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| The entrance to MEGA center. |
What embodies capitalism more than a shopping mall?! Welcome to MEGA center! Surfaces that aren't glass are marble, brands that aren't western aren't here. The Cyrillic alphabet (otherwise the only alphabet in town) is nowhere to be seen. The prices are astronomical - I don't know who in Kazakhstan can afford to buy anything here; but we don't buy things, we just like walking round!
You're struck even before entry by the fountains, the trees bursting with bright red lights, and the obligatory western music streaming from the outdoor speakers. I did enjoy it when The Beatles were playing.
The joke is that all we do is hang out in MEGA center, which of course is only slightly true, but I do tend to enjoy these slightly tacky incongruities. For example, my 'Bob Marley T-bone steak' in a Jamaican restaurant in the old Soviet part of town was as delightful and incongruous as it gets.
The joke is that all we do is hang out in MEGA center, which of course is only slightly true, but I do tend to enjoy these slightly tacky incongruities. For example, my 'Bob Marley T-bone steak' in a Jamaican restaurant in the old Soviet part of town was as delightful and incongruous as it gets.
Back on point, below is MEGA centre as viewed from our hotel with fireworks really hammering home its presence on the weekend. If Toy Story 4 is set in Astana, then Buzz Lightyear will definitely be heading for MEGA center under the impression that it is the mother-ship to take him to infinity and beyond - he might just be right!
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| Fireworks over MEGA center. Something is lurking behind the fireworks - surely nothing could usurp the MEGA center?! |
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