Sylvia Park Shopping Centre, 20 June, 2007
Written by Campbell Patterson & Daniel Munn

McDonalds

*CP* ASB, Health shop. One floor. I feel dwarfed by the ceiling. *DM* 11:36 We approach on an escalator and make our way to McDonalds at the food court. *CP* Two elderly ladies in blue parkas with children, I bump into one. Order cheeseburger after asking if they are doing breakfast. We sit down and immediately start writing. We both ordered cheeseburgers without agreeing first. Start eating at 11:40. Comes in a takeaway bag despite asking for have here. My burger is folded on one side and the other side is leaking sauce. Bites IIII I. Burger is a perfect temperature to eat as always. Daniel says it’s as if it has come in the mail. *DM* Predictable and not too hot and soon we are ready to shop again. *CP* We need dictaphones. We laugh at this suggestion. I am thirsty now but this fades. I gaze around during the burger and note construction workers sipping drinks and the lady I almost fell over. Finish eating at 11:46. *DM* Ordering I saw a row of tables with 11 elderly people. Near us a table of three workers with hi-vis safety vests. I notice two Pacific Island food court cleaning staff, one with a single headphone. We try to describe the ethnic mix. *CP* Food court reminds me of being in New Lynn as opposed to Glenfield. Before we leave a man comes and sits down and starts eating some strange things that look like half-eaten plums. It looks like they are hot as he has trouble eating the first one. I stare and think he notices. Lady cleaning staff asks if I’m finished with my burger wrapper. I say yes and she takes it. Towards movies. Notice Crepe Cafe. Kebabs on Queen has a strange smell. *DM* Two more workers wearing hi-vis vests slouch in their seats at the entrance to the food court. Corridor type ceilings with running insets for sprinklers and speaker mesh cover the indoor streets. The facades of all the fashion stores are customized like those on a street. 11:59 We have stopped as Campbell is writing about a pharmacy. *CP* I am impressed by chemist, go in and straight to section called pain management. Think about how I always feel like I have to have a purpose for being in a chemist, like you can’t just browse. Chemist is very bright. Select some Panadeine Plus $7.99 Have trouble finding place to pay. Wait to be served about two minutes. Get served by Asian man then leave. Sit on couches. Lady is asking son if he is hungry or if he’s still full from his two pies. I don’t look at her just listen.

Hoyts

*CP* Head towards Hoyts and Pak ‘n Save. Walk through outdoors area. It’s cold. We stop and look at coloured poles in car park. Speculate. *DM* Michael Parekowhai and Jim Speer’s collaborative public work for Sylvia Park; poles lit at their tops below the ramp to the rooftop car park. *CP* Lump seat pair. Watching suspended manikin. Outdoors area. Think about what it would be like in summer. Dick Smith Powerhouse check out it’s massive. Stop and look at DVDs. Revenge of the Nerds box $37.87. Home Alone $19.87. Play Xbox 360 demo of car racing gave but give up easily cos don’t know button for acceleration and other cars get big head start then when I catch up don’t know how to turn. Like Harvey Norman, sells jugs and irons, coffee machines and toasters. Watch TV with camera dino but it has no sound. DV tapes $39.98 3 pack. Very Best of the Doors. *DM* 12:17 We arrive at Hoyts. Movies are $13.50 students, $15.00 adults. Half pipe screenings (NZ’s first bean bag cinema) are $30.00 per bag,. Coke comes in small, medium, large, and jumbo. I bought jumbo for $4.20. *CP* Not very pleasant. Harsh dark grey. Think about long counters. Buy bottle of L&P $3.50 then go sit on red cushions seats in front of previews. *DM* The entrance area features three large screens with a large Panasonic sign lit up below them. *CP* Three previews play at once and I sit next to someone’s spilt popcorn. Laugh at Dan’s jumbo-sized Coke. *DM* 12:21 I begin to drink.*CP* Take two Panadeine Plus even though I don’t have a headache. L&P is harsh on my throat as too cold and after the first sip I lose interest. Watch previews think about preview man’s voice. My drink falls over and Dan freaks out cos he thinks it’s his. 12:26 - Burp! Look for movies I want to see but there aren’t really any. Carpet is grey with blue and red squares. Various arrangements of red sofa seats in macaroni or circle shapes. *DM* The seating is very simple in form like the lump seats. *CP* Talk about movies. Long line of elderly ladies walk out of movie in pairs. This reminds me of a spine. I hurry Daniel to drink quicker. Head to The Warehouse Extra. Dan tells of dream. *DM* The worker at the Napoleon Perdis counter in the middle of the corridor is standing sideways wearing red lipstick. *CP* Howard’s Storage World. Dan has to finish Coke before we go in so we hang around outside in front of Panasonic battery ad with 3D chicken head on perspex lightbox. *DM* Beginning to feel sick at the end of my Coke, 12:41. Standing near a short shiny cylindrical metal rubbish bin at the entrance to The Warehouse Extra waiting for my stomach to prepare to finish my Coke. I reach ice, toss the large cup into the plush black plastic bag of the bin, 12:44. *CP* Look in Suprizes while Dan finishes. Look at dog sculptures. Swords- Claymores, sword is $595. Look for dirty section but there is none. Music is loud so I leave.

