Moxy Hotel Lobby Bar in Tbilisi

3 March, 2019 | Restaurant reviews | 30 seen

Moxy hotels lobby bar in Tbilisi serves delicious coffee latte and offers a really stylish interior. The one you could find in the fine NYC hotels or at least high-end hotels in Georgia. 

Discovered by accident in January 2019  while walking with our almost 6-month old daughter. For me, it was something new to learn that Moxy is a brand by Marriott. If I were to travel to Tbilisi I might consider booking a hotel room here as well (despite it might be pricey, as paid for two lattes here almost GEL 20)

Top 10 Boutique / Luxury Hotels in Tbilisi (Georgia)

Interior at Moxy hotels lobby bar in Tbilisi

A trendy design popping all around the world nowadays. See: Rooms Hotel Kazbegi

Moxy hotel in Tbilisi

Might be a good place for meeting point as well

Charlie Pizza, Mazeikiai

2 March, 2019 | Restaurant reviews | 16 seen

Charlie Pizza is a Lithuanian fast food chain located all across the country, serving pizza, salads, pasta and other freshly prepared dishes.

It was in May 2018, when we visited the one located in the Mazaikai town. 

Starter plate at Charlie Pizza in Mazeikiai, Lithuania

Lithuanian Cepelinai served at Charlie Pizza

Cepelinai or didžkukuliai (singular: cepelinas) is a popular dish in Lithuania. They are a type of dumpling made from grated and riced potatoes and usually stuffed with ground meat, although sometimes dry cottage cheese (curd) or mushrooms are used instead. So named because their shape resembles that of a Zeppelin airship, cepelinai are typically around 10–20 cm long, although the size depends on where they are made: in the western counties of Lithuania cepelinai are made bigger than in the east. After boiling, the cepelinai are served with sour cream sauce and bacon or pork rinds.

A burger at Charlie Pizza

You'll find Charlie Pizza at most of the larger cities of…

Fluffy Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes

1 March, 2019 | Food blogger | 11 seen

On January 13th, 2019 little baby Fischer girl turned 6-month old, to celebrate it, we enjoyed a lovely Old New Year's Fireworks in Tbilisi and momma baked tasty fluffy lemon/raspberry cupcakes.

Lemon / raspberry cupcakes

(Source: LEMON RASPBERRY CUPCAKES) 
LEMON CUPCAKES

• 6 tbsp (84g), unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cups (155g) sugar
• 6 tbsp (86g) sour cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
• 3 large egg whites
• 1 1/4 cups (163g) all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 4 tbsp (60ml) milk
• 2 tbsp (30ml) water
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

RASPBERRY FROSTING

• 4 oz (113g) raspberries
• 1/2 cup (112g) salted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup (95g) shortening
• 4 cups (460g) powdered sugar
• Raspberries, for topping
• Lemon slices, for topping

INSTRUCTIONS

'Is tourism harming Venice?' DW Documentary

28 February, 2019 | Documentaries | 42 seen

Venice is threatened by mass tourism. Some 30 million visitors a year come to the city in Italy, making their way through the narrow streets.

it has been a while since we returned from our latest Italy trip, back at the end of 2015 and start of 2016. We greeted the New year of 2016 in Venice's St Mark square, the place which was so overcrowded that the only way to make decent photography of cathedral was using long exposure photography.

With staying overnight at Hotel Guerrini in the city center without heating I didn't feel welcomed very much here in Venice. Now, I have never been a fan of AirBnb, and I agree it should be somehow limited and more regulated.

With an infrastructure more and more tailored to the needs of tourism, the city’s remaining residents feel left behind. During high season an influx of up to 130 thousand tourists a day means the city authorities have scant resources to cater for the more mundane needs of residents. A constant flotilla of small boats ferries passengers between city landing stages and giant cruise liners moored in the lagoon. Air quality in Venice is often worse than busy city centers.…

Highest Deposit Rates in the World by Country 2019

27 February, 2019 | Macroeconomics | 80 seen

There are many options to consider when looking to grow your hard earned money - stocks, bonds, the relatively new peer to peer lending, and of course -  bank savings or deposits.

As a small and growing investor, I'm always looking for a higher yield investment, and despite deposits doesn't fit in my wealth building strategy, I have made some money in the past. 

In 2019 I would favor peer to peer lending marketplace like Mintos.com over the hustle of opening a foreign bank account in a distant country just to chase a higher deposit rate. 

• How To Open A Bank Account in U.S., As A Non-resident Non - citizen, Wells Fargo Bank
• Opening a Bank Account in Republic of Georgia

Both individuals and entities can invest through Mintos. Individual investors must be at least 18 years old, have a bank account in the European Union or third countries currently considered to have AML/CFT systems equivalent to the EU, and have their identity successfully verified by Mintos. At the moment, US citizens or taxpayers cannot register as investors at Mintos.

