I fell in love with Saint Petersburg so deeply that I came back to the beautiful city the following month. As the saying goes, “Happiness is multiplied when shared,” so I will share with you the best places to go, ways to get around the city, tips and tricks to save your rubles, and more.

St. Petersburg is the second largest city after Moscow, with a population of just over five million. It is often called “the Venice of the North,” like the other six cities (Amsterdam, Bruges, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Manchester, and Stockholm) because it has a network of canals. Located on the Neva river, which flows out to the Baltic sea, the city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great in 1703. Like Venice, St. Petersburg is renowned for its arts and culture.

Before we dwell into the gems of this Venice of the North, I have to warn you: it’s very easy to fall prey to the changing weather here. One day it’s 12C (53F) degrees, sunny with blue skies, and you can walk around with a t-shirt, but the next day it’s -9C (15F), freezing with snow covering the streets and sidewalks. As a result, I got sick twice. Make sure you dress appropriately.

Here are seven tips to enjoy the most beautiful city in Russia—if not in the world:

1. Always take the metro 

The fastest and most convenient way to get around the city is by metro. It’s pretty clean, cheap, fast, and better than being stuck in traffic. It will get you from A to B in no time. A single journey ticket costs less than $1 dollar or 45 rubles, but you’re better off with a 10, 15 or 20 trip multi-use card. You can buy a 10 trip card, which lasts for seven days for 355 rubles or $5.89. All stations have English information boards and ticket machines where you can refill your card using cash or credit card.

The underground stations are a piece of art. Make sure you give yourself enough time to appreciate the beauty of the Russian architecture. The only downside is that the escalators are like a stairway to hell. It takes at least 2-3 minutes in each station to go up or down. Russians dug the underground tunnels way deeper than you can imagine. In fact, the Saint Petersburg Metro is one of the deepest metro systems in the world and the deepest by the average depth of all the stations. The system’s deepest station, Admiralteyskaya, is 86 meters below ground.

2. Visit The State Hermitage Museum

The Hermitage is one of the largest and oldest museums in the world. It was founded in 1754 by Catherine the Great and has been open to the public since 1852. The Hermitage consists of five main buildings: the Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage, New Hermitage, and Hermitage Theatre.

The ticket cost for adults is 600 rubles ($10) and there are guided English tours every two hours. If you are a student, you get in for free. It’s also free on the first Thursday of every month and it is closed on Mondays. There are many rooms with a wide range of art exhibitions, like Egyptian history, Roman Empire, and Russian history.  It would take days, if not weeks, to explore each room.

In this video, I give a tour of the museum:

They serve a good range of international foods like pasta, wok, fish, grilled skewers, salad, etc. It will be tough not to drool, trust me. The best part is…your bill will never exceed $10! Most dishes cost between 200-350 rubles (around $3-$5).

The daily lunch is available on weekdays from 12 to 4 p.m. The daily menu includes buck wheat or rice, either chicken, beef or fish, coleslaw, delicious soup with sour cream, and the choice of Compote or Morse fresh Russian juice.

4. Visit The Saint Petersburg Mosque

5. Coffee Break at Biblioteka in Nievsky Prospekt

Everyone has a sweet tooth, even the people on Paleo, vegetarian or carnivorous diets. If you are on such diet, make sure you put it on a pause until after you finish your visit to St. Petersburg. Everyday, I explored coffee shops and I found Biblioteka to be one of my favorites.

Translated from Russian, “biblioteka” means library. The most unusual thing about this place is that it’s not just a cafe or a restaurant. On the third floor, there’s also a conference room, and a few bookstores. If you wish, you can spend the entire day in this space. At the cafe, try the Dutch Apple Pie with fresh cream or the Cherry Tart. Accompany that with their green tea with fresh mint leaves. You can always ask for a refill. They also have a variety  of soups—my favorite was the mushroom soup with sour cream and lemon.

6. Visit The Church of The Savior on Blood

The city’s architecture is predominantly Baroque and Neoclassical, but the Savior on Blood goes back to medieval Russian architecture in the spirit of romantic nationalism.

The architecture will take your breath away. The colors on top of the dome look like a carefully painted canvass. It will be difficult to understand how humans could build such beauty.

It’s closed on Wednesdays.

 7. Dinner at Katyusha, the most traditional Russian restaurant in St. Petersburg

If you want to travel back in time to the old days of Russia, an authentic Russian dinner at Katyusha is a must. Make sure to try Borscht soup. The waiters are all stunningly beautiful Russian women dressed in traditional jumper dresses. The interior design in charming—the tables are made of high quality oak wood and there are comfortable, colorful couches. For your entertainment, every night a singer comes in at 8 p.m. and performs while walking between tables. Prices are reasonable, around 2000 rubles, approximately $40 for dinner.

 

---

Demi Vitkute contributed to this post.

The post I fell in love with Saint Petersburg, Russia appeared first on The Urban Watch Magazine.

