Shopping Malls and Pat-a-cone (sp)

Today I decided to take my colleagues advice and try to find the Centro Commercial Cedritos - I thought I'd try out my Spanglish and ask for confirmation from my wee security guy. Unfortunately he hadn't a clue .. such is life, I set off anyway.. Bogota is literally like a city rebuilding itself everywhere you look new apartments are going up on every spare piece of ground - Not sure what this guys job is sitting up there but I wouldn't be doing it thats for sure !!! there are about another 4 stories below what you can see.

I had the vague directions and after a good 35 minutes walking I knew I was close as I crossed the Canal (One of the key landmarks i had been told about) but then I took a wrong turning and it started to rain. So I decided to head back towards known territory thinking I'd go to the Palatino. I was about three quarters of the way there when my phone rang now this might seem an every day occurence anywhere else but when you understand my phone never rings I nearly wet myself... It was my colombian colleague asking if I wanted to accompany her and her daughter to one of the big shopping centres called the Unicentro I accepted and a few minutes later her husband drove up and picked me up where I had agreed to wait. he was driving a Late 50's Early 60's I'd think american style car complete with rocket styled rear wings, leather seats and retro styling (Though it was probably genuine) reminded me very much of a Ford Zephyr from UK wish I had taken the time to look see what it was.
The Unicentro is a large busy and very popular shopping mall selling mostly everything did notice it had an exito and a panamericana attached to it. It was big and made the Palatino where I usually go look quite provincial.
After wandering around the Unicentro we got a taxi to the Hacienda another Mall close by - This was far less crowded and for me much nicer it was based around an old hacienda house near an olden area of Bogota called Usaquen which used to be a small village that was absorbed as Bogota grew.

Usaquen is what I feel would be referred to as colonial very olde worlde and quaint.
The shopping centre instead of a multi story style building was more laid out with lots of twisting and turning passageways and was very nice to walk through.
Martha's daughter was looking for some clothes so I had time to wander a little (But not too far) while they searched hence the photos of Boots, Handbags and a Belt that I saw in a window and thought looked really nicely designed.




After shopping (I did buy a lightweight sleeveless jacket) we stopped at a small restaurant in Usaquen called El Arca and with some assistance I had patacone with cheese and sweetcorn in a honey and mustard sauce. Patacone is a crushed plantain (I think) a banana type fruit that is crushed flat and cooked giving a texture like a very large crisp. It was delicious sweet and filling and it was nice to eat something that was typically colombian though not from the Bogota area rather more from the South West.
It was a lovely day out and I thank Martha and her daughter Lilan for their patience and support and not laughing too much as I tried to remember all the Spanish words they tried to teach me in vain. Though Cinturon (belt) Zapatas (Shoes) Negro (Black) Cafe (Brown-ish)have all stuck for the moment . not forgetting my Patacone or my CLUB COLOMBIA beer.