Affiliate link here: Sign up to…

Documentary - Scammed: Investment Fraud Revealed

26 February, 2019 | Documentaries | 9 seen

Interesting documentary about fraudulent investment schemes in Indiana, US.

From Wall Street to Main Street in cities and towns across Indiana…anyone with money to invest is vulnerable to financial fraud.

Business professionals we thought were trustworthy sometimes lie, cheat, and steal for their own personal gain.

In this documentary, we reveal criminal cases in which fraudsters bilked Hoosiers of millions of dollars. We’ll find out how investors were scammed by deals that sounded too good to be true or by sharing an affinity with the perpetrator. We’ll hear how the scams unraveled, learn from past mistakes, and discover how to prevent future financial fraud through education and recognizing warning signs.

Watch on YouTube

Tbilisi sea

24 February, 2019 | Lakes | 39 seen

The Tbilisi sea or Tbilisi reservoir is an artificial lake in the vicinity of Tbilisi that serves as a reservoir. The lake has a length of 8.75 km and a width of 2.85 km. It was opened in 1953 and has become a popular recreation spot.

There have been plans to develop the Tbilisi sea into a recreational park with various sports facilities.  One of the most active developers in the Tbilisi sea area are Chinese investors from the Hualing group, see Hualing Tbilisi Sea Plaza

I first discovered Tbilisi sea back in the Summer of 2014, when we decided to get here by bikes, see: Cycling to Tbilisi sea and back

Tbilisi reservoir

There are many interesting objects located near the Tbilisi sea, like in the above picture you can see The Chronicle of Georgia, Monument Near Tbilisi Sea

Tbilisi sea is very popular in hot summer for locals and city guests 

Tbilisi sea is situated 650-800 meters above sea level and is a perfect "Get-A-Way" from the hot town in the summer.

Tbilisi sea

Pokaiņi Forest

23 February, 2019 | Tourism objects | 58 seen

The Pokaini Forest, located 80 km south-west of Riga, Latvia near the small town of Dobele is a place where myths, superstition and mysterious events co-exist.

The Pokaini Forest is a picturesque location and an ancient holy site famous for the wondrous legends told about it. Take a walk along the path and find out more about this energetic place.

I first visited Pokaini forest back in 2008 or 2009. A lot has changed (developed) since then. During my latest trip here in May 2018, I did find many things have greatly improved like there is a kind of a tourism information center built, more trails are made and actually, the territory seems much larger than it was some 10 years ago. Not sure about the energetics but for a lazy Sunday walk this is a great place. 

Currently, there are walking paths totaling 15 km in length in the forest. The stone agglomerates have been carefully cleaned, and certain stones were given names.

Trails at Pokaini

Mysterious Pokaini Forest has long been long been shrouded in legends and myths. It is a very special and strange place that many consider being a strong anomalous zone.  …

How and Why To Invest in Mintos Secondary market

22 February, 2019 | Peer to Peer Lending | 67 seen

I'm not a huge fan of any secondary markets (Except probably just Tbilisi flea market), but at the end of February 2019 Mintos run out of the GEL loans (the last time it happened at the end of August).

As more than half of my portfolio consists of investments in GEL and I have no plans to exchange them overnight to EUR or any other currency I decided to explore my options.

And here comes in the secondary market.

In the past, I've used Mintos secondary market just twice, first time I used it in March 2017 ( seems just to experiment) and the second time on February 22, 2019, to buy GEL loans from the secondary market.

No loans in the Primary market

A huge was my surprise seeing no GEL loans available.

In short, I believe it's more a temporary issue than a long term problem. On the other hand, I remember from August 2018 GEL loan shortfall I got about half of my loans bought back and one of the loan originators (BIG) left the marketplace.

I hope this is not the case now. As there are just a few GEL loan originators (Creamfinance, Lendo and ID Finance).

Now it was the time to head to…

Top Peer to Peer Lending Sites 2019 (Highest Yields)

20 February, 2019 | Peer to Peer Lending | 14 seen

Peer to peer lending is a hot topic in 2019. Both novice and seasoned investors are putting some serious money into peer to peer lending. 

I've been familiar with this type of investment since 2016, and starting 2017 have actually invested some money. When speaking about me - there is just one peer to peer platform I personally have tried, still, use, and could kind of recommend to others - and I'm talking about Latvian fintech giant - Mintos.

I've written countless articles about my experience with Mintos, you could just follow this topic, or see my latest review here: Mintos.com Review After 24 Month of Investing in Peer to Peer Lending

Both individuals and entities can invest through Mintos. Individual investors must be at least 18 years old, have a bank account in the European Union or third countries currently considered to have AML/CFT systems equivalent to the EU, and have their identity successfully verified by Mintos. At the moment, US citizens or taxpayers cannot register as investors at Mintos.

