Haircut time today!  I go over the Marriott early to swim, and then walk the ½ mile down the street to the salon.  This is the embassy neighborhood, and I pass the American Embassy, also France, Israel, and India.  At an intersection between the Indian & Israeli Embassies, there are LOTS of police gathered around, getting instructions.  I can’t stop now, but I’m gonna check it out later.

After the haircut, I head back up the street to the embassy area.  Many more police around, as well as cameras.  I take up a position across the street, just curious.  It’s not too long before they start moving us down the street.  I see all kinds of busses at the other end of the street, and it’s taped off.  Ambulances are pulling in and parking, like they’re getting ready for something.  We keep getting encouraged to move down the street.  Finally, a group comes into view from the other end.  They’re carrying signs, but they’re in Chinese, so I still don’t have it figured out.  They turn off the main street.  When I check out Google Maps on the iPad, I notice the Malaysian Embassy is down that street.

The story is that the protesters were surviving family members of the Malaysian plane disappearance.  They were told last night, officially, that all data pointed to the plane crashing, and they should accept the fact that their loved ones weren’t going to return.  They met this morning at the Lido Hotel, where they had been staying and attending update meetings.  They loaded buses for a trip to the Malaysian Embassy.  The busses were blocked from departing the hotel by the police, so the families decided to walk.  It’s about 4 kilometers.  They walked down a very busy street, shutting down traffic, and turned onto Embassy Row.  Before they arrived, another 3 bus loads of police arrived and unloaded.  We’re so far away by now that I can’t see much, but all the excitement is interesting.  I’m curious how the police would handle crowds like this.  They did a good job.  Everytime I was “encouraged” to move, they were polite.  The only problems I saw were when people tried to push past them.