• Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?

    Go here:

    Edit Account Details and Profile

香港 (Hong Kong - a.k.a. Fragrant Harbor) and other Far East Liberty ports - then & now

A4sForever

BTDT OLD GUY
pilot
Contributor
*EDIT*thread split*
Talked to a Navy SEAL Vietnam vet who fought in the legendary battle of kowloon one time.....

WTF is up w/ that guy, over???

The last time there was a 'battle' in Kowloon, to the best of my knowledge ... was when the Japs took Hong Kong.

And there wasn't much of a resistance in Kowloon, specifically ... it all happened on da' "Island" ...

I detect some 'mirth' in your post ...

Unless you're talkin' about a drinking 'contest' w/ some Aussies ... a.k.a. the "Battle of Kowloon" ... ??? :)
 

Goober

Professional Javelin Catcher
None
WTF is up w/ that guy, over???

The last time there was a 'battle' in Kowloon, to the best of my knowledge ... was when the Japs took Hong Kong.

And there wasn't much of a resistance in Kowloon, specifically ... it all happened on da' "Island" ...

I detect some 'mirth' in your post ...

Unless you're talkin' about a drinking 'contest' w/ some Aussies ... a.k.a. the "Battle of Kowloon" ... ??? :)
"There we were...packed onto the Star Ferry like sardines. We were fresh off at Fenwick Pier but we weren't gonna stop at the Island or any of that Lan Kwai Fong crap. We we taking Kowloon, dammit!"
 

A4sForever

BTDT OLD GUY
pilot
Contributor
"There we were...packed onto the Star Ferry like sardines. We were fresh off at Fenwick Pier but we weren't gonna stop at the Island or any of that Lan Kwai Fong crap. We we taking Kowloon, dammit!"
I dunno 'bout any 'Lan Kwai Fong crap' ... as we just kept ridin' da' Star back an' forth ... back an' forth ... back an' forth ....


photo by A4sForever

By the way ... please check out da' Island ... and the lack of present-day high-rise/skyscrapers ... :D .... and the USN tin-can in the background .... colonial HK, a.k.a., The Crown Colony, at it's finest, to be sure ... :)
 

Catmando

Keep your knots up.
pilot
Super Moderator
Contributor
I dunno 'bout any 'Lan Kwai Fong crap' ... as we just kept ridin' da' Star back an' forth ... back an' forth ... back an' forth ....


photo by A4sForever

By the way ... please check out da' Island ... and the lack of present-day high-rise/skyscrapers ... :D .... and the USN tin-can in the background .... colonial HK, a.k.a., The Crown Colony, at it's finest, to be sure ... :)
Don't know about Lan Kwai Fong either, or any Hong Kong "battles". But I do know about riding the Star Ferry many, many times. (Also riding picket boat duty, round and around the boat in the wet, middle of the night. :( )

Yes, the skyline was a lot less then.

hongkong.jpg


But this would buy several times as much then as today. We lives like kings! :D :D :D !

hongkong.jpg
 

A4sForever

BTDT OLD GUY
pilot
Contributor
Yes, the skyline was a lot less then.

hongkong.jpg
Just over the lady's head in the 'blue top', 3rd from left ... the Prince of Wales Bldg (?), former Brit HQ, now ChiCom HQ ... great pool, bar, BOQ ... friendly Pommy bastards, too. :)

Just over the lady's head w/ the white pants & purse, 2nd from right ... it looks like the (then) new Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank ? (HSBC) Bldg going up, which would mean early '80's if it IS, in fact, that bldg .... ???


Just to the right of her head -- the Mandarin Hotel -- 1st class, 5-star establishment ... great restaurants, OUTSTANDING cigar store/humidor w/ a 'real Cuban' doing the honors on a daily basis: while watching him 'roll', you could enjoy a/c, a great Cuban cigar, and a glass of whiskey. :)



And the ol' restaurant/gift shop -- top of the tram in the saddle of the peak (dip in left side of ridge line) ... great English b-fast, if there is such a thing ... complete w/ beans, bangers, & mash !!!

I love (especially loved prior to '97) Hong Kong.

*edit* ... /threadjack .... I don't know what this has to do w/ fraudulent, wannabe-vets ... but there you go. :)
 

Catmando

Keep your knots up.
pilot
Super Moderator
Contributor
Just over the lady's head in the 'blue top', 3rd from left ... the Prince of Wales Bldg (?), former Brit HQ, now ChiCom HQ ... great pool, bar, BOQ ... friendly Pommy bastards, too. :)

Just over the lady's head w/ the white pants & purse, 2nd from right ... it looks like the (then) new Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank ? (HSBC) Bldg going up, which would mean early '80's if it IS, in fact, that bldg .... ???


Just to the right of her head -- the Mandarin Hotel -- 1st class, 5-star establishment ... great restaurants, OUTSTANDING cigar store/humidor w/ a 'real Cuban' doing the honors on a daily basis: while watching him 'roll', you could enjoy a/c, a great Cuban cigar, and a glass of whiskey. :)



And the ol' restaurant/gift shop -- top of the tram in the saddle of the peak (dip in left side of ridge line) ... great English b-fast, if there is such a thing ... complete w/ beans, bangers, & mash !!!

I love (especially loved prior to '97) Hong Kong.

*edit* ... /threadjack .... I don't know what this has to do w/ fraudulent, wannabe-vets ... but there you go. :)
Well let's just start a new thread then - Hong Kong liberty or Far East liberty, back in the day and now.


I see you retained far more memory brain cells than I. And I used to go to Hong Kong via Clark AFB most every time the boat pulled into Cubi. The only high-rise I remember was a new one then near the Star Ferry landing. Its windows were all round. We called it the building of a thousand assholes.

Officially, I was on orders as the squadron buyer for Hong Kong trinkets. Unofficially, I had the hots for an American who worked at the American Consolate.

She lived on Victoria, a short tram ride up the hill in Estoril Court. Stephan Coonts in his novel, Flight of the Intruder talked about some girl in Estoril Court too. I once emailed him to see if we were seeing the same woman. He kindly replied we were not.

But after over three decades, I recently bumped into her again. She confirmed she didn't meet Coonts, but wondered who of her friends he was seeing. We have exchanged a number of emails about the old days, mutual friends, and her later years and experiences in several hell holes around the world. (Gutsy woman - before I knew her, she drove her MGB alone from Vientiane to Bangkok for the weekend. She was delayed on the return due to a VC ambush and firefight ahead of her, before she could continue on.)

We dined at Gaddis and Johnnys Cafe, had tea at the Peninnsula, (or was it the Mandarin?), bought lots of jewlery at the American Consolute's discounted price, and did a lot of other great stuff too. :)

But that's all for now. :sleep_125
 

Schnugg

It's gettin' a bit dramatic 'round here...
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
One of my favorite ports of call. Loved the local food.
 

BlkPny

Registered User
pilot
Beautiful, vibrant city. Wide-open attitude.

The Peninsula Hotel, with the last few British colonial types sitting around drinking Gin and Tonics.

Shopping at the China Fleet Club. When you entered, you had to take an elevator to the third floor. When you stepped out of the elevator, a young salesperson would meet you with a note pad, and accompany you through the building, taking notes on what you wanted. You paid for your order, and a month later it would show up at your home of record or your next duty station.

$125 Pentax cameras, $220 Rolex watches, $65 suits, and hand made custom fitted shoes at Lee Kee. Incredible shopping.

Tough-looking, wiry little Ghurka troops patroling the city.

It was soooo easy to spend money there. We used to call a trip to HK a "leaflet drop" mission.

Great times.
 

feddoc

Really old guy
Contributor
I bought a Honda, but gave it away...... :) BTW, a pox on all of you for making me remember the days of my youth.
 

Flugelman

Well-Known Member
Contributor
I bought a Honda, but gave it away...... :) BTW, a pox on all of you for making me remember the days of my youth.

And a pox on all of you for reminding me that Hong Kong was the ONE liberty port that I never got into. :( The one chance that I had we lost an engine on T/O at Cubi and were stuck there for 6 weeks.:eek: It just never worked out...
 

Schnugg

It's gettin' a bit dramatic 'round here...
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
I bought my first Rolex GMT Master watch in HK. A spur of the moment decision while on liberty...it was legit, too. :D

Worth more today than when I bought it.
 

A4sForever

BTDT OLD GUY
pilot
Contributor
Yeah, great town.

How much it changed since 97? I was there last year and was amazed by the western culture/presence since it's been 10+ years since the turnover.
This is one of the bigger 'visible' differences ....
THEN:
....Tough-looking, wiry little Ghurka troops patroling the city...
NOW:
it's ChiCom troops w/ AK's slung over their shoulders .... a bummer.


I also noted post '97 that there was a LOT more 'poverty' on the streets, with a concurrent rise in 'civilian' crime (discounting the fact the Tongs were always there - but they were/are 'big boy' crime) -- with most of it coming down from the Territories after the 'wall' went down, according to some locals. Poverty (and beggars) even over on Victoria Island -- virtually unheard of in the days of the British rule ....

When I made my first trip up to the 'wire' while in the Navy for a look-see ... there was concertina wire everywhere, bunkers, MG's, steely-eyed HK Chinese police & Ghurka troops w/ Brit Officers ... the place looked like (and was, for all intents & purposes) a 'no-man's land' between the wires ...

When I first went back while in the airlines in the early '80s -- not really knowing what to expect -- the concertina had been replaced by 4-lane highways, toll-booth like 'guard shacks' ... and huge skyscrapers screaming neon words like "SONY" ... "SANYO" .... "ROLEX" ... all the usual suspects.

I wonder who won???
 

Malo83

Keep the Faith
What was the fate of the China Fleet Club? Last time there was in 91 homeward bound from Desert Storm aboard USS Ranger,CVW2 :icon_carn
 
Top