Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 58
  1. #1
    Thailand Expat
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    38,456

    So, Where were You?

    Of course our new day in Oz starts earlier than most of yours. So where were you on that fateful day, 911? I remember distinctly.


    Sabs Story


    I was living and working in HK back then, doing rather well in the investment biz.

    Unusually, I had gone from the office straight back home. Kinda weary, a bit burnt out. When the first plane hit, I had no idea.

    Then I received a call, from my PA/ 2IC- she was then a middle aged American lady from the Heartland. She is now an elderly lady- & still lives and works in HK.

    She was distraught- "America is under attack!!". WTF?? She was in Dan Ryans bar in Pacific place, HK, our regular after work bar.

    My apartment was all of 1.5 km away from both Pacific Place and our office in the Lippo Centre. I hopped straight in a taxi, and was there in minutes.

    Of course, all of the TV's were showing "the Event". I went straight to her, and embraced her. She was an absolute mess.

    Only about two minutes after I got there, the second plane hit. I saw it unfold in real time, almost like in slow motion.

    I suppose I felt stunned for a while, numb. It dawned on me- there were people I knew in those towers. Colleagues I had worked with, at Merrill Lynch. Some of them friends, one an ex-lover. As it turned out, only two people I knew died that day- at least, as far as I'm aware.

    HK people are, on the whole, pretty worldly and informed. We were soon openly speculating that it was Al Qaeda behind these attacks.

    I forget the timeline, I was busy getting drunk and trying to console my distraught friend, but then news came through about the Pentagon being hit, and some plane had gone missing near philly.

    I wondered- what is gonna change? What is gonna happen? I had to write a report to our clients the next day, trying to explain the implications from an investors Pov. Not all that much, actually. But I didn't know the half of it.

    Yes, the World changed that day. Mine did, anyway.

  2. #2
    Thailand Expat Backspin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2019
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    11,260
    I was driving to school in grade 11. Got there and ppl were in the parking lot listening to news radio about it.

  3. #3
    On a walkabout Loy Toy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    30,531
    I was attending a trade meeting in Kuala Lumpur and when I returned to the hotel room I turned on CNN and watched the second impact.

    I thought I was watching a Spielberg movie, fell asleep and when I went for breakfast everyone was talking about it.

  4. #4
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Chiang Mai
    Posts
    48,094
    I was in my house in Chiang Mai reading a book. A friend of mine phoned screaming, “What’s happening in your country? What’s happening in your country?” Didn’t have a clue what she was on about so she told me two planes had flown into the WTC and I should turn on my tv. I didn’t have a tv, only internet which wasn’t worth a flip in 2001 for streaming. Called a friend in the city and drove to her house to watch it on the telly there. It felt as though we were watching an action movie.

  5. #5
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Last Online
    30-04-2022 @ 02:44 AM
    Posts
    11,204
    In bed asleep, woke up in the morning and the front pages of the newspaper (remember them) on my door mat had pictures. Spent the weekend at Koh Samed and every tv was tuned to CNN or BBC who both endlessly replayed picture of the event and speculated.

  6. #6
    Thailand Expat
    Buckaroo Banzai's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Last Online
    03-08-2023 @ 01:50 PM
    Location
    My couch
    Posts
    4,889
    We were vacationing in Greece at the time. We were in a taxi at the time and herd about it on the radio. I thought that it was probably a Cessna and probably a newbee pilot that got lost and hit the towers.
    Then the story unfolded as we watched the news on TV in disbelief .
    We had a bit of a scare as my brother in law who was working in the area was out of communication for a while. , and we did not know what had happened to him. As it turned out he had to walk out of Manhattan .
    Returning to the US a few days later was no picnic, our flight was connecting at Newark airport in NJ and it came up the hudson river to make the approach to the airport. You could still see the smoke billowing up from Manhattan. We arrived at Jacksonville international in FL and the airport was deserted.
    We had a business in Daytona FL that catered to tourists, and was doing great before the incident, business died, and it never really recovered. Now Ex-wife ,still owns it and is running it only to keep her Mom bussy, and make some extra money . She is a hospital administrator running the medical records department at the area hospital.
    Say what you will, 9/11 was the nail in the coffin of the US, Everything deteriorated from that day on.
    The sooner you fall behind, the more time you have to catch up.

