In early 1965 I was a radar operator deploying from Guam to a small naval airfield in Cavite, Philippines. From there we flew out to the coast of Vietnam where we provided overnight radar coverage for the 7th Fleet aircraft carriers operating off the coast of Vietnam. There was another crew there so we alternated every other day providing radar coverage. On our day off we all headed into Cavite for liberