Dalma Garden Mall: Opening of the first mall in Armenia

The first real mall opened today in Yerevan. I couldn't miss the event and since everyone is asking me how it went, I decided to make a post with my impressions and photos.

Dalma Grand Opening

It's a 2-story huge (for Yerevan) building with a nice interior. The parking lot can accommodate more than 700 cars). There are several escalators and 2 elevators. Apart from a hypermarket (Carrefour, to be opened in November) and 50+ shops, there is a Coffee House (on Level 1) and a food court with Tashir pizza (not surprisingly), Mr.Gyros, Wasabi, Spago Grill (on Level 2). To the disappointment of the opening's visitors -- only Tashir pizza was operating with the usual taste-less pizza and big queues. A "Cinema Star" complex is in the plans, so is a bowling alley and children's playground.

 

a fountain and a small glass bridge

The good:

• Many new franchise stores have opened and many more were announced on the doors of the yet empty areas. A good part of our population has been waiting for the opening of brand stores of Zara, Bershka, Marks & Spencer, Gap, Stradivarius, Pull&Bear, Topshop, Accessorize, NewYorker in Armenia. The full list of the brands is available in the description of the event.
• Many brands that already have their stores in Yerevan will have stores Dalma as well (like Mango, Promod, Clarks, Aldo, Baldi, Bata, Chocco, Yves Rocher, Sali and others)
• There is a Zigzag megastore! yep, an electronics megastore in Yerevan :)

the electronics megastore in Dalma

• The interior planning and design are generally good. The coffee house on the Level 1 looks really pretty :) There were a few fountains: the ones on the level 1 were with colourful lights, really cute:)

the Dalma Coffee House 

• A huge Zara store was opened today, with a fashion show organized in the evening. The collection was big and for almost all tastes, as always. 
• Charles & Keith -- a shoes and accessories store had a nice collection! 
• The prices (in case someone still doubts) are the same as in all other franchise stores of the brands.
• There was a really great mood around the mall, because of the many familiar faces, music, scents, balloons and a sunny weather visible from the big windows on the ceiling. 

Dalma Coffee House again

Charles & Keith in Dalma

Accessorize in Dalma

Zara in Dalma

Oysho in Dalma

The bad:

• Unfortunately, only few stores were open today. Some opened hours after the mall's official opening. You could see the store (like Accessorize), ready, with assistants inside, but there was a security guard at the door, not letting anyone in. Marks & Spencer, occupying one of the biggest areas, has invited everyone to the mall opening, but was actually closed :) with all the items set up and balloons at the door. They just replied to me saying "WE ARE EXCLUSIVE BRAND..and we need EXCLUSIVE OPENING!! YOU ALL WILL BE INFORMED !!!!!!". Well, ok :))
• I couldn't find a list of stores which are actually open already, either a timeline for those that will open soon. 
• There was a limited -- almost no food choice today. After walking around we got quite hungry, but resisted to stand in a queue for a Tashir pizza. The Coffee House didn't yet have any menu, or food whatsoever. We just took a good Molinari cappuccino, after waiting for a table to become vacant for quite a long time. Yeah, there were too many people for too few tables. But i guess it was because of the opening.

the food court

• Some areas in the mall (especially Level 2) were yet dusty, not yet constructed. I had a glance through the slightly opened door of the Cinema complex. It was yet just nothing but a cement :D
• The concert outside of the mall featuring Armenian pop stars (and then a group of some 'ancient' Russian pop chicks) was totally useless. I don't think anyone visited the opening because of the concert. It just created some unnecessary noise and problems for the parking and traffic.

The concert outside Dalma

• The website www.dalma.am has been down for days because of an exceeded bandwidth.
• The small brochure of the mall with the floor plan is poorly designed. The text (in English) is awful :) or maybe it's just literally translated from Russian.

the Dalma floor plan scanned from the brochure

Dalma brochure

Dalma Garden Mall is open from 10:00 to 22:00

A little background:
Dalma Garden Mall was build by the Dalma Invest company, affiliated with Tashir Group, with a $50 million investment.
The territory on which the mall was built was part of the Dalma gardens.

.. it used to be a historical monument in the form of gardens which stretched from Erebuni Museum to Yerevan Lake, then farther to Tsitsernakaberd, Hrazdan Gorge and much farther, up to Zvartnots Airport and to Echmiadzin through Argavand. It used to be a forest planted with fruit tress and vineyards, unique in their species. (Ecolur)

The land owners of the gardens have been protesting the illegal decision of the municipality for already 9 years, when they were seized their land areas and sold to new owners thus violating their rights. (here is more info on this in Armenian).

Dalma Garden Mall has been scheduled to open last year, or even earlier, if I'm not mistaken. It was being postponed without approximate dates for several times. Later it was connected with the fact that they want to open many franchise boutiques and months are needed to do the interior design and furnishing.

me caught by Anna from the escalator

me in Zara

with my friend Emma and her bump :)

Here's a professional photo report from the opening by PanARMENIAN Photo.

Vardavar '10 photo exhibition at Lovers' Park

I'm now here to tell you about a very interesting photo exhibition that was launched today at the Lovers Park.

Ara Aslanyan, a talented photographer/designer/illustrator started a photo project called "Vardavar" in 2009, where he photographed his friends during the process of pouring a bucket of water on them :)
note: Vardavar is an interesting Armenian tradition.

