Safety Trips when Travelling

I have been very fortunate to be able to study in Australia and during my stay there, I did pick up a lot of streetwise tips. Till this day, I still treassure the experience and the knowledge. In Australia, the government gives out a lot of safety tips. Sadly, they are not so readily available in Malaysia. Here's something I would like to share with all. I am sure it is not a complete list, but at least the ones I've experienced. If you have good tips, please drop me a line or a comment. I shall include it with acknowledgements!

Most cities are very safe during the day, but things can be very different at night. So, do take care and travel safe.

• Travel by train is common. Usually, it is very safe. But it can be dangerous at night. So, when travelling at night, please use the carriage / coach closest to the driver. That's the safest.
• Always note the last train. Don't miss it - unexpectedly at least.
• Train stations usually attract a lot homeless, drunks and drug addicts at night. If possible, don't hang around train stations after 'dark', or when it is quiet. Homeless are harmless. Drunks usually want some money for drinks or at worse, puke. Drug addicts can resort to robbing you. The worse kind is when they threaten someone with a used syringe, which can be HIV tainted.
• If you enter a toilet and you notice blue lights - that means the area is a haunt for drug addicts. Ironically, blue light toilets are relatively safe. Why? For drug addicts to inject drugs, they need to find their veins. Veins are green. Under blue light, green veins do not show up. So, authorities deliberately puts blue light in toilets to prevent addicts from 'shooting up'. This means, the area has drug addicts. Now, the toilets are safe because there won't be any used syringes. But what's outside, druggies waiting to rob someone, is another story. So, know what the blue light means. It does not mean that the town council supports funky toilets!
• When using toilets, be on the look out for used syringes. Accidental contact will cause more mental sufferings than anything else!
• Chinatowns are great during the day. But when it is dark, it is usually not a good place to be. I don't know why. Chinatowns usually have the most drug deals, illegal prostitution, counterfeit goods - you name it, you get it. I have been offered 'ice' in Chinatown Montreal during the day. So, avoid Chinatowns if you can. And if you must know, I am not racist - I am of Chinese decent! This just happens to be a fact. I've been to enough in Vancouver, Montreal, Melbourne, Sydney and of course, KL. At night, it is not a good place to be. If a drug deal goes wrong they might just shoot each other with you in between! Oh yeah, it does not mean that all places with Chinese is unsafe. I have noted - it is just the place that they label Chinatown is bad. Take KL - most of KL is OK but when it comes to Petaling Street - just be careful. What's near (back streets of) Petaling Street can even be worse! Other areas are perfectly fine. No idea why. Just an observation. Another observation - it's not just the Chinese in chinatown that's giving chinatown a bad name. Chinatown, to me, is like the UN's local office for criminals.
• Always keep money in different places - wallet and bag. Don't put all your eggs in one wallet.
• If you must hide money in your shoe, please ensure that it will not end up as very expensive paper mache.
• Try to use a credit card (with chip) at all times. If your card is stolen, you just have to report it. It will then be Visa's or MasterCard's problem. No worries.
• If your credit card is stolen, report it immediately!
• There are places that cards are cloned. Malaysia use to be infamous for it. Therefore, try to get your credit card provider to issue a credit card with a smart card (it has a chip). The chip makes it very difficult to clone. All cards issued in Malaysia has a chip now. No prizes if you can figure out why.
• When you use your card, use it wisely. Don't let it get out of sight.
• Inform your credit card centre BEFORE you travel. You don't want them to bar your card when you are about to impress a pretty Austrian gal with an expensive dinner. No smart. It has happened to many of my colleagues - spending too much money on international calls just to ask the banks in KL to approve their transactions.
• Carry minimum amount of cash. But have spare for emergencies! For Malaysians, Mayban ATM cards actually work overseas. Just enable the overseas use in any ATM in Malaysia. They also offer very good rates, but there is a fee of RM 12 per transaction. It's good if you take out an equivalent of RM 1500 per transaction - works out cheaper than money exchange. I've used it in Bangkok, USA, Canada, Germany and France. It all works! Remember - they cannot steal what you do not have.
• Keep spare change and a small amount of money in a separate pocket. Don't take out your entire wallet to pay for a EUR 5 beer. Don't advertise how much you have.
• Please, do NOT advertise that you are a tourist. Try not to take a photograph of everything. Do take photos, at tourist places - like in Petronas Towers in KL. But please do not take photographs of a train approaching in a subway. Everyone will know you are a tourist. You might as well have a sign that says "rob me".
• Also, don't open up your map and read it in full view of others. Don't tell everyone you do not know your way! Read it in a shop. Or fold it into a smaller piece. Or make a summary of directions- where to turn left, etc. Be discreet.
• Know the emergency phone number. Every country is different. It's 911 is USA, 999 in Malaysia, 000 in Australia. For mobile phones, it is a universal 112. Remember it.
