PragueBuzz!

[Source]

I’ve recently moved to Prague 10 to a semi-furnished flat and in dire need of a small bed among other wooden luxuries.

So far I have found 4 places to scout for affordable new and second-hand furniture.

1. Ikea: No unnecessary introduction from me as most of you have already known or heard of the Ikea brand. There are two stores at two ends of metro B, Zlicin and Cerny Most. Once you get there, you can hop on free Ikea buses which will take you directly to the store. (http://www.ikea.com/cz/cs/)
 
2. Asko: I checked out the company’s webiste and visited one of their store and felt fairly comfortable with the prices. They had a few sofa beds I wanted to purchase; however, I will wait for a while to see if the prices drop below 5000 CZK.  (http://www.asko-nabytek.cz/v2/)

Address:
Prodejna
N�kupn� Centrum Europark
N�kupn� 389/3; 102 00 Praha 10 - �t?rboholy; Tel: 222 810 111; Hours: Mon-Sun 9.00 - 21.00.
[See map]

3. Expats.cz: This foreigner-oriented website has a decent Sale/Wanted message board where members post the items
they wish or want to sell. Most of these furniture are very cheap compared to the prices in the store, sometimes they can be even for free. Unfortunately, since I don’t have a car, I let many of such offers slip out of my hand.

4. Prague.tv: Similar to expats.cz but does not have as many listings as the other.

Wanted List

• Sofa/futon double bed
• Shoe stand

Given the Czechs’ fondness for bureaucratic, they make getting people’s money, for example opening a bank account, here is very simple.

What do you need?
You will need your passport, another form of ID, a document proving your residence in the Czech Republic, and an initial deposit for your account (for example, my bank required 500 CZK).

Since Prague is flooded with foreigners, banks usually have representatives who can speak English. However, you have to call first for an appointment and ask if this service is free.

• Interesting facts
  Banks in the Czech Republic seem to charge for everything: deposit, withdrawal, ATM, maintenance, automatic-payment, receiving payment, etc in return for not charging a ridiculously high fee for over draft as in America.
• Checks don’t exist in the Czech Republic.

I chose eBanka because it has canceled most of the fees and charges only 285 CZK per year for the ATM card. Other banks don’t charge you for the ATM service, but instead rip you off from the monthly maintenance fee. One absolute requirement from eBanka is that you maintain a monthly inflow minimum of 15,000 CZK. (Remember, inflow is different from balance.)

Some banks to consider

eBanka - www.ebanka.cz
CSOB - www.csob.cz
Komercni banka - The Park, V Parku 8
Ceska sporitelna - Centrum Chodov, Roztylska 1

Buy them in smaller Vietnamese grocery stores. They have better tangerines there with thinner layers and more juice.

It’s the winter now, so good tangerines might be hard to find everywhere.