Crossing the road is an easy endeavour in the west; as children we are taught to look left and right and cross when the road is clear, in South East Asia however, crossing the road involves an entirely different and very alien process!
When in large towns and cities, it's no use waiting for a gap in the traffic before you cross as there won't be one, the traffic here is so heavy and constant that if you want a gap you need to create it yourself. The trick to crossing is to just step straight out into the road and put your hand up to the oncoming traffic to alert them to the fact that you are in their path. The oncoming traffic will duly stop and continues once you have reached the other side.
It is extremely counter-intuitive to step in front of traffic, and sounds crazy to westerners who are used to a more regimented system, but unless you adapt to the South East Asian style of pedestrianism, you will find yourself stood on the pavement indefinitely.
I can't pretend that this method of crossing came easily to me, and it's only after a lot of wasted time on the curb that I actually got up the nerve to cross in this way, but it's actually not that bad, and it's a great feeling knowing that you've diced with death and lived to tell the tale!
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