Family in Spain/Portugal

[Voodooman]

On 7/26/2024 at 3:34 PM, teomingern said:

They got human rights law mah... entrapment not allowed... case will be thrown out of the courts... police there battle crime with 2 hands tied behind their backs...

Criminals have more rights than victims. 

Actually with CCTV footage, police can catch these suspects in action. “Careless” undercover police in tourist attires (equipped with selfie stick and expensive cameras) should just speed up the rounding up process.  

Also, the justice system there will allow apprehended petty criminals to be back on the street in 24 hours.  No jail time is many of these countries. That sure is a bad recipe for keeping petty crime under control. 

Singaporeans like to kpkb about Johor and KL being unsafe but I could leave my iPhone on the table without fear of it disappearing in a blink of an eye but I will never do that in Europe.  

[Wind30]

On 7/26/2024 at 12:51 PM, Voodooman said:

Always enjoy reading your travel posts. Hope it was not too traumatising for your wife.  

Barcelona is notorious for pickpocketing. Wifey encountered a similar pickpocketing event in Europe recently (despite taking precautions).  Surprisingly, >50% of our friends who visited big cities in Europe in the last 1 years were victims of theft or attempted theft.  It is getting really rampant. I read Chinese are targeted as PRC tourists like to carry loads of cash, so if you are Chinese Singaporeans, be extra careful in big European cities like London, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid, Amsterdam, etc. There is a very high chance of you becoming a victim of petty crime. 

And the police there are also not doing much. Going to skip the bigger cities in France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands and UK for now.    No haversack, no use of phone to check direction, no selfie stick, no camera… just too much hassles and if lose passports, it will be even more painful. 

These syndicates should come to Singapore, ply their trade and see what happens.  With technology like CCTV and some entrapments, how difficult it is to crack down if there is a will? 

Exactly, I think the pickpockets can be fixed if some effort is put into it. At least not as frequent as it is now, the penalty for getting caught is really small I heard in some cities so the risk and reward balance encourages pick pocket. 
but with so much tourism in some cities, there is zero incentive for the cities to fix this as the locals don’t get targeted, and they have more tourists than they can handle anyway….

Edited July 28, 2024 by Wind30

[mersaylee]

Singaporeans can help reduce pickpocket crime in europe...just hang the passport or a note around the neck with caption..."im Singaporean, the monie not enuf and unhappy one" 😁

[Throttle2]

@wind30

scrolled through the pictures. well taken as usual, notice that your wife really likes the color Blue.

[teomingern]

On 7/29/2024 at 6:40 PM, Throttle2 said:

@wind30

scrolled through the pictures. well taken as usual, notice that your wife really likes the color Blue.

Wow... you observant leh... I was only concentrating on the photo composition and locations... heh heh...

[Throttle2]

On 7/29/2024 at 6:48 PM, teomingern said:

Wow... you observant leh... I was only concentrating on the photo composition and locations... heh heh...

by nature, yes i am very sharp.   I zoom into details

[Wind30]

On 7/29/2024 at 6:40 PM, Throttle2 said:

@wind30

scrolled through the pictures. well taken as usual, notice that your wife really likes the color Blue.

Actually clothing colors are very important for the picture. I remember one of our earlier trip someone had a super bright colored shoe which was so distracting. My wife sort of know what works and what does not, basically not too colorful stuff.

[teomingern]

On 7/31/2024 at 10:13 AM, Wind30 said:

Actually clothing colors are very important for the picture. I remember one of our earlier trip someone had a super bright colored shoe which was so distracting. My wife sort of know what works and what does not, basically not too colorful stuff.

A lot also depends on taste I guess... I like colourful photos... but I guess your style is more subdued colours...

[Wind30]

On 7/31/2024 at 1:35 PM, teomingern said:

A lot also depends on taste I guess... I like colourful photos... but I guess your style is more subdued colours...

Colourful style works but not all the time so it is much more limited… I can’t choose the scene colors so it is better to choose a color commonly found in nature so as to not clash