Muscovite Adz

Muscovite - people of Moscow. Okay, so the title makes little sense. I like it anyway, so there!

After reading Mel’s one-day tip to Moscow I instantly wanted to do it as well. But I didn’t want to do it alone because unlike Mel I don’t have a camera tripod so taking pictures will be a bit difficult if I were to go alone. So off I went to pay Ahmad a visit and turned out that he was planning to go to Moscow to in order to send his sister Adnin and two other juniors to the airport.

Am I lucky or what? :D The timing was just perfect!

Thus on Saturday night we went to Moscow via the 2.45AM train from Kursk, because that was the time when the fare was the cheapest. Whatmore with the fuel price increase, have to travel smart-lah right? We being budget travelers and all. The time was pretty convenient because once we boarded in, there was nothing much to do rather than sleep. And sleep we did, and we woke up right when the train arrived in Moscow at around 11AM. From Kurskaya station we went to Paveletskaya station (sort of like KL Sentral I suppose) where there was a shuttle train straight towards the Domodedovo airport (KLIA express anyone?). There the brother and sister parted ways, and after making use of the free public toilets there for me to wear my contacts, it was time for us to begin our day-long journey around Moscow. We had a lot of time to kill for our homebound train was at 12AM Monday.

CHINATOWN

Moscow's underground Metro.

First thing’s first – brunch! And what is cheapest option for budget travelers like us? McDonald’s, of course. After a brief consultation with the metro map we decided to head to Kitai Gorod (Chinatown) because it is a place where we had planned to go anyway. The day before the trip we had discussed on seeking at least one of Moscow’s famous Seven Sisters buildings, and there is one nearby Kitai-Gorod. So we took the metro there and upon exiting the station…walla! We saw the building from afar, hidden behind a lush green park and a complex of buildings. We took note of the location and all before following the sign to McDs. Got myself my favorite burger and vanilla milkshake (a must whenever I visit McDs), before we set forth towards the Seven Sister Building.



Doesn't really scream Chinatown to me. I was expecting a Petaling Street lookalike. Maybe I didn't really explore the whole Kitai Gorod?


But this is proof enough that we're at Kitai Gorod...


Kitai Gorod Park, I think. Dunno the real name.

We came across the park and decided to walk in there to seek advantage of the shades provided by the trees there. Some Muscovites were there leisurely lying around the park, sunbathing while reading a book, sleeping under the sun, and there were couples here and there berasmaradana, haha. This is a rather common sight during summer time. It was a peaceful park, whatmore with policemen patrolling around. As it was a rather warm day with the sun blazing, being in the shady park was quite a relief.


Some police cadets I think, camwhoring in front of a statue. :P

MOSCOW RIVER & BOAT RIDE

Before long we exited the park and began walking past buildings, heading towards the Moscow River. From there we were met with a grandiose sight of a Seven Sister building. Now, you might be wondering what the heck the Seven Sisters are by now. To put it simply, the Seven Sisters are the seven identical Moscow skyscrapers built during the lasts of Stalin’s reign in Moscow around 1947-1953. The one we saw here is called the Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building – an apartment for the elites!!


Kotelnicheskaya Embankment building - one of Stalin's Seven Sisters located at the Moscow River.


The road is closed here for the Moscow City Race taking place on that day. You can see the red Kremlin walls far ahead.

Lots of boats were there by the river and we decided to take a trip along the river because we might be able to cover more grounds rather than walking. And it was a good decision too, for not only we did just that we also managed to have some rest during the boat’s one and a half hour journey. The only downside was we had to sit under the sun because the shadier ones were already occupied – the last thing we wanted was getting tanner than how we were before. But no matter, this was probably our last time having the chance to tour Moscow by boat and it would be a waste to miss it.





Along the way we saw the Kremlin, a city racing was taking place right beside the Kremlin’s walls and the Moscow River. Ahmad managed to record some of the race as the boat sailed past the racing track, but that wiped out the battery-power of his DVD-camcorder so both of us had to rely on my old battery-sucking digicam. Luckily I had brought a lot of spare batteries for this trip!



This boat trip reminded me a lot of the boat trip I took while at St. Petersburg. Actually I had wanted to join the trip to St. Petersburg organized by some of the students here for the visiting parents of the graduates but it wasn’t meant to be. This boat trip at Moscow however pretty much made up for it.

