Hey Bruce, Ex Moscow expat here. When I was working there I used Alfabank, and still do, from the states. For restaurants, I would actually checkout foursquare.com, it's pretty active and accurate in Moscow. There are also a few good Russian domestic review sites, but I still tend to find foursquare more accurate.
Rental car question confuses me :P Why not just take the train to yaro? Totally understand if you're a car person who just enjoys having your own car, but sapsan and intercity rail can be delightful, granted you aren't riding in platzkart (which you should at least once) How long are you staying in moscow? Hitting yaro the second week there seems a bit aggressive. I know you were already there for two weeks... but it usually takes a bit of time settling in. As for driving in Moscow... number one rule about being an expat in Russia is not talking shit about Russia, so i'm withholding my opinion on this public forum. Another tip, http://uber.com and http://gettaxi.com are fully functioning in Moscow and both support cashless transactions. If your Russian isn't strong enough to be negotiating fares this is another great transportation option. Also, surprisingly, paypal has a fantastic rates right now (most likely promotional/temporary) moving rubles in and out of russia for a very small feet. At least for Americans, SWIFT is extremely limited and costly for small to medium wires. It's a bit of a hassle though, as you have to open up two paypal accounts, one for you home country, and one for your bank in the РФ. On Tue, Apr 14, 2015 at 6:17 AM, Bruce Hoult <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Expat mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.lists.ru/mailman/listinfo/expat > http://www.expat.ru/forum/ >
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