Then, came the main course of lamb. It was medium rare. This is one part of the western diet that I still cannot really appreciate. However, I can certainly appreciate the portions. We had enough to be called a double portion at Magdalene. Even though I couldn't finish it, as I didn't want to upset my 'delicate condition', I still found it very good.

Finally, the dessert was a nice chocolate, cream and nut cake. It had lots of nuts. So, I liked it a lot. I finished up the whole cake and so did almost everyone else. There was free flowing red Italian wine throughout the dinner and port after that. I didn't drink any alcohol today due to health reasons. Oh, and did I mention that the cost for the whole dinner was only 5.70 quid?

Anyway, after dinner, I went across to the Latimer room, where they were having the current BC meeting. They were showing a BBC videon on the life of the Buddha. I only managed to catch the last bits of the video. So, I couldn't really comment on the quality of the story. Everyone else thought that it was good though.

As for my health, I'm at least strong enough to be up and about. Else, I would have given up my ticket to Clare today and just stayed at home. However, I'm still a little ill and weak from the last few days of fever. I'd just consumed the last of my panadol tonite. I should hope that I wouldn't need anymore tomorrow.

*** image of a lantern opposite the Clare p'lodge ***