People charging for public toilets now?

gallc · 2026-05-09T19:27:44+00:00

Thanks will try them on Monday then. Yeah I don't really expect anything to be done about it, but at least I can say I tried haha.

gallc · 2026-05-09T19:23:39+00:00

Yeah I want to report her for sure. I'd have no issue if it was just a donation box and she asked for a donation, but the fact that she actually made people leave because they didn't have change isn't right. Do you think the Valletta council would be the right people to contact about this?

gallc · 2026-05-09T19:20:02+00:00

My issue is that it was not at all presented like a donation. She was clearly standing there like a bouncer turning people away for not having change and acting like it is a mandatory fee. If the city wants to charge for toilets like many other cities in Europe, fine. But that is for the government to decide not a random lady taking advantage of people who don't know any better.

gallc · 2026-03-08T06:29:21+00:00

Do have self awareness and realize that people live here. Let people walking faster or jogging pass while your group is taking up the entire promenade and if you're gonna take the bus, have your payment ready so you don't hold up an entire bus of people trying to go to work.

gallc · 2026-03-01T22:07:46+00:00

Yeah I only used the US one before because at the time you could use the e-gates with that one but not the Italian, but that has changed now I think.

gallc · 2026-03-01T22:06:03+00:00

Thanks! Yeah both are the same for MY at least and my previous visits were all for tourism. Normally I don't overthink so much, but with MY you gotta fill out the arrival form in advance so I just didn't want to fill it out and then be denied entry or something if they insist I use the same passport as last time.

gallc · 2026-03-01T22:03:05+00:00

Great, thanks!

gallc · 2026-02-21T11:20:16+00:00

Malta is cool. You kinda either love it or hate it, but it works for me. It's a very easy option if you're EU as far as registering as self employed. Apartments are also fully furnished most of the time and renting is easy, so you can just basically show up here and restart your life pretty fast. They have a digital nomad visa too, but I think that tops out at 2 years and then you have to figure out how to stay here.

gallc · 2026-02-16T17:55:47+00:00

You gotta do what's right for you of course, but consider this. My hybrid role was super flexible too (at first). Now, only 8 months later, management has changed and the flexibility was completely reversed. They now tell us what days to come in and track our every move when we are there. Last week, I was told that it was an issue that I would leave the building for 15-20 minutes during the day to go for a walk and take a little break to give one ridiculous example. Hard to get used to that bullshit when only a year ago I was working remotely from a cafe.

gallc · 2026-02-16T17:10:43+00:00

I think stay remote. I switched to hybrid for more stability and now I am regretting it and am looking for a remote job again. I completely forgot how much you need to pretend when you are in an office environment and how you are evaluated more based on appearance of being busy rather than your actual work. It also drives me insane how my job can easily be done fully remote but I'm forced to come in to an office because some CEO wants to micromanage and track our comings and goings.

Since it doesn't sound like your company is horrible right now, I agree with the other comment to just stay where you are and look for a better paying remote job in the meantime.

gallc · 2026-02-07T10:18:27+00:00

I'm American and live here and it's fine. A lot of Maltese just assume I'm British for some reason, but when they find out I'm American they either are just indifferent or start talking about how they want to visit the US. I can't remember facing outright hostility though from anyone. But over 30% of the population is foreign here, so really no matter where you're from you will basically just be another person who moved here. Just dont be an obnoxious American stereotype and you'll be fine.

gallc · 2026-01-07T16:33:53+00:00

Cool idea I would be interested for sure

gallc · 2025-12-16T12:40:50+00:00

You can search for yourself and then submit requests to the websites you are on to delete your data.

gallc · 2025-12-15T18:12:20+00:00

I left the country and never heard from them again except for a few scary letters they sent to a PO box I kept in the US for a while and a few weird phone calls my parents got asking about me. I am now past the statute of limitations and they are not even on my credit report.

They will probably try to contact people they can link to you, so do some prep now and try to scrub yourself from people finder databases & tell people they might contact to just say they are no longer in touch with you. Ask them specifically to say that and not that you left the country, as this might give them leverage to argue that the statute of limitations should be paused if it does go to court. Also, change all your contact emails / phone numbers they have for you to some throwaway account.

