Changes at the Mall

Thursday, 6.28.18

I worked on retouching artwork a little before going to a 6:30 pm dinner invitation at Roy’s Restaurant in Fashion Island. The restaurant is mostly Hawaiian and Japanese infusion meals, but I order vegan/vegetarian version. I haven’t been to Fashion Island mall for around one year. So, when I arrived, I noticed the mall looked different because many things have changed. The mall must have gone through remodeling changes in the last couple of years. Spectrum Center mall is currently going through its remodeling phase. And, South Coast Plaza is always changing. I decided to go early, around 3 pm, in order to browse through the mall, checking out window displays and browsing in some stores. The weather was nice, even though the mall is near the coast. It is usually very cold and windy in that area. It was kind of confusing walking in the mall because the stores looked different from the older version. One thing that I noticed looked different is the cool pond that I took a snapshot back in the 90s with my Minolta 5000, and I often use that photo all over the internet. Everyone like that photo.

Well, this pond looks different now. I decide to take some snapshots of the remodeled version.

It appears they took out the railing, the bench in the middle, and the trees in the pond.

There appears to be more Koi Fish.

Then, I went inside the Atrium Court to browse inside the food court and Barnes & Nobel. The bookstore had a sale, and I almost bought some books, but I changed my mind last minute.

I walked outside, and decided to take a snapshot of a cute bird bathing in this fountain.

At 6pm, I entered the restaurant…

I enjoyed my meal of salad, tofu steak with steamed rice, and berries. I drank lots of water and coffee. I left at around 9:30 pm. When I arrived in Irvine, I noticed that the road was closed due to street construction. So, I followed other cars into a detour in the UCI campus, and I ended up driving through a winding maze, wondering where I was going, even though I graduated from UCI in 1987. It was dark, and the UCI campus has grown due to lots of remodeling changes since 1987. I arrived home and relaxed.