the unplanned trip, part 3a

the mall.

it is, by sm standards, one of their smaller malls. perhaps a bit larger than sm centerpoint. it does have a singular feature, one that is shared by no other malls that i know of (and have been to) in the sm mall empire: it's got this open air chasm, if you will, in the center of it, topped by a permanent industrial-scale translucent tent.

makes sense, really. less airconditioning load, given the generally cool weather year-round in the city of pines. i noted that a given corner of the atrium on any given floor had at least one of the coffee chains represented. starbucks on the first, next to the main entrance, seattle's best on the floor above, and on the uppermost floor, facing west, i think, was figaro. of the three, the upper floor coffee joints had the benefit of the balconies that flanked the building on eastern and western sides.

in terms of the view, figaro had the best.

also, with the prevailing winds, figaro had more than it's fair share of the prevailing westerly winds, which meant a fair amount of wind chill. thank heavens for their coffee (decaf) and their rendition of black forest cake (which seemed to be more moist that most versions i've tried at coffee places).

now if they only had better outdoor seating (seems like the aluminum extrusion thingies that cibo also favors), it would be a fine place to spend literally hours just watching clouds roll in over the bowl of the city proper.

thus went the rest of that afternoon, a cup of coffee and a slice of cake helping the time slip by.

incidentally, and as glenn mentioned, clouds are warm.

surprising, really. stood at the balcony railing as a wall of white poured over the western hills (peaks?) and obliterated the view of the city below. the wind that drove the cloud had the bite of wind chill, and not a few drops of rain. but when the cloud finally made contact with the mall, the wind actually died and i could feel that warmth that glenn spoke of.

...then it began to rain in earnest. back to the coffee and cake.

a quite interesting though fairly uneventful afternoon. which, from time to time, is a good thing.