We are sorry to say that Mac is not very well, but he is still
e-mailing strong and recently sent the Beetle a collection of
travel reminiscences about Japan and shopping in Hong Kong.
When I was first stationed in Japan, the Chaplains would have to
counsel Japanese girls that wanted to marry GIs. They would explain
to them that they might get homesick in the States so far from
their homeland Japan, that customs were different in the States etc
etc. One Chaplain told me that the Japanese girl he was counselling
got tired of all his little talk and said to him: look here
Chaplain, I want to go to the States. I no bullshit you. Ha!
I was stationed in Japan for five and a half years and loved it and
it showed in my letters home. I must have gone to Hong Kong from
Japan at least a dozen times on our planes. Planes leaving Japan
would often stop in Hong Kong no matter what their destination
especially at Christmas time. I got to be kind of an unofficial
shopper for those that could not leave the base of Japan and this
included buying Rosewood furniture for the Commander who was soon
to leave for the States. I had to get it on one of our ships
returning to Japan and get it thorough customs in Japan. A buddy of
mine Nesi met me to act as my interpreter. The customs asked my
buddy if I was Important. He told them in Japanese. You dam right
he is. He is a Sergeant. (Low Sergeant, however, TSgt.)
We were supposed to be checking weather and intelligence but
shopping entered into things. One time I was proudly walking down
Nathan Road in Hong Kong in my new Hong Kong shoes when the soles
fell off. I bent over to pick them up and my new Hong Kong suit
ripped down the back. Chinese thread was not strong and Americans
learned in the future to bring American thread to their tailors and
hope they would use it.
You got a tailor made suit with two pairs of pants for $25 in 24
hours. Our crew usually stayed in modest hotels, either in the
Golden Gate or the Peninsula. They knew our needs, so much so that
when sometimes we had to leave early, they would store stuff for us
between trips etc. One time, my roommate was a new man in our
outfit. We entered our room and three Chinese followed into our
room. My buddy said: Mac, who are these folks? I said I don't
know. I thought they were with you. They were what we called tailor
pimps who tried to get you to go to their tailor shop. They would
give you a drink while about three people would be measuring you.
You felt like a King. The first time they asked me how I dressed.
Are they making conversation? I first put on underwear, then
trousers, then shoes. No do you dress left of right? An old timer
said to me: Mac they want to know which way your dong hangs to the
left or the right so they can arrange material to hide it. I said
as far as I know it just hangs and it isn't that big. I have
trouble finding it. Ha! The tailor pimps were better informed that
our intelligence. They would know our commanders name, when we were
arriving in Hong Kong and when we were to leave. One time in a hotel,
what we thought was the front desk phoned and said for us to have
our luggage out in the hallway by three o clock instead of four. It
was a con artist phoning. Our luggage was picked up and there went
our Hong Kong suits, souvenirs, military clothing. The works.
AFRH-W Stanley Sagura collects used eye glasses and volunteers to
go with a group including eye doctors to distribute them free to
needy around the world. I enjoy hearing about his travel
experiences. He was with a group of 38 in a tour that were taken to
the largest McDonalds in the world in Beijing, China. (Some had
gotten tired of eating Chinese food!) This McDonalds had 300
employees. Stanley counted 30 cash registers. They all ordered the
same items in advance and were taken to a second floor dining area
where they were all fed within five minutes! What service! We were
discussing the humorous signs we saw in Japan when the Japanese
print signs in English, obviously not their first language.
In Japan they have a drink something like Gatorade they call Sweat.
Actually Pocari Sweat. A small bottle of it in a vending machine
cost $1.65. They also have a drink called Calpis and a powdered
cream like coffee mate called Creep. They have a packaged
toothpaste brand of “College” toothpaste in the same
colours and layout as the “Colgate” brand. There is a
city in Kysushu by the name of Usa that manufactures table service
flat ware and had stamped “Made in USA” on it for export
until a Japanese agency Ministry of Industry and Trade stopped
this. Stanley saw a sign for a detour that read Please Go Sideways
and a sign wanting you to put your hand under the faucet that read
“Be near your hand when the water flows.”
One sign in a hotel stated “All the water in our hotel has
been passed by the Chef.” He saw a sign in a hotel near the
manually operated air conditioning that read “When you get hot
control yourself.” Control yourself, Mac! Sagara advises that
Japanese have difficulty saying “no.” If they disagree
they usually say “could you possibly be mistaken?” Or
something to that effect. If you ask: is Tokyo in that direction
(pointing) and it is actually the wrong direction you may possibly
get a “Hai” (yes.) You should ask “Which way is
Tokyo?” Answer: that way, (pointing in the right direction.)
To open McDonalds in Russia ,where they had difficulty teaching the
employees to smile, they first had to open an approved meat
processing plant at a cost of US $10m. Now McDonalds are in all
major cities in Russia and well patronised.
So, instead, we went to the Bank of England and we
joined a guided tour there. It was excellent! Believe it or not,
the site of the Bank of England, which has been located in
Threadneedle Street since 1734, covers a massive 3 ½ acres – who
would have thought it! We moved down a very majestic staircase
to some beautiful state rooms downstairs and through the
gardens and up again to the rooms that are used to hold meetings
with visiting officials to discuss monetary policy. The tour ended
in the Bank's museum which is fascinating and includes a gold
bullion bar, encased in bullet proof glass, of course, which
Padmassana had a go at lifting through the specially designed hole
for people to touch the bar. You can visit the museum any time and
it is free of charge. The museum is open Monday to Friday, 10.00 –
17.00, Christmas Eve, 10.00 – 13.00 but is closed at weekends and
on Public and Bank Holidays.
After the Bank of England tour, we visited one of the
livery companies near Smithfield market and after a fry up at the
Beetle's favourite 24/7 greasy spoon café, we headed up to St
Pancras and joined a tour run by Arups, the consulting engineers
responsible for building the new ST Pancras train staton which is
to be the new home of the Eurostar as well as a new and upgraded
train station for regional trains.