Aro himself during Vardavar 2009 project

This year he developed the idea and together with another very talented photographer - Arnos Martirosyan, invited various celebrities to take part in the project. More than 20 show business stars agreed to be poured a bucket of water and be photographed.

the photography process (from aro.am)

The results are astonishing. Drops of water solidified and looking like they have been forced to freeze in time and the process of human faces becoming wet were captured at a shutter speed 1/1000s of seconds. Charismatic face expressions and amazingly captured moments make the photos unique and definitely worth seeing (regardless of the fact you like those celebrities or not).

Images are printed in huge 2x2 meter size and arranged at the trees all over the park. Today, at the opening, many of the celebrities were there to check out and pose with their images.

Organization of a project and event like this is a tough job indeed and there have been numerous challenges (putting it mildly) along the way, but I'm happy for Aro and Arnos that they finally did it and it was really great!

Arnos, Aro and Kristine Pepelyan :) /sorry for my camera :D/

The photos will stay there for only about a week, so hurry up to watch!

"OMG it's Yerevan" Tumblr blog

Goodness from the "Armenian internets": OMG, it's Yerevan tumblr blog. Tumblr-style images of Yerevan with some inscriptions showing the beauty of the city :) Totally LIKE!

Some selection of my favorite pics:

Torchlight procession on April 23, 2010

Every year ARF Dashnaktsutyun is organizing a torchlight procession from Matenadaran to the Armenian Genocide Memorial. They start from burning the Turkish flag and images of some politicians and proceed with a march singing patriotic songs and rising torches. I'm not the party's supporter and i don't generally approve their actions, however the procession was interesting to attend and take photos. It was heavily raining and my feet were all wet so I didn't go till the end. Interestingly, even though there were thousands of people, I managed to meet some friends in the crowd :)

Here are some of my photos:

Here are images from my photo agency. (not to compare :D) Btw, they are now featured in many international news outlets including the NY Times ;)

Burning of the Turkish flag © PanARMENIAN Photo / Davit Hakobyan

 © PanARMENIAN Photo / Vahan Stepanyan

 © PanARMENIAN Photo / Vahan Stepanyan

 © PanARMENIAN Photo / Vahan Stepanyan

 © PanARMENIAN Photo / Vahan Stepanyan

April 25th in Armenian Genocide Memorial, my photo report

This year I didn't manage to go to Tsitsernakaberd on April 24, as I did last year, but went there today - on 25th, hoping to find the Memorial less crowded. There were still numerous flower merchants on at the "footsteps", but also lots of popcorn, sunflower seed, cotton candy merchants. It is common for children's parks and imho, not so appropriate for targeting the crowd heading to the Genocide Memorial.

It was surprisingly very crowded, many people with kids of all ages, even newborns. No wonder. After yesterday's rainy and cold weather, today it was wonderfully sunny and the clouds were awesome. And it was Sunday too.

On the way I saw conveniently placed trash-bins by FPWC - Sunchild and the newly planted trees. Well done. I was wondering if the flowers at the eternal flame were still there. They actually were, and the pile was getting more dense and higher.
One thing kept frustrating me all the time. For some reason every other visitor wanted to have his picture taken in front of the flowers - smiling, posing. Not only retarded youngsters, but also many adults with kids etc... I wish to see fewer of them next year.
Another thing that was kinda weird - seeing wreaths from various delegations, companies, individuals shaped in corporate styles and colors. An attractive advertising space?

Watch my photo report in the web album and on the slideshow below.

living someone else's dream

I often daydream about living in New York city, for a little while. I imagine myself walking on the 5th avenue,  checking out fashion boutiques, enjoying the night view on the Brooklyn bridge, jogging in the Central Park on the morning. Many people, including people I know, live in my daydream.

Also, sometimes I'm starting to miss the life i'm currently living. I imagine that it's gone, like in a nightmare, then  i come back to reality and appreciate everything more and more. I love that I live in my home, with my family. I love that I'm born and I am still living in the heart of Yerevan and we have a beautiful balcony where my mother plants some beautiful flowers each spring.
I love that I can go out to walk in the streets by myself and walk home late, because it is safe. I love that I can always meet my friends randomly in cafes and on streets and there are so many memories connected with every corner of my big neighborhood.

I know that there are people who daydream to live in this beautiful city, have the opportunity to enjoy the magnificent view from the Cascade, meet friends randomly on streets and discover more evidences that this city is so small. Many people dream about living at home and in their historical homeland.

I wish everyone could live where they belong.

Yerevan in soap bubbles! Dreamflash 2010

This Sunday, April 11th, Yerevan citizens and guests had an opportunity to take part in a public soap bubbles making party called "Dreamflash". And some hundreds actually did ;)
2 girls who had taken part in a Dreamflash in Moscow a year ago, decided to organize a similar event in Yerevan, on the Northern avenue. They created an event on Facebook and invited as many people as could, and there the chain reaction began :) (and based on what i overheard there, similar event page was created on vkontakte as well)
Despite more than 850 confirmed guests on FB, i didn't expect it to be so crowded!

It was a great meeting place for me and many of my friends and also people i knew just virtually :)
Everybody was making soap bubbles and nearly as many people were taking photos :) There were people dressed in costumes, or wearing funny sunglasses, some emo teens and many people with children :) it must have been an unforgettable day for the kids.

Here are some of my photos :) more are available in the facebook album.

in the end, some of me :)

January 3, 2010. Republic Square, Yerevan, Armenia

Due to some requests, I'm posting new photos from festive Yerevan. Today I was walking at the twilight and the sky was beautiful. Photos are taken with my old good BenQ camera.

As usual, you may click the images to view larger.