Investment Opportunity in Georgia - Fish Farming & Agro Tourism

20 April, 2017 | Doing Business | 20 seen

The other morning I was contacted by acquaintance informing about interesting investment opportunity in Georgia. Investment opportunity involves fish farming and possible agro tourism.

As this investment asks more than $300,000 and is out of my knowledge, I decided to "list" it on blog as blog is getting a lot of eyeballs regarding invest in Georgia.

Here is the proposal:

This package is to find interested investors for 350,000 USD for a 49% share in the project. The entire farm and project is as of today on a fire-sale of sorts for about 200 000 USD for 100% ownership of 41 Ha (the original purchase price of the land in 2012) near to Sagarejo, Georgia plus all the information, research, data and project planning we as developers has or ever had.

The land was evaluated by Pro Credit bank at 400 000 USD and the entire project much more. As can be seen from the projections it is very profitable, the current owner and investors just don’t have money to do it. Some of the information is not relevant anymore but the land and the project is still valid.

There are 2 main possible project directions - “…

How To Remove HTML Elements From Drupal 7 Feed

20 April, 2017 | Drupal Development | 10 seen

In this article you will learn how to style RSS feed in Drupal 7 (not sure, but most bellow written should apply to Drupal 8 as well)

I'm using RSS feeds to power up e-mail newsletters, see How To Sync Drupal RSS Feed to Mailchimp, and everything would be fine, except I had to stop automated email marketing because of amazon affiliate links included in feeds, which is against Amazon Associates TOS. 

If you are sending out RSS feeds via email and you are not concerned breaching some rules with links included, this article is not for you, but if you are on Drupal, using Amazon Associates for product reviews and sending out e-mail newsletters powered by RSS, keep reading.

Visit your content type, under Manage Display scroll down to Custom Display settings and enable RSS feed

Custom Display Settings for Drupal 7 Content types

Next under RSS display settings manage fields you would like to keep, and set body to plain text (or some other predefined text format)…

How & Why To Hire a Virtual Assistant / Freelancer - UpWork.com

19 April, 2017 | Blogging | 28 seen

2017 have come with some fresh ideas and changes for me how to continue successfully grew my personal blog (the one you are currently reading).

It was back in December when I was intensively brainstorming  ideas on how could I keep my 365 days blogging challenge (an article per day) meanwhile rising the quality of content.

Another reason I was looking for a Virtual Assistant / Freelancer - I was looking for ways of doing less by myself and getting more free time on other, let's say organizing issues. 

This blog covers many different topics, which might not been related at the first glance, I write about my travels, restaurant reviews, also I write about my adventures in home remodeling, meanwhile I keep writing about gadgets, investments and more on. Let's say I have a lifestyle blog with fintech touch, In the past I've eliminated some of the topics in past, and  keep focusing 90% on things that really matters to me. 

There is a pretty popular section - All about Georgia, where I keep putting my notes on my discoveries in Georgia as I've been living here as an expat…

Review of Mintos Peer to Peer Lending After One Month of Investing

18 April, 2017 | Peer to Peer Lending | 14 seen

End of the February 2017, marked one full month since I've been investing to Mintos peer to peer lending platform. In this article I'll share some of my findings.

The idea to invest in Mintos Marketplace first arise at the start of 2016, when I was looking for a passive investment opportunities in Georgia (country). Back in these days a newly built platform popped up on my radar, see: Invest in Georgia - Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending - Mintos.com

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: Signup to Mintos.com here. By using this affiliate link for registration both you and I will receive — 1% of our average daily balance which should be paid in 3 installments for the first 90 days.

Now I was slow on actually starting to invest there for about 8 months, when…

Dividend Paying Stocks In Nasdaq Baltic Market By Yield

17 April, 2017 | Investments | 57 seen

After couple of years of pause in investments I have decided to return to investing.

It probably all starts with my New Year's resolution to save in my "retirement" fund a million dollars before I will turn 60. See: Road To Million Dollars in Saving Account

My goal for 2017 is to put aside, or more precisely to invest $8,561 throughout the year, not mandatory all money should be invested in stocks, in fact I have already invested a little bit more than $1,000 in peer to peer lending, in another Baltic "start up" - Mintos. See: My Start at Investing on Mintos Peer to Peer Lending Platform: Depositing Funds

I like Mintos because of one reason - they offer to invest in Georgian loans, as I have been living in Georgia for about 6 years, I always look on perspective ways to invest in Georgia. Invest in Georgia - Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending - Mintos.com

Now, my experience on investing in Baltic stock market starte in 2001 or 2002,when I first bought stocks of Latvijas Kuģniecība using privatization certificates. Which latter in 2005 I sold for about 500 or 600 Latvian lats and bought a Canon camcorder. In 2007 I…

Martkopi monastery

16 April, 2017 | Churches and Monasteries | 25 seen

Martkopi monastery complex is located some 30km from Tbilisi, Georgia. This place is best reached by car, but some could get here by hiking too, see: Hiking Route in Georgia - Norio Village - Martkopi Monastery

We first discovered it the end of February 2017 with one goal - to make stunning photography, as I've seen some really nice shots from this place, the truth turned out to be a little bit complicated, it took us about 5km hiking (each way) from Norio village, and once on site, I did find it hard to make that stunning photography. But here is what I think could work - there is another tower atop of Martkopi monastery, take that extra mile and you could produce nice aerial photography or use a drone.

Update: We returned here again in 2020 and this I was equipped with a DJI Mavic mini drone, and I managed to take some cool photography and video

During our latest trip to the monastery, we met priest Dato, with whom we are now friends on Facebook. We have been told that the place shelters about 100 people, disabled persons, and homeless people. Now, that's the true spirit of a church.

Martkopi monastery…

The Chronicle of Georgia, Monument Near Tbilisi Sea

15 April, 2017 | Tourism objects | 377 seen

The Chronicle of Georgia, also called History Memorial of Georgia is one of the hidden gems of Tbilisi.

Not at all a popular tourist spot, but definitely one of the impressive sites I have discovered lately. Located near the Tbilisi sea (it's a water reservoir actually) this place not only tells history of Georgia, but gives really spectacular views to surrounding vicinity. And impresses of it's size.

On a lovely Sunday's afternoon I packed my camera and tripod, ordered a taxi using Taxify app and asked to take me to this place and back (with waiting time for about 30 minutes). I paid 20 GEL, and by now I can say, made one of the best day trips in Georgia during my almost 6 years presence here. See: All About Georgia

If you feel indie travel just like me, take you options get there using taxi, marshrutka or maybe walking, or see how can I save you time and money by helping to plan your itinerary to Georgia, see organized tours in Georgia.

The Chronicle of Georgia

Now I would love to put this place in one shelf together with Sameba cathedral, Yerevan cascade and Garni Temple in Armenia. Really impressive sites…

Norio Village

14 April, 2017 | Railway / Bus / Ferry | 30 seen

Norio village is located in Gardabani district some 50 km from Gardabani and 25 km from nations capital Tbilisi.

My travels took me to Norio village at the end of February 2017, when we decided to make a lovely hiking trip to Martkopi monastery, we decided to travel here by public transport, in our case it was a marshrutka service leaving from Tbilisi (Samgori metro station).

Marshrutka final stop at Norio village in Georgia

Ride is marshrutka cost 1.5 GEL (as of February 2017) and took no longer than 30 minutes.

Marshrutka is a fun and very cheap way to explore Georgia, in past I've done a lot marshurtka trips across the country, though lately I prefer car private transfers

Concrete blocks in Norio village

Our route (about 5km) to Martkopi monastery started here.

I believe there is something interesting to see in Norio village itself, though in this case I'm listing it as public transport end stop. If you love indie travel and have decided to get to Martkopi monastery on your own, Norio village is a good reference point in fact.

Norio

Restaurant at Best Western's Tbilisi Art Hotel

11 April, 2017 | Restaurant reviews | 9 seen

This article is about restaurants review at Best Western's Tbilisi Art hotel located on Apakidze street 11 (behind the sports palace)

We visited this place on a Valentine's day 2017, ordered some basics, like Caesars salad, meal from fish and a dessert, also we ordered some glass of pink wine. Yeah, the basic stuff when taking your girl out.

Salmon with risotto 

Now, I wouldn't call this something special, let's say it was decent, not gourmet but decent. 

Lounge at Best Western's Tbilisi Art hotel

Chocolate fondue

Could be better, but still decent.

Hee Korean BBQ Grill in Chelsea, New York Review

10 April, 2017 | Restaurant reviews | 14 seen

Our latest trip to the United States was accompanied a lot by visiting local Asian cuisines, a Japanese Sushi place in Financial district (Zen Ramen and Sushi House, New York City) or Chinese noodle house in Philadelphia (Spice C - Hand Drawn Noodles in Philadelphia). Now it was time for Korean cuisine.

Hee Korean BBQ Grill is located on the corner of 6th Avenue and 27th street, which was just a few blocks away from our hotel room and INNSIDE NoMad hotel.

Frankly speaking, I do believe this was the first time for me visiting a Korean restaurant, and my first impressions were really good - unfortunetly I don't remember much from the names of the dishes we ordered, but they were great.

Menu at Hee BBQ Grill

As you can see prices are pretty affordable, and though I'm not an expert in Korean cuisine it was easy get to the point, by choosing among beef, shrimp, chicken or salmon base dish. I optet for some Beef Teriyaki which was just excellent

Beef Teriyaki

Served with grilled vegetables and rice. .

