Lenawee (APA 195) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 10 text:

FORMOSA KEELUNG, FORMOSA— On the rainy morning of 2 October we tied up to the buoys in Keelung Harbor. Although it was only a two day visit, most everyone got ashore to sample the liberty. Despite the wet weather, two tours were organized to visit Taipei, the capitol, and surrounding areas. The bus ride to Taipei took a little over two hours. A fair sample of daily life in Formosa was available to those who took the trips. We sow rice fields, patchwork farms and the women washing the weekly laundry in the river. Although Keelung and Taipei lacked the attractions of Japan, they were typical of the modem oriental city. Modern buildings and ancient shrines stood side by side — the old and the new scrambled into one. Probably most remembered of the tours was the full course Chinese dinner. Even the ship ' s Doctor felt sorry for the chicken whose head peeked out of the soup bowl. -V ea; i

Page 12 text:

PHILIPPINES I PHILLIPPINE ISLANDS— Subic Bay was oiir first visit to the Philippines. We made a one day stop to pick up Navy and government dependents for a recreation cruise to Hong Kong. This first visit was short but we made up for it later. I er meaning — four more visits. You might say we got to know the place. Manila was next on the list. We anchored in Manila Boy in October, November and again in February. Manila ' s main attractions were points of historical in- terest, namely those of World War II. The poor ex- change rate of 3-1 made it almost impossible for service personnel to buy anything of much value. Dingolon Boy became rather familiar also. Our two major amphibious operations — Strongback and Phiblink — were held here. The only liberty offered during the two operations was a Sunday afternoon swimming party on the beach. We got a good look at Dingalan Bay, but from a distance. Summing up, you might say that we spent most of this cruise steaming around or anchored about the Philippines. Can ' t complain though — we spent the win- ter months engulfed in sunshine.