bel

Yeah, the same rules that apply to cars apply to bikes too.

How I know. In Malaysia everything works a little differently i.e. you can openly bribe cops, jump red lights, jay walk freely, cut queues, talk on the handphone, etc.

I said I didn't have a Californian driver's licence and that I'd only been here a month, to which he replied, "Wow your English is very good". $10 he doesn't know where Malaysia is. He let me go after an uneventful 5 minutes of me just standing there on the steep hill holding my bike looking extremely bored. "Okay, well, I don't usually issue tickets to bikes and I'm just concerned for your safety because a lot of people get knocked down at this corner".

This scenario may be compared and contrasted with a previous encounter I had with a polis some 3 years ago in KL. He caught me for speeding at 92km/h on a 80km/h highway. I argued that I had exams and was very stressed and didn't look at my speed limit and called him "Uncle" out of respect. I also slipped him RM20 - no more, no less (the going rate is about Rm50 for a Merc) because I didn't have anything else in my wallet and I was clearly a probationary driver.

I miss home!

To add to my Monday morning blues, I overzealously overwaxed my upper lip on Saturday night and the scars are beginning to show. A part of my face resembles a moon crater.

ETA: I fell off my bike and bruised my hip. YAY MONDAY!