Well, it’s March 2016, and for various reasons, I scheduled a short trip to Malaysia. Why, you ask. Well, from my new home in Chiang Mai, Thailand, there is a very cheap non-stop flight to Kuala Lumpur (KL), thus avoiding the hassle of transferring via Bangkok. So just for 2 nights, I booked a hotel in an apparently safe district (from what I could tell online).

So a smooth flight, and a 40 minute bus ride to KL Sentral transportation center. Then, I paid $0.60 USD for a train ticket on a monorail ride to within 2 km of my hotel. Started walking with a roller bag, back pack and mindlessly wielding a smartphone for GPS navigation to my hotel via my feet. No problem, right? Wrong. According to 2 fellows (aka thieves) astride a motorcycle of unknown description, I was not, in fact, OK. Note that in Thailand, especially maybe Chiang Mai, motorbike riders often hop up onto the sidewalk and somewhat carefully navigate foot traffic to make it through on the sidewalk to a nearby destination. Not these guys, however. I’ve since noticed in KL, there are many fewer motorbikes, and many more cars percentage-wise. So I sensed this motorbike hopping the sidewalk, and thought “no problem”, I’ll carefully move aside. But they seemed to be leaning too close. So my antennae went up, and I glanced at the bike as it approached. 2 astride, I glanced with a smile as the passenger strangely reached out AND GRABBED MY FREAKING SAMSUNG NOTE 3 FIRMLY, YANKING BACKWARDS. Needless to say, I’m not a huge fan of motorbike “snatch” thieves as these 2 dudes are categorized here. Note that in the past 7 months, I’ve lost 33 lbs., working out on a cross-training rotation of dumb bells, yoga, kick-boxing, jump training, interval training, on and on. Well, one of these wayward gentlemen grabbed at my phone and I instinctively yanked back. Result – Jeff – 1, Malaysian pussies – 0. They buzzed off without the phone I originally paid $800 USD for.

OK, so enough bravado. It could have been a much worse situation, but their style was thankfully to move quickly and depart quickly, not hang around like local toughs, which could have ended poorly for me, cross-training or not.

So I made it to my damned 5 star hotel. ($80/night USD) Relaxed, and the next day – today – Friday, I hired a cab for the day for $65 USD. He was a good guy who will remain nameless here, and easily recognizable with only 1 visible tooth. He took great care of me, as I decided for the bulk of the trip to minimize my exposure to the local masses. From my hotel, he drove me 45 minutes to the Genting Highlands so that I could ride the cable car to a small mountain resort 5,000 feet above KL. The cable car ride is 15-20 minutes and it’s amazing – a wondrous view of the tropical jungle canopy climbing up the mountain. The various hues of green are indescribable. There are trees in the jungle canopy that must be 250 ft. tall! So check out the video, and if you choose to, put this on your list – but pony up for cab fare when a long city walk is the option in Kuala Lumpur!

Still, I prefer the experiences in Thailand. I’ve been to Thailand 20 times, Bangkok 6 or so times, and now live in Chiang Mai, a city of 1 million including the suburbs. Think KC or Denver, size-wise. I’ve never had any experience with an attack, pick-pocket or anything untoward in my 10 years of travel in Thailand. (It happens occasionally, but is the exception rather than the rule as the materials suggest in Malaysia. So which country do I choose to hang out in? Thailand, thank you very much. At some point, not here, I’ll post a further explanation of my rationale regarding Thai culture and history vs. the rest of the SE Asian region.

So enjoy the video, and stand by for more posts covering the last 6 months or so since my last posts.

Postscript:   So saving my phone did result in a minor injury – already suffering from a torn, yet healing left bicep muscle from moving furniture recently, I was holding the phone in that hand, then in the process of yanking back MY phone, I wrenched my forearm, so I’ll need some serious Thai massages in that area looking forward.

Jeff