• Note the consulate's / embassy's phone number in the country. Maxis usually sends the number when you start 'roaming'. Keep it!
• Keep a copy of your passport / travel documents / ID with you. If you loose your passport, at least you have a copy of it. Imagine if you end up in your own embassy, and when they ask you for your passport number, you have to answer " I do not know". Don't laugh. This actually happened to my colleague. Not funny!
• Ensure someone at home has a copy of your travel documents and travel itinerary. If it is private, put it in a seal envelope, with instructions to open only in an emergency.
• Never ever leave anything in your coat pocket. In cold countries, everyone wears a coat. Some call it jacket, whatever. When we enter a warm place, such as a restaurant, we tend to remove the coat. And there are people who targets only coats. Even the coat is right behind you, hung on your chair, someone will still try to empty it. So, do NOT place anything in the coat - including the pockets. I had a colleague who lost the coat, plus passport, wallet, phones and keys. He couldn't get into his own hotel room - he didn't have any ID left on him. Ended up the night in a German police station. Not fun - although the police was very kind to let him spend the night there. It was snowing outside, so, he better not complain the chair was hard!
• If possible, do NOT hail a taxi from the roadside. Instead, call the cab company, to ask for a cab. Tell them were you are, and where you want to go. Give them your name (keep it simple, just first or last only - never the full name!). Ask them for the cab number. When your cab shows up, make sure the number is right. In some places, they cannot give you the cab number before hand. If that's the case, when the cab shows up, ask them *who* has asked for the cab. They should be able to reply you with your name. This will weed out bogus cab drivers. In addition, the cab company has a record of who went where and who picked up who. The cab drivers won't try anything funny - at least they will think twice.
• If you do not know the number for the cab company, ask the hotel or restaurant or bar to help you make the call. Just tip that guy. He will be happy to help you.
• Give the impression that someone knows where you are at all times - sms your boyfriend or girlfriend, or both. Or pretend to SMS / text message. Bad guys prefer to target someone who has no one to come look for them when the victim is in trouble.
• Never ever stop to give spare change, do charity. If you must do charity, do it in a proper place. Helping a beggar is not a good idea. That's usually the first step to being mugged. He can always run off with you entire wallet.
• Or, he will lure you away from your group. Let's say you walk around with a group of friends. Someone wants to rob you. In a group, he will be bashed up for trying to rob you. The best way is to lure you away. Offer you gals. Or ask you for spare change. When you stop, your group moves away, doesn't know you have stopped. That's when trouble starts. Be smart. If you want to do charity, go to a church, temple or the Red Cross. Not in the middle of the night, in the middle of a street that is new to you.
• If you are being rob, just give them what they want. Not worth fighting.
• If you loose your passport to a pick pocket - the best is go to the local police station about 24 hours later. Most of the time, it will find its way there. I have a sneaky suspicion the police somehow have a hand in it. Someone gets the money. The police doesn't want to be stuck with a bunch of sobbing tourists. Get the idea?
• Be prepared for the eventuality that you end up in your destination in Africa while your bags ended up in Austria for a skiing trip. Bags do go astray. Labels bags - but do it smartly. Have a spare change of clothes in your hand carry bags. At least a spare change of underwear if you must travel light!
• Do NOT put your full name, address and phone number on your bags. Put your initials. Think about it scenario. I am a scumbag, to cheat a tourist. I gets his details from his bag. I approach him. Hello Mr. XYZ. (I know his full name from from the bag). You have an emergency back at home (and I know his address). Please follow me, the scumbag. Imagine - that would be dangerous. Just put your name (initials) and phone number. Or put your office address. Why tell everyone that your house is bloody empty and you are on vacation?
• Lock your bags. I never worry about that they take out. I worry a lot about what they put in. Drug trafficking is a capital offence in Malaysia. Imagine if you end up being an unknowing drug mule. No fun.
• Check the bags for tamper the second you get them. Complain like mad, to the airline, if something is wrong.
• This is not so much about safely, but more on comfy. Book your darn seats when you book your air ticket. Imagine if you are a pretty gal - do you want to end up stuck to a window seat beside a guy like me? Book an aisle seat. Or a window seat - some people like windows seats. I just prefer aisle.
• As usual, beware of pick pockets. Nothing new here.
• Keep mobile phones fully charged at all times - or recharge them every night. It would be your life saver - or saving someone else's life.
• And please, don't bloody drain the battery of the mobile / cell phone by listening to MP3s, playing porn or games! A phone is a phone. Period. A dead 3G phone during an emergency is as good as a one's shoe when it comes to emergency communications.
• Keep a flash light around, even a small one LED one. A mobile phone is a good emergency light source too, but see previous point.
• A lighter is good too, but naked flames are dangerous. Airport security might have a issue too.
• Lastly, if something is too good to be true, it probably is! So, don't be greedy!