Affiliate link here: Sign up to Mintos.com here. By using this affiliate link for registration…

Degusto (Aghmashenebeli avenue 148-150)

19 February, 2019 | Restaurant reviews | 26 seen

Degusto is a popular diving chain in Tbilisi. The food here is sold by weight for very budget-friendly prices. 

They have excellent sweets and really tasty cappuccinos served at Degusto. The one located on Aghmashenebeli avenue 148-150, Tbilisi is just next to the Champions Academy, and sometimes I visit it after the gym.

The food court at Degusto 

There are some cold and hot dishes available, from the cold dishes there are salads, while from the hot ones you can choose to have, sausages, chicken strips, pancakes and more. Sometimes they have a fish.

Caesar salad, cucumber & tomato salad +  fish

Top 20 Best Selling Gaming Laptops / Notebooks with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Graphics card

18 February, 2019 | Laptop Reviews | 21 seen

Take on today's most challenging, graphics-intensive games without missing a beat. The GeForce GTX 1070 Ti and GeForce GTX 1070 graphics cards deliver the incredible speed and power of NVIDIA Pascal™—the most advanced gaming GPU architecture ever created. This is the ultimate gaming platform. 

In today's article, I've listed top 20 best selling gaming laptop/notebook computers with NVIDIA GeForce GTRX 1070 8 GB graphics card available for sale on Amazon.com

Most of the top best selling Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 laptops are powered with the latest 8th generation Intel Core i7 8750H processor.

Alternatively, see

• Top 20 Best Selling Gaming Laptops 2019
• Top 20 Gaming Laptops with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB Graphics card

A quick note: This article contains affiliate links to Amazon.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a purchase on Amazon site, I will earn an affiliate income at no cost to you. Prices for laptops listed on this page are retrieved using Amazon Product Advertising API and is updated daily. For…

Rustavi Auto Market (Buying a Car in Georgia)

17 February, 2019 | Shopping Venues | 73 seen

Rustavi auto market is one of the most popular and useful places for buying a used car in Georgia (imported mostly from the US, but probably also from Asia and Europe). 

It was at the end of 2018, we decided to buy a car here in Georgia. After research on the most popular Georgian auto website myauto.ge we decided to stick with a Volkswagen Touareg  car (yes, damn expensive in exploitation, but safe)

To get to the Rustavi I decided to call my old pal - Ramaz, sincere taxi driver. Ramaz helped to inspect cars, translate conversations and at the end even to screw car plates on our new car. Rustavi is really close to Tbilisi, the drive didn't take more than 30-40 minutes.

Rustavi auto market

Turns out Rustavi International Motorpark is located just next to the auto market. 

Buyers from neighboring Armenia and Azerbaijan are common guests here, as seems it's cheaper to buy a car in Georgia and then re-export it to Armenia/Azerbaijan. 

The market is divided into kind of sectors starting economy class cars ending high-end premium class vehicles. In the auto markets territory…

Panorama Riga Observation Deck (Latvian Academy of Sciences)

16 February, 2019 | Tourism objects | 66 seen

The 107-meter tall building is considered the first high-rise in Latvia. It has been a prominent fixture of the Riga cityscape since the 1950s.

There are a total of 766 rooms on the 23 floors, occupied by scientists, researchers, historians, and various companies. 

It was in May 2018, when I first visited the observation deck located in Latvian Academy of Sciences building) and I was really impressed. So impressed that I would call this place actually the Empire State Building of Riga. Instead of paying USD 65 and waiting a couple of hours in the line (like in the NYC) here we paid EUR 5 entry ticket and without any line were taken up to the observation deck. Awesome. 

The Empire State Building & Observation Deck Tour

Latvian Academy of Sciences building

Couldn't fit in a landscape mode, and don't love portraiture. lol

The Academy of Sciences is one of the most notable examples of the so-called Socialist Realism in Latvia. The building was originally meant to become the Kolkhoz Workers’ Building or a hotel and dormitory for collective farm workers who come…

Top 5-star hotels in Astana, Kazakhstan

15 February, 2019 | Hotel reviews | 24 seen

Astana took over the role of the capital city from Almaty (the largest city) in December 1998. Now, it is undergoing a transformation costing billions of dollars, where top international architects assist in trying to make Astana a worthy capital - not only of Kazakhstan but of all Central Asia. Thus, Astana presents an interesting and intriguing blend of old Soviet architecture with the modern designs of Norman Foster and the likes.

Astana is growing, but still does not offer the comforts and thrills of its Western counterparts, or Almaty, but has its own charms and pleasures.

According to Booking.com, there are not many 5 star hotels in Astana. In today's article, I've listed the top 5 star hotels in Astana, Kazakhstan

Disclosure: this article contains links to Booking.com, by clicking on links on this page and by making a reservation on Booking.com site, I might earn an affiliate income, at no cost to you

Located in Astana’s government district, this 5-star hotel has 2 elegant restaurants and a large spa with pool. Its air-conditioned rooms and suites include a spa bath and free WiFi…