when they said hougang mall was being upgraded i didn't think it was going to turn into something in between plaza sing and century square. new external escalators, an invasion of new food outlets (there were, as i was on my way to chengsan library, cafe cartel, gelare, orange lantern, siam kitchen, ichiban sushi, ya kun, some japanese pepper pot lunch thing, polar cafe, rotishoppe, and soup kitchen at the very least. i'm just amazed we've been spared a breadtalk. the four leaves, however, has expanded, which makes me very happy, i like four leaves much more than breadtalk.) a dozen or two new shops have also moved in, all familiar chains. one was a u.r.s., which opened next to an iora, and there's a sense and bossini and a bata and a sasa and everything conventional you would expect in a new neighbourhood mall, except for not having a cinema on the top floor. i am still trying to get used to it, and i think it is rather boring, and yet under all that maybe i'm a little bit pleased to be connected to the rest of the country, even if it's through consumerism.