Books and Burglars - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The big tourist destination of the day, the Petronas Towers, were the tallest buildings in the world until Taipei 101 was erected in 2004, and today was a special day because the high-end shopping mall connected to the towers houses a large bookstore loaded with mostly english print! Never have I felt so empowered by having access to nearly any book I desire. Add this to the list of things we Americans take for granted.

Walking to the towers turned out to be more of an adventure than I hoped as three young men jumped a man carrying a gaggle of shopping bags. The victim was about 15 feet in front of me when street thugs surrounded and cornered him into the shadow behind a wide column. Not knowing exactly what was happening in front of me I slowed until the situation registered, clamped my jaw, and instinctively exaggerated my chest. What could I do? What should I have done? A mid-day beating was occurring 8 feet away and a quick visualization dictated my action: I visualized a scene from a documentary about westerners in a prison in Quito in which two Ecuadorian women fight until one stabs the other in both eyes. I took stock of my day pack, turned around, and briskly walked the opposite direction.

Feb 19, 2008 Edit: [Had I intervened in the beating/potential stabbing, my 'best case' scenario would have likely entailed spending time with the corrupt Malaysian police; you can imagine the worst case and everything in between. Think about it, a Westerner involved in a violent incident (which possibly could have resulted in homicide). I would later hear of a fatal stabbing the following day at 5pm in the same neighborhood. Neither am I out to police foreign affairs, nor is it plausible for a solo traveler to play hero in this type of situation in this type of country.]

On a lighter note: Women here dress differently. Malaysia has a predominately Muslim population with some Hindu influence. It turns out that the dots worn on the foreheads of Hindi women outwardly indicates marital status. A red dot denotes married, while any other color means single and should be coordinated to match today's robe. Muslim women wear garments that cover most of their body, especially their hair. A bonus is that since Muslim women constitute the vast majority of restaurant employees I've noticed considerably less hair in my food compared to other countries.