- var_dump: documentation ( source)
<?php
$userTimezone = new \DateTimeZone('Europe/Chisinau');
$from = new \DateTime( 'now', $userTimezone );
$from->modify( 'first day of this month' );
// $from->sub( new \DateInterval( 'P5D' ) );
$from->setTime(0,0,0);
$from->setTimezone( new \DateTimeZone( 'UTC' ) );
// $from2 = new DateTime('@' . $from->getTimestamp());
$from2 = clone $from;
$mongoTime = $from2->getTimestamp();
// 1409605200
// 1412110800
echo '<pre>';
var_dump($from->format('Y-m-d H:i:s'), $from2->format('Y-m-d H:i:s'));
echo '</pre>';