Alan CLAASSEN 73
Please help my memory on this one.
In about August 1971, there was a tremendous
typhoon that hit Hong Kong and grounded lots of large ships and freighters. Extremely
memorable, but ... 1st, what was the name of the typhoon? Rose? (Or was that the big one
in about 1964?)
And 2nd, was the most famous ship grounded the Queen Elizabeth I? (It serves as a British Intelligence HQ in one of the Roger Moore James Bond movies, maybe The Man with the Golden Gun?)That's it.
It's great reading the contributions of so many friends from way back when.
Mark SHOSTROM '74
Yes, it was the Queen Elizabeth (later renamed the Seawise University) which burned & sank. Arson was suspected, since several fires sprang up simultaneously onboard.
As for the typhoon -- who can forget Rose? I have in my lap the book "1971 Hong Kong Report for the Year." Here's something from it: "Typhoon Rose will be remembered in Hong Kong as one of the worst since the Second World War, and probably the worst ever to affect the harbour. The full impact of the storm came to light in the early hours of Tuesday, August 17, after the Colony had been battered by wind gusts of up to 150 knots..." "26 ocean going ships were grounded in various parts of the harbour..."
I personally will never forget Rose. Myself and friends from HKIS/Island School "camped out" in the garden of Repulse Bay Towers, at the base of a staircase. I only got away with it because my parents were in Singapore. As we huddled in sleeping bags, I thought we'd be blown away. The wind was terrifying. We didn't get wet though, very strange. I do remember looking up the staircase in the morning light -- and seeing an upside down car teetering over the edge above where we slept!
Gregory ACAMPORA 75
Rose!! What a memory.
We had an apartment looking out over the harbour... I remember as the winds got stronger and stronger, looking down with binoculars to the British navy docks at the warning lights which showed green/white/green meaning BERY BAD! I think it meant catagory five. Later I learned that that tower was blown over as it measured a wind gust of 185 knots [c.200mph]
The other haunting memory of it was the building swaying and the sound of peoples windows being blown out. [We had our vent windows open to allow for pressure changes and didn't loose ours]
Also the very sad view of QE I belching smoke and eventually keeling over. On one of our 'serendipity days' we went to a weaving factory in Kowloon and saw the poor leviathan laying on her side. hmmmm
that's all for now
thanks for the memories
Judi PORTER Rower 75
I remember typhoon Rose. My sister and I spent the day playing monopoly with the Leonard boys (Mark and Brian) in front of my floor to ceiling bedroom windows as we watched the storm over the harbour.
WHERE WERE MY PARENTS?
For that matter, where were they the whole time we lived there? It's really strange, but I hardly remember seeing them at all in any of my memories of Hong Kong.
Have you guys seen the movie "Tai Pan"? If not, it's worth hunting down and watching. It's pretty long (about 5 hours I think) but it takes place in Hong Kong in the early 70's with all the events we witnessed...the burning of the Floating Restaurant, the landslides in the mid-levels...it's really fun.
Cathy, to answer your question about favorite spots in Hong Kong, I would have to say Lantau...camping up on the hill. There are a lot of good memories up there.
Does anybody know where Art Himmler ended up?
Cathy SMITH Caviness 75
Reading about typhoon Rose, I was thinking about those James Clavell novels too. I thought 'Tai Pan' was set earlier and that 'Noble House' was the one set in the '70s with all the land slides. Shows how much I know!
I loved reading them both, almost more for the setting than the story. For someone who didn't live there, he really caught the 'feel' of HK.
My favorite place in HK is also on Laan Tau. It was a big rock in front of Cabin #18 at the camp on top of the mountain. You could see all the way into China on a clear day ... and not see the hand in front of your face when the clouds set in. Either way, it felt like sitting on top of the world.
I have memories associated with that rock from the time I was carried up Laan Tau by a 'coolie' when I was about 3 years old, through some senior year experiences. What a great place. I hear it now has a great view of the new airport (butonly on a clear day).