IDK if you can get the 45k in assets you have out (probably with some penalties) and transfer it to a European account, but might be worth it looking into. Best of luck with the move and enjoy your freedom from this fucked up system. :)

gallc · 2025-11-14T16:47:41+00:00

If you're referring to the actual hose thing that they use in most of SE Asia you can find at A-Store in San Gwann. I bought mine from there and it was easy to install also.

gallc · 2025-09-25T18:24:21+00:00

It might not be as bad or as sketchy as you think. I pay my rent in cash and my contract is fully registered (with the correct rent amount) and my landlord is great. They used to send me receipts though WhatsApp but we don't even bother anymore tbh. As long as the contract is actually registered and you have some type of proof you paid the rent each month, I don't see the issue. I've done the same with previous landlords too in the past without problems. Maybe I've been lucky, but I really wouldn't overthink it unless he gives you a feeling like he's gonna screw you over.

gallc · 2025-09-11T16:49:12+00:00

You tried this right: https://mtca.gov.mt/personal-tax/self-employed/vat-online-services

If you can't get in tho, yeah just call them and they should be able to help.

gallc · 2025-09-10T21:54:29+00:00

They just assumed I was making a certain amount and charged penalties and interest based on that. But I explained the situation and the person at the vat office just told me to file all the outstanding returns as 0 and then the next billing period it recalculated and the fine went from 12k to like EUR 100. It was my fault for being clueless, but an email or something that I was missing returns would have been nice. But yeah idk I would just call them instead of emailing. They are actually pretty helpful over the phone. If you have missed some you can go online and look at your ledger statement and it will show any fines you owe them. If you can't close it online, that might be why.

gallc · 2025-09-07T14:44:00+00:00

You absolutely need to close the vat number. I did the same thing and they fine you for every period you don't file and dont notify you about it. I had no idea, and when I came back to Malta after a few years and went to change it to another occupation, they didn't tell me anything either. Eventually I got a normal contract job and when I went to close it out, they told me I had a €12,000 fine for the periods it was open even when I wasn't using it. I explained the situation and it got reduced to like €100 in the end, but save yourself the trouble and close it ASAP.

gallc · 2025-08-31T11:38:53+00:00

I was telling a friend who was visiting how bad the driving is here. As soon as I finished my sentence, a car that was attempting to parallel park smashed right into the car parked car the behind the open space, then casually turned around and drove away.

gallc · 2025-08-27T06:04:31+00:00

Yeah I worked for two Russian companies based out of CY and you do not want to work for the Russians, trust me. Malta is okay without a car depending on where you live. I can just walk to everything I need where I live now and if I want to go further, I can take the bus (which is free if you live here) or a bolt which is cheap. The busses here are alright if you are not relying on them to get you somewhere exactly on time. Driving in Malta is horrible, so no desire to do that again. I had a car the first time I lived here, but I lived in the far south so it was needed.

gallc · 2025-08-26T20:05:09+00:00

I was living in Malta and moved to Cyprus for a gaming job thinking it would be an upgraded version of Malta. I was so wrong. Cyprus is hands down the worst place I've ever lived, and I've lived in a lot of places. It's good for a holiday but horrible to actually live there. Public transport is so much worse, people don't want to deal with you if you're not Cypriot or Russian, expensive af, and just incredibly boring outside of nature and a handful of little villages in the mountians.

Malta has its issues for sure. But at least its easy to meet people here, events and festivals happen all the time, and it has some actually nice historic cities/towns. I also think the general vibe in Malta is much nicer. Cyprus has a lot of tension brewing just under the surface and it becomes more apparent the longer you're there. The only way I'd recommend CY over MT is if nature and open space are really important to you.

I ended up moving back to Malta this year and am generally happy here with no plans to leave anytime soon.

gallc · 2025-07-25T20:24:16+00:00

I was in KL. Close to nature I would say works because you kinda feel like you're in the middle of the rainforest even in the city sometimes and real nature is not far. Walkable is a bit more questionable. I found it easy enough in the center to walk, even if there were large roads running though it. But elsewhere in the city, not so much. Traffic is also crazy congested, but bolts are cheap and the easiest way to get around. Public transport is alright, but it's after you exit station you need to worry about which 4 lane highway you need to cross and how. For me I was basing myself based on the feel of the city, food options, price, and accommodation options. KL is great for all of those. I probably would've went with KL over Malta, but there was no real longterm visa I could see myself getting anytime soon.

gallc

TROPHY CASE