HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

I am home at my parents’ place for the next few days. Yesterday, I had a very good lunch with Chris and Joanna, who are regulars here at erwintang.com I also got to meet Chris’ wife, Debbie, for the first time.

After I arrived home this late afternoon, I decided to take a long anticipated trip to Lougheed Town Centre. What I hadn’t realized beforehand was that I hadn’t driven in about three months. During the first minute or so of driving, I was like, “Whoa… I’m driving a car… I’m driving a car…”.

I think you really do forget what it’s like to control a couple thousand pounds of steel and glass as it hurtles down the road. In any case, I made it to the mall without incident and without any problems finding parking.

I entered the mall from my usual entrance. As I made my way there, I saw where they had put the new IHOP. It’s located right where the old Pizza Hut used to be. I was surprised by the low-key nature of this IHOP. The signage for it is very minimal. There’s no actual external sign outside of the restaurant. A few medium-sized decal stickers on the windows identify it as an IHOP. You can’t really see what kind of restaurant it is from afar.

Some of the entrances are different now. They are now graced with automatic doors. As I walked through, the mall seemed different but familiar at the same time. The new London Drugs was a sure sign things were different, but other parts of the mall were decidedly unchanged, even with the new flooring.

I did a quick tour of the whole mall and I saw that there were still spaces left for new retailers. It didn’t take me long to get a feel for the new expansion.

A funny thing happened today. At SJC, I was talking to my neighbours Rastin and Susan and I found out that Rastin used to be the manager of the cheapo movie theatre at Lougheed Mall. What a small world. He said the place was run very cheaply. This was not a revelation to me.

In the next few days, I look forward to going to IHOP with my sister, and completing my tour of the new Lougheed Town Centre.

Since my sister isn’t here yet, I actually get to sleep in a bed tonight. After that, I’m relegated to a mattress underneath a desk.

I’ll check in with you guys tomorrow.