Another One Bites the Dust!

[Paul K]

Getting turned around in Singapore after Fatty's prawns sounds like a fine idea. In the old days most of us would have welcomed that and it delayed more than a few 221 divorces!
Ian

Gawd... Fatties, Bugis Street, the Offshore Club on Anson Road, the Shell club on Bukom.... How I miss Singapore and being young enough to do it all again. Ian, it seems the Merchant Navy and Merchant Air Force gravitated towards the same places.

[nigelb]

Thanks for the advice re the memsahib, Eric. She gets home from Turkey tomorrow and I've left her a link to your post and your contact details. In case she wants to thank you personally

Ian

Oh dear! Good luck dealing with that, Eric!

Nigel²

[dfarrow]

Ian , is that one owner from new , new MOT , never raced or rally'd , good tyres , good brakes and a new exhaust ? And as for 221 , if you had a date with a BOAC bird picking up or dropping off at Building 221 was Alien territory for BEA'ers . Then you realised wot was happening ! Think you'll have to explain it Ian ...
And for Paul K , seems Merchant Air Services would take to you readily ; thanks for the use of [ name is rusty ] Seafarers club , Hong kong side , for a swim and a good table cloth lunch [ curry perhaps ? ] .First visit '83 , still going strong in '09 .

ATB dave f.

[DaveB]

I've done one of the things all sailors 'had' to do in Singapore.. watch the sun rise over Bugis Street One endearing memory about the place (apart from the proliferation of TV's) was the public toilet half way down the street. I never ventured into the 'ladies' side (why would one for gods sake) but if it was anything like the gents.. you needed wellie boots to keep your socks dry
Ah.. another memory from Bugis strasse performed exclusively by pi$$ed matelots and quaintly named 'The dance of the flaming @rseoles'. I won't go into detail as whatever it is you're all thinking is probably close to reality

Funny how places can change. I was first there in '75 on HMS Blake (Far East Deployment.. back in the days when we had enough ships to form a Task Group bigger than 2 ships.. see All our yesterdays thread for a couple of shots) and ended going back some years later ('80 I think) on HMS Norfolk. We had leave there and were encouraged to fly wives out so I dragged the former Mrs Hornblower out on hols for 2 nights in Singers and 3 at a resort in Malaya. Anyhoo.. I took the first MrsB out to show her the sights and of course, Bugis Strasse was on the list of places to see. I was quite miffed to see how the Singapore government had cleaned the old place up. It wasn't even a shell of it's former self. Truth to tell.. no place on earth would really want a 'Bugis Street' as it was tarnishing their image

I'm sure all you 'fly boys' will have camped out at Raffles too. A bit steep for the likes of sea urchins like me but I did go there once to soak up the atmosphere

ATB
DaveB

[speepig]

A bit young for the 221 divorce, (though I know what it is). Tristar house was my starting point (a return to flying following a play at being a yuppie following an aborted entry into working at the other end of the aircraft at an ex-naval base/lighthouse miles from the sea in Lincolnshire) . I'm not sure whether it would be expedient of me to explain what 221 divorce was, what happens down route stays down route and as far as I'm concerned the line between the two is marked by the gates of the crew car park. You'll have to prise that bit of knowledge from the man himself and if I was him I would probably milk it for what its worth.

[speedbird591]

And for Paul K , seems Merchant Air Services would take to you readily ; thanks for the use of [ name is rusty ] Seafarers club , Hong kong side , for a swim and a good table cloth lunch [ curry perhaps ? ] .First visit '83 , still going strong in '09 .

Hong Kong side, Dave? There was the China Fleet Club that was very civilised - but that was RN. And not forgetting the RHKYC (Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club) which was extremely civilised (and the reason that a light grey suit used to have a permanent niche in my Globetrotter ). They both quite rightly gave BA crew an honorary membership in return for the odd copy of The Times - before the heady days of the internet. Or do you mean The Mariner's Club on Kowloon at the bottom of Nathan Road? Again, a flash of a BA ID bought a civilised lunchbreak away from the sweaty chores of shopping and the excitement of buying watches and jewellery at Astors

Dave B. I remember the toilet in Bugis Street very well. But being a man who kept ahead of the fashion in those far off days, I found that a decent pair of platforms kept the socks dry. Although it was a one handed operation as you had to hoist the flares with your left hand to avoid a water mark round the bottoms. I wasn't averse to having a TV sit on my lap while I lost at noughts and crosses to the kids in pyjamas. At least they were better-looking and more fun than the women and weren't averse to having their titties squeezed I also remember the dance of the flaming whatsits but I've also seen it done by Qantas stewards. Not a pretty sight, but then again, there weren't many pretty sights down there As you say, the bulldozing was well overdue despite our protests!

The original building 221 was one of those prefabs over by the original uniform stores between the 747 hangar and the crew car park. Before any of our times. But the name carried over to the crew reporting area of Terminal 3 (Oceanic!) and to many of us older ones, crew reporting wherever it was was still referred to as '221'. Yes, Dave F, I also remember that a BEA person would be looked at askance if they turned up sniffing around our BOAC ladies in the bag area! What a cheek

And as if anybody hasn't guessed yet, a 221 divorce was the parting of the ways for a beautiful friendship that had blossomed in a tropical paradise but would cause complications back in Blighty. What a lifestyle, eh boys?

Ian

[dfarrow]

Ian , that's it , The Mariners . Never got to the posh RN one's [ don't own a suit ] .

For you Ian , Speepig PK and DB ; you don't really need to go that far away . The Ship canal goes to Manchester ; and in that fair city is a music club that won't quite swamp your wellies in 't gents . But we always found it prudent to ask if anyone else needed a leak and thus go in pairs ...

Ian , very neat link to the '' buying from abroad and taxes '' tale . Astors it was , although Qwaaliity watch from Stanley market would leave change to be saved for the next trip and a Singapore Sling in Raffles [ with 2 straws , to share ] . Talking [ DB ] of Naarfick , where we have short arms and long pockets . Some of you Navy types very generously bought us a round once .... Just ordering from 't barman , when 4 boisterous fellows came in '' 4 pints of your best ale my good man '' . He shrugged , I shrugged ... 4 pints were given , money taken . Me '' 3 [ we had an engineer in those days ] Red Stripes please '' . When I asked to pay .... ''' don't worry mon , they push in , they paid '' [ at full volume ] ... Me '' Thanks Navy '' [ off the Carib guard ship , destroyer before being replaced by a frigate , and now I think an RFA ship ]
Always stick up for the Andrew , they're most generous folk .

Not sure now , whether to get me coat , or get a beer and raise the glass to our Navy . Hopefully the latter, 'cos is it true that Naval style toasts are drunk sitting down ?

Brgds dave f .

[Paul K]

Good grief I never thought I'd see mention of the 'Dance of the Flaming A-holes' in here. One was advised to use a quality newspaper rolled up and clenched between the buttocks - the Straits Times was the best, as it was a slow burner and offered some chance of escape without injury. The Bukit Timah Echo & Advertiser went up like cordite.

[speepig]

that photo removes any confusion

[airboatr]

A human candleabra ... with just one candle?

No, please don't explain..