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2nd March 2017, 06:32 AM
#11
Re: indonesia part one
Brian I close my eyes and I am back in the places that I loved if I could go back for a visit I doubt I would ,I know I would not find what I am looking for they can only ever live on in my mind and through the wonderful inputs from old like minded shipmates that I have never met but who i have so much in common with best regards to all hands be well mates Dave .
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2nd March 2017, 09:08 AM
#12
Re: indonesia part one
Hi Dave,
I went back last year and was very disappointed, It was like Not going back, there was nothing left of that Paradise we once knew. All Gone, just Containers destroying everything as far as the eyes could see. No bamboo huts and bars, no beautiful mik maks in sarongs, just containers.
Just keep the memories no one can take those away. close your eyes and relive the Paradise lost.
I am nearly in tears now thinking about it, so better stop. I have recorded those day in my story, A Voyage to the Spice Islands. so I can never forget. Bagoos
Cheers
Brian
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2nd March 2017, 10:55 AM
#13
Re: indonesia part one
,Hi Dave here is one to remember
The Lap of Honour.
I went to the Sea School when I was a lad,
where conditions were hard
and the food was bad,
but I walked through those gates
as tall as a man
off to my first ship bound for Japan
And now that I`ve retired and saved up my cash
once more round the world I am going to dash
to Mombasa and Java and out to Cathay
to see all my old girl friends
once more on the way
Mimi`s still waiting for me I`ve been told
I`d like to see her before she gets old
then on to see Dideh in Tanjong Patak
then fly off on a Jumbo to Hong Kong`s Kai Tak
I`ll go back to Tahiti down in the South Seas
to see my Wahine in the warm sunny breeze
Then across to see Maggie in New Zealand`s Hawkes Bay
and have a beer in Ma Gleesons* back on the way.
I`ll do the Lap of Honour round the Australian coast
to see all the girls who loved me the most,
from Thursday Island round to Sydney and Perth
they were the loveliest girls on earth
I`ll go to see Sheila and then Marylou
and call upon Sally in Woolloomooloo
then go up to Townsville to see Mary O`Keefe
where we walked hand in hand by the Great Barrier Reef
When I think of those nights by a blue lagoon
loving my girl under a tropical moon
and those happy times that we both shared.......................
my Mary`s still waiting for me so I`ve heard.
On then to Honolulu and then Frisco Bay
and up to Vancouver and down to L.A.
I`ll jump on a Greyhound across to Hoboken
to see my Jenny whose heart I had broken
In Manhattan`s Times Square and 42nd Street
there must be some girls left that I used to meet
it would be sad if I looked around
and none of my girls were there to be found.
So off I would go to old Mexico
to see my Juanita down in Tampico.
then across to see Molly in Montego Bay
and go up the Blue Mountains where we used to play
On then to Rio, Montevideo and B.A.
to *May Sullivan`s Bar where I used to stay
There was Rosita, Paquita and also Maria
on then to Santos and round to Bahia.
Then when I return home again
to Englands dark and dismal rain
all my memories will always stay
they are something that no one can take away
I`ll be thinking now that I`ll get a shock
on my memory trip to turn back the clock.
things won`t be the same time has moved on
the young girls I once loved have grown old and are gone.
and now that I am coming to the end of my time
I must put my memories down into rhyme.
cos when you are young life is all magic
but as you get older life becomes tragic.
but there is still some life in the old dog yet
and there`s more adventures for me to get
so I`ll be heading off into the sun
to have more excitement and plenty of fun.
It`s not for me to tend the garden and flowers
polishing the brasses , walking the dog for hours.
but to go back round the world in a blaze of glory
then I`ll come back home to write my story.
And then one day when I am old and grey
and my life`s been used up and it`s come time to pay
as I lie on my bed on my face will be a smile
I`ll just be a thinking ` it`s all been worth while.
Brian Aspinall,
Cheers
Brian.
Last edited by Captain Kong; 2nd March 2017 at 10:57 AM.
