Mr. Invincible lets his guard down

April 26 2006

I've had the privilege and adventure of visiting 50 different countries in my lifetime.  The vast majority of these have come in the last eight years, as a result either of business travel or adjuncts to it.  I've been to some rough places, very "foreign" places, and never really had any travel problems.  Only once in all this time had any human ever attempted anything malicious towards me.

Until last night.

And it was just plain stupid -- I might as well have had a bullseye painted on my forehead.

Kuala Lumpur has a big problem with "rush hour" traffic congestion in the city center.  In discussion with my colleagues, we agreed that the LRT -- light rail -- would be faster in getting from my hotel to the Lotusphere event yesterday.  Along the US35¢ journey, I got to see an interesting local phenomena -- the Malaysians queue up to board trains in orderly lines during rush hour.   This is good, because I had to wait four trains for my turn to board.  

Anyway, after yesterday's event was over, I doubled back towards the KLCC LRT station, several bags worth of shopping results in my hands, along with the laptop bag over my shoulder.  I got on the escalator down into the station area, and found my way blocked by someone else who got on it just at the same time as me.  As I moved to go around him, he moved, too.  He bumped into me, but apologized.  This happened once more, after which he turned and grabbed the handles of my bags as if to help me carry them.  I pulled away and walked off.

You probably already realize, based on the setup, what happened.  While dude #1 was busy distracting me, unseen dude #2 had opened my laptop bag's zipper.  Thankfully, the Tumi design (and the way I have the bag packed) made it difficult to try to lift my laptop itself.  But they took my travel wallet.  I didn't notice until a few minutes later, when I was in queue to buy an LRT ticket and noticed the bag open.  Another minute went by before I realized that meant something was missing, and it all clicked.

I retraced my steps, but of course they were long gone.  The LRT ticket agent was of no help, and told me to go to the police.  I went back into KLCC, and their security guard -- while helpful -- said it wasn't their property.  There was a security camera pointing right at the escalator where it happened, and I pointed this out to the guard, but he could do nothing.

Dejected, I got in a taxi and headed back to the Hilton.

Now fate, God, something protected me yesterday.  Normally, my passport would have been in that travel wallet.  I don't need the lecture about that being a bad idea -- I get it.  And in some "hotspots", I don't carry my passport there, but rather on my person.  In yesterday's case, it was simply that I took the passport out of my bag when I left the convention center during a break, and never put the passport back.  So, all that was truly lost was my airline ticket home, a credit card, frequent flyer/hotel cards (no loss), receipts from this trip (some replaceable, some just lost), and some souvenirs (pictures from the Singapore event, boarding passes, and a small collection of currency from about ten countries -- each note US$1 or less in value).

The staff at the Hilton Kuala Lumpur was incredibly helpful upon my return.  The hotel's security team talked to me about what happened and offered assistance.  After I squared away the airline ticket (curses for paper tickets, thankfully going away forever soon), Hilton's security detail sent an officer with me to the K-L Tourist Police.  As was pointed out, it's not so much that I needed a police report, but that the local police needed to know that a tourist had been pickpocketed in plain sight of hundreds of others, at one of the busiest tourist spots in all of K-L.

I debated whether or not to blog this adventure.  I had so many positive experiences here in K-L over the last three days (and on two prior visits).  I love being able to get a great bowl of noodles for the equivalent of US$1 (ok, at the hotel's noodle bar, it's more like US$7, but the noodle guys are great to talk to).  I find the Malay art and culture to be fascinating.  I marvel at some of the architecture.  But I've learned an important travel lesson, perhaps a few years later than necessary -- don't let your guard down, don't be a target, and sometimes fastest isn't the best way to travel.

I'm off to the airport in an hour or so...yes, on a train ("only 28 minutes!").  But at my flight connection to Chicago, I am planning a treat to get rid of some of the stress of last night's adventure.  And I'll be thinking about how to do things differently, safely, for next time.

Ed Brill | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Category:  Travel  Add/View Comments [17]

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  1. 1  Alan Bell http://www.astoryforbedtime.com | 4/25/2006 5:19:36 PM

    that sucks. Happened to me once in a station in Amsterdam after the rush hour, I was carrying two laptops, but the guy just asked me for some money and he ignored the bags. I put it down on expenses as "robbed at knifepoint (no receipt)"

  1. 2  Jamie Houston  | 4/25/2006 8:44:19 PM

    Sorry, Ed.. I don't think there's anything worse than that gut-sinking feeling as you realize you no longer have that important folder full of travel documents.. Glad you didn't have more hassle (passport etc..) and for sure ;) what doesn't kill us when we travel, makes us stronger !

  1. 3  Chris Miller http://www.IdoNotes.com | 4/25/2006 9:00:59 PM

    Luckily you are fine and that is all they got. It is only paper and plastic. Kind of like your local grocery store trip. :-)

    I am also one to keep the Passport on my person, very close and constantly checked.

  1. 4  Bill Geimer  | 4/25/2006 10:37:10 PM

    I am glad to hear you are fine, the loss minimal, and that you are safely on your way home.

    Hope you enjoyed that "treat". Hope it was more than a new wallet from the airport gift shop. :<)

  1. 5  Steve Cogan  | 4/26/2006 2:38:56 AM

    Ed,

    Sorry to hear that. I'm not quite in your travel league (in Warsaw right now) but do worry about unfamiliar environments. Especially the issue of carrying passports. Some countries require ID to be carried when I'd rather leave it at home (or in the hotel room safe!).

    We're playing host to a Japanese student improving her English (she doesn't really need it improving!) - sadly she had her wallet lifted in broad daylight in my home city :-(

    On the bright side she was impressed with the UK banking industry as a replacement card seemed to arrive within 5 mins of her notifying HSBC (pat on the back there!)!

