Wednesday 25 November 2015. Birthday in KL

The train arrived right in the morning rush hour and so I ended up like a tourist wandering around Waterloo at 08.00. I knew there was a monorail to my hotel and was able fairly easily to find it and get a ticket. The hotel is right by the monorail stop and so everything went easily and I was having a birthday breakfast on time while my room was becoming available.

Having moved in, I wanted to have a walk around and see if I remembered anything of KL from my last visit, some 15 years ago. In a word, nothing. I headed over to Merdeka square and then down into Chinatown via the old KL station. It was an OK walk but I was struck by how the car dominated the city. It feels as if one is continually coming across another Finchley Road - and to cross it without much help.

It was pretty steaming and I had not had the best night's sleep, so after about three hours I returned to the hotel. I was greeted by a nice birthday cake in my room which was a very pleasant gesture.

For a birthday, I had a rather timid evening and went for some drinks on the hotel before going for a rather brief walk and bite to eat. A nice day though with some cards and presents to open that friends had kindly given me before I left London.