Westfield Mall

Needing a slow day, we went to the nearby Westfield mall. The first thing we noticed is the cool way the parking works. In an effort to keep things moving along, the first three hours of parking is free and after that there is a charge. This means they must keep track of when you come and go. This is done, not with a ticket, but by cameras that record your license plate. You pull up to the gate and it instantly knows who you are and that you go our for free or there is a change. Pretty cool, eh?

Inside is an upscale mall with, by US standards, very few Christmas decorations.

In the distance is a large TV screen with changing images. That scantily dressed woman is not there all the time.

There are some familar names to be seen.

But the really interesting part is the food end of the place. While there are coffee and sweets spread out through the mall, here there are restaurants and a large grocery area. The grocery is similar to the Queen Victoria Market with multiple vendors scattered about. There is also a Cole's grocery in the corner to cover the boring stuff. There's no real door or demarcation of the various stores, this is just the end of the hallway in the mall that morphs into grocery.

Leading into the grocery section are vendors in the middle of the hallway selling nuts, coffee, and sweets. You can see some of the grocers in the background.

Good coffee is a staple everywhere and these folks are doing a brisk business.