How To Order Goodies From US to Georgia - Usa2Georgia.com

9 April, 2017 | Living in Georgia | 102 seen

For those of you looking to ship goodies, like electronics, clothing, perfume e.t.c. from online stores located in the United States to Georgia, there is a simple, easy and affordable service - usa2georgia.com

I've been using usa2georgia.com for years, ordering items like hinges for my laptop (see: New hinges added to my HP Compaq 6510b), a laptop, equipment for DSLR camera, kitchen tools, even some food, clothing, perfume and more.

There is a small catch still, basically all of the items received in the US before been shipped to Georgia must be declared for customs, for items which price is more than GEL 300 a custom tax must be paid. Items worth less than 300 GEL are exempt from tax.

I always try to order some small items under $100 to avoid dealing with customs, as it might get really painful - you must go to Revenue Service to get some special tax payer code and taxes you are paying at the end are really not worth all of this process. 

In fact lately things in Georgia have developed pretty good, and there is little you cannot buy here. Back in 2012, 2013 and even 2014 it was tougher with product supply, and then I…

INNSIDE New York NoMad Hotel Review

8 April, 2017 | Hotel reviews | 31 seen

From the footsteps of mount Kazbegi in Rooms Hotel (Georgia) to the footsteps of the Empire State Building in New York city - that's how I could describe in short our hotel choice during the holiday season of 2016/2017

We booked Hotel Innside by Melia in New York city after our return from Philadelphia, for a 4 day sat and paid about USD 600.

This sophisticated hotel in the NoMad neighborhood of Manhattan features on-site luxury dining and contemporary accommodations. Madison Square Garden, Penn Station and the Empire State building are within 20 minutes' walk of INNSIDE New York NoMad.

Queen size bed

Though we booked a king size bed, we got a smaller queen size bed, us our room was on the 17th floor the nice view towards empire state building, especially in night - fully compensate this minor issue.

Floor-to-ceiling windows and contemporary decor are featured in every guestroom at the INNSIDE New York. A flat-screen TV, Bluetooth connectivity panel, Nespresso coffee machine, a complimentary refreshment centre including water, soda and juice, rainfall shower heads and complimentary WiFi are standard in each room as well…

Speed Up Drupal site by 76% Using Image Lazyloader

7 April, 2017 | Drupal Development | 9 seen

In this article you will learn how I managed to increase load times for a Drupal powered site (the one you are currently reading) by more than 76%.

Now the following tip will apply for Drupal sites heavily loaded with images. My website, which is now more than 3 years old,  features about 80% of photo stories, over the time, I have tried to limit my picture articles to 3 or less images, posting online the best of my work, but yes, there are articles with even 136 pictures, see Keukenhof tulips gardens in the Netherlands.

For each of the posts I'm using a head photo, done by using image fields from Drupal core, to make stories more Open Graph friendly. See: How to add Open Graph protocol for your Drupal site.

Now, I have tried many image optimization solutions, starting serving thumbnails ending compressing images in Adobe Lightroom, that have helped to speed up load times a lot, well  a 16mb image uncompressed in a post and then multiply it to at least 3 - 16x3 = 48 MB for a post with just 3 images. I compress my images specially for blog to about 100-200kb each, that helps a lot.

At one time I noticed…

Spice C - Hand Drawn Noodles in Philadelphia

6 April, 2017 | Restaurant reviews | 14 seen

I first discovered Spice C noodle house in Philadelphia back in 2013, and mentioned it on my article about streets of Philadelphia.

Now about 3 years later, re-discovered this place again, after arrived to Philly from NYC and stayed at a lovely Chinatown hotel - Sleep Inn, it turned out that Spice C Noodle House is just about a block away from our hotel.

Spice C Noodle house in Philadelphia

One of the things visitors will enjoy at this place, you can actually see how your noodles are prepared

Hand drawn noodles

It's allowed to photograph inside, but not allowed to make a video.

Shrimp noodle soup at Spice C

Mmm, yummy

Seagate Backup Plus Slim 1TB Portable External Hard Drive Review

5 April, 2017 | Gadget Reviews | 64 seen

I bought Seagate Backup Plus Slim 1TB Portable External Hard Drive at the Best Buy store in Manhattan, New York City at the start of 2017 for about USD 69. 

Now I could probably get a better price if opted to ship it online from Amazon store, see: Seagate Backup Plus Slim 1TB Portable External Hard Drive with Mobile Device Backup USB 3.0, Black (STDR1000100)

Back at the end of 2015, I bought a brand new Asus laptop with 500GB internal disk storage, the main goal for this laptop was to post-process photos taken by my Canon EOS Rebel T5 DSLR camera, after switching from JPEG to the RAW format, laptop started to run out of memory in about a year. To free up some space, I accidentally deleted some important pictures, which luckily I was able to restore. See: How To Recover Permanently Deleted Files (Canon CR2, JPG and more) on Windows

It was just the time to have a reliable backup for photos and videos. And here comes in Seagate Backup Plus Slim 1TB Portable External Hard Drive

Seagate 1TB Portable External Hard Disk

It comes with a 2-year limited warranty…