Tim HARVEY 74
Laan Tau Sunset Peak - the name says it all, if it was a clear day. You could see the smokestacks of Macau in the distance and on beyond it, into China.
The Fire Break - so hot and humid among the pine trees. Would it ever end?
The rocky trail where you had to be careful where you stepped (hey-yah!) or you could fall into it, or worse, fall down the hill side. Coming down the trail, your legs turned to jelly and your calf muscles ached for days afterward.
Perfect Pool - the incredible trail to get there but the beautiful, idyllic scenery once you did.
The Dining Hall - the steam coming out through the door and the cooks chasing you out so they could finish the jobs in time for all the other hungry people. The bread, butter, and marmalade somehow tasted different up there than at any other place.
The saddle where the wind blows through faster than at any other place that I know of. We used to get our raincoats, grab the bottom edge, raise our arms to form sails, and see who could lean into the wind and get the closest to vertical without falling on his/her face.
Singing the blessing over the food we were about to eat. The coolies bringing up supplies on their backs and me wondering, "How DO they carry that much weight?"
The nights in the cabin with the teakwood shutters tightly closed and playing the guitar and singing and talking into the wee hours of the morning. The fog that formed little droplets on your body and facial hair.
The swimming pool made from a dammed up stream. Even the water from there tasted sweet.The waterfalls on below there that made for some wonderful hikes and picnics.
The typhoons up there - wow! The buildings vibrated. Some shutters were blown off but the buildings never failed. Lighting the Primus stove to dry your clothes in the little closet with holes drilled in it. Checking your shoes before you put them on to make sure there were no centipedes in them. Finding a foot long centipede in your bed and making a very hasty exit.
When the fog cleared, one of the most magnificent views I can ever remember - seeing China and not being able to go there (I left in '75).
The silence. The incredible, healing,
blessed silence that seemed to be so deep and so thick that you could reach out and touch
it, that seemed to heal you with the passing of time and allowed you to forget the
hustling,bustling mass of humanity just a few miles away.
Laan Tau. I really miss it.
Deborah SMITH '80
It sounds like we have a lot of Laan Tau memories in common! Of course most of mine came later, when the Chinese amahs quit cooking at the mess hall and the Laan Tau Mountain Camp association started hiring teenagers and moms that were planning to be there anyway to work in the kitchen on a week to week basis during the season. I'm proud to say that I was one of the first"table setters" in Jr. High and I worked my way up through "kitchen assistant"to become the Head Cook during summers back from college. WHAT an experience!
They paid everyone a pittance, and provided meals for everyone but the tablesetters, but the best part was that it allowed me to stay up on top of "my mountain" for 3/4 of the season! I'm not sure when they started hiring teenageboys to be coolies, but I know Dave was one, along with Rodney Ingram and others.
One of my favorite memories of those times was when a bunch of us kids took over Cabin #9 for a couple of weeks -- our "adult" chaperones were Rodney Ingram and Jo Daley, both 19 at the time! Total insanity...
Of course, the many typhoons when all the teenagers somehow got "trapped" in one cabin (usually #18 or #24)and had to have marathon Spit and Nertz tournaments to pass the time...
Another memory is going up for the Moon Festival, which was supposed to feature a full moon and eclipse -- and even though the clouds obscured the earth's orbiting companion, Rodney was nice enough to provide us with a total eclipse of his full moon! :-) What a loon!
My favorite place in HK (and the world) has always been Cathedral Rock -- in fact, I've
written two poems about it (one in high school and one in '95)!
Actually I'm not much of a
writer, but I don't think I can write what Laan Tau or Hong Kong mean to me any better
than the poem I wrote in 1995, so if you'll forgive me for seeming to toot my own horn,
here it is:
Cathedral Rock
I've sat here all my life
watching my world
with Hong Kong in the distance
and China lurking just behind
I've watched the fun as the sunlight faded
players navigating the rocks in the Saddle
lovers walking slowly up to Sunset Peak
teenagers performing Shakespeare on Table Rock
I've heard their echoes through the darkness
moms calling the little ones to bed
cowbells tinkling the rhythms of the herd
skinny dippers laughing their inhibitions off
I've sat here through typhoons and sunshine
laughing until I cried
crying until I laughed
sitting -- just sitting
and watching my world
I've seen the sun rise on the last of the British Empire
and now I see it setting
And I miss my home
with Hong Kong in the distance
and China lurking just behind.
