Thanks Boris, A difficultly is there is no IKEA in New Zealand, so I never saw one and don't know what they have. I thought it was "flat pack" furniture! I just took a look at the web site and see it's quite a lot more than that!
On Thu, Apr 16, 2015 at 1:05 AM, Boris Baranov <[email protected]> wrote: > Bruce, > > first of all - welcome to Moscow! :) > > Here is my brief comment to your questions: > > - you can buy practically anything in Moscow, yet it might be quite > overpriced :'( Also, it depends how special is your wok and heavy cast > iron skillets :) i.e is that something that you may find in IKEA? > (then you'll find it in IKEA Moscow) or they are really special? In > any case I do not think there is a need to send them by DHL - you may > take them with you as transatlantic airfare usually has higher weight > limits > > - Banks. Oh... be prepared. First of all, there is no "foreign banks" > as such in Russia. ZAO Citibank is quite different from Citibank New > York or any other Citibank. My expirience so far is that there is no > good banks, you are trying to find less bad. It used to be a good one > - HSBC, but it vanished quickly from Russia. You may check some > rankings at http://www.banki.ru/services/responses/ Also, most likely > your employer has his preffered bank anyway. At the moment I am using > Alfa-bank, and it is OK in general, BUT, the most of their fuckups > that I expirienced where related to international bank transfers :( > > > - Restaurants: sorry, I am not familiar with this particular area. > There is a nice place not too far, it is called Madam Galife cafe at > m. Prospect Mira, near Aptekarsky Ogorod. Also, speaking generally, I > like Prostye Veshi and Khachapuri cafes :) > > Good luck, > Boris > > On Wed, Apr 15, 2015 at 11:00 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: > > Send Expat mailing list submissions to > > [email protected] > > > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > > http://www.lists.ru/mailman/listinfo/expat > > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > > [email protected] > > > > You can reach the person managing the list at > > [email protected] > > > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > > than "Re: Contents of Expat digest..." > > > > > > Today's Topics: > > > > 1. New arrival, intro, questions... (Bruce Hoult) > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > Message: 1 > > Date: Wed, 15 Apr 2015 01:17:31 +1200 > > From: Bruce Hoult <[email protected]> > > Subject: Expat List New arrival, intro, questions... > > To: [email protected] > > Message-ID: > > < > camu+ekz3gla+dzock8dvvwe9svrnhdtjkyoz_ok8+ma2z4r...@mail.gmail.com> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > > > Hi all, > > > > Today I picked up my 3 year work visa and booked flights from New Zealand > > to Moscow, arriving next Monday. > > > > I was there for two weeks in December, working in the same office I'll be > > in (I've been working remotely since July), so I've had a little bit of a > > chance to look around, though not very thorough. > > > > I'm planning to live in the area between Savelovskaya and Mar'ina Roshcha > > metro stations. > > > > - the most urgent question, which I need to decide in the next three > days: > > should I take kitchen things or buy them there? Saucepan set, crockery, > > cutlery, cups and glasses etc will be easy and not worth taking I expect. > > But I do a pretty large proportion of my cooking in a large wok and heavy > > cast iron skillets. The few native Russian contacts I have are baffled by > > the question of whether such a thing can be purchased in Moscow -- they > > don't have one, their friends don't have one. > > > > Of course it is a very large city, and asian people do live there. > > Everything must be available somewhere! > > > > I'm not planning to take very much with me from NZ. I'll need things like > > this more or less immediately, and shipping with DHL will cost about > > US$10/kg. At 1.4 kg for my small cast iron skillet, and 6.9 kg for my wok > > that's going to cost basically the same as I paid for them! But if it's > > going to be hard or impossible to find them in Moscow then it's maybe > worth > > it, > > > > > > - Banks. Where should I open an account? Aside from the obvious things > such > > as cards and ATMs, which banks (or other companies) are the best for > doing > > currency exchange and sending, say, $5k - $10k at a time home from > Russia? > > I'd prefer something with, say, a fixed $15 or $20 fee than someone who > > takes a percent or more out of the amount transferred. Is there a reason > to > > use foreign banks such as Citi or Rabo, or are local ones as > good/better?n > > > > > > - Restaurants. I've looked around in Raikin Plaza and the Ashan Siti > just > > over the railway lines on Sheremetyevskaya, but there seems to be a > > shortage of restaurants in the area, unless you go in to the garden ring, > > at least according to Google Maps. Is there anything suitable for regular > > use? i.e. cheap prices (def under 1000 RUB) but good (not fancy) food; > > healthy selection with salads, veg etc; ability to be in and out in 30 or > > 40 minutes rather than a drawn out dining "experience". > > > > Is there anything like that anywhere in Moscow, for that matter? > > > > > > - recommendation for rental car companies. I'd like to grab a car for a > > weekend sometime soon after I arrive, while I can still drive on my NZ > > license/International Permit, see what it's really like to drive in > Moscow, > > maybe head out of town e.g. maybe up towards Yaroslavl and look at the > > Volga and churches. Cheap and reliable is important. I don't care if it's > > 5+ years old with a few dings and 100,000 miles on the clock. I've driven > > in LA, SF, Seattle, Chicago, New York, DC. It can't be worse, right? > When I > > was there in December I was struck by the fact that although the traffic > > was very heavy, and people were pretty assertive about changing lanes, no > > one seemed to get upset about it and I didn't spot any collision damaged > > cars. > > > > I think that's all for now :) > > > > Thanks for any advice. > > > > Bruce > > -------------- next part -------------- > > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > > URL: > http://www.lists.ru/pipermail/expat/attachments/20150415/00a5d677/attachment-0001.html > > > > ------------------------------ > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Expat mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://www.lists.ru/mailman/listinfo/expat > > > > > > End of Expat Digest, Vol 126, Issue 6 > > ************************************* > > -- > This message has been scanned for viruses and > dangerous content by MailScanner, and is > believed to be clean. > >
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