Pine Island (AV 12) - Naval Cruise Book

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118 OCTOBER The first of October again found us anchored in Buckner Bay where we remained until the 12th. On this Monday morning we put out to sea and steamed for two days off Okinawa for the practice of general drills. We held gunnery exercises and da mage cont1fO1 drills. Gun mounts l and 3 won an- E for excellent shooting as did the Director. These exercises were competitive and the marks we received will count in determining who will win the 1964 Battle Efficiency Award. Upon completion of the exercises, we again returned to Buckner Bay, Monday morning, 19 October, we steamed from Buckner Bay for The Pearl of the Orient Hong Kong. Making the trip with us were some one hundred military and civilian guests sta- tioned on Okinawa. As we steamed through the narrow entrance of the harbor early on the m or ning of 22 October, we saw a large modern city. Hong Kong is one of the most beautiful ports in the world. lt is certainly one of the most unforgettable ports that we visited during the cruise. Nestled beneath green towering peaks, I-long Kong is an amazing city of teeming population and contrasts. One sees the old and the new, happiness and tragedy, beauty and incredible ugliness, opportunity and opportunists. But more than all else, it is a city of people. The streets, alleyways, sidewalks and even the roof tops are literally jammed with human life. In the poorer sections of the city, people live anywhere and everywhere, indeed, life is found in any spot where there is enough room to spread a mat or bed roll. A more fascinating place would surely be hard to find. The colony of Hong Kong is actually two cities. One is Victoria City on Hong Kong Island. Across the narrow section of the harbor is the city of Kowloon on the mainland of China. Be- tween the Communist Chinese border, which is about ten miles away, and Kowloon is an area called the New Territory. lt is in this area that the Government of I-long Kong is trying to re- locate the refugees who are pouring in from Red China. The ship arranged several worth- while tours, giving us an opportunity to visit each of these areas. These tours included many of the beautiful and interesting sights of Hong Kong and its' surrounding areas. Of particular interest were: the fishing village of Aberdeen with its exclusive floating restaurant, Tiger Balm Gardens and its weird and strange assortment of excellent sculptured stone figures, Repulse Bay resort area, a cable-car view of the two cities, the bay a rea and the refugee housing settlements in Kowloon, Everyone took advantage of the super shopping ba r ga i ns for which I-long Kong is well known. This was made plainly evident by the huge amount of purchases brought back to the ship each day. Our visit to I-long Kong ended all too soon and the close of Oc tobe r again found us at anchor in Buckner Bay, J J M l .fe 2-.Q.,,a1 F

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