Maybe that title is being slightly too optimistic, but I thought I'd raise a few eyebrows at least. The post regards something I like - but that needs a heck of a lot of changes to make it into something I love. This morning, after the doctor had finished prodding and probing and regaling me with stories about her depressingly successful son (I was at school with him), I ambled into Plymouth to investigate the snazzy new shopping centre that has been causing road traffic chaos for most of the last two years. I believe architecture students from around the globe are being brought to come and mock the 'modern' design that is indescribably hideous - a peculiar mix of stone, brick, wood, glass, metal, and there's probably every other 'resistant material' in there somewhere.
The shops are no different to those that previously graced Plymouth's streets, but are just relocated within the sparkly new centre. I have to confess, however, that I like it. Dammit, I do. I feel like an alcoholic announcing that I have a drink problem: 'Hi, I'm Jane, and I like shopping malls.' Seriously, what a concept. Shopping all under one roof, so I don't have to get cold and wet and mess about with nasty umbrellas, and a range of eating facilities scattered throughout to keep energy levels up. I could even park my car and go from car to mall without a drop of rain touching on me. Genius. In hotter climes, they of course have the advantage that you can go shopping without the very real possibility of dehydrating and fainting, equipped as they are with air conditioning.
(Plus they always have bathrooms, clean ones, although those in Plymouth's new facility are rather odd: the wash basins are all joined together, thus creating one long trough to wash in. Peculiar).
Changes that need to be made? Well, obviously, I would appreciate if at least two of the shops within the mall were ones I actually wanted to go to. I want a selection of extensive and varied bookshops, clothes that I might feasibly wear (and moreover are priced at a rate that I might feasibly consider), perhaps a discount flight centre would be nice, and if they could have installed a WIFI system that would certainly upgrade it. A shop that sells shoes that are large enough, trousers that are long enough, and - ooh - affordable glasses.
And I'm going to cheat now by putting a link to a BBC article that is one of the best I've read in a long time: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6199716.stm
Strongly recommend a quick squiz in that direction. I was intending to offer my viewpoints in relation to the article, but I seem to have gone on about malls for a while so will instead amble off and do something useful. Like test-run the chocolates I bought this morning. My stomach is probably suffering from lack of chocolate substances, and this is the sole reason it remains unwell.
The shops are no different to those that previously graced Plymouth's streets, but are just relocated within the sparkly new centre. I have to confess, however, that I like it. Dammit, I do. I feel like an alcoholic announcing that I have a drink problem: 'Hi, I'm Jane, and I like shopping malls.' Seriously, what a concept. Shopping all under one roof, so I don't have to get cold and wet and mess about with nasty umbrellas, and a range of eating facilities scattered throughout to keep energy levels up. I could even park my car and go from car to mall without a drop of rain touching on me. Genius. In hotter climes, they of course have the advantage that you can go shopping without the very real possibility of dehydrating and fainting, equipped as they are with air conditioning.
(Plus they always have bathrooms, clean ones, although those in Plymouth's new facility are rather odd: the wash basins are all joined together, thus creating one long trough to wash in. Peculiar).
Changes that need to be made? Well, obviously, I would appreciate if at least two of the shops within the mall were ones I actually wanted to go to. I want a selection of extensive and varied bookshops, clothes that I might feasibly wear (and moreover are priced at a rate that I might feasibly consider), perhaps a discount flight centre would be nice, and if they could have installed a WIFI system that would certainly upgrade it. A shop that sells shoes that are large enough, trousers that are long enough, and - ooh - affordable glasses.
And I'm going to cheat now by putting a link to a BBC article that is one of the best I've read in a long time: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6199716.stm
Strongly recommend a quick squiz in that direction. I was intending to offer my viewpoints in relation to the article, but I seem to have gone on about malls for a while so will instead amble off and do something useful. Like test-run the chocolates I bought this morning. My stomach is probably suffering from lack of chocolate substances, and this is the sole reason it remains unwell.
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