Fuck knows what’s happening today — emerging reports of more attacks.

The weeks after the subway attacks in 1995, Tokyo was a city living on rumour and nerves. Armed police on every street corner, wild stories of hidden Russian tanks and helicopters ready to spray death across the city. The Friday after the atrocity, rumours of more attacks spread like wildfire — people left the city in droves, my friends bulk-buying tickets out and offering them to anyone who wanted to leave. We stayed. It was a beautiful Spring evening, pink blossom in Aaoyama. Nothing happened. London, two days after the bombs, seems psychically back to its old self. True there …

Walked home yesterday afternoon, against a tide of people walking out of the City. Very zombie movie — emergency vehicles screaming past, jams of traffic followed by empty streets, mobile phones dead. All the buses corralled in sidestreet, strangely drivers still respecting the bus lanes. People at bus stops pissed off that there were no buses — hadn’t they heard the news? By 8 in the evening, everything apparently back to normal, even near Aldgate, although the station was locked and crime scene posted. Feeling restless we went out for a drink in Hoxton — British resilience on display: all …

11:00 We’re OK. I’m at Anne-Fay’s place in Dalston, Helen is on her way to Paris on Eurostar. All tube lines shut down, all buses, possibly all trains into London (rumour). Latest report is at least 20 dead. Aldgate and Aldgate East, which are my local stations, just around the corner from my house, look on TV to be completely shut down with emergency vehicles everywhere. Mobile networks and lines out of the UK overloaded or shut down (to avoid remote-triggering of more bombs? It’s a rumour). Not attempting to get home any time soon. Bad memories of Tokyo. Trying …