Posted on

Are there really no Maltese dogs in the Maltese Islands?

The Maltese Islands are the birthplace of the Maltese dog, an adorable creature with gorgeous eyelashes and pure white fluffy hair like a stuffed animal. Do the islanders of Malta love Maltese dogs and is it a sort of Maltese dog heaven? Hmm, searching the net reveals little information on Maltese dogs in Malta. They are not mentioned at all in the guide book. On the tenth trip of the Domain Island Tour, I visited Malta to check the situation of the Maltese dogs there. The ccTLDs (country code top level domain) for Malta are “.mt”, and “.com.mt”.

＜＜Table of Contents＞＞
◆Cat Village!? I Went to See “Cat Village”
◆Asking the Maltese People “Which Dog do you Like Best?”
◆At Long Last, a Maltese Dog
◆If You Think this is Just a Resort Area, You are Much Mistaken! Malta, a Leader in Cryptocurrency
◆Interesting Things on Malta
◆How to Purchase a SIM & Test the Internet Speed
◆Similarities between the “.mt” domain and Maltese dogs

The Republic of Malta is located in the south of Italy, in the Mediterranean Sea, it has a temperate climate and the people of Europe like to vacation in Malta.

◆Cat Village!? I Went to See “Cat Village”

Although small dogs called “Maltese” originated in the Republic of Malta, it is full of cats and now very famous as a “Cat Island.” Some tourists come to see the cats. On the map of Malta, there is even a place called the “Cat Village”. Is Malta a cat place not a dog place? Since there is no information about Maltese dogs, I went to the Cat Village.

A sign for Cat Village. Will the Cat Village be surrounded by, and full of cats? Sounds irresistible.

Cat Village. I am welcomed by a cat sitting on a scooter bike.

There are plenty of stuffed animals, it’s like a fairy tale. However, I cannot find enough cats to call it a village …. Wait a minute, maybe they are all just out doing cat errands.

There seem to be more people than cats.

Finally found some! Aww, pretty cute ☆ blending in with the other people handing out treats, I also pass out popular treats from Japan.

Yummy kitty

That looks so yummy, kitty

Hey, sneaky kitty

With the number of cats so few, I was wondering if this could really be called a Cat Village? but actually it functions as a shelter and there is a sign asking for money and food.

Cats can be seen everywhere on Malta, in fact, there are about 700,000 cats living there, more than the human population.
If you like cats, this is an island you must visit at least once.

◆ Asking the Maltese People “Which Dog do you Like Best?”

“Do you know of any Maltese dogs here on Malta?” I asked local dog owners. Also, to find out the present status of the Maltese dog in Malta, I showed them pictures of Toy poodles, Maltese, Akita dogs, and Golden Retrievers in order to find out which dog people like best.

Local people who cooperated with this survey.

A friendly family in Malta also helped out.

A gallant German shepherd. Dog lovers having a tea together.

Here are the survey results. Rather than the little Maltese dog, big dogs were popular… The Japanese Akita and the Golden Retriever were tied in first place. Maybe this is due to influence of the world-renowned Alina Zagitova? As a Japanese person, I’m happy. Or is it because on Malta, these dogs are even more rare than the Maltese dog? Well, I couldn’t get any information on anyone keeping Maltese dogs.

Next, when I asked at the hotel if there are pet shops that sell Maltese dogs, they told me that there are places that sell pet food, but no places that sell dogs. Pet shops on Malta are places that care for animals and look for foster homes for them. I found a pet shop called the MSPCA but they are only open every Wednesday. Besides that, they told me the sad fact that there are no Maltese breeders on Malta.

◆ At Long Last, a Maltese Dog

The next day, I went out by bus to renew my investigation, I chose the morning walk time to catch dog owners, but I had a hard time finding a Maltese dog. Other kinds of dogs going for walks.

Where did you come from doggy?

Doggy likes the wind

A tired doggy…

After about 5 hours of walking I finally found a small white dog.

It had just come out for a walk. A Maltese dog kept by an elegant lady.

His name is Max.

Unfortunately, he comes from Serbia and not from Malta.
In the end I only met this one Maltese dog. Currently there seems to be very few people with Maltese dogs on Malta Island.

◆If You Think this is Just a Resort Area, You are Much Mistaken! Malta, a Leader in Cryptocurrency

Close to Europe, with beautiful nature and a temperate Mediterranean climate, Malta is popular as a luxury resort. Many tourists visit from Japan, some for their honeymoon, others as exchange students. If you search the net for Malta, only sightseeing information will appear on the top page. However, many cryptocurrency-related companies have moved to Malta recently.

This is why:

①It’s a country that encourages the use of cryptocurrency

②They have progressive laws that are favorable to cryptocurrency

③With low tax rates Malta is a kind of tax haven, and it has a preferential tax system for foreigners.

Especially since the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) started regulating these things, it’s quite well known that the biggest crypto exchange company “Binance” left Hong Kong and moved to Malta. Malta’s Prime Minister Joseph Muscat posted some heated tweets after the opening of Binance’s Malta office.

