Several fortuitous events appeared to give my road to Canterbury a charmed feel.
1 - Good journey from KL to London) It began with what would appear to be misfortune. From my checked-in luggage on a flight from KL to Cape Town, my camera was stolen. As a consequence I was legitimately able to claim insurance for a new camera (which I had been thinking about) and I was able, through the good graces of my airline, to secure an upgrade on the flight I later from KL to London. Importantly, beyond the added comfort of spending half my journey in business class (in which the seats had a vibro-massage function), I had an increased luggage capacity (from 20 to 30kg). This extra capacity was crucial as my baggage weighed in at 31.1kg. I thus the thieves in KL/ Abu Dhabi/ J'burg or Cape Town to thank for saving me from paying significant excess baggage costs.
2 - Good journey from London to Canterbury) When I arrived in Heathrow, I was in good condition - not ragged or tired. I found my baggage in some disrepair, a fact which I will bring up with the airline to try to procure another upgrade (Thank-you again, baggage mishandlers). Meanwhile, I was to catch a tube-train to Victoria Station and then catch a train to Canterbury East. Happily, although I was traveling in peak hour and was dreading the crush, I thought the tube ride seemed very uncrowded. The keeper of the Inn in which I'm now staying observed that by arriving very shortly before Christmas, the tube was probably quiet with people having taken time off.
3 - Good weather) I arrived in Canterbury without any drama. The weather was very mild and still (i.e. no wind). I had been expecting and bracing myself for significant chilliness. I was told later on that day that Canterbury had suddenly hit a pleasant patch. It had been very chilly a few days back. [(Parenthetically) I'll just recall that during S & my's trip to China in 2007 in winter we had unheard of-ly good weather. We were there during the warmest winter on record and throughout the trip we were treated to clear blue skies. I had been expecting to be breathing murky gaseous cheesecake].
4 - Nifty new discounted computer) Shortly after arriving, my laptop - an old Toshiba which is the heaviest and back-breaking-est in its class - finally decided that the change in surrounds was all a bit too much and packed it in. Apparently a disaster as I was relying on it heavily for house hunting. However, after bearing the absence of a computer for a couple of days, I went to buy a netbook (a very small laptop/notebook). After significant deliberation, I decided on a cheaper netbook with just 8Gb memory. I went to the counter and asked for the Acer netbook please. The guy at Curry's (major chain) asked me whether I wanted the 8Gb one or the 120Gb one. I asked how much the 120Gb one was (it had not been on display and so I didn't know of it). It turned out to be just 25pounds more and so naturally I snapped it up at 200pounds. Hopefully I've reached the end of those days where I got a sore back from carrying my old Toshiba and heaving it out of my hand-luggage to send it through the airport x-ray. [During my deliberation period, I managed to set off the security gadget on one of the laptops in the store. Happily, some people thought this was funny (laughing with me, not at me). Unfortunately I looked very much like a thief in my ultra-puffy gangsta jacket. However, I got the impression that it happened frequently given the perfunctory manner in which the harried shop assistant turned off the alarm.]