It's a kaleidoscope, fast travel. I mean air travel, of course -- the kind we want to cut down on for environmental reasons; the kind that gets people from A to B in a sort of vacuum, with the sole element of cultural differentiation provided by the adverts that you have to sit through before you can watch your movie; the kind that is, at the end of the day, so very, very claustrophobic and uncomfortable.

So you step from your warm Malaysian environment into a vibrating tube. You launch yourself into a couple of very British films, Downton Abbey and Mrs Lowry and Son (much better than the reviews, I thought: "I paint what I see. I paint how I feel. I'm a man who paints, nothing more, nothing less").

Then you land at Dubai Airport. This is a much nicer interchange than it was in 2015, but the experience goes markedly downhill when you discover that -- horror of horrors -- Pinkberry has disappeared... No more strawberry and pomegranate smoothies. The end of an era...

You also discover that security has been increased for all flights to London... Double passport check. Double electronics check. Boots off. Assorted surfaces dabbed with explosives detection stuff.

You land in London, where the early morning temperature is -1 degree. You note the new improved entry procedures for a raft of "low-risk" countries.


And now things start to solidify. You're in a real country, not an anonymous metal cylinder or a holding area.

So you shop for breakfast at M&S. At least low-carb options are available... You head for the coach station (because you can't face the long, draggy tube ride into the city to catch the train). The waiting area is predictably draughty.

You doze your way through the journey to Nottingham. Wintry landscapes, with lots of brown. The day's not bad, though. There is sunshine sometimes.

You get a wonderful cup of hot tea at Nottingham railway station (very close to where the bus comes in).


Then you take the train to Newark, and walk to your family's house (because it's still a little sunny, and in winter you walk whenever possible -- and because, having packed abstemiously, you can...)

You don't have to be long in Britain before you realize how big vegan food has become. It's everywhere. Greggs, the UK's largest bakery chain, is leading the way.


And soon you're syncing in with the colours and the sights of winter.

Yesterday, the weather forecaster several times described the day as "dank". Dark and damp... I'm not sure I've ever heard the word used this way.


But there's beauty in it always. So much beauty...