Debbie SMILEY Pulley '72
Reading all these posts has been quite fascinating. I thought we were pretty wild students during my years in HK. What I am finding out is that we were calm!
I attended HKIS from '66-71. I can't remember ever going to Laan Tau. Cathedral Rock? Where is that?
The Shack does bring back great memories as does San Miquel. There were many parties on RB Beach. Does anyone remember the pillboxes? I loved exploring them. We did occasionally take the ferry or hydrofoil over to Macao. I just can't remember what we did there
Alan CLAASSEN 73
I believe Noble House was the one set in this century and Taipan in the 1800s (I'd be more specific, but I'd probably be wrong). There was a mini-series of Noble House (think I taped it). I enjoyed both books a long time ago. Ripped Noble House into 2 parts to make it easier to carry with me on a vacation.
Deborah SMITH '80
Both books were loosely based on the Jardines (aka Struan) clan (remember "Struan's Lookout"?): Taipan was about the founding of Hong Kong and Noble House was set in 1963 (I remember because *I* was set (born) in HK in 1963) when Jardines-Matheson (excuse me, 'Struans') went public.
I read Noble House in 1984 on the plane flying back to HK for the summer. It turned out that it was Jardines' 75th or 100th anniversary (it was a biggie, but I don't remember which one) and the South China Morning Post had a special supplement with their whole history, including a timeline of important events. It was very interesting to see how many of those events were chronicled in Taipan and Noble House!
OK -- probably more information that was required, eh? ah well -- I think I ended up reading ALL the available James Clavell novels that summer...
Rosemary GARVEY 77
I thought Noble House too was set in the '70's with the devestating typhoon being typhoon Rose. They talked about the apartments collaping and the landslides in the mid levels. My friend Kari Shimasaki lived on Conduit Rd. and from their balconey you could see or maybe they could hear the whole thing. Either that or I have hallucinated the entire conversation, anything is possible. Brad SANDLER 75
Despite the links to factual and fictional, (aren't the Ketterers in Tai-Pan,? Ed, help me out here) I'm just curious about how Alan Classen tore his book in half: is it "No Ho" and "ble use" or "Noble" and House"? Inquiring minds want to know.
Diane ANDERSON Persons 69
I too think it was set in 1963. Didn't the book talk about the acute water shortage and rationing? It's been so long since I read the book, I don't remember all the details, just remember thinking back to events that year (I was 11) and seeing a lot in the book that fit with that year. (I had a hard time getting into it because of the profanity - probably mild by today's standards - but my dad encouraged me to keep going because of the content of the book, and I'm glad I did).
Bill STEAGALL '75
You're both right about Noble House. The book is set in the 60's, but the events described all happened in the 70's when we were there, and I think when Clavel did his research.
I also have fond memories of the Lantau camp, although I only spent a few days there. A couple of times, someone hired Steve Smith and I to be pack mules, but don't I also remember Tim or Greg or someone doing the pack mule thing on a regular basis?
Did anyone else explore the miles and miles of tunnels that had entrances nearWong Nei Chong Gap and scattered around that area?
Eric "Ike" EICHELBERGER 78
Yes, I was a tunnel rat too! HK variety not to be mistaken for or with the Vietnam War type. Howard Hsu (class of 78) and George Getsinger (would have been 78) went throughout them many times...we used to take molotov cocktails to clear out the centipedes and rats etc...then make are way through them with torches and flashlights.
Once we set up candles; took about 50 small candles that day, all the way down the tunnel and down the long staircase inside...the effect of the lit tunnel was spectacular. I remember it vividly almost 25 years later. We used to go into them all the time.
