LIVERPUTTY

Port of Call: Hong Kong

Hong Kong - where East meets West...Pearl of the Orient. The first few shots are from a cable car climbing the hillside.

Hong Kong skyline and Victoria Harbor

Shots from the hotel

Tiger Balm Gardens. The first couple shots are of Aw Boon Haw's mansion. He built the Gardens in appreciation for the success he had with selling Tiger Balm - the Ben Gay of the East.

The garden

Dragon Wall next to Hew Par Mansion

Hew Par Mansion

Aberdeen - the floating city in the southern part of Hong Kong.

Enjoying some scrumptious Cantonese cuisine

The New Territories

Housing

I'm sure there are some interesting stories on this bench

* * * * * * *
The USS Midway
The Tip of the Sword: A Brief History of the USS Midway
Gator Control: The VA-115
Aircraft of the USS Midway

Galleries
On the Deck and In the Air, 1974-77
Pollywog to Shellback: Crossing the Line, 1975
Japan: A Forward-based Homefront
Home: Yokosuka and Nagai
Japan: Kamakura, Fuji and Izu areas
Ports of Call
Subic Bay
Karachi
Pusan
Hong Kong
Singapore

Singapura - the Lion City - courage, resilience, might....excellence. The statue of the Merlion is a symbol of the city state - located at Merlion Park. The island was previously referred to as Temasek.

A snake charmer

Today Singapore is known as the cleanest city in the world - looking at this street scene it is apparent that it was not very dirty back in the 70s either.

The Singapore River - about the only junk you'll find is of the floating variety. The housing lining river has been largely replaced a mega shopping complex and the river boats have been eliminated.

Below: the Fullerton bridge at the mouth of the Singapore River - the building in the background is the Victoria Concert Hall, where the bronze statue of Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles is located.

The Bank of China

Doorman in front of the Mandarin Hotel

Tiger Balm Gardens - similar to the garden in Hong Kong, but more spread out.

Japan: Kamakura, Fuji, Hakone, Izu areas

Kamakura was the capital in the latter 12th century and during the Hojo Regents until the 14th century. I can't imagine another town having a higher number of shrines and temples per capita than Kamakura. Given its proximity to Yokosuka and Atsugi, it receives a lot of American visitors. Not least of the sites, of course, is the famous bronze Daibutsu. First a wooden statue in 1238, the bronze statue replaced it in 1252. Back then it was enshrined in a majestic hall, which has since been destroyed.

The coast around Kamakura - on the way to Atsugi

The center of Kamakura: Hachiman Gu Shrine

The Dancing Hall of Hachiman

Casks of sake at Hachiman

Archery Cermony at Hachiman

View of Fuji-yama from an A-6

Mountains around Fuji

A large torii

A spot for prayer

Another torii

Home: Yokosuka and Nagai

Adjacent to the U.S. Naval installation is the memorial ship, Mikasa. In front of the ship is this statue of Admiral Togo. Yokosuka has always been a major player in Japanese naval operations, giving the town a rich, if young, history.

The Nagai coast

Yokosuka street scene. Turn right at the Coca Cola sign to get home.

Nagai street scenes

The base housing in Nagai was built on an old kamikaze airfield which is why the scene below shows uncharacteristically wide open grassy areas. The paved streets were the old runways.

Inside a base home - the elegant austere Japanese sensibility influenced many of the American wives living on base. This shot is of my mom's first arrangement for an ikebana class she took.

Filipino furniture (such as the papasan below) infiltrated base housing decor. For siblings, the papasan could be used for a death match (seen here), a serene enclosed place to listen to records with the earphones, or, when inverted, as a prison cell for the younger brother. In short, there was no shortage of usages for the papasan.