无认屋

无认屋 / bo lin choo

From Leong Choon Cheong's Youth in the Army (1978): "This utterance is evoked in a situation where a soldier experiences a state of mental excitement and confusion, and consequently is liable to "gabra" (be confused, frightened or shocked). The literal translation of the expression is "unable to recognise the house".

I have never quite been certain where my house is. I suspect it might have been left behind in London. Meanswhile I operate like a snail with a borrowed shell.

From the screaming crack whores of Dalston's Shacklewell Lane - to the pimps and mainland china hookers of Geylang, I've been living in exciting neighbourhoods.