We also used to go to the various pillboxes scattered around the hills, and especially the gun emplacements at Chum Hum Kok for the view and for parties. I made it a point to revisit the gun emplacement on of my trips back late 80's & shared a couple San Migs. with my wife to be,and watched the sunset & waves...great view from there of southeastern side of the island.
Unfortunately, the caves were sealed, to prevent problems, that is those that were easy to find, around 78-79 the ones in Wong Nei Chunggap that is...then they built apts.( I think it was apts....) All over the same spot. For awhile before the construction there were still a couple openings left. Pretty intense when you think of troops living in them & then fighting from them.
I had the chance to go to Corrigedor twice with the HK troop #1 Boy Scouts. We had fun there exploring all the WW2 leftovers there. We found lots of unexploded ammo, various rusted pieces of military equipment; including a still loaded Browning Automatic Rifle (totally rusted out). We wanted to bring it home, but it was decided that it could go off, when the plane hit high altitude...so we donated it to the Embassy's archives.
There's another reason HK was great for me. The HK Boy Scout troop #1 took a lot of great trips. We went to a camporee on Corrigedor one year. And visited it once again, the next year, before hiking 100 milesof the Bataan Death March. Wow, talk about fun trips...Good times & good friends. If any of the ex troop #1 scouts read this write me back.
Thanks for bringing up those memories Bill!
Later
By the way doesn't everyone have James Clavell's entire set of books???...his last one was put out about 5 years ago and continued the family's story in Japan. I think I have read Taipan at least 10 times...and it never fails to grab me everytime. I think I have tried to collect & read most books set in & around HK. There's a lot of them out there.
Christian MYERS 76
I think the Hotungs were in it. I read Noble House when I was on a ship in the Bering Sea.
Ike EICHELBERGER 78.
If I remember correctly; the Hotungs were fictionalized in Dynasty by Robert S. Elegant. I think the rumor was, that they were quite ticked off at him. They let him stay with them, at one of their houses, & gave him access to information on their family. Then, I think he took a little too much literary license in his writing. If I remember the book, he had an affair set between the family members ( 1 brother with the other brother's wife??.) No telling if it was true or not, But that was what the "flap" was about...
Tami WHITROCK Lamb 77
That is very interesting about the Hotungs- I have read both Nobel Houseand Dynasty and get a real thrill out of identifying familiar names and places.
On another thread- did anyone else feel the sense of loss that I felt when I knew that Eucliff had been torn down? And what is the Eu family doing now? Any word? I went to school with Lisa......
Rosemary GARVEY ‘77
I didn't know Eucliff had been torn down. That is almost as bad as losing the shack. We spent alot of time at Eucliff. We snuck in via the staircase in that Crusader style tower, then up to the area where the swimming pool was or we stayed back by the staircase. The place was reputed to be haunted if I'm not mistaken, an amah hung herself or something like that.
I thought Dynasty was about the HoTungs. Wasn't Mrs Ketterer a HoTung? That's how I thought the Ketterers got involved, not before. Someone help me out here.
June STEAGALL Wamsley 77
Eucliff was torn down?? I remember sneaking in there, too. Rose, we probably went together a few times. What a bummer. Does anyone know where Pat Hotung ended up?
Alan CLAASSEN 73
There was another major typhoon in 63 or 64 and its name was Wanda . From what people have said, it sounds like the story took place about the time of Wanda, but he borrowed details like the slide from Rose.
In answer to a previous "question", approx 650 out of 1370! I don't even have time to read books at all right now. Have kids 15 and almost 12.
Howard HSU 78
I thought Derek Smith (he would have been the class of '78 but left in'75/6) and I were the ones to discover those tunnels. Later Eric Eichelberger, George Getsinger and I roamed the tunnels. We also came across some pillboxes. My favorite memories are the 8 inch centipedes crawling on the floor and ceiling of the tunnels and George trying to run us over trying to get out.
