5 December 2012 Mongolian Barbeque and Holiday Lights

I was staying in Fort Wayne for business and asked one of my staff if there was a mongolian barbeque in town. It's been a number of years since I first visited one of these types of restaurants, but I really enjoy picking my own selection of lots of veggies, topped with lots of tofu, and a little bit of pork. All of that topped with a good, hot sauce and a bowl of rice makes for a very happy meal for me. When I got an affirmative answer to a restaurant near the hotel, the decision was done.

The meal was good. The sauces were average, but there were plenty of veggies and they had tofu!. The restaurant is located in what appears to be a lifestyle center, a sprawling. outdoor shopping center made to resemble a fake town. Since it was the holiday shopping season, I expected to see lots of people moving around. Mingling with people when I am traveling always makes me feel better and shortens the trip. I was surprised to see it nearly deserted. It looked like a retail center which would be celebrating the new year with an unhealthy dose of vacancies. As I walked through the center, I could hear very loud Christmae music playing. I was surprised to see the source of the music was a gathering area where there were multiple trees with lights changing colors to the music. I hadn't seen one of these displays since the 80's. The loud Christmas music and the wildly changing tree lights surrounded by nearly no one, left me depressed.