King,s Cross - nearly home!

Today was always going to be a challenge. The plane journey was not easy as I failed to get much sleep. Arriving back in the UK, cold and uninviting, was not promising. After breakfast I set off across London via tube. The old, coaches, rumbling along, and my memories of the smooth, vibrant MTR in Hong Kong fading!

I reached King's Cross to await my train. I took the blip to signify the sense of journey I was experiencing today. Travelling in first class as a rare treat meant a more relaxed northward experience. A free cup of tea and a few sandwiches were it's only distinction, except the chairs were bigger and more comfortable. I needed a bit of comfort, I felt tired, fighting the urge to go to sleep.

Since then I have sat at home and gradually regained my bearings. I have done very little, ideas forming in my head but then disappearing just as quickly. My son has been busy cleaning my room, buying provisions and then doing some washing for me. I feel lucky and stare into the room noticing the Christmas tree but letting the world of the familiar just go by.

I watch the football lazily not really taking it in. I decide I won't sleep until bedtime in the hope that in a single swop jet lag will disappear. I am fighting tiredness because I must watch the best TV show of the year, the incomparable Sports Personality of the Year. I have watched this since I was a boy when Peter Dimmock, then David Coleman drove the show forward. I like its look back at the year's sport.

But that will be it. I know tomorrow will be busy and I will catch up on my sleep. We always have to pay a little for such travel. But it is a contented jadiness and I am happy to let this day slip out of sight.