Your right. The Hotungs were mentioned in the book in one sentence.
Marcus WOO 75
I'm a bit surprised that Tim Harvey, in one of his earlier emails, expressed admiration for the strength of the coolies going up Lantau. I don't recall seeing anyone (i.e., ANYONE human or mule) who could haul as much weight on their back up Lantau as Tim or Greg.
I believe Mrs. Ketterer's father was the great Ho Tung himself.
Heather GREISEN Dormier 73
Hi Coollist friends,
I only went to HKIS for one year '70 - '71. I would have graduated in '73 but our family
returned to the states and that's where I graduated. We lived in the Seattle area where I
remained for 23 years.
I am married to Randy Dormaier (21) years and currently live in northern Idaho near Coeur d'Alene.
I remember typhoon Wanda vividly because we lived out in Sha Tin at the time right next to the river. Our bridge was washed out by the typhoon so we had to ride sampans across the river to get to the train station to go to school. I remember animals floating dead in the river and the smell.
Our house flooded with 7 feet of water and when the water receded, we had cobras and other snakes that remained.
I don't know most of you on the list but I do remember the Anderson family. Gary was in my class. So was Tom Addington. His dad was my doctor.I'm loving reading all the memories of HK. I lived there only 11 years ('60 to"71) but my parents lived there for 30 years. It is such a special place.
I was able to take my husband to see it in 1982. We meant to visit for 2 weeks and ended up staying 2 months. He was enchanted by the place just like the rest of us.
Judi PORTER Rower 75
Wow, Heather, That's an interesting story. I'd like to hear more.
My kids really think I'm weird when I tell them I lived through a 7.5 earthquake in the Philippines, or that our roof blew off the house in a typhoon. They act like I did when my parents (who grew up in New York) told me about walking to school in the snow...uphill both ways.
Does it sometimes feel like it wasn't real?
Did I really sleep on a beach on the South China sea? Did I sing (with "Himmler's Hummers") through a bullhorn off the top of the resettlement estates in Kowloon (Christmas songs, no less)? When we had the Mock UN and I represented Poland, did the Arab delegation really send a remote control tank across the room, with guns pointed at Israel? Did we dance at lunchtime in the cafeteria?
I can see it all so clearly, but it's all so removed from the life I see my kids having, it seems like a dream.
Ann AUMAN 73
I remember Wanda. I had just moved to HK in 64 and was staying in the President hotel in Kowloon. (Is it a Hyatt now??). We watched ships crash into the docks, tossed on the shore; furniture flying by. Did any of you ever explore old shipwrecks outside the harbor up toward China (past High Island)?
Noble House threw together a lot of events that happened over time into a year or so, as I recall. It even had the burning of the floating restaurant (the jumbo one). I remember watching it from my apartment (Caroline Gardens, near Wanchai Gap.)
I remember being on the Star Ferry with a typhoon on its way. The waves were huge. I was on the lower deck. I was about 10 years old. The school closed, and they simply sent us home. I lived in Kowloon in a hotel at the time.
I also remember Eucliff House being haunted. I used to play there too. I remember being trapped at home during the landslides. I was playing Monoploy with my brothers when we heard a rumble, and watched the whole hillside and road disappear a few hundred feet away. A heliocopter brought our food to us, and my father walked to work down to Wanchai.
I was a tunnel rat too. We took string with us so we wouldn't get lost. I remember a tunnel that you had to slide into on your tummy. Then it got huge and cavernous. I also remember a Chinese gunboat chasing us out of a bay near the China border. And, I remember a friend, Kathy Ross, and her dad, who were sailing to Macao when Chinese gunboats intercepted them and took them to China for a few months of who knows what. The Americans threw their passports overboard. Kathy's dad was British. I knew her at Kennedy Road Junior School.
Anyone remember the dead bodies that were floating down the Pearl River during the "Civil War" in China in 67? They attracted sharks.Anyone know where Debbie Noren is? Her dad was a missionary in Swatow before they came to HK.