My "Taken" experience

Recently watch the movie Taken on DVD.

Very good movie as I feel this kind of "taken" situation could happen to anyone since people like to travel nowadays and generally when you are on vacation you are not that alert to strangers whom you meet especially good looking ones ;p

Me and my friend recently had.. well almost encountered a "could-have-been-taken" situation.

What happened was when travelling in Jakarta, Indonesia, people always recommend taking Blue Bird or Silver Bird taxis but sometimes, it's not that easy to be choosy especially during rush hour.

So we hopped onto an unfamiliar brand of taxi. Normally we would not be bothered at all except the fact that:-

1) the taxi driver kept turning back and ask us where we are from, where we are staying, when are we flying back to Kuala Lumpur.

2) then he turned and asked whether he can send us to the airport. We promptly answered no and lied about a "friend" who will be sending us off.

3) later, and this was the one who made us alert and real suspicious, I saw him texting on his phone a short message but I couldnt understand his lingo but I distinctly read the word "Kuala Lumpur" in the message and that made us really worried.

Instantly many thoughts raced through our minds, including him maneuvering to a deserted spot where we can be easily "taken".

It didnt help that prior to boarding the taxi we saw a leg-less female beggar at the side of the road and me and my friend talked about a scene in "Slumdog Millionaire" where the bad guys intentionally blinded a perfectly healthy boy just to make him pitiful and qualified to be a beggar.

Naturally we felt the urge to jump out of the taxi but then we thought that we could be making a mountain out of a molehill.

So thank God at that moment I received a text message.. I used the opportunity to pretend to pick up the phone and to speak to a "friend" who was waiting for us at our destination at Plaza Senayan. I then ask when we will reach Plaza Senayan and the taxi driver answered 10 minutes.

We were so relieved to finally reach Plaza Senayan. And we were pleasantly surprised to see Hong Kong actor Michael Wong in one of the shops, obliging photo opportunity for those standing around. Such a nice guy and so fit for his age!

A very fit and slim Michael Wong @ 47 years old