Biddle actually arrived on 29 October 1969, but, per my luck (or was it a nefarious plan?), I had duty first day in port. Thus, my first day on the beach in Hong Kong was 50 years ago today, 30 October.
Journal entry: “Went shopping.” Duh. Started at the “amazing” China Fleet Club. “Everything is there,” I reported in my journal. “I wandered around, just getting the feel of the place. Very nice sales girls.”
Fifty years ago, of course, Hong Kong was a British Crown Colony. It consisted of 236 islands and islets, many of them uninhabited, and a portion of the mainland of China. Total area was 398 square miles. In the 1960s, the population of Hong Kong was about 3 million. Now, it’s about 7.5 million.
After lunching at the Hilton (“buffet and a couple of beers for a couple of dollars”), I went to a tailor to order a custom-made suit. It was “Edwardian” and plaid. (I wore it rarely, as I think it had already gone out of style by the time I ordered it. I wish I still had it, or at least a picture of me in it.)
In the evening, I joined a bunch of officers, including the XO (CDR Donovan), to visit Kowloon, across the harbor from Hong Kong, on the mainland. First stop was an Australian folk club called the “GoDown Bistro.” I described the performances as “about four to five years behind the States, playing stuff like ‘Blowin’ in the Wind,’ etc.”
Then, my journal reports, the “XO then took us to World of Suzie Wong and got us girls.” I think by that I meant the XO, who had probably been there before, talked with the manager and arranged some “companions.” Here is a picture from that evening.
This ended up more innocent than I might have preferred. At closing time, the young ladies said good night and headed out to go home . . . alone. My role was to purchase numerous glasses of “champagne” and somehow converse. Maybe we danced. Glad I have the picture, because I don’t recall a whole lot from the night. In my journal, I wrote, “Girl’s name was Bunny (or maybe Money).” And “got back to ship somehow.”
Four more days in Hong Kong!