KIEVSKAYA

We disembarked nearby Kievskaya Train Station which was pretty much the end of the line. We saw a fountain and decided to head there first. There, amusingly we noted that there were more Muscovites enjoying the free water. It was a warm day and thus it wasn’t really a surprising sight, after seeing the sunbathing Muscovites along the river earlier. It was however a sight to behold because you probably won’t see this back home. But then again, our country has a lot of water theme parks, whereas I don’t recall Moscow having any so the Muscovites used whatever water resources around them to enjoy the same kind of fun – fountains, rivers, anything….and best of all, they’re free! The water-lovers didn’t mind us tourists snapping their pictures too.


Another Seven Sister but I dunno what the name of the building is.

Since Ahmad and I am planning to fly from Kursk to Moscow on the 25th July, we decided to check out the train station because Vnukova Airport – the airport where flights from Kursk are going to land – is connected by a shuttle train service to Kievskaya station. A counter lady confirmed this fact for us so we were all set on taking the plane on the 25th if all goes well. From the station we headed to the mall where we marveled at the sight of a modern-age shopping complex – being in Kursk has made us kampong boys because the malls in Kursk can never compare with Moscow’s, or Malaysia’s. Didn’t buy anything, we just headed to the food court, but everything was so expensive we just got ourselves some delicious ice-creams.

ARBAT STREET

Arbat.

From Kievskaya station we headed to Arbat Street because I wanted to go to Hard Rock Café which is located there. Besides, Arbat street is also a renowned tourist attraction where rows of souvenir shops and hip cafes were lined along the street. In Arbat, both of us had gotten so dehydrated we decided to step in a sushi café. Browsing through the menus we decided to have our lunch there – the price was okay, even cheaper than the food court at Kievskaya mall! Fine-dining in Moscow...definitely not in our plan, but since Ahmad had accidentally left his prepared foods back at Kursk, some change of plan was needed. :P



Our tummies filled we began browsing around the street, not buying anything in particular. It was a pity the street was under construction, which at the time made it less charming than how it was supposed to be. Nevertheless we still had a blast watching the artists sketching a near-perfect portraits of their patrons, tattooists creatively putting in designs on their patrons’ bodies (I was really dubious of the hygienic quality of these tattoo parlors because they were set up in the middle of a dusty, under-construction street), clowns pretending to be statues, musicians playing all sorts of tunes under the sun. I also saw another Seven Sisters – the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building. Along the way I crossed path with a friend from RSMU who pointed out the way to HRC. However upon arriving at the café – after browsing around the collections I realized that the café did not take AMEX cards, only Visa and MasterCard. Darn. I didn’t have that much cash with me so after SMS-ing my folks telling that HRC Moscow souvenirs are a no-go I stepped out of the café. Well…never mind, I told myself. They’re just overpriced shirts.

RED SQUARE

It was already 6PM so we decided to head to our last tourist spot of the day – the Red Square! Probably the most synonymous landmark that’s associated with Russia, the Red Square is a must-visit for all tourists. I planned on getting some pictures there during daytime and twilight/night, if it’s possible.



The outdoor McDonald's at Manesh Underground.



At the small river (manmade?) in between the Manesh Underground Shopping Mall and the park there were lots of youngsters swimming about. See the two girls yang tengah bertenggek atas statue itik hitam tu? They posed there as if they're American Next Top Models! Sure kemaruk nak posing kat magazine but tak pass, hahaha! They posed for many tourists' cameras that day. And there were A LOT of people swimming in the river that day. Jangankan budak, mak bapak budak pun join sekaki. The waters didn’t even look clean in my opinion, after spotting sight of empty bottles floating, but these young Muscovites didn’t seem to care. That or it was too warm to care. They did seem to have a time of their life there. It was hilarious to watch; by this time I have concluded that in summer Muscovites have become somewhat "gila air". That, or the water supply in their houses were cut so they resorted to free water around town. What I don't get is how they could simply jump inside the river with all their clothes on, even shirts, jeans, skirts... don't tell me they are going to go home by parading across town dripping wet?


Entering the park. The fortress is the Kremlin.


Lively Sunday in the park.


