I just finished reading several news articles about China's refusal and last-minute approval to allow port entry for the Kitty Hawk's carrier strike group for the Thanksgiving weekend. The liberal western media, being what it is (liberal), for once gave some mention to the politics behind decisions on a world stage, but I wonder if this was one of those stories that ends up on page 12 on most papers back in the U.S. after stories about dysfunctional Hollywood celeb families.
Note: The photo above was taken as our ferry was heading to meet the Hawk. She's the huge one in the background. Unfortunately, this shot was the only good one I had to share...the rest were a bit blurry!
Hong Kong is a favorite city of ours, mainly because we have good pals who live there (Nicole & Lok) but also because of its cosmopolitan feel and rich cultural history. While Hubby's been there at least a 1/2 dozen times, I've only been there a couple, each time with the Battle Cat (Kitty Hawk). So in honor of Kitty City & the Carrier Strike Group, here's my list of HK memories, both good and well, not so good:
10. Waiting for HOURS (like nearly 4 of 'em) outside the port of HK to be allowed in... not because of any wretched politician's blessing, but because of the bloody fog that tends to roll SLOWWWLY over the waters
9. Climbing/crawling down the A-gang ladder on the stern of the ship to get the ferryboat which was hooked up to a moving deck/flat barge which was wedged up against the ship. Each rung was rounded so if you wore anything other than your steel-toe boots, you risked falling...straight down...to a moving deck. The last time I was in HK, a buddy was climbing down this ladder with his golf bag early one morning to make it to tee time on one of the local courses. He made it down... but didn't make his tee time.
8. Rocking and rolling on the ferry rides. A carrier doesn't rock that much and if you can feel it, you're either really sensitive, you're a hyperchondriac, or the ship's in HIGH seas, meaning the waves are coming up OVER the flight deck. Sooo, if you're one of those types mentioned above and if you've been drinking a wee bit too much and are on a little ferryboat returning to the ship OR if you're on a ferry boat with someone who was out carousing the night before, ensure your buddy makes it to the side of the boat before it gets too messy.
7. Coming back to the ship and finding out that one of our Motorola radios was at the bottom of the HK harbor. What happened? One of my fellow medical duty officers was helping one of those fellas mentioned in #8 above off the ferry boat, onto one of the moving decks in #9 and well, the big-ass Motorola radio that is the lifeline for we medical folks fell...down...never to be seen again.
6a. Thanksgiving with 20+ other Westerners in a great flat in the mid-levels. Okay, it was on a Saturday but that's because the others had to work during the week and since Thanksgiving is a traditional American holiday, guess what? The Chinese don't celebrate it. Hubby carved the turkey (the other American had never done it before and the rest of the group were Brits, Aussies or Kiwis). Weird part of the evening for me was getting used to the fact that the hired help were Filipinas. The Filipino community is huge in HK but the vast majority are "domestics." For proof of how huge this group is, visit the CBD on any given Sunday. Filipinos are everywhere! These huge impromptu street parties on their weekly "day off" is a stark reminder that the Filipinos move away from their families for months and years at a time, work for pennies on the dollar or riyal or yen or whatever to make someone else's life better, and are still better off than they probably would be in the Philippines.
Hong Kong is a favorite city of ours, mainly because we have good pals who live there (Nicole & Lok) but also because of its cosmopolitan feel and rich cultural history. While Hubby's been there at least a 1/2 dozen times, I've only been there a couple, each time with the Battle Cat (Kitty Hawk). So in honor of Kitty City & the Carrier Strike Group, here's my list of HK memories, both good and well, not so good:
10. Waiting for HOURS (like nearly 4 of 'em) outside the port of HK to be allowed in... not because of any wretched politician's blessing, but because of the bloody fog that tends to roll SLOWWWLY over the waters
9. Climbing/crawling down the A-gang ladder on the stern of the ship to get the ferryboat which was hooked up to a moving deck/flat barge which was wedged up against the ship. Each rung was rounded so if you wore anything other than your steel-toe boots, you risked falling...straight down...to a moving deck. The last time I was in HK, a buddy was climbing down this ladder with his golf bag early one morning to make it to tee time on one of the local courses. He made it down... but didn't make his tee time.
8. Rocking and rolling on the ferry rides. A carrier doesn't rock that much and if you can feel it, you're either really sensitive, you're a hyperchondriac, or the ship's in HIGH seas, meaning the waves are coming up OVER the flight deck. Sooo, if you're one of those types mentioned above and if you've been drinking a wee bit too much and are on a little ferryboat returning to the ship OR if you're on a ferry boat with someone who was out carousing the night before, ensure your buddy makes it to the side of the boat before it gets too messy.
7. Coming back to the ship and finding out that one of our Motorola radios was at the bottom of the HK harbor. What happened? One of my fellow medical duty officers was helping one of those fellas mentioned in #8 above off the ferry boat, onto one of the moving decks in #9 and well, the big-ass Motorola radio that is the lifeline for we medical folks fell...down...never to be seen again.
6a. Thanksgiving with 20+ other Westerners in a great flat in the mid-levels. Okay, it was on a Saturday but that's because the others had to work during the week and since Thanksgiving is a traditional American holiday, guess what? The Chinese don't celebrate it. Hubby carved the turkey (the other American had never done it before and the rest of the group were Brits, Aussies or Kiwis). Weird part of the evening for me was getting used to the fact that the hired help were Filipinas. The Filipino community is huge in HK but the vast majority are "domestics." For proof of how huge this group is, visit the CBD on any given Sunday. Filipinos are everywhere! These huge impromptu street parties on their weekly "day off" is a stark reminder that the Filipinos move away from their families for months and years at a time, work for pennies on the dollar or riyal or yen or whatever to make someone else's life better, and are still better off than they probably would be in the Philippines.
6b. An evening out with new and old pals in the mid-levels. Favorite memory: shots in Balalaika's chill room!
5. Sharing the Hawk with our pals Nicole & Lok when the ship visited in 2005. I loved seeing it through their eyes. I'm ashamed to admit that after a couple of years on the ship, 2/3 of it underway, I did become "immune" to its greatness after the first 2 or 3 cruises. When I saw it all through my friends' eyes, who were in no way related to the Navy, I was "recharged" and knew then, that Hubby was right: I was going to hate leaving the Hawk when the day came for me to walk off the brow for the last time.
4. Getting delayed for 40 plus minutes at the customs desk in Guangzhou. Thank goodness I was on a ship-sponsored guided tour. The Chinese customs officials were having trouble with my passport and the addendum at the back with my married name. The worst part was that I was truly hung over from a night on the town with Nicole & Lok and wanted to throw up into Hubby's backpack.
3. Buying a $3000USD carved jade castle in Guangzhou...in my dreams. Instead I bought a beautiful oval red/black lacquered box. Hubby was none too pleased because I didn't even bargain for it. I just said "okay, I'll take it."
2. Getting an awful hangover from too much red wine after a night that started at Staunton's and ended at Pannevino Italian restaurant. Then having to wake up at 0530 in the morning to make a 0630 meeting time for #4. Not good.
1. Getting a surprise visit from Hubby an hour or so after we dropped anchor in HK harbor. He'd caught a ferry ride with the Captain's wife and several other spouses and surprised me. How cool is that?
