May not be the best place to bust out your bathing suit in January but being along the water anytime of the year is a beautiful site and from here you can look over to downtown, West Van and English Bay. There are a tonne of logs you can sit on and grab a coffee near by.
Definitely take some time to walk around the mall. It's quite large, but I'd recommend heading over in the direction of the capitol, or going over to the Lincoln Memorial and Vietnam Memorial area.