Overblog
Suivre ce blog Administration + Créer mon blog

commuting

Shopping trip failure - vlog-

Publié le par Charly Cross

So, as mentioned in last Sunday's entry, today I will post a vlog video, with a little explanation.

I think YouTube is messing up the audio of the videos. So, if you don't hear well, blame both the beginner me and YouTube. You get to see glimpses of Bucharest that you don't usually see in travel blogs and magazines, along with random Romanians going about their way. yay?

As I'm trying to explain in this video, my friend ordered a product online, and she was supposed to go pick it up. I went along and recorded the adventure. It took us some 45 minutes to the [mini]mall where the place [called eMag] was. We were told to wait in line, and after some half an hour they said their server crashed O.O and that it would probably last some 45 minutes to fix it.

And so we waited, as we hoped it would be true. So we tried out this café place with a really nice view. I had a sandwich as I was starving - and it was pretty good. Don't ask about its name as I forgot it and I don't even remember seeing it posted anywhere.

My friend went back to the store - we then realized it was a showroom only, and the server worked for some 5 to 20 minutes and crashed again. Some 20 minutes before closing time! (at 9pm - most other stores close at 10 pm) We still stayed, as we weren't the only people needing to pay for stuff. Of course we waited in vain.

The video ends with me complaining about their customer service and just how generally uncool this [mini]mall was. They were supposed to call her the next day, but didn't. As expected.

While this shopping trip seemed like a failure, it was actually a disguised blessing. Some days later we found the product she wanted at another store and the full price wasn't even the one eMag mentioned! They said they were selling it for 50% off - full price being some 190 Lei? The store we found was selling it for just 120 Lei full price [tax included, as in Romania the prices shown on the shelf includes the sales tax].

My friend ended with getting another similar product that was on sale, from the second store. Happy ending!

What I didn't mention in the video was that while we were waiting in line the first time around, we decided to get a mouse as well - it was pretty cheap. Except the guy told me I would have to go back the next day or the day after to pay and pick it up: they didn't have it in stock!


© Charly Cross 2013-present. All rights reserved.

You can now buy merch inspired by this experience, from here. There are more types of items available, not just the tote bag I made as default.

Voir les commentaires

Exploring Bucharest

Publié le par Charly Cross

This blog entry is LONG overdue. And I mean, 1 year overdue! wow! So, everything you'll see here was recorded in 2016, but I never got around to do anything with all this material. Today is a good day to show you all that I gathered.

 

I like looking at old buildings and imagine their history - what did they look like when they were new, what did people think of them, the lives of those that lived in them as well as what did they think of the construction they called "home."

 

Some buildings are nicer than others, but I rarely discriminate - I'm usually able to see beauty in the weirdest places and forms. All the images are from Bucharest, but you won't see them in any travel guide as they're generally from residential areas. The video will show you both sides of the river splitting  the city in half and was recorded in early spring - March, and then a few weeks or a month later.

 

The next few houses cannot usually be seen by tourists. Well, I also forgot where exactly they are located, sorry.

Exploring Bucharest

I know where this one is. On a very quiet street, uptown, in a very posh and expensive area. The street has 2 lanes, one for each direction. In my opinion, the picture doesn't make it justice, or maybe my memory is bad. The roof covers the sides, like a mountain house. I remember it was love at first sight when I laid my eyes on it the first time around.

Exploring Bucharest

The next one must have looked really good at first. I really like that patio in the "tower" - it must be my favorite feature of this house.

Exploring Bucharest

I wonder if anyone bought this next house. It looks really bad, but I see a lot of beautifying potential in it. Since [I'm pretty sure] it was on a quiet street, the possibilities are quite many for it.

Exploring Bucharest

Next, is an old and rather ugly apartment building. I believe its facade was redone, but it simply is not as impressive in my eyes. I forgot why I took a picture of it - perhaps the creepiness factor was what drove me to it. Maybe it looks better in real life? Anyways, you can easily see this one downtown as it is on one of the main street tourists are taken on a double-decked bus.

