Edgwere Road

Should you be looking for Halal Food, you couldn't go wrong with Edgwere. Located near Marble Arch and Hyde Park, it was full of Arabs who moved here since the early 80s, establishing shops and the likes here. Malaysia Hall happened to be right around the corner from there, so, as student, once we god sick of the cafeteria food, that was where our destination was.

I was surprised when I was there yesterday on two fronts. First, the same old restaurants and shops were still there. The same kind of food, but instead of the usual old cafe, there were shisha bars here. I had my order of kebab - I should gave walked round the corner to a better one right opposite. I guessed I was too hungry then. None the less, the kebab was OK and it was real cheap.

Next surprise was beggars. Yes, I was not kidding. And they were all Arabic, some of them old mothers with small children, as well as old men, walking towards you, greeting you with Salam, making you really felt uncomfortable. There were several of them. Some of them started talking to me in Arabic, according to some Chinese friends, they only target Moslems. You would feel really awkward if you wee a Moslem, and one never expected Arab with their proud and oftentimes arrogant past to turn out this way.

I just ignored them, got on with my dinner and left the place. Should any of you venture to these areas, do expect beggars, and if you were a Moslem, expect them to approach you. And there were a few of them about.