Hi guys, just been posting about Kiev elsewhere so I thought I should add a data sheet: (I’m still learning the ropes here, so let me know if it needs tidying)
Intro:
About me: My game level is beginner, I’m from the U.K. I have slightly above average looks, 26 years old, 6” tall, very style conscious but not suited up. I’ve always done well with girls, always been fairly popular. I got into game by accident: I was looking to up my confidence when going out solo, as most of my friends won’t come to Eastern Europe with me, and it feels weird to travel alone... So I ended up here...
Kiev’s my first FSU destination. I’ve done lots of Poland and Hungary (and a tiny bit of North Romania).
I flew direct from London. It was quite cheap. I was there 2 weeks, give or take.
I didn’t spot many foreigners aside from in expat bars. Most seemed to be older business types. You won’t see the dreaded stag party here, and I’m not sure the Euro 2012 tournament will be that damaging overnight.
Foreigner status might help your game at a lower level, but one thing to note here, is that Kiev definitely has a huge Oligarch/moneyed set. There’s Prada, Cartier, Versace shops, and all the other spangly stuff you’d see in Paris, London, and New York. You’ll see all the usual supercars too. I’ve never been to Moscow, but it seems like that kind of vibe, only much smaller...
Obviously most people are dirt poor, but what I’m saying is, if you decide to roll at the high end, you’ll need the same amount of cash as in the West. Lower end is still cheap though. You can eat and drink really well on very little. Accommodation is a rip off at every level, even compared with the rest of Eastern Europe.
Yes it’s cheap, but it’s not Kharkiv, and definitely not Chisinau. I stayed in the centre in a hostel called “Kiev Backpackers”. I had my own room, but ended up having the whole building to myself! I was able to live pretty cheaply cooking my own food from the big market nearby.
Quality of girls:
I’ve read a few blogs saying Kiev has slipped slightly, and so-and-so is better. However, if you’ve come from the USA or the UK and never been to Eastern Europe, you’ll be blown away. I’ve travelled to Poland a fair bit, and I think I actually prefer Polish girls overall (mainly character wise)
(l posted here about it:
/thread-10771-page-9.html and Deb Auchery’s reply to my post sums up perfectly how I feel too)
I also prefer black hair, which is obviously not prevalent, BUT I will say, there were a lot of girls who looked absolutely flawless. Body shape, height, cheekbones etc. I can see why so many are chosen for high-fashion stuff. It’s not like every girl is a 10, but they seem to have a massive genetic gift, almost like a good “base” to work from. They also seem to have a certain poise that makes them look quite elegant... The model thing again... It’s hard to explain, but you’d spot it a mile away in a room of US or UK girls. They also dress to kill, even if popping out to buy groceries.
Day Game:
I was lucky enough to arrive in unusually balmy weather for late January. I was then unlucky enough to see temperatures drop to -28 c (-18 f) a few days later. About 2000 people ended up in hospital. 135 people died (mostly homeless). 40 of those in one night... All this made for a less than lighthearted daytime experience. I did at least bring a coat.
Weirdly, you’ll never spot a Ukrainian girl so much as wobble, as her 6 inch heels negotiate potholes, cobblestones, ice, massive piles of snow and frozen corpses (I made that last part up).
Due to the cold, I wasn’t approaching in the street, so I can’t really help here. I did manage to chat a little in coffee shops. I found the ratios pretty awesome in some of these places. Which was fortunate, as the coffee was shit.
I tried a few approaches in warmer outside areas like the metro, shopping malls etc. but didn’t do particularly well. This is probably due to my game more than anything. I’m much more confident at night or in more social environments. I found it difficult to approach whilst concentrating on thawing out my testicles...
I would say though, due to being a capital, that I was expecting scary uber bitch shields, but virtually all the chicks were pleasant. I think my main issue was lack of Russian.
Speaking of which: I’d estimate from a combination of hearsay, observation, and chats with various people, that in Kiev you’ll hear 70% Russian, 30% Ukrainian spoken, despite the fact it’s the capital and you’d expect the reverse. Sometimes you’ll hear them speaking to each other in a mixture of both apparently... If you spoke Russian you’d be fine.
Pipelining:
I went on Couchsurfing for this. My usual tactic here is to ignore hot pictures and try and select a couple of options that appear to have similar tastes in music etc. After that I’ll let them phone their friends and try and get some social circle game going. It worked really well, and I was soon hanging around at a few local dive bars and some nasty looking tower blocks. I even had a few mini parties in the hostel. I managed to get two notches this way. One SNL (“Too cold to leave the party at my hostel”) and another that required a further date to secure. Both were way hotter than I see in pubs back home.
