Category Archives: Travel

Izmaelova

By | Shopping, Travel | One Comment

After all the bragging Richard did, we got so excited and searched for our own finds!

Previous entry:  Welcome Dinner by Richard and Sasa  October 28, 2013

Richard and Sasa set aside a day for us to go outside about thirty minutes away from the city.  We really spent the whole day here! 🙂  We have been waiting to go here because we were stopping ourselves from shopping in all the souvenir stores we went to in St Petersburg 🙂  This is an outdoor flea market which is why the prices are half or even one third of what you see in the stores!  Make sure to bargain just like any flea market!  We loved this place 🙂

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Matryoshka dolls heaven! 🙂
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Our meeting place since it was a store that had heater and it was enclosed 🙂  Though we also bought quite a few items here – watches and antique gadgets
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Icons

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Ararat Park Hyatt Moscow

By | Accomodations, Travel | No Comments

Our home in Moscow for 4 days.  The hotel was recommended by Richard and Sasa and they helped with the booking.  It’s centrally located though we were not even able to go around the area.  You tend to do the far away places first and then you realize you have not gone around the places nearby!  This always happens 🙂  So we missed going to the beautiful department store that was right across the street!    

I noticed that the newer and more modern hotels make their rooms dark – with very little lighting.  I think I still prefer bright 🙂  When it’s bright you have the option of dimming or reducing the light when you want to be romantic 🙂  But when it’s dark and there are no more options to add more lights, what do you do? 🙂

Day photo of the lobby looking up

Click below to go to their website for more information

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Welcome Dinner by Richard and Sasa

By | Real Estate, Travel | 4 Comments

When we arrived in Moscow, we immediately went to the flat of Richard and Sasa! Our gracious hosts in Moscow.  

On the way to their place, we passed a very nice part of Moscow.  It’s one of the most expensive residential areas in the world, Ostozhenka/Golden Mile, according to the British Wealth-Bulletin Magazine.  If you think London is expensive, nothing beats this!  Around US$ 40,000.00 per square meter!  

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I also saw this very modern building called the Copper Housewelcome-dinner-by-richard-and-sasa-33.jpg

Here’s a better photo

Source:  http://archi.ru/projects/russia/503/zhiloi-kompleks-copper-house

According to Sasa

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Richard and Sasa Smith!!!  Such a wonderful couple!!!  We fell in love with them the day we met them! 🙂  Richard is an American with Filipino ways!  He’s probably even nicer than a Filipino!  ( haha just exaggerating ) He is super funny, super down to earth, super nice, super helpful and super everything! 🙂  Sasa is the same and they took care of us the whole time!  I was looking at Sasa as she looked familiar and then found out she is the sister of a friend, Jorge Lichauco.  Both so nice 

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The door of their condo is like a vault! It has double doors 🙂  This is giving me ideas 🙂  
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They have a beautiful and big place!!  They are only two yet they have all this! 🙂  It is in this house where all the Filipino friends stay when in Moscow! haha!!  Too bad they are not there anymore now as Richard has be assigned to London!  Wow, we are making sure we visit them there too! 🙂
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Oops I forgot the third member of the family living in the flat – Kino the Bichon frise.  Super cute dog!
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They have a nice patio 🙂 
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and oh my gosh!! with a beautiful view of the Zachateyevsky or Holy Conception Convent! 
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We met Richard and Sasa through Tito Manny and Tita Ina Dizon!  Our companions during our trip
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Photo op with Kino 🙂
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So happy to be in Moscow!  Thank you Richard and Sasa! Cheers!!
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It was nice to meet another super nice couple, Nolet and Gidget who is living and working ( Coke ) in Moscow as well.  They live nearby Richard and Sasa 🙂 
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Vodka tasting
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Kino eating out appetizers 🙂
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Beautiful dining chairs by Benjie Reyes.  I love seeing Filipino made products in other countries!  They look even more beautiful and rare!
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Beautiful tassle napkin rings from the Philippines too

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Our homemade dinner!! YUM!!  Sasa told me that she learned to cook from her Mom who used to give cooking lessons!!  No wonder the food was so masarap! 🙂
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 Salts!!

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 Aha! Someone is collecting Starbucks mugs! 🙂

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Our gracious host- always makes us smile – he reminds me of Jim Carrey 🙂 
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Richard and Sasa are so lucky to have Beth.  She cooks so well.  Sasa will not live anywhere without her 🙂  
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Russian ice cream that looks like a deli roll 🙂
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Homemade butter rhum cake!!! YUM!
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Kino’s time out chair 🙂 
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Richard showing us all his great finds from the flea market
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Garage of the building
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Train to Moscow

By | Travel | No Comments

From St. Petersburg, we took the train to Moscow.  It was only about 3 hours

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Oh boy!! Be warned that getting a porter to do this is quite expensive but we had no choice.  On the cart is a sign which says how much.  I should have taken a photo of it.  But when I looked, they removed the sign.  Make sure to look for the sign so there is no way they can charge you more.  Unfortunately, they were trying to charge us more, but we stuck to what Marina told us to give. I think it was 250 ruble per piece    
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Food was not so good, so I suggest you eat before or bring your own food 🙂
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Khochu Kharcho Georgian Restaurant

By | Foodie, Travel | No Comments

Our last dinner in St. Petersburg!  We asked Marina to take us again to a Russian restaurant.  James’ favorite sign in Russia –  PECTOPAH ( restaurant ):-)  

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We loved this place and we loved the food!
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Super yum Cheese with tomato
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We ordered a lot of cheese dishes! They had lots in the menu!
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 Super yummy charcoaled dishes!!!

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Beef
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Lamb chop
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Chicken
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Lamb cubes
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Toilet
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Click below to go to their website

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Which is part of a chain of restaurants!
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by GINZA PROJECT

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Podvorye Restaurant in Pushkin

By | Travel | No Comments

Heart2Heart loves Russian food!!!! We were so happy to go to another Russian restaurant after visiting Catherine the Great’s Palace in Pushkin.  Marina took us here since we requested for a Russian restaurant.  It looked like an a place in an amusement park 🙂 

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nice garden
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Outdoor dining as an option
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Log Cabin 🙂
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Bear! 🙂
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It’s a touristic place!  But we loved it!! The place was full!!
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Third bear in the resto 🙂
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Second floor – we were early so the people did not arrive yet but the whole place was full by 1pm
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Russian style Herring
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Russian salad
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I think this was chicken ordered by dad- it was soooo good!!!
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Borscht! is a Russian dish
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 YUMMY chicken ala kiev!!! I am so happy!!! 🙂  And I love it that they always have rice!

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Beef stroganoff!!!!! Also a Russian dish!!!! This was super yummy!!!!!
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Russian crepes which Marina ordered
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Click below to to to their website

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Pushk Inn

By | Foodie, Travel | One Comment

One of our meals was in a hotel near our hotel 🙂  Russian food recommended by the hotel

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Russian salad- Mom was ordering Russian salad in all the restaurants as well and they came in different ways
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Russian Style Herring which the fish eaters seemed to like in most restaurants we went topushkin-inn-8.JPGpushk-inn-menu-3.jpg

They make good risotto in Russia! I have noticed this in the Italian Restaurant, Barbaresco and in another Russian restaurant and in this one

Tiger prawn risotto 
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Porcini mushroom risotto
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Chicken ala Kiev!! We ordered this in every Russian restaurant we ate in! YUMMY IN ALL!!  I liked this one it had shoestring potatoes under it 🙂
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Spaghetti Bolognese
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