solidgold's Qype profile

Forbidden Planet is a great little shop in Newcastle, the shop is about 5minutes walk away from Monument metro station. It specialises in manga, comics and sci-fi. As many other reviewers have stated the place is absolutely jam packed with interesting little trinkets, as you enter on the left there is a large selection of action figures and collectables, on the right there is DVDs and magazines and in the middle there is books. The back of the store is the comic section and has many racks with the new weekly arrivals on and large shelves collecting all the latest and past graphic novels. Although the prices on these may be more expensive than say Amazon you can be certain that the book will not be damaged in transit. The staff are extremely knowledgeable and will help with anything, if you ring up and ask for something they will know straight away whether they have it in stock and if not they can order it for you. A great shop, five out of five.

This Blockbuster is located halfway up Gosforth High Street. Although the store is quite small they do have a large variety of stock, they have all new releases and many classics. They also stock games for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. At the front of the store there is always large boxes containing DVDs for as cheap as 50p. Admittedly these are not the greatest movies ever but you can find some gems in there. The staff are very knowledgeable and helpful; there is always a different deal on every week so make sure to ask them!

Haymarket Metro station is currently undergoing a large scale renovation and is thus (at the moment) in a state of repair. The station is sometimes closed on weeknights and weekends. When it is fully open it is a great station with very prompt metros every few minutes. There is also a large newsagent upstairs and a Nexus store to purchase metro or bus passes. Haymarket is at the top of Northumberland Street (Newcastle’s busiest shopping street) which is very handy. Once the renovation is complete I imagine the new and improved Haymarket will be excellent.

The Gallowgate Flame is located very close to the Monument Metro stop and the Gate complex. It is your usual type of late night kebab shop offering unhealthy fast food for cheap prices. Out of all of the kebab shops in Newcastle I would say Gallowgate flame is the best for various reasons. Vast amounts of seats, a clean store, fast service, friendly staff and large portions all make it great. Another plus fact is that they deliver; this service is usually quite quick (around 20 minutes). There is also a taxi rank outside and a clean toilet inside.

CEX or entertainment exchange as its also known buys and sells games, DVDs, laptops, mobile phones and other electronics. The store is quite large and has a big selection of goods, if you want to find something it will be in there somewhere. However as all of the stock is second hand you need to be careful as it can sometimes be scratched and not work properly. Trying to take something back there and exchange it is a very hard task to do. The staff can sometimes be helpful but most of the time they are not. Basically the prices can be very cheap but most of the time you get what you pay for.

Millie’s Cookies is located in the Monument Mall just opposite Zavvi. They sell a large variety of baked goods such as Muffins, Cookies and the famous Cookie cakes (which are basically very large cookies which you can get personal messages written on). There is a large variety of flavours such as oatmeal and raisin, orange and chocolate, toffee and chocolate and double chocolate. They also now serve hot drinks such as coffee which are perfect complements for the cookies. The staff are always helpful, a great place to go for a quick and cheap snack.

The Union Rooms is situated in a beautiful building just opposite Newcastle’s central station. The pub is part of the Wetherspoons chain and offers a great selection of food and drink for extremely reasonable prices. The pub is set out over two floors with various large, themed rooms. The best of these is the ‘library’ which is perfect for a quite drink with friends. The staff here are very efficient and it never gets too busy. There is many sets of clean toilets in the Union rooms as well.

The Trent House is one of the bet pubs in Newcastle. Located a small walk from Newcastle University Campus, Leazes Park and Haymarket Metro station it is very close to the city centre. Inside there is a pool table, old school arcade games and a fabulous free jukebox full of excellent tunes. The staff here are very friendly and will make up any cocktail you wish; the prices won’t break the bank either. There is also some very cheap, student friendly, food available. There is some clean toilets as well. The people that run the Trent House also run the WHQ club which everyone should check out, you can buy cheap tickets to events at WHQ from the Trent House. Highly recommended.

Bar 42 is a trebles bar in the city centre of Newcastle. It is about a one minute walk away from Monument Metro station. The drinks here are extremely cheap (especially during the happy hour). The bar is based on two levels; there is a bar on both. There are large clean toilets downstairs. The staff here are very helpful and great at making drinks. The bar can sometimes get busy at peak times such as happy hour but it never takes too long to get served. All in all a great bar to get a cheap drink in but it can be a bit rough.

I am currently studying at Newcastle University and I love it. The quality of the lectures are excellent and the facilities the same. The library, sports centre, IT centres and the Union are all excellent buildings which are close to campus and easy to find. The students at Newcastle are very mixed, there is a lot of international students. Newcastle is a great city to study in as the night life is excellent; it is also relatively cheap to live in compared to other cities. There is also great transport links to and from the university.