Razor blade-armed con

Like many expatriates in Jakarta, I have enjoyed the development of shopping malls in South Jakarta, most notably Pondok Indah Mall, or PIM. Last Sunday, I took my teenage daughter to the mall, but it became a bit more memorable outing than I had anticipated. While walking near Guardian pharmacy on the first floor at 12:50 p.m. as I was exiting the mall, I noticed a middle-aged woman with bobbed hair in a plain dark maroon dress (who had neither a purse nor shopping bags) walking in front of me on the left. She turned her head and looked at me. She then stepped directly in front of me and stopped dead in her tracks with her back to me. It seemed a bit bizarre, and I almost ran around and past her to get away. My daughter thought I was being paranoid.

When I returned home, I noticed an eight-inch cut through my handbag. Whoever "pickpocketed" my bag only got two packages of Canasta chips that I was bringing home for my son. Though my only material loss was a handbag, it makes me queasy to think that this kind of razor blade-armed con artist is stalking foreigners in PIM. Fellow expats, beware!

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