Post-Trip Recollections - Spontaneous Kuala Lumpur Sojourn
With some downtime at work due to the completion of several projects' milestones, I decided to go on a short 5 days/4 nights trip to neighbouring Kuala Lumpur in late November 2023. Flights between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur take only less than an hour each way, before factoring airport security and boarding times.
The aim was for a leisurely trip to visit Kuala Lumpur for the year-end festive mood and to do some shopping due to the relatively favourable forex rates of the SGD (Singapore Dollar) versus RM (Malaysian Ringgit).
However, the short trip turned out to be a rather interesting one, by way of several unforeseen incidents. First up, my travel partner dropped his ring at the airport in Singapore. Taking it in our stride that such things do happen when one was not attentive enough, we brushed the loss aside.
Next, our plane on approach to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport was nearing touchdown when I heard the plane's engines roared and we rapidly regained altitude. This happened amidst a heavy thunderstorm with strong crosswinds blowing as the plane was about to land. Although most of the passengers did not seem to even notice this, I was feeling a bit uneasy. Scared, to be exact. Maybe I was paranoid but them again, anything could have happened. Eventually, I chalked my internal tensions to my paranoia. After more than 30 minutes, a second landing attempt was made and this time, we landed successfully, albeit still with heavy downpour but weaker crosswinds.
Upon arriving at the Bukit Bintang area where the hotel we had booked was located, there was a driving thunderstorm underway. Yes, somehow, the rain seemed to be insistent on following us every step of the way. We navigated our way between the subway station and hotel which was but a mere 5 minutes walk away, clutching umbrellas and our luggages whilst jostling with the crowd.
At the hotel check-in, I was held back a good 45 minutes because only one check-in counter was opened. Even though I was the only one person in the queue, the 3 ladies at the check-in counter were taking a while to have their questions answered including what was the currency exchange rates, where best to eat, where best to shop, any shops offering discounts, can they have late checkout to 8pm without paying extras and what not. I didn't mean to eavesdrop but the conversations between them and the check-in staff was loud enough for everybody at the lobby to listen to. Finally, my turn arrived and the time taken for me to complete my registration and to get my card keys to my room lasted less than 5 minutes.
Back at the room, while I was trying to dry my rain-sodden shoes, my travel partner announced that his wallet in his bag could not be found. Because he had not taken out his wallet throughout the subway trip between the airport and the subway station, we concluded that he must had been the victim of a pickpocket. He recalled that he was bumped quite heavily by a man when trying to exit the subway station and that must have been when his wallet was taken. We lost more than RM3,000 in cash plus his credit cards, maybe more in cash. Alas, what's gone cannot be retrieved. We quickly called the banks to cancel the credit cards. Sure enough, the banks subsequently informed us that attempts were made to charge more than RM10,000 each in 4 different transactions to his cards at about the time when we discovered the loss. Because we had reported the loss quickly and blocked those credit cards stolen from us, all these transactions were rejected by the issuing banks. What a close shave! We could have lost at least RM40,000 or even more through unauthorised credit card charges!
Deciding that we should see the good rather than bad in the situation, we resolved not to allow this incident to spoil our vacation. After all, we lost "only about" RM3,000 (about US$640) and not more than RM43,000 (about US$9,000). We did not make a local police report because we assessed that we were not likely to retrieve the lost cash and thus decided that to spend hours in the police station reporting something that cannot be resolved will just be a waste of time.
Thankfully, things did turn for the better and we had a good time dining, shopping and meeting with friends for the next 4 days. Yes, for me, dining, shopping and meeting with friends were the highlights of this trip. Unsavoury incidents aside, the trip turned out to be quite an enjoyable one. I bought a nice Pilot Custom 74 Fountain Pen for myself, visited many books and stationery stores, bought some nice souvenirs and also dined on great food at affordable prices. And yes, I bought a replacement wallet for my travel partner and divided my cash-on-hand between us for the remainder of the trip.
Would I do this trip again? Of course I would. Except that I need to be more mindful of my travel partners in future, to ensure they don't end up as victims of pickpockets. Because such incidents can happen to anyone anywhere, in any city in the world.
Moral of the story is that while one should enjoy our trips as much as possible, but one also needs to be always mindful of one's personal possessions such as money and travel documents. This rule applies anywhere in the world.
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