Kuala Lumpur Warning or Danger Tips by city_guy

Please be extra careful and catious of people approaching you and asking you the time, then asking more questions leading to them asking you to follow them back to meet their 'uncle' or 'relative' who plans to take a holiday to your country.

These professional conmen/women move around the city solo or as a couple. They target single male travellers on the streets They will approach you in a friendly manner, asking you the time or other general questions. Then they will ask you where are you from, when you answer, they will supprisingly say they have an uncle that is planning to visit your country.

Soon after some chit-chat, they will try to invite you back to their 'uncle's' home for dinner so you can give him more info. Once there, the 'uncle' will befriend you and in time to come, he will try to talk you into a sure-win 'gambling' session with some investor. It's usually a game of poker where he assures that you will win big time if you follow his orders. You usually end up losing up to the thousands due to greed and the blame will be put on you. They will have a alternate way out of this by getting you to use your credit card or to TT money from back home to pay off the balance owed. Then, you will be dropped off in the city somewhere dead broke. They do not harm you. All they want is your money.

These conmen/women are usually from the Phillipines residing here on tourist visa's. They are usually found around the tourist areas. Many cheap hotels and inn's have little posters of this scam pinned up on the walls to warn the travellers.

This is one of the scams I found out from a hotel operator as one of his backpacking guest got tricked into it. He was US$15,000 poorer after that ordeal.

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Phone: Call the local police

Just an update: Please stay clear of unfamiliar places.
 
Many people have lost their personal belongings right from the time they arrive at the airport all the way to the hotel rooms.

----------My WARNING----------

1. When you arrive, ALWAYS keep an eye on your hand luggage, lap top, cell phone even your check-in bag.

2. When you exit a bus/taxi/train, ALWAYS look behind your seat to see if you left anything behind.

3. [Ladies] When in the city, ALWAYS hold on to your purses/wallets very carefully as snatch theives are around. They operate by foot,motorbikes and even cars.

4. When eating, NEVER leave your cell phone/purse/wallet/pouch on the dining table or empty chair.

5. When at any counter(hotel,mall ect.) NEVER leave your bag unattended. Put it between your feet or simply use it around you.

6. When taking a taxi in KL, ALWAYS make sure the meter is running. If the taxi man refuses to run the meter, politely get out and look for another.

7. When renting a car/van, NEVER leave your personal belongings unattended and ALWAYS lock the doors. There have been cases where a rider on bike will open door and take purse/laptop and ride off.

8. When in bars/clubs, NEVER get too sloshed/drunk. You might wake up minus wallet. [Ladies] Never leave your drink unattended.

9. When you leave your hotel room, NEVER leave your passport or personal belongings there. ALWAYS put it in the hotel reception safe before going out.

10. When bargaining at markets, ALWAYS bargin for something you like but don't make such a silly offer.
 

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Phone: The tourist police

As some of you might know, South East Asian has 2 types of toilets.

►1st Type: The Western Seat
- Which is commonly found all over the western world.

►2nd Type: The 'Squatting' type
- Now, in the picture you will get a rough idea of how it looks like and how you're supposed to use it. Simple, go in, close door, remove pants or pull down(asian style), squat and get on with your business.
- Most 'squat' toilets come with water and tissue paper, but don't be supprised if you come across one WITHOUT both!

►Prevention:
- Always take some tissue when visiting these toilets. small tissue packs can be bought from just about anywhere for around 30? a pack.
- Sometimes at malls, they can be bought for a mere 30 cents from the lady manning the toilet at the entrance.
- Most malls do charge a toilet entrance fee which ranges from 20cents - 50cents.
- Gas/ Petrol Stations do not charge, but be warned of the smell at some stations.
- Public toilets out in the open, erm..well, some are well taken care of, and some are amazingly unbareable.
- Best place to use toilets are the Hotels. They usually have everything and are free. Hey, even I use the hotel toilets when in town☺.

►For emergencies only:
If the seat is dirty, do like the locals do, get up on the seat and squat like a squatting type. Everyone does it, cause you might use up an entire pack just trying to clean the rim and it till looks dirty.

►Reason for water hose:
It's because the muslim people(and some others) prefer to wash their [censored] and hands after a long session. They believe it's much cleaner that way.

►Shock Factor:
If you come across a really dirty and stinky one, oh well, it's just the culture here. Some people still after all these years do not know the meaning of the word Hygiene even after the goverment has tried over and over..So, live and let live....

☺

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You should contact the Tourist Police if you are outdoor around the busy areas when something happends or when you simple need some info

In the picture you can see what they look like. They can be found walking around in pairs usually near the high traffic tourist areas.

And some of these areas, they have little Tourist Police Booths which are also blue and white in color.

How to identify the Tourist Police from the Normal Police:

►Tourist Police wear a chequered blue and white band around their cute little hats.

►Normal Police wear just plain dark blue hats.

►The Malay name for police is Polis.

Tourist Police are ever ready to help the lost traveller in any way possible but in any case, be prepared if they do not speak fluent English. Most of them do speak average English.
 
☺ ☺

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Phone: Police

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They can be found all over the city. In the picture you will see a Police beat base or a little police hut.

When in troubles or if you'd like to get to know more about the Malaysian police, please feel free to drop by.

FOR THE LOCALS: Take a look at which 'Pondok' Polis this is. *grin*

*Pondok = Hut in Malay, so it's a little Police Hut

☺

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Well, in this pic youwill see the current tallest building in the world. And No, the Petronas Twin Towers are only the 'TALLEST TWIN TOWERS' in the world.

Current record holder is in Taipeh, called the 'TAIPEH-101' cause of it's 101 stories and it beats the Petronas Twin Towers by 50-60meters.

Well, just a note :)

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It comes supposedly once a year. This time around in Aug 2005, it reached a critical level for a few days. See the picture to get an idea. Well, the winds have since then blew the haze up north and the city is back to normal. People here stayed home to catch the news on updates and so on, but I decided to take a look around the city instead. To my surprise... it was empty! I could barely see more than 500m most of the time I was out. Driving with my headlights on at 2 in the afternoon lol... not something I usually do.

Well, some general info on this Haze can be found below:

What is HAZE? HAZE consists of sufficient smoke, dust, moisture, and vapour suspended in air to impair visibility. HAZE pollution can be said to be "transboundary" if its density and extent is so great at source that it remains at measurable levels after crossing into another country's air space.

How does HAZE impact VISIBILITY? HAZE is caused by particulate matter from many sources including smoke, road dust, and other particles emitted directly into the atmosphere, as well as particulate matter formed when gaseous pollutants react in the atmosphere. These particles often grow in size as humidity increases, further impairing VISIBILITY. Sources hundreds or even thousands of miles away can contribute to VISIBILITY problems at remote locations. VISIBILITY often is measured as the farthest distance from which a person can see a landscape feature.

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