Kuala Lumpur (KL) reminds me of Blade Runner, with ageing, decaying old buildings next to flashy architecturally innovative structures, interspersed with bright neon signs and too little greenery. At night, when you can’t see the crumbling bits too clearly, it looks pretty spectacular. During the day, you can’t help but wish there was an effective Town Planning Department managing the city’s strategy.

We stayed around the Petaling Street area, or Chinatown, as it’s known. I can admit that, in the past in various cities, I’ve been harassed by people selling pirated watches and handbags, or movies, or spruikers extolling the virtues of their clubs or restaurants, but it wasn’t until we were strolling down Petaling Street (and it’s pronounced Peh-TAR-ling, not PET-a-ling) that I was — for the first time in my life — surrounded by people hard selling … foot massages. Don’t ask me. Maybe the one thing KL tourists yearn above all else are relaxing foot massages. If you’re after one, go to KL’s Chinatown. Don’t look for them; they’ll find you.

When you’re suffering from the heat in Singapore, Singaporeans like to tell you smugly that at least their city’s cooler than KL. Don’t believe it. Not anymore. There is so much high-rise, crowded development in Singers that it’s difficult to draw a breezy breath anywhere. KL (with a maximum of 33 degrees Celsius for the days we were there) was relatively cool in comparison.

To be continued on Friday …

And Chapter Eleven of War Games is now available.

In the dark ruins of Sab-Inuk, Garza finally tells Cheloi one of her secrets, including her suspicion that it was Grakal-Ski behind their rebel capture. Cheloi is not too surprised by this, but is stunned when Garza tells her she is from the Fusion. She thinks this is a happy secret she can keep to herself, until she finds out Garza has told more than one person about her past. Cheloi’s life is about to get way more complicated.

FAVOURITE QUOTES:

“If you gave them information in an attempt to negotiate something like a prisoner swap, it was a wasted effort. Nothing, short of your miraculous escape plan, would have saved my life.”
“Saving you was the last thing on my mind.”

“I wanted to hate you,” she said softly, almost to herself. “I came prepared to hate you, for all you did to the people of this planet.”

“Grakal-Ski wants you dead,” she said abruptly.
“Yes, I imagine he’s been fantasising about that for the past couple of years.”

[EDITED to add] IPOCALYPSE UPDATE: Now a gentleman has obviously somehow got his hands on J’s number to ask for help with his Apple device. We’re sympathetic, but …