5 years

5 years ago today, was of course 9/11, or 11/9 as it is in the UK, funny how everyone calls it 9/11.
5 years ago after finishing a really crappy teaching job that i had only accepted as it paid cash- I went to Kowloon Park to chill out, and have a couple of cans.I had just returned from the UK. Joseph was 4 months old, but was with his mother in the Philippines. I had decided that it would take too long to get Teosdee a Uk visa, and that i may not have been able to. Teosdee didn't have a Hong Kong visa either, as there were complications left over from her Domestic helper visa.
I had arrived back with less than £100 and was determined to stand on my own feet-hence the crappy job.
I was staying in Mirador Mansions-next to ChungKing mansions. I had my own room, in a guest house, which i paid nightly.
The room next to mine was full of Mongolian women earning some extra cash, I think they worked in TST East.They didn't entertain at the hostel, so it wasn't too bad. Occasionally, the South Asian guests would get pissed or whatever, and staying inside my room was mandatory.
They would often knock on the doors at night to check that none of the Indian prostitutes were there.A few years after I left, a couple of them were murdered in their room.
I can remember an Italian guy, who was sourcing for cheap textiles in China, and an English girl staying for a while-they seemed normal, but still not quite.
The room was tiny, and the door didn't open fully, as the bed was in the way. I would smoke outside on the landing, and listen to noisy goings on above and below.TST, was 'run' at that time by Pakistanis, Indians and others. These were not Hong-Kong residents but recent immigrants illegal, or semi illegal who ran the prostitutes from India and Bangladesh, and sold drugs to locals and travellers.
It was a dangerous place at night, full of people whose religion apparently forbade drinking and drugs. It was impossible to spend all your nights laying down, so I used to hang out at the 7/11 downstairs.
I was never bothered, but saw plenty of bother." Hey man! you wanna drink beer?", these drinking Muslims were friendly to me-the long haired westerner. The prostitutes would nod at me, but knew that I could never seriously be interested. The drug addicts were drug addicts, I would buy them a can of beer-if they didn't ask.I wouldn't if they did.
I spent 3 months there, saving, trying to balance 'cash work' with getting a decent monthly paying job.This wasn't easy when the rent was due every night.

This takes me back to Kowloon Park, on the evening of September 11th.
I didn't have that night's rent, so I was hanging out until my landlady had gone home, and the Northern Chinese girl, who didn't speak a word of English or Cantonese was on reception(a few doors down).She wouldn't ask me for money, as the next day was generally okay.
My room did have a TV, and after I had closed my door, pleased not to have to explain my lack of rent, I settled down to eat my noodles.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing or seeing.The first plane had just crashed.There is 12 hours time difference between HK and New York. I sat there for hours transfixed, shocked, and suddenly feeling a little scared being surrounded by so many Muslims.
I went out onto the landing to have a smoke, no longer caring about the landlady, I needed air, it was too much to take in, in that cramped space-alone.
I went down to 7/11, got some supplies, stayed for a while to hear and share reactions.
News is not the greatest forte of HK tv, and the chance to watch rolling coverage from the US was too much of a temptation for me, I watched the coverage overnight, and grudgingly dragged myself away the next day for work.
Over the next few weeks tensions heightened between myself and a few of our Muslim brothers, as I got into heated arguments outside the 7/11. It never came to blows though, even as the war in AAfghanistan got underway.
I was glad to get out to my own flat and bring my family over in December.
Over the next 5 years I dropped by occasionally to remind myself of the sights and sounds, and the danger outside the 7/11 or is that 11/9 in English?