Mombasa’s First Mall

So today I went to City Mall (Mombasa’s first…um…only…proper mall). Until they built this mall, all that Mombasa had were a bunch of stores connected to the name “Plaza” or “Center”.

For instance, “Mombasa City Center” consists of a group of stalls where vendors sell the most random things you can think of. The building where vendors used to sell before burnt down a few years back and the burnt building still stands as you can see from the second image.

There was nothing fancy about the mall especially if you are used to Emirates Mall and Dubai Mall. It’s quite simply built and you might notice that you can actually see the limits of the building from the inside meaning that it doesn’t keep on extending on and on like Dubai malls.
I couldn’t snap a picture so this image is courtesy of Google Images.

So of course I tried the coffee at Dorman’s (Vanilla Mocha) and this is what was written on the glass (back to snapping my own pictures).

Please focus on the fourth line, “Shirt and Shoes required.”

The mall was as empty as UAE malls are full but at least there is progress to be seen in Mombasa.

The only thing missing was a Frozen Yogurt place. [Update: There is now a Frozen Yogurt place called Planet Yogurt  in Nyali Center, Links Road, Mombasa].

(Swahili) Food For Thought

You know how they say, “Out of the fire and into a frying pan.”

So today while being driven around on the wild streets of Mombasa, I thought of a similar saying (Kenya-style), “It’s like avoiding a Mkokoteni only to hit a matatu.”