Pacific Mall

Went on a short excursion to the Pacific Mall, in Markham – northeast of Toronto. Drove out with a friend, who likes to drive. There is no scenic route through the vast stretch of retail sprawl, unless one find the various shopping malls scenic. Traffic getting there wasn’t too bad, coming back was hell. Parking was easy even though by 11:30 the lot was already full.

Google said that the stores didn’t open until 11 so we timed our arrival for 11:30. Many of them didn’t open until noon. We entered via the west doors & there was a lineup around one of the inner block – was there a flu shot clinic that morning? Turns out it was Black Friday line up for special deals at Fido & Virgin. Figures, as every other shop is a some sort of cell phone attachments spot. 

Lots of anima/manga t-shirts, candy stores (I bought a variety of Japanese KitKats but was disappointed there was no wasabi KitKats to be found 😦 ) the first floor is primarily retail – tailors, leather goods, some health-food spots. I was hoping for a tea shop but didn’t spot one. On the second floor is the wonderful street food court. Japanese, Chinese, Korean specialties & many were super busy. 

The counter people were eagerly inviting passers-by to stop & eat their noodles, pancakes, tofu. I settled on ‘dry’ chicken with spicy noodles. Dry as opposed to soup. Yummy. we found a table near the Terra Cotta warriors. These, needless to say, are reproductions. On my lotto max to buy list –  a couple of them would be perfect for protecting the morning glories in my garden. 

We both made purchases. My friend got toys for her grandchildren. I found, gasp, a great t-shirt that supposedly changes colour in sunlight – the higher the uv the greater that change – I didn’t have the heart to tell the very cute clerk ‘Honey, your sales pitch is as hard as a Chinese Warrior.’ Maybe I should have said it to see if he would blush. The image is a dragon & phoenix in a yin-yang coil. I also found a new maneki (lucky cat) to add to my collection – one without the solar arm that waves constantly. 

All in all, a successful excursion that I’d love to repeat soon now that I have a better idea of the layout, where the always-hard warriors are lol – & see the other half of the mall. Maybe to get ancestor money for Chinese New Year.