Incidentally, a Maltese lady journalist who was investigating allegations of slush funds around Prime Minister Muscat, was killed when a bomb exploded in her car while she was driving in northern Malta.
This was also a hot topic in Malta.

（※AFPBB News）

 

Views near Hilton Hotel

Descending to the bottom it seems like a theme park.

Descending to the bottom it seems like a theme park. #theta360 – Spherical Image – RICOH THETA

 

<blockquote data-width=”500″ data-height=”375″ class=”ricoh-theta-spherical-image” >Descending to the bottom it seems like a theme park. #theta360 – <a href=”https://theta360.com/s/aRcI3fOpRJmMIwM9zLPkkaAYW” target=”_blank”>Spherical Image – RICOH THETA</a></blockquote>

<script async src=”https://theta360.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

 

The harbor is full of pleasure boats costing over 30 million yen. Are they owned by rich people who made profits from cryptocurrency?

A real estate company has a lot of expensive property information posted. Payment is in bitcoins only, and it seems a condo in the capital city of Valletta is selling for about 400 million yen.（※Coin Choice）。

◆ Interesting Things on Malta

  • Maltese Cuisine

・The Number 1 Food Recommended by the Malta Tourism Authority is “Sea Urchin”

Here are the “10 Foods You Must Eat” if you come to Malta, according to the Malta Tourism Authority. Number 1. is “sea urchin.” How could I not eat the food recommend as Number 1 by the Tourism Authority?!

I ordered sea urchin pasta (16.50 €) at the Il Ponte Restaurant. The sea urchin sauce was rich and flavorful.

Actually, I went to some restaurants where you could get sea urchin, according to the restaurant guide provided by the Malta Tourism Authority, only to be told that it was no longer on the menu. You need to be careful about trusting information on the internet these days.

・Calamari fritto

If you come to Malta, I recommend the seafood. Especially, please try the calamari fritto (squid: 15 €).

・Rabbit dishes

Speaking of Maltese’s specialties, there’s rabbit… For Japanese people, this seems a bit cruel, but in fact, there are a lot of countries that eat rabbit. Tastes like chicken.

・Bragioli　

Stuffed beef rolls stewed with vegetables with tomato sauce.

・ Maltese bread

It often comes complimentary with your meal. Eaten with a mixture of olive oil, salt pepper and balsamic vinegar.

・Aperol (oranges and herbs blended into a sparkling liqueur)

・Cisk Lager Beer (beer with low alcohol content, 4.2%)

 

Called “The Ideal City of the Renaissance” Valletta is a beautiful fortified city registered as a World Heritage Site. Build by the Knights Hospitaller, the buildings are made of honey colored limestone.

Night view of World Heritage Valletta.

 

The streets of Valletta also had cats.

◆How to Purchase a SIM & Test the Internet Speed

There is a Vodafone shop in the Malta International Airport, so you can purchase local SIM. It was 20€ for 2GB.

Rest assured, you can ask the staff to help you set up the SIM.

 

I checked the internet speed at fast.com. The speed was 15Mbps and I could use the internet without any problem.

 

◆Similarities between the “.mt” domain and Maltese dogs

The country code domains for Malta are “.mt”, and “.com.mt”. I searched for them in town.

 

publictransport.com.mt　Bus tickets

 

nextbike.com.mt　Bicycle rental company

 

Teatrumanoel.com.mt　One of the top 15 most spectacular theaters in the world.

 

dizz.com.mt　Clothing company

On the other hand, many were using the word “malta” in a second level domain name, like malta.com.

Contrary to my expectations, and like the Maltese dog, I could not find the Maltese country domain “.mt” much in Malta.

The “.mt” domain is an uncommon domain that the Maltese people do not use much, but because it is a country-specific domain, it is best for operating websites and e-mail addresses related to Malta. As long as people keep using “.com” in the character string, the “.mt” domain may still be available.

■Click here for how to visit Malta

■For the Malta Domain “.mt” click here

■For the Malta Domain “.com.mt” click here

Posted on

The True Colors of the Virgin Islands, Tax Haven Islands; and Surprising Uses of the .vg Domain


Rows of PO boxes out in the open. Look at that!?

I went to the British Virgin Islands, which are tax haven islands, in hopes of getting some hints on how to get rich.

The Virgin Islands consist of about 160 volcanic islands and reefs located in the West Indies, Caribbean Sea. The western half (about 50 islands) are U.S territory, while the eastern half (about 60 islands) are British territory. But all these islands use U.S. dollars.

There was a free real estate brochure at the airport.

A luxurious villa for about a hundred forty million yen (1,285,000 US$) was listed.

All the other properties were over a hundred million yen (about 1 million US$)!

Are only millionaires living in these tax haven islands? I am going to head downtown right away and find out.

The road from the airport is bumpy, and I bounce up and down in the car.

I arrive at the Tortola Pier Park after about a 30 minutes shaking.

Tortola Park had souvenir shops, and tour agents, and a small shopping mall.

The toilet is so nice that it surprises me. The toilet is made by TOTO, a proud Japanese company. I think I can live here.

