For those of us who may not know where Peru is located, it's in South America and is bordered by Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Chile, and Bolivia.
I know this is kind of boring but I have to break this down so you have an idea of how Peru works. Peru is divided into twenty-four "departamentos." If you're American, then I would think of the "departamentos" as states.
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I got this information from wikipedia:
The province of Lima is divided into forty three districts. In Spanish it's called "districtos" which are administered by the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima. The urban area of Lima is generally considered to be formed by thirty of these districts. The remaining thirteen districts consist of mostly rural and sparsely populated desert and mountainous areas. Of these peripheral districts, many of the coastal ones serve as beach resorts and their population —which is considerably smaller than that of the urban districts— increases during the summer months.
Today I'm going to be talking about Surquillo. It's a pretty small district around the middle of this map. It's bordered by Miraflores, which is an upscale tourist spot, San Isidro, the financial district, and San Borja and Santiago de Surco (Surco for short), which are residential areas. Surquillo is well-known for being a dangerous district although I don't think it's that bad at all because I've seen worse! But it can be pretty shady at night so you have to be careful if you're walking through there. I believe it was in December 2009 when they began building this ENORMOUS mall on the corner of Angamos and Tomas Marsano Ave. I used to call that intersection "acrobat ave" because there used to be a bunch of street kids that would do flips, juggling, etc for money when the street lights were red :P
Open Plaza Angamos was inaugurated about two weeks ago. Over 100 million dollars were invested into this new shopping center which was built in the course of thirteen months over 33 thousand meters squared. It's expected to generate a million visitors a month but at least 15 million visitors it's first year. It's comprised mainly of Chilean chains such as Sodimac a homecenter store, Saga Falabella, retail store, Tottus, a supermarket, Casa & Ideas, etc. It can be found on the corner of block 18 of Angamos and block 12 of Tomas Marsano.
They have escalators and these conveyor belt type things that you find in some airports. The conveyor belts make it easier to transport children in strollers and to move your shopping cart around from floor to floor.
Chilean chains in Peru are a somewhat controversial topic. Peruvians have considered Chileans rivals since the late 19th century when they were at war in the "war of the Pacific." I don't know all the exact details but a brief summary that I was told was that Chile invaded Peru and for many years both countries fought over the Arica and Tacna departments until they finally came to an agreement that Chile would keep Arica while Peru kept Tacna. Chilean businesses have definitely boosted the country's economy and although rivalry isn't as aggressive as before, I would be cautious about bragging to be Chilean in certain places if you're visiting. "Plaza Vea," a Peruvian supermarket chain, constantly competes with successful Chilean supermarket chain "Metro" all the time. Their advertisements usually say "comprale al Perú" which means "buy from Peru" aka promote Peru's economy not Chile's.
Anyway.......I have a tendency to get side tracked so back to my topic :P
Open Plaza has three floors. I went in there briefly yesterday only to take pictures and I'm sure there was a fourth floor but I didn't see any stores at the top so I assumed it was just there so people could get to the 4th floor parking lot. The food court and cinema are located on the third floor. Aside from having regular theaters, the cinema also includes a 3D and the first XD theater in Peru which I believe to be similar to an IMAX theater. I'm not sure what the exact price was because the evil lady at the counter wouldn't let me take a picture of the prices but I think that regular admission is 10.5, 3D is 19.5 and XD is 24.5 soles. In dollars that's about 3.75, 6.97, and 8.75.
Chilean chains in Peru are a somewhat controversial topic. Peruvians have considered Chileans rivals since the late 19th century when they were at war in the "war of the Pacific." I don't know all the exact details but a brief summary that I was told was that Chile invaded Peru and for many years both countries fought over the Arica and Tacna departments until they finally came to an agreement that Chile would keep Arica while Peru kept Tacna. Chilean businesses have definitely boosted the country's economy and although rivalry isn't as aggressive as before, I would be cautious about bragging to be Chilean in certain places if you're visiting. "Plaza Vea," a Peruvian supermarket chain, constantly competes with successful Chilean supermarket chain "Metro" all the time. Their advertisements usually say "comprale al Perú" which means "buy from Peru" aka promote Peru's economy not Chile's.
Anyway.......I have a tendency to get side tracked so back to my topic :P
Open Plaza has three floors. I went in there briefly yesterday only to take pictures and I'm sure there was a fourth floor but I didn't see any stores at the top so I assumed it was just there so people could get to the 4th floor parking lot. The food court and cinema are located on the third floor. Aside from having regular theaters, the cinema also includes a 3D and the first XD theater in Peru which I believe to be similar to an IMAX theater. I'm not sure what the exact price was because the evil lady at the counter wouldn't let me take a picture of the prices but I think that regular admission is 10.5, 3D is 19.5 and XD is 24.5 soles. In dollars that's about 3.75, 6.97, and 8.75.
The food court has fast food chains like Burger King, China Wok, which has good Chinese food, Pizza Hut, KFC. Coney Park, a sort arcade/game place for children, is located in the food court as well.
From the food court you have a view of Surquillo and Miraflores.There's no doubt that within a few years Surquillo will have completely changed. This new mall is supposed to attract people of all classes but since it's surrounded by districts that generally have middle and upper class residents, then changes will definitely have to be made in order for them to feel "safe" on this side of town. I've been here for almost a year and Lima has definitely changed a lot since I got here. Can't wait to see what new changes will be made.