  7. #7
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    left of center
    Posts
    20,590
    On a project for SFWM and had Howard Stern on the radio

    Starts at 3: 02: 00

    3: 01: 45 Howard reports that a plane crashed into the WTC.
    3: 07: 15 Second plane hits.
    3: 48: 22 Report that the Pentagon has been hit.
    4: 28: 19 Report of the collapse of the western side of the Pentagon.


    the video above might not be up for long
    Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

  8. #8
    Elite Mumbler
    pickel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Isolation
    Posts
    7,692
    I went to NYC for a friend's wedding, and the day after the wedding (Aug. 6th, 2001) I went sightseeing alone as all my mates were hungover and didn't want to go, and decided to go to the WTC. You cannot fully fathom how huge these things were unless you have stood below them and looked up, way up.

    Before I went to the top I sat at the base by the golden statue and pondered what would happen when these buildings got old and had to be demolished. How would they do it? Piece by piece with cranes? Controlled demolition? I imagined that in my head and said nah, impossible, too big and too tall.

    I eventually rode up a few elevators and made it onto the roof, and the view was incredible.

    On Sept.10th, back home, I got the film developed and had some friends over to show them pics from my trip.

    When I went to sleep that night I actually had non descript dreams of the towers.

    I was awoken to early morning phone calls which I ignored, until they became incessant so I answered.Turn on the TV turn on the TV. I turned it on with the south tower already down, but saw the north fall.

    I knew the world was about to change, but I also had a feeling that America was about to fuck up and do everything wrong, and Bush and Cheney never let me down on that.

  9. #9
    Thailand Expat
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    38,456
    Yeh, I dined at the Windows on The World restaurant a few times, and stayed at the Marriott WTC during my time there with ML. They both came down. ML itself was in the World Financial Centre just across the way, by pedestrian bridge. It was damaged, but nothing major. Funny about WTC7 then.

  10. #10
    Thailand Expat
    Simon43's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Last Online
    Yesterday @ 08:44 PM
    Location
    Luang Prabang (again!!)
    Posts
    3,914
    To be honest, I can't remember where I was. My mum called me to tell me about it, so I think I was in the UK.

  11. #11
    Thailand Expat
    PAG's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Last Online
    19-01-2024 @ 11:31 PM
    Location
    Chalong, Phuket
    Posts
    5,123
    I was on the Jade platform, offshore Equatorial Guinea. The OIM, a good 'ol boy from Louisiana, and I watched events unfurl in the conference rooom where the TV had CNN on all the time except for meetings.

  12. #12
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Last Online
    Today @ 03:55 AM
    Location
    Roiet
    Posts
    34,896
    Sitting on the street with a mate having a beer at a bar on Soi Cowboy. Watched the whole thing on their TV. The entire Soi went eerily silent as everyone watched transfixed to a TV.
    Being able to speak Thai I drew a small group of young ladies to translate what was happening as it unfolded on as I recall the CNN broadcast.
    An evening I will never forget as it was the first time ever the ladies bought me drinks.
    "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect,"

  13. #13
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    17,216
    ...I had just returned from shopping to my apartment in Riyadh when a neighbor rushed over and urged me to turn on CNN. I was on the sofa for the next 2 hours...the longest amount of time I have continuously watched that channel...

  14. #14
    Thailand Expat
    Iceman123's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Last Online
    Today @ 03:45 AM
    Location
    South Australia
    Posts
    5,526
    It was a real shit day for me.

    It was around 10pm in South Australia. I was trading some very highly leveraged positions via CMC markets. I was long on the Dow and had taken a large position on the AUD to strengthen against the U$.

    When the first plane hit, I knew deep down it was terrorist related, My positions were dropping rapidly but I held on in hope, second plane hits then building collapse. I was like a rabbit caught in the headlights - the Dow tanked and the U$ strengthened against all currencies as a flight to safety. When I finally cut my positions I had lost A$250k.

    No one hated Bin Laden more than me!

  15. #15
    Thailand Expat
    Mendip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Last Online
    Today @ 02:24 AM
    Location
    Korat
    Posts
    10,777
    I was working on the MSV Nordica in the Norwegian sea. The internet offshore barely worked back then and there wasn't much work getting done that day as everyone sat at their workstations in disbelief waiting many minutes for news pages to refresh.