Exploring Bucharest

I also like mosaics. The one with blue tiles can be seen downtown in Unirii Square, in one of the fountains. I'm not sure if all the fountains have the same mosaic design, because I never really paid close attention. Perhaps they're just similar? The brownish one was the floor of a shop uptown, in an old building. That's all I remember.

Exploring Bucharest
Exploring Bucharest

And if you made it this far, maybe you want to take a short bus ride with me? Tourists don't really get to see this scenery.

Since I'm trying to learn Chinese, i tried translating the video title into Chinese.

You should let me know if you want more posts like this one. I still have some unpublished pictures.

 

Until next time, stay safe!

 

[ps: i just started learning Chinese, so please don't be too harsh on me]


© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Voir les commentaires

Using the public transportation in Bucharest

Publié le par Charly Cross

Bucharest has a very goo public transportation system, this allowing you to reach any area you're curious about, with ease. There are many more bus routes compared to the routes of the trolleybuses, trams, and subway. They'll usually leave you right next to your destination or within walking distance.

So the easiest way of reaching Downtown is by public transportation and while I read that some countries have some bus routes free of charge, this is not the case in Bucharest. In fact ticket inspectors come to check your ticket quite often. The fare for one way, is 1.3 lei for the above the ground routes, no matter how far you go... I guess this is about some US .50 cents? If you're caught without a ticket, you must pay 50 lei (about 11USD).

most commonly seen tram

most commonly seen tram

Speaking of tickets, we don't use those anymore. Instead we have some cards that can be loaded with either trips, monthly passes, a combination of the two, or a certain amount of money (not more than 15 lei). They're the size of a regular bank card. To recharge, you need to find an open "ticket" booth - all of them accept cash in lei. Only some of them accept credit or debit cards. Below is a closed bus ticket booth near my [uptown] place - it used to close at 2PM and it's not opened on weekends.

Using the public transportation in Bucharest

Let's be clear, a charged card doesn't mean you paid your fare for the trip, unless you have a monthly pass. You're supposed to pay for your fare as soon you get on the [trolley]bus or tram. All the public transportation vehicles have some orange machines like the one below and all you have to do is put the card as close as possible to its front and dark circle. A green light and a BEEP will tell you you've been successful. A really loud and long BEEP with a red light will tell you an error occurred and you have to try again. Multiple charges are not possible by default, but you can pay the fare for others that are with you. This is done by pressing the button labeled 2 for as many times as possible. 

from instagram: 2nd pic by @eduardintaiul [that's not the bus card]. 3rd pic by @nr137. 4th pic by @dracon1312.from instagram: 2nd pic by @eduardintaiul [that's not the bus card]. 3rd pic by @nr137. 4th pic by @dracon1312.
from instagram: 2nd pic by @eduardintaiul [that's not the bus card]. 3rd pic by @nr137. 4th pic by @dracon1312.from instagram: 2nd pic by @eduardintaiul [that's not the bus card]. 3rd pic by @nr137. 4th pic by @dracon1312.

from instagram: 2nd pic by @eduardintaiul [that's not the bus card]. 3rd pic by @nr137. 4th pic by @dracon1312.

As you can see, there is a screen too where various messages are displayed in Romanian. If you were successful in paying for your trip, you should be shown how much money is left on the card - sometimes the message is too fast. Sometimes, error messages are shown, like in the 3rd picture above and this usually means you can't even attempt to pay for your trip. 

 

It seems RATB [the company operating the public transportation above the ground] likes to repair their machines with tape. They still work though.

We used to have this type of tickets. pic by @alexandrapoate on instagram.

We used to have this type of tickets. pic by @alexandrapoate on instagram.

If you go out late in the evening, you might risk not having a ride back. However, we have a few night buses go all over the city every 30 minutes, but not between 1 and 3am. The fare to ride them is the same as for the day routes. Make sure you get in the correct bus: the N123 bus for instance will not go to the same place as the daytime123 bus!

creepy old tram seen at night. used for maintenance.

creepy old tram seen at night. used for maintenance.

This article was edited on Feb 16th, 2018, but originally posted on September 10th, 2013. 

(c) Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved. Pictures are mine, unless stated otherwise.

Very old tram by @transportcivilizatro on instagram

Very old tram by @transportcivilizatro on instagram

Voir les commentaires