I didn’t know about Mamba at the time... It looks awesome for Kiev. I’ll be all over this next time I head out there.
I don’t really know what to say about English prevalence, the Couchsurfing people and social group were all pretty good. In the street, not brilliant, but I’d say better than others have experienced in Eastern Ukraine and Russia. Young people are much better than old obviously, and the service/transport sectors are comically funny for abruptness...
Night Game:
Again, due to the initial cold, and the fact my Couchsurfers turned out to be so cool, I didn’t do tons of mainstream clubbing: don’t be put off though, there’s a shit load about, and you’ll probably have a blast in the summer. I get the impression places come and go, so what I say might not apply in 6 months.
Clubbing and pubbing here seems quite “Naive” if you’ve come from somewhere like London, where you have multiple scenes and it’s quite cliquey. They seem to have an almost childlike love for simple techno/house and cheesy pop. Anything themed or “different” gets huge plus points too, like sitting on cushions and smoking hookah pipes.
I vaguely remember a place where they dressed as nurses and squirted syringes of some unknown cocktail into your mouth at the bar... Can’t remember the name of that one though.
And really... Is there any need to serve so much sushi? Nope... No need at all
Crystal Hall:
This place isn’t really a club, more a concert hall. It’s pretty classy inside, with a massive bar and VIP bit. (I think it’s a converted ice rink) You’d go here for gigs: Bands, big name DJs, maybe an art installation. It has the odd R&B night popping up on the calendar too. I went here twice early on in my stay, the first time to see a crazy Balkan brass band battle, and the next to some kind of pop-art thingy with DJs. The website’s got a calendar you can check. The place holds about 2000. I see they’ve had a few decent European festival circuit bands play there... Worth a look if you’re about to stab yourself in the eye due to the crap house music in town... You might find something good.
There was face control here... No problems though (Didn’t spot any sushi either)
Shooters:
I looked online and it says this place is owned by a Scottish dude. Google it, the website’s got a gallery too. I found more foreign people and expats here than anywhere else I went to. It wasn’t a sausage fest though, and I didn’t see any idiots. Prices were good I think.
I found the English level here quite high. I mainly went here because it was always open, and always busy (to a point). There’s several levels and it serves decent (and easy to order) food. It’s not somewhere I’d usually go. Not very edgy or cool, but pleasant enough, and due to cold weather, I was sticking to what worked!
Music is kind of “blah” and they had the odd band in too. The girls here were easy to chat to and the service was unusually non-snarky. The quality was decent, but I saw better elsewhere. Coming from the UK all the bars seem great in a short 2 week stay!
Also featured face control. Maybe eat food early in the night and party later if it’s busy. Again, I was fine. FSU doormen are complete tossers though... Fair warning.
Sushi? You betcha...
Arena:
This place is massive, and the only big place I went to. It was right next to Bessarabski Market and my hostel was close by, right in the centre of town. Again, back home I’d probably avoid somewhere like this like the plague. It’s the equivalent of going to London and only clubbing around Oxford Street and Leicester Square. But it was fun, and close by.
The place has a big casino, sports screens in a separate bar, large VIP area in the main club. Big balcony...It’s quite well decorated too... Oh I forgot, you can get SUSHI too! Drinks weren’t cheap, but I was able to get everyone drunk on massive amounts of vodka and beer before we all left my hostel... Happy times. If a bit chilly.
Apparently it’s part owned by the boxer Klitchko. I saw a fair few meat heads in here, but didn’t get into any trouble. It’s the sort of place I thought I’d see some higher end hookers, but being new here, I soon realised I’d have trouble spotting the difference. It was very good for ratios, some of the girls were off the scale. I can indeed confirm that Ukrainian men aren’t the handsomest bunch either...(read as: set on fire and put out with a shovel)
Yep you guessed it... More face control here...
Conclusion:
I could add more, but honestly, I didn’t do massive amounts of clubbing.
I’d definitely go back to Ukraine and Kiev, don’t be scared off, it’s just a normal city. It’s a really interesting place with some awesome sights. Just go in decent weather for god’s sake...
I would add some maps and stuff, but honestly, just get on Couchsurfing and Google. I took a Lonely Planet for the basics.
Thanks guys... I’ll add more if it comes to me. I’m off to Cyprus next week so I’ll get some better nightlife data when I do another sheet...
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The following 1 user Likes Citizen_Boris's post:
to scope out the land and some genuine tourism (I've travelled widely around the world and love seeing new places). 