I just remembered that I've forgotten to snap a 'Spring-theme' picture this year, so this shot pretty much compensates for the missed shot.


It was still pretty much the peak of the afternoon so we decided to once again walk around the park beside the Kremlin walls where a lot of people were having picnics, couples dating about, some taking advantage of the sunny weather to get some tanning done. As it was a Sunday it was also very lively in the park. I spotted a lot of couples doing what is shown in this picture, so mischievous me decided to snap them in action! Haha. Buat lagi kat tempat awam...as if they care. :P


Let's go to the Red Square! :D


Ada hantu terlepas! kat Red Square! Eh...silap, rupanya perempuan gila, or berpura-pura gila...

Afterward we went to the Red Square. Here’s the place where a lot of tourists were focused at, and we heard a lot of different languages spoken about here. It wasn’t my first time here, but it was my first time here during summer so I snapped loads of pics around here because it was going to be my last time here.



Resurrection Gate - one of the entrances to the Red Square. The blue structure before the gate is the Iveron Chapel.


Red Square, and the State Historical Museum northbound.


The Kremlin walls.


Lenin Mausoleum and Kremlin Wall Necropolis.


GUM Supermarket, where everything is so cut-throat expensive, don't bother going inside if shopping is your intention. :P


Colorful onion-domes of St Basil's Cathedral.


From Red Square, overlooking the city.


Mari lepak di atas bumbung shopping complex

It wasn’t gonna be dark soon we noticed, so we decided to take a breather on a park above the underground mall. The park is actually located on top of the mall's roof I think. There we located an empty bench and decided to wait there for dusk to come by. Now we know why some people love to loiter around, watching other people. It was kind of fun actually….wasting some time analyzing the people around you. Not that I’m recommending it – I did it because after slaving myself for six years studying I think I deserved an hour of melepak…and I did it because I was waiting for twilight to come by to get my shots. To pass time I decided to become a paparazzi as well, secretly invading other people’s privacy by snapping their pictures. I don’t think they could care less though but I was careful enough to switch off the flash function to avoid anyone noticing - that'll take away the fun of snooping around these Muscovites :P. There were families strolling about, enjoying the evening weather, couples lost in their own world, teens hanging out with their friends. Pretty much reminds me of KLCC park. :P

Anyway soon two ladies approached our bench, asking whether it was okay for them to sit there because me and Ahmad only occupied half of the bench. We said that it was okay, it wasn’t our bench so they were free to sit if they wanted so. One of the ladies looked a lot like Christina Aguilera during her younger years, albeit a bit tanned. Her companion I didn’t remember who she looked like. Just as they sat on the bench and were about to light a smoke, several pesky teenage boys walked past the bench and wolf-whistled the two ladies, one of them obnoxiously exclaimed, “Hey, girls! Which one of you is Angelina Jolie?” The girls ignored them – obviously they thought the boys were not up to their standard or so. Heheh.

However then there was a man (these girls really are guy-magnets) approaching them, with a proposal in hand. I didn’t manage to listen in to their whole conversation but I caught something like “I live on the third floor…blablabla….let’s go to the discotheque …blablabla…here’s my number…blablabla…..if you’re interested….” And the guy sat down in between us and the girls, thinking that these two foreigners wouldn’t understand a word he was saying. The girls however appeared interested. Ahmad and I decided to leave the bench, and from afar we snap, snap, snap their pics, teeheehee…. Our theory? Well, maybe it’s a business proposal, or a ‘business’ proposal….get it? Haha. Not gonna elaborate more on it. It’s a norm around here, not that we’re endorsing it.






It was already dusk then so off we go back to the Red Square to get our twilight shots here. The clock was already showing an alarming 10.30PM but we spent half-an-hour around here anyway since Kurskaya station is just a metro-stop away. Even more visitors were around this time around. We got our shots and decided to call it a night, heading back to Kurskaya to catch our train back home. By this time I was too tired, too sweaty, probably a bit smelly too although I made ample use of my perfumes and deodorants, hahaha. There was no time to change. Upon boarding the train I instantly set off to dreamland, and I woke up when the train was arriving at Kursk.

A great day at Moscow! Kurskians, if you have some time to kill and some cash to spare during a free weekend, just go there and have some fun.