    Just be glad all they got was your wallet. A few years ago on holiday I had my wallet pulled from my pocket (learnt to be more careful ever since then!) - realised, and chased the guy down the street foolishly. He eventually threw the credit cards at me and I stopped, satisfied with only losing some cash.

    Later I saw a guy in a bar with two black eyes - couldn't help overhearing that he'd been in the same situation, but had caught up with the mugger, and ended up slightly worse off...

  1. 6  Henny Breijer http://www.breijer.com | 4/26/2006 2:57:16 AM

    Ed, I always hoped - and still hope - that the shocking experience you had to deal with would not happen to either myself or somebody close to me. Unfortunately, it did..

    Two weeks ago my wife was walking in Amsterdam after going to the movies with a female friend. While walking on the side walk, a guy on a bike sneaked from behind and grabbed the bag she was holding loosely in her right hand. No, she wasn't down-town or in some cheesy place...

    Being fashionable these days, woman do not have that many - in fact none at all - pockets in their jeans or coat. Quite a lot of valuable stuff was in the bag; car-keys, wallet, drivers license, mobile, you name it.

    While driving to AMS to pick her up, I called her cell. Some weirdo actually answered the phone and started talking to me saying that my wife had a very bad car accident and I had to go to the hospital pronto. I knew this wasn't true but still.. how bizar is that ?!

    Fortunately this happenend in our native country so we didn't have any language barriers but the "experience" had quite an impact on my wife.

    When going to K-L for either business or pleasure, I'll make sure I stay at the Hilton. A huge compliment to staff for taking care of your situation ! That really makes a difference.

  1. 7  lotusphere attendees http://myfreeware.blogspot.com | 4/26/2006 6:15:19 AM

    this is what kl is. sometimes the people are too nice :), they took your things when you are not looking.

    be more wary next time ed.

  1. 8  Roberto Boccadoro  | 4/26/2006 6:45:42 AM

    Ed

    I am happy to know you are OK but reading this entry today, when I am off to my upteenth business tripo, makes me a bit uncomfortable :-) I am far from you, been only to 23 countries so far, but up to now I have been extremely lucky.

    RoB

  1. 9  Chris Whisonant http://cwhisonant.blogspot.com | 4/26/2006 7:00:37 AM

    Glad to hear you're OK Ed! It could have turned ugly, but thankfully didn't. Sorry to hear of the bad experience though...it's a crazy world.

  1. 10  Ray "The Lion King" Bilyk http://www.thepridelands.com | 4/26/2006 7:30:53 AM

  1. 11  Pete McPhedran www.corefusion.com | 4/26/2006 7:43:34 AM

    My travel tip: keep your expired passport to carry on you and lock up the valid one in the Hotel. Learned that from a fellow Canuck while in Dublin heading to Belfast. I wanted to checkout the Shankhill Road area of town and was given that as advice. Plus, only carry as much cash as you can afford to lose (when travelling in a known bad area, like Shankhill Road) no credit cards.

    Also glad you are unharmed. Safe travels,

    --Pete

  1. 12  Dave Harris http://www.wavysworld.com | 4/26/2006 7:44:02 AM

    That's a crappy thing that happened, Ed, I hope it doesn't put you off comimng back here.

    "the Malaysians queue up to board trains in orderly lines during rush hour" - things must be different on the LRT, then. On the Monorail it's a fight to get off sometimes, with the weight of people trying to get on.

  1. 13  Jackie Horowitz  | 4/26/2006 7:51:19 AM

    Ed,

    So sorry you had to go through that. We had a similar situation when my hubby and I visited Paris a couple of years ago. The idiot behind him pushed him so the turnstile locked up then just stuck his hand in hubby's pocket. Thankfully, hubby is not the most organized in the world - the plastic card holder had broken away from the wallet long since and he had never gotten it replaced. So they got the wallet but nothing was in it - the plastic holder with all his stuff stayed behind in his pocket! The morons actually tried to get us to come back out when they realized it. They got so frustrated they actually threw the wallet back at us! The irony - I had gotten the wallet for him as a gift - from my prior visit to Paris.

  1. 14  Bill Geimer  | 4/26/2006 9:58:19 AM

    The other thing this brings to mind is how well some old things work. This just about has to be close to the oldest trick in the books, but its still so very effective it will probably never go away.

    I am sure there are some other things like that!

  1. 15  Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 4/27/2006 4:35:50 AM

    @11 good suggestion.

    @12 - In fact, one of the reasons I was looking forward to taking the LRT back was that I wanted to photograph the orderly boarding queues. I suppose taking my camera out on the platform would only have made me an even bigger target....

    ...and don't worry, I'll be back.

    @14 - You are right, this is a classic pickpocket manuver. And i fell for it. Ah well.

  1. 16  Ben Poole http://benpoole.com | 4/27/2006 7:09:11 AM

    Glad you came through this OK. Ooof. Don't feel bad for falling for it though: all too easy when you're focused on egtting somewhere.

  1. 17  Kevin Mort  | 4/27/2006 3:56:31 PM

    Ed,

    Sorry to hear about your misadventure in KL. My wife and I were in Bangkok & KL in March and I have to say I felt much safer in KL - although I was still most certainly on the lookout while wandering around. We were there for the Malaysian GP at Sepang.

    KLCC was rather crowded when we were there, so I can see how that set up for a pickpocket would work pretty well if you don't recognize it. And man are you right about the traffic congestion!

    Of course I was also carrying my big ol Canon with me most of the time - both in Bangkok & KL so I was guarding that thing constantly.

    All in all, as I think you know, KL is a great place to visit. I know we'd go back again. Wonderful people. If you happen to like architecture and get the chance (assuming you haven't already) go out to Putrajaya, the government complex. Quite a nice experience.

    Kevin.