JLMoran Posted January 10, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2019 10 minutes ago, BermudaDice said: @JLMoran - a couple of late blog related queries: 1. What is a 'The World'? 2. Do you remember the solutions to the Day 4 and 5 riddles/stick puzzles? "The World" is a dessert served in Wonderland and (based on my own experience and others' accounts) at Chef's Table. When it first comes out, all you see is a large ball of chocolate (we're talking 5 or 6-inch diameter) with some strawberry slices and crisped rice around it on the plate. Then they pour hot caramel sauce over it, and it quickly melts to reveal that it's hollow with a small scoop of ice cream inside, which sits on top of a small shortcake-type base. It's utterly decadent and something you have to try when you get the chance. Here's the video from when I had it at Chef's Table: As far as the riddles and stick puzzles go: Day 4 "The one who makes it, sells it. The one who buys it, never uses it. The one who uses it, never sees it" -- answer is a coffin For the stick puzzle, you move three sticks to make this final shape (I'm hoping this renders reasonably cleanly): ------- ------- | | | | | | | | |-----|-----|-----| | | | | |-----| Day 5 "Poor people have it, rich people need it. If you eat it, you'll die." -- Answer is, "Nothing" Stick puzzle -- Take one of the short sticks off the equals sign and put it on the "+" to form the equation "141 - 11" (where the 4 is more a block-style number) Final challenge -- Put the 5 in the center of the 3x3 matrix; once you've done that, there are multiple solutions that satisfy the conditions. BermudaDice 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BermudaDice Posted January 10, 2019 Report Share Posted January 10, 2019 @JLMoran Thanks! I was curious. Didn't get any of them. I like the 130 one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted January 10, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2019 3 hours ago, BermudaDice said: One thing I would add though is that just because you can get a job there doesn't mean they'll let you stay there forever. When you get a job, you'll be given a work permit for 2 or 3 years. If you want to stay they will make you re-apply and ultimately they decide if you stay or not. Lose/leave your job or get in any sort of serious trouble and you're kicked out sharpish. I would assume this also means there's no such thing as working as an expat in Bermuda and then being allowed to retire there. Hit retirement age, and get the boot back to your country of origin? Do not pass Go, do not collect retirement apartment outside St. George's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BermudaDice Posted January 11, 2019 Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 16 hours ago, JLMoran said: I would assume this also means there's no such thing as working as an expat in Bermuda and then being allowed to retire there. Hit retirement age, and get the boot back to your country of origin? Do not pass Go, do not collect retirement apartment outside St. George's? Not 100% sure on that. One certainly wouldn't get any state pension so you'd need to support yourself including a significant sum required for health insurance. Add that to the house prices and the additional taxes I'm sure they would charge to a non-citizen and it would be a pricey retirement. My guess would be that if someone was wealthy enough to do all of that, then anything's possible. For most people I would think it is more that they would be priced out of retiring there rather than it being impossible. At the end of the day, they could make a fair amount of money from a very wealthy retiree. One thing I didn't mention is that one of the key ways that Bermuda raises public money is through customs/excise/sales taxes. As you can imagine, when you're a 'tax haven' charging no corporate tax to the huge financial institutions, and you don't charge your citizens income tax (expats are charged a low flat rate tax for not being Bermudian) you need to make money some way. And as an island with no other land mass for hundreds of miles, tracking what comes in to and out of the country is an easier prospect which they can then tax. How that links to the 'wealthy retiree' angle is that Bermuda will already be taxing all imports but luxury imports get an even bigger bump. If you're a wealthy person in Bermuda and decide you want a fancy car, I've heard the sales tax on that is 100% i.e. you will pay double the retail amount for that car. I don't know the specifics on taxes on buying properties, but I would wager if someone is wealthy enough to be retiring to Bermuda and has enough money to buy one of the properties that non-Bermudians are allowed to buy, the taxes will be pretty significant. Other interesting tidbits regarding customs/excise from my experience - They take customs checks at the airport very seriously. Visitors get a light touch as long as they state that nothing is remaining on the island and they don't say anything suspicious to the immigration officer. Residents (and more specifically expats) are more likely to get a full search of their luggage and if anything is found that wasn't properly declared and the duty already paid, then they will get a fine of 2 times the duty payable, or 4 times if they think you've been deliberately dishonest. In fact, to avoid people heading of the the US and coming back with the newest smart phone model, you have to register the serial numbers of your electronics with customs. When you are searched they will check the serial number and match that to their records. Another island oddity is that the post service will not deliver packages from abroad to your home. They keep all packages at the nearest post office and deliver you a card to let you know to come and pick it up. When you get to the post office, you then need to open the package in front of the postal worker so that they can see what you got and assess the appropriate duty on the item. The lesson there for residents is, don't order anything from abroad that you aren't happy to open in front of a stranger! JLMoran, Skigoofy and WAAAYTOOO 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTE Posted January 17, 2019 Report Share Posted January 17, 2019 Was looking at Bermuda & than stumbled across this blog. Thanks JL as it was very informative. I've put this cruise as a future potential JLMoran 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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