The Warehouse Extra

*CP* Up&Go three-packs on special. Peanut butter section is strange. *DM* In the canned fruit, honey, and jam section the shelves display large numbers of a single product. 12 bottles of Kraft French Onion Cheese Spread 255g and 24 tins of Watties Apricot Halves in Clear Juice 410g on front row display. *CP* Think maybe I should do some supermarket shopping. Not very busy. *DM* The shelves are approximately the same height as those in dairies; shorter than that of Pak ‘n Save and having no boxes or pallets stacked on top of them. This makes the aisles appear wider. *CP* Confused about what to buy as there’s so much selection. Go to lolly aisle. Notice extreme sours and crap but more turned on by raspberry liquorice with frog on packet. Because of wide aisles find myself walking in zigzag form. Trolleys are made of plastic and seem somewhat awkward in comparison to metal ones. Laundry powder stack. $22.99 for 5kg bag of Persil. $10.99 for 15kg box of Shotz. Compare, smelling both piles and Persil is definitely nicer-smelling but does it really matter. Find myself enjoying the pet food aisle smell. Bread aisle is completely dead. Most aisles are dead I find this pleasant but wonder. Stop at Brumby’s Bakery and look at the pies. Leave supermarket section to look for Ice Cube Lethal Injection CD. On the way I see one evil child. Stop and look at book called talking about racism. Greatest Hits, Laugh Now Cry Later, War and Peace Vol 2, but no Lethal Injection. Look at T.V. series then decide to find Dan. *DM* 1:06 Leaving bathrooms, the entire food court area is very crowded. Staff are in the corridors handing out advertising and sampling products. The bathrooms were very clean with paper towels and air dryers for drying hands. *CP* Walk through shoe aisle and smell is strong so stop and smell for a while. An alarm sounds for the second time. Meet Daniel in garden section. Can’t find so I ask a worker who has dreadlocks and a soft voice. Decide to buy something and leave. *DM* “Mum, War of The Worlds is ten dollars.” It took us a relatively long time to decide on a last food item; we past by chocolate, chips, pineapple lumps, and a sweet Thai chilli twist. *CP* Pies are expensive. 1:19 Legs start getting tired. Look at supermarket stuff but too much to choose from so we decided to choose from the bakery. *DM* 1:25 We decide to buy [Daniel] 1xpink and white iced donut $1.80 [Campbell] 1xbrown and white iced cupcake and a plain croissant $3.50. We were served by Taleana who was polite with a very nice goodbye sequence. *CP* Can’t decide between savoury and sweet, so choose cupcake and plain croissant. Leave The Warehouse at 1:26. Go to cushion seats outside feeling slightly exhausted. Fall deep into cushion. Daniel’s donut is so hilariously small. *DM* The donut is a small delicate fried item of medium density with a thick raspberry-flavoured icing giving it a very high sugar content. *CP* Eat croissant first. Very crispy and spongy. Bites IIII. Outside Mr. Thankyou. Croissant was good, better than ones from normal supermarket. Leaves crumbs all over my lips. Eat cupcake, notice The Warehouse sticker on it. Cupcake brings back memories of other cupcakes and I realise it’s been a while since I last had a cupcake. High density. Find myself enjoying the cake more than the icing. A little boy sits close behind me with his mother and every now and again he touches my back. By now my drink has gone slightly flat but is still kind of refreshing. *DM* Coldplay is playing on the speakers above against the bass line of another song, steps of high heels and children, and coffee grinds banged out. *CP* I am sitting with very bad posture, not hungry and my legs feel tingly, feet a little bit sore, lips dry, head slightly cloudy. Three torn and screwed up Brumby’s bags sit between us, 1:41.