You know that adrenaline and excitement you get when you’re queuing for the ride? That was my friend Greta and I after we found stupidly cheap flight tickets and accommodation around Bali. Everybody gets excited when they book a holiday, and even more so when they actually arrive at the airport and the realness kicks in. Our transfer to the airport was hassle-free, and our flight was actually quite pleasant. Everyone loves it when you get out the airport on the other side, and that wall of heat hits you, and everything looks and feels tropical. But, being 2 young girls, as soon as we got to the airport in Denpasar we were bombarded by taxi drivers ‘asking’ to drive us. I say ‘asking’, but in reality it was hassling; they were brushing our arms, trying to help us with our bags and following us as we walked around. Usually, my Dad would take charge, pick someone and negotiate a good price all within a matter of minutes. Now, it was our turn. It got to the point where there were so many people following us, looking at us and shouting at us that I felt overwhelmed, and looked at Greta and said ‘I just want my Dad.’ This was my first shell-shocked experience. Anyway, after finding a driver and paying far too much money than we should have, we were taken to our hotel.

The taxi ride from the airport was a real eye-opener as to cultural differences. But I was prepared for this, so instead I let my eyes feast upon the scenery Bali had to offer. But don’t get excited, we are still going down on the rollercoaster. Arriving at our hotel, we were greeted by 3 sixteen-year-old boys that hardly spoke English. They were in charge of taking down our details and sorting out our room which I was very sceptical of. They then took us to our room where the second shock came. We hadn’t booked any expensive hotels as we’re students, but we had gone for the nicest possible rooms at the best price. This, however, looked nothing like the photos we’d been promised. Actually, I lie. It looked like the photos, however the photos must have been taken as soon as the hotel opened or been majorly photoshopped, and it seemed that since then the hotel or the room had never really been cleaned properly. We had cockroaches in our room, the bed sheets were stained quite badly and the ‘bathroom’ if you can even call it that, consisted of a crappy toilet, a dribbling shower just barely mounted on the wall and a dirty sink. Admittedly, I avoided the bathroom as much as I could during this time and tried to use beach showers whilst we were out as our one made me feel disgusting.

So, after various distressed messages were sent out to friends and family, after not unpacking (I didn’t want to put my clothes anywhere in the room) and after making sure all my valuables were completely locked up because the room didn’t feel secure, we headed out as soon as we possibly could to exchange some money and get dinner. Now, here’s a little up for you on the roller-coaster! We knew Bali was cheap, but we didn’t realise by how much! Our first dinner was nothing extra-ordinary, and not Balinese food (yet), but with a few drinks to help us take our mind off of the room, we were pleasantly surprised by the bill. We headed back to the room, went straight to sleep and woke up the next morning feeling like we had judged the room a bit too harshly. We figured that we wouldn’t actually be spending that much time there and that it would suffice for the short time we were there.

Back down the roller-coaster we go… So, we’d heard about an amazing beach club called ‘Potato Head’ from our friends and were told that we must go. Myself and Greta were feeling braver and had agreed the taxi price we’d be willing to accept beforehand. So, as soon as the first taxi agreed to that price, we hopped in and we were on our way. The taxi driver was really friendly and chatty, but of course everything was going too well! We arrived at the club and handed over the agreed price of 150,000 IDR ($11/£9) to him, he turned around and started arguing that we had to pay 250,000 IDR ($19/£15) because of the ‘traffic’. We argued back that there was no traffic, that it wasn’t fair as we had already agreed a price that we were all fine with and he ‘d been so nice and shouldn’t do this. We once again tried to hand him the money, but he threw it back at us and at this point he was getting frustrated and raising his voice. Luckily out of instinct, and partially because I was getting annoyed with him, I opened my car door just as he went to lock us in! I slid out, my friend threw the money and got out my side of the car, shut the door and we walked off as fast as we could. My heart was in my throat – I was so angry that he had suddenly turned back on the agreed price, and that he suddenly flipped and part of me was also scared to think what would have happened if we were stuck in the car with this angry man.

For now, we were safe. After security checks, we walked into the absolutely beautiful and amazing place which they call ‘Potato Head’, and instantly I was relaxed. They were playing chill music, there was an infinity pool with a pool-bar looking out onto the crashing waves of the ocean and people lounging around almost everywhere you looked just drinking vibrant coloured cocktails. We spent all day consuming over-priced cocktails out of shells and coconuts, cooling down in the turquoise waters and taking photos to make everyone back home jealous. Later on that evening, we met and had dinner with some of Greta’s friends who were travelling around Indonesia. We shared stories about our dramas so far, and they had their fair share too so we figured it was just the nature of travelling where we were. We went to bed on such a high and feeling super relaxed.