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2nd March 2017, 11:26 AM
#14
Re: indonesia part one
Bagus Sekali in those days. Thirty-two years since I was there. Lived there nearly four from 1976 and continued to commute from Singapore 'til 1986. I see these places on TV and have no desire to return even if I was able. Unless I could be morphed back in time!!
Can't imagine the Oasis Restaurant is still in Jakarta or our first home there on the bank of Situ Lebak Wangi (Little Lake of Lovely scents) with the water buffalo wallowing therein. Here is the house and the real way to serve rijsttafel.
Richard
PS the date on the photo at home was a camera fault. The real was early1976.
Our Ship was our Home
Our Shipmates our Family
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2nd March 2017, 11:51 AM
#15
Re: indonesia part one
Thanks for those photos Richard,
What beautiful graceful young ladies, What memories, and that Menu got me going
Cheers
Brian
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2nd March 2017, 05:08 PM
#16
Re: indonesia part one
Don't Brian you have done me up why did John bless him have to start this thread it has brought a tear to my eye what places what times we had young and fit as we all where doing things that we can now only talk amongst ourselves about , because who on earth would believe us if they where not old merchant seaman because whatever I have done in my life I have always been a merchant seaman I look in the mirror nowadays and I can still see him past his best maybe but I can still think about topping a Derrick and most likely could still do it if I could only find someone to put on the chain stopper ( now where would I find someone to do that I wonder ) I remember we used to walk into the bars in Indonesia first thing was before we sat in the bamboo chairs was to pick them up and bang the feet on the deck to dislodge any little creatures who only wanted to eat us alive , I learnt that trick from the old shipmates who had been on the run for years one fella who was always mentioned but I never met him Java Jones it was said he always wore a sarong I know it,s mad but why would I not believe it no more ridiculous than some of the things that we have all seen ,I'm going to go right off thread now apologies John but something has just come to mind it was when I mentioned the word ridiculous when I joined the Athenic in Auckland we took her to the breakers in the end but there was two lads in her who always sailed together I can see them now they used to share their clothes from shirts to pants socks boots you name it true I saw it , hang on another yarn has come to mind I mentioned boots thanks for the memories John regards Dave .
Last edited by kurutai; 2nd March 2017 at 05:18 PM.
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2nd March 2017, 05:35 PM
#17
Re: indonesia part one
I am off in three weeks, 22 March, to Hawaii and the Tahitian Islands, again Dave, got to keep going back , they are the only unspoiled islands left in the world. be away for six weeks.
I`ll be thinking now that I`ll get a shock
on my memory trip to turn back the clock.
things won`t be the same time has moved on
the young girls I once loved have grown old and are gone.
sob, sob,
But we did it and no one can take that from us.
Cheers
Brian
a few memories for you.
MONITORS , why do thumbnails NOT Open ??????????
Last edited by Captain Kong; 2nd March 2017 at 05:57 PM.
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2nd March 2017, 06:29 PM
#18
Re: indonesia part one
Originally Posted by
Captain Kong
I am off in three weeks, 22 March, to Hawaii and the Tahitian Islands, again Dave, got to keep going back , they are the only unspoiled islands left in the world. be away for six weeks.
I`ll be thinking now that I`ll get a shock
on my memory trip to turn back the clock.
things won`t be the same time has moved on
the young girls I once loved have grown old and are gone.
sob, sob,
But we did it and no one can take that from us.
Cheers
Brian
a few memories for you.
MONITORS , why do thumbnails NOT Open ??????????
Just to let you know Brian, they open ok here, seems the problem maybe at your end. Cheers John F
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3rd March 2017, 01:54 AM
#19
Re: indonesia part one
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3rd March 2017, 10:45 AM
#20
Re: indonesia part one
Dave, A sarong (or Sulu in Fiji) is de rigueur for relaxing at home in tropic climes. I still have a couple and give them an airing from time to time. Yes, and also those at the same time. They are really just what the doctor ordered - no prickly heat like wearing a jock strap.
Richard
Our Ship was our Home
Our Shipmates our Family
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