As I walk around downtown I dream of running into rich Arabian oil barons.

But actually…. I see decrepit used cars pass by one after another!

The parking lots also have many cars with broken windows and broken lights.

And the people of the island seem to be, …what? …hitchhiking!?

Something must be going on…

I decided to seriously investigate these supposedly mysterious tax haven islands.

①Investigating at a Sushi Bar
I found a sushi restaurant in the Virgin Islands! I expect there will be Japanese people there, and I can ask them about the tax havens.

However, inside, the staff members were gentle Jamaicans and there were no Japanese in sight.

As this is a tax haven island, I wonder if the high-end sushi is sprinkled with gold powder? Here is the menu.

I was relieved, there was reasonably priced sushi as well. Apparently, the owner is a Filipino. This must be why the sushi rolls are colorful and somehow tropical.

I ordered the mango dragon for 13 dollars. An original sushi roll came made of shrimp tempura wrapped in vinegared rice with mango on top. The sweet mango goes unexpectedly well with the vinegared rice and crispy shrimp tempura.

The sushi was delicious, but I was not able to get any clues for my tax haven investigation. In the restaurant garden, there is a Western style statue, completely opposite to anything Oriental.

②Investigating at a Chinese Restaurant
Near the sushi restaurant I find a Chinese restaurant, so I decide to do some spying here as well.

This cute entrance is at the end of a narrow alleyway.

This is the interior.

Many items on the menu.

Sweet & Garlic Shrimp $17。 It tastes like sweet & sour pork. The shrimp is succulent.

Yakisoba and fried rice, 8 to 12 dollars. There was a lot, but it was good, so I finished it up.

The shop owner here was Chinese, and very kind. There seems to be Chinese people in every country. But here too, I got no information on tax havens.

③A visit to the Electronics Shop
I got a bit down because I couldn’t get any information, so I decided to go back to basics in my investigation and headed for the electronics shop.

This is the shop.

There were plenty of video games and related items, such as PlayStation, Wii, Xbox etc.

The also sell Mac Book Air and iPhones.

I tried buying an Iphone connector, and I could do it without paying any taxes! The receipt has 0 tax.

It seems that some people travel to the British Virgin Islands for the express purpose of buying tax-free items, such as Iphones. Later, when I went through customs in the airport in Puerto Rico, the customs officer was quite persistent when asking if I had made purchases beyond the tax exemption limit.

④Investigating at an Internet Cafe
As I now had confirmation about things being tax-free, I decided next to infiltrate an internet cafe.

Electronic devices are sold in the front, and at the back there is an internet cafe. I searched for addresses of tax haven crime scenes, but I couldn’t find anything…

◆The plot thickens!

While searching for various tax havens on the Internet, I found the address “AKARA BUILDING; 24 DE CASTRO STREET WICKHAMS CAY 1; ROAD TOWN; TORTOLA; BRITISH VIRIGN ISLANDS”, so I decided to head there directly. There’s a building at that address with AKARA written on it. Are these the offices of a shell company!?

And, the mysterious PO boxes are nearby!

In the Virgin Islands, as of June 2016, it became necessary to register tax related personal and corporate information in a government database, making it difficult to establish a shell company. （Source: ZUU online）

It seems that the PO boxes I discovered are the ruins of what once belonged to a shell company.

■Near the Airport, Beef Island Beach
Only 5 minutes’ drive from the airport, this is a superb beach. There’s no one here, so I can enjoy it all to myself. However, you can’t rent a beach umbrella, so you must be sure to put on sunscreen.

Some students I met downtown

Staff of the Old Government House Museum

A taxi driver who took good care of me. It was a wonderful visit and everyone was so kind that I got a little teary when it was time to say goodbye.

But, looking at the coast, there is a container ship, so maybe…

Maybe some kind of business deals we don’t know about are happening. Container information was also posted in the real estate catalog distributed at the airport.

■Hurricane Irma

On September 7th, 2017, Hurricane Irma hit the Virgin Islands. Even though a year has passed, there are still scars. I wish full reconstruction for them.

So it turns out that many of the people living in the Virgin Island are African immigrants, including Jamaican people, I couldn’t find any of these rich folk using the tax havens. The local people were gentle and law-abiding, but I often saw run-down second-hand Japanese cars, and some hitchhiking. The beaches are beautiful and excellent for marine activities.

The True Colors of the Virgin Islands; once tax havens islands, but now with an atmosphere a bit short on luxury.

■How to get to the Virgin Islands Click here

By the way, “. vg” is the ccTLD domain (top level country domain) assigned to the British Virgin Islands. With that spelling, it is often used for video game sites.

SEGA
http://www.sega.vg
 Impeller Studios
http://itb.vg/
 Gamers
https://www.gamers.vg/
MUSH
http://mush.vg/		 Play.vg
http://www.play.vg/
 LEET
https://www.leet.vg/

Doesn’t it seem a bit unexpected for those living in the Virgin Islands, that their domain is used this way?

■For Domain details, Click here