You guessed it. We’re going back down the roller-coaster super fast, and this time it’s bigger and scarier than any other time. Greta was bombarded with messages from friends and cousins of the people we had met up with the night before. Nobody had heard from them in over 12 hours, and people were starting to get worried. All sorts of scenarios popped up in my head- had they had an accident on the moped? Had they fallen in with the wrong crowd? Had they been drugged on a night out? Suffice to say, me and Greta were worried – we started brainstorming everything we could to try and possibly help. We headed down to the beach as there was nothing we could yet do until we got more information, but it was impossible to relax. A few hours later it was all resolved. The girls’ phones and credit cards had been stolen so they had no way of contacting anyone and didn’t have any money either. Thankfully a very kind lady had given them a hundred dollars to help them out, and they were both safe and fine.

This was another major shock for myself and Greta, and we realised just how careful we had to be. We were in a new country, alone, with money we couldn’t work out and with people who would do anything to try and rip us off. But, this was just the first 4 days of our Bali trip! There were many more ups and downs during the rest of the trip. Tune in next week for Part 2 of our ‘misadventure’.

Edited by Chermaine Sowa

The post Holiday in Bali: Bad Luck in the Tropical Paradise (Part 1) appeared first on The Urban Watch Magazine.

Just off the road, Jalan Datai, is a small but gorgeous beach named Pantai Pasir Tengkorak. It may look like a stretch of paradise, but it has a sordid past. ‘Tengkorak’ is the Malay word for ‘skull’ – Sandy Skull Beach, so-named due to the human skulls that used to wash up in the waves.

Legend has it that the tranquil waters are plagued with a great kraken-like beast that used to swallow mariners and spit out their bones. Some stories tell instead of a deadly whirlpool that sucked ships down, crushing all but the skulls of its victims. Other tales tell of a war between mythical birds where humans got caught in the crossfire.

An altogether different explanation links the beach’s deadly history to a Southern Thai island, Koh Tarutao, which can be seen from Tengkorak’s shore. Now a tourist destination, complete with visitor centre and entrance fee, throughout the late 1930s this island was a prison with more than 3000 inmates. Prisoners would flee to the sea only to fall victim to the shark and pirate-infested waters… a fate perhaps worse than a Thai prison,  or perhaps not.

Today the only skull left at Pantai Pasir Tengkorak is in its name, and there have been no reports of Krakens or whirlpools, nor  any renewed clashes between winged beings.

The beach is now ruled by monkeys, who generally pose no threat to humans. Although they will brazenly commit daylight robbery given half the chance, so it would be wise to put any belongings in the car before taking a dip.

Edited by Sarah Huntington

The post Fancy a Picnic on Skull Beach? appeared first on The Urban Watch Magazine.

The result is a collision of whimsy and terror that can never be unseen.

In its prime, the nearly 80-year-old park was a popular site for school excursions thanks to its vivid commentary on morality and retribution, and the free entry. Consequently, it is responsible for scarring generations of Singaporeans with over 1000 lurid and downright terrifying statues including a human crab, a lustful pig and a grandmother suckling the breast of a younger woman.

The most infamous tableau, however, is the graphic depiction of the pathway to reincarnation through the jaws of Hell itself. Ancient Chinese legend tells of the 10 Courts of Hell, all of which an evildoer must pass through to atone for his or her sins before being reincarnated.

While flinging someone into a volcanic pit is unlikely to be your first thought when asked how to punish someone for domestic violence, it is easy to accept that such a deed cannot go unpunished. Some of the other ‘crimes,’ however, are a little harder to stomach.

Ungratefulness will get your heart cut out; disobeying your siblings will see you ground to dust under a large boulder… Misuse a book at your own peril – this calls for having your body sawn in two.

Fortunately, there is an end to this Hadean nightmare. In the 10^th court an old lady wipes the memory of the newly atoned with a cup of magic tea, allowing reincarnation to begin. It seems, however, that not everyone is destined to live happily ever after – you could be reincarnated as a fossil; it would seem that some evil deeds can never be fully repented.

Ironically, a park so fixated on anguish and suffering was made a reality by an herbal heat rub created to do just the opposite.

In the 1920s, two brothers used a clever marketing scheme to turn a soothing ointment into a very lucrative ‘It’ item, beginning the Tiger Balm empire that remains unrivalled to this day. In 1937, the eldest, Aw Boon Haw, whose name not coincidentally translates to ‘Gentle Tiger,’ diverted some of his earnings into the creation of Haw Par Villa.

For years it was a cultural hub, yet in 1985 ownership was passed between several different organizations and, after suffering huge losses following an $80-million conversion into Haw Par Villa Dragon World in 1990, it slowly fell into disrepair.

The park has remained largely abandoned. The statues, somewhat faded yet retaining a striking quality, have created an eerie, disturbing and incredible experience that is not to be missed. The new owner, a heritage-tours travel company called Journeys, is well aware of this fact and seeks to firmly place Haw Par Villa back into the commercial spotlight. Already, in May, the park was transformed into the backdrop for an escape game that attracted 200 people – the first of many initiatives planned to reintroduce Haw Par Villa to the world.

Edited by Sarah Huntington 

The post Haw Par Villa: Singapore’s Forgotten Hell appeared first on The Urban Watch Magazine.