There was a strange sense of unrightness around KL today, or maybe I was just spooked. There are often addicts sprawled on the pavements in our part of town, and I had my bag snatched very dramatically in my first week in the city which ended with a trip to the emergency as my head was bashed open by being flung onto the road. It felt more concentrated today, perhaps because all the respectable citizens of KL were with their families and any CNY drunkenness was managed at home. On the way back from Petaling Street an ang moh slipped in through the MRT barriers behind me and then muttered and gesticulated just behind me on the escalators. He was clearly on crystal meth or something, and I was made uneasy by his walking so close. He asked for directions in an odd, whistling voice and we guided him, secretly relieved that he was going in the other direction, and then I watched his reflection in the glass to see he did get on that train. On Jalan Nagasari another addict, this time completely starkers, squatted on the pavement to take a shit directly in front of us, and then as we turned on the main road, a car stopped and a man leaned out shouting at us. He may have thought he recognised us or simply wanted directions, but it didn’t give that vibe or else we were spooked by now, so we kept walking, then stopped behind an obscuring bush until the car drove past, then ducked into a side street.