    I well remember the huge queues at security at Oslo Airport a few days later as I flew home, little realising at the time that air travel had changed forever.

  16. #16
    Thailand Expat
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    38,456
    ^^ $250K + the whiskey bill!

  17. #17
    Thailand Expat russellsimpson's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Last Online
    26-03-2024 @ 05:23 AM
    Location
    vancouver
    Posts
    1,785
    I was travelling through a wilderness area in B.C. with no radio coverage on the car radio. It was mid morning when I approached what appeared to be a country store and cafe. It turned out I was on an Indian Reserve in the tiny village of Hanceville. I got out of my 'camper, at that time a small Volkswagen Golf diesel, a pretty reliable but small car. I entered the cafe and noticed the place was full of Native people who seemed fixated all on what appeared to be a drama. I thought, how can all these folks be watching t.v. together this early in the morning, were they all drinking?

    I took my coffee and headed into a back room to nurse my coffee keeping one ear tuned to the outside fracas. It was only when I was going to pay for the coffee when the owner of the place said something like "Quite the thing, eh?" So I watched for a few minutes and drove. Within 1/2 hr I was able to get CBC and spent the rest of the day driving and listening. I stopped to spend the night at a rough hot spring where I was joined by a group of eight Americans. We spent the evening discussing the situation thoroughly
    A true diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a manner that you will be asking for directions.

  18. #18
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Last Online
    30-04-2022 @ 02:44 AM
    Posts
    11,204
    Quote Originally Posted by Iceman123 View Post
    It was a real shit day for me.

    It was around 10pm in South Australia. I was trading some very highly leveraged positions via CMC markets. I was long on the Dow and had taken a large position on the AUD to strengthen against the U$.

    When the first plane hit, I knew deep down it was terrorist related, My positions were dropping rapidly but I held on in hope, second plane hits then building collapse. I was like a rabbit caught in the headlights - the Dow tanked and the U$ strengthened against all currencies as a flight to safety. When I finally cut my positions I had lost A$250k.

    No one hated Bin Laden more than me!
    And a 1/4M was worth a few bit back then

  19. #19
    Thailand Expat Fondles's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Chonburi, Thailand
    Posts
    7,861
    Was smoking bongs in me mates garage when it came on the tele... trippy fucken shit that was, specially when peeps starting jumping out the windows !!

  20. #20
    Philippine Expat
    Davis Knowlton's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Philippines
    Posts
    18,204
    In my office in my house in Manila. Was getting ready to go teach a class to the cops when my partner called and told me to turn on the news. My first thought was "well, that was inevitable". Given the soft underbelly of the US, and its belief that it was immune within its borders, I was surprised it took so long.

  21. #21
    Thailand Expat
    Happy As Larry's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Last Online
    Yesterday @ 10:25 PM
    Posts
    1,256
    I was sitting having a beer in the Londoner Pub on Sukhumvit, having just a couple of days earlier returned from NYC.
    For a good portion of my adult life before coming to Thailand I went through the WTC each day on the way to work.
    For a number of years I worked in a building opposite the WTC that had to be demolished due to the damage caused by the attack.
    By the time of 9/11 my office had relocated to midtown.

  22. #22
    Making people dance. :-)
    Edmond's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Cebu
    Posts
    13,890
    Was in Adelaide, playing golf (which is unusual in itself).


    Just remember a loud scream, in a Scottish accent, echoing through the air.

  23. #23
    Thailand Expat VocalNeal's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Last Online
    Yesterday @ 10:48 PM
    Location
    The Kingdom of Lanna
    Posts
    12,992
    I was here, in BKK. I think I heard about it at the pub.

  24. #24
    Thailand Expat tomcat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    17,216
    Quote Originally Posted by Edmond View Post
    Just remember a loud scream, in a Scottish accent, echoing through the air.
    ...so, quickly pulled your hand back then...

  25. #25
    I'm in Jail

    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Last Online
    08-02-2023 @ 01:23 PM
    Location
    I'm Dead
    Posts
    7,133
    I was at Frankfurt airport travelling back to UK, watching it live on TV at a coffee shop, we thought it was a movie at first, until the barman told us it was live.

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •