Our last full day in Hong Kong was 3 November 1969. That’s when I did most of my buying. Headed over to Kowloon, to the Ocean Terminal, which was relatively new, having opened in 1966 as Hong Kong’s first “shopping mall,” with 112 shops.
In addition to some silk, I visited a People’s Republic of China store and got a Mao poster. Also bought a couple of pieces of jade, as well as some pewter and leather. There were probably a couple of violations of regulations that day.
During the six days in Hong Kong, I had the duty twice and had to skip a tour of the New Territories north of Hong Kong on one day because of work.
Two experiences, otherwise, stand out in my memory (besides the evening with Bunny). One may have been at the Hilton. A group of us were sitting in the lounge, watching a lot of Brits, Aussies, and Kiwis dance to a band. The band had been doing a lot of covers of British and American songs and then started a song I had not heard before. After only a little bit, I thought, “This sounds like a Stones song.” It was “Honky Tonk Women.”
The other was dinner at a place called “Peacock and Pheasant.” It was another XO find. Very British, very continental. According to my journal, the meal included: “escargot, turtle soup, Caesar salad, steak au roquefort, baked Alaska, wine, drambuie.” The XO took charge of the wine selection.
A few of us then went to a rock music club in Hong Kong, closed it, and looked for more. Headed over to Kowloon (must have been on a harbor ferry or water taxi) and ended up at a place called the Copacobana. Again, my journal: “Left there at about 0315, got back to ship at 0705.” Hmmm.
Here’s are two galleries of photos, the first of Hong Kong itself and the second is scenes of the mainland portion of the colony.
