As regular readers of my blog might have guessed, I was away from work last week.

Although the bf and I didn't go away, we spent a lovely relaxing week here in London -- which culminated in an all-day cinema trip last Friday, during which I picked a film (Mammia Mia - brilliant) and he picked a film (Tropic Thunder - gross, silly, violent, and some more gross).

Anyway, during Mamma Mia -- before I could be distracted by Pierce Brosnan's rousing version of 'S.O.S' -- I concentrated enough on the plot to feel a real affinity with Meryl Streep's character, Donna. It isn't just that she jumps about in dungarees for most of the film and generally seems a bit stroppy. No: the bit where she sings 'Money, Money, Money' was the part that really got me.

It must be funny in a rich man's world, she sings. Yes, I thought as I munched on my popcorn, it must. Whereas I have to work all night and work all day to pay the bills I have to pay. Ain't it sad?

That said, the super-rich folk who've masterminded and invested in London's Westfield shopping centre development might well be quaking in their designer boots right now.

The super mall, set to be the largest inner city retail centre in Europe, will open at the end of this month -- and no doubt the launch will be accompanied by much ceremony, many celebs and lots of London style. But with the British economy sliding towards an almost inevitable recession, is this really the time to be opening a colossal cathedral of consumerism?

I suppose they don't have a great deal of choice now but to throw the doors wide open, promote the place as though all our lives depend upon it and hope for the best. Still -- I wonder if the centre would have been designed on such a massively ambitious scale had its backers been able to forsee the credit crunch and all its foul fallout.

The thing that I think might save Westfield is its focus on an upmarket, high fashion offering. Prada, Tiffany and Louis Vuitton have all signed up for stores in the centre -- and while the likes of me try to break our Topshop habits this winter, I imagine the kind of person who regularly shops in boutiques is probably not feeling the pinch in quite the same way as me. Or Meryl/Donna.

Nevertheless, I'll be interested to see how the mega mall fares over the next six months -- and which of its shops are the most (and least) packed on a typical Saturday afternoon.

And while I'm watching out for news of other people's shopping habits, I suppose I -- and many of the nation's other credit-crunched consumers -- will continue trying to reign in spending, pay down debts and keep costs under control.

But hey. I'm going to carry on singing while I do it. After all, it was ever a rich man's world -- as Abba so jauntily remind us.