He wrote:
"Whatever happened to the Linkou EM Club that was located just across Zhongshan N. Road from Headquarters Support Activity? It was next door to the MAAG theater compound when I was stationed with the Naval Security Group in 1963-64."
When I arrived at USTDC in 1973, it was called the Linkou Club Annex and it was located on the south side of Minzu East Road, across from the Roma Hotel at the intersection of Jhongshan North Road and Minzu East Road. Here's a photo of the exterior of the building (courtesy of the "Dawgs" at the Linkou website).
I believe someone told me that it moved there from another location in the area and maybe someone can tell us where that was. Here's a Google image of the area that I've edited to show some of the landmarks as they existed in 1973-1974.
Does anyone know what the old Linkou Club location looks like today? If you have a fairly recent photo, please drop me an email.
Does anyone remember buying those
ReplyDeleteknockoff LPs at the bookstore?
They were 10NT each and were made in various colors and were transparent. We soon caught on that they were only good for a couple of plays before losing whatever quality they had. The secret was to buy them, take them home and immediately copy them onto your reel to reel tapes and then throw the LPs away.
Jim Sartor
Jim, I remember the LPs but all I ever bought were cassette tapes. Their sound quality was about the same as the records and they lasted about as long.
ReplyDeleteI also bought a lot of books there. As I recall, they looked like photocopies, especially any photographs that were in them. Seems to me that you could buy the Encyclopedia Britannica for very little cash.
Don
I know the LINKOU BOOKSTORE was located at the corner of Zhong-Shan N. Rd & Ming-Zu W.Rd.^^
ReplyDeleteFrom what I remember, in the early 60's Min-Tsu E. Rd. did not exist. It was only an unimproved alleyway of sorts. The Roma Hotel did not exist. The Linkou Annex Club was then located in the area between the entrance to the Navy Exchange from Chung Shan N. Rd. and where the Roma Hotel was later located. The Club was set back a ways and not directly on Chung Shan N. Rd.
ReplyDeleteNow, I'm not certain that my memory is entirely correct, but that's my recollection.
John
John,
ReplyDeleteYou are correct. In 1965-67 the Linkou Annex fronted on Chung Shan N. Road just south of the East Compound entrance. I remember it well. Good memory.
George
Mentioning the Linkou Club Annex sure brings back memories. My wife and I went in there one night and ordered steaks.
ReplyDeleteWhen we got our food, I tried in vain to cut mine, even bending the knife.
When I told the waitress about it, she very solemnly took my steak away. She returned a short while later and the kitchen had apparently, in an effort to please, cut the same steak into bite sized pieces and sent it back to me.
After I had quit laughing for several minutes, I ordered something else.
The kitchen must have taken a machete to that piece of very old water buffalo.
Like many things we encountered in Taipei, the Taiwanese did everything in their power to help but quite often it just didn't work.
Jim Sartor
John and George have it right. The original Linkou Club Annex was on Chung Shan N. Road, but was set back from the street and I think it was hidden by trees. The entryway was through a curving arcade that had a tailor shop, souvenir shop and maybe some other things. The arcade curved to the right and the entry door actually faced north. To the south of the club was an open canal. I've never figured out whether the Annex seen in these pictures, after Min Tzu Road was built, is the same building or a different one. It could be the original building with the arcade simply gone and the entrance now on Min Tzu. The shape looks right: the old building had a partial second story which became an NCO lounge in the mid-60s, and the entry door looks the same. By 1975 the Annex lost its lease and moved to a new location on the ground floor of a building on Lin Sen N. Road, or somewhere near it. I think it may have moved one more time after that, but my memory is hazy on this point. I wonder if anyone can solve the mystery of whether the building we're now seeing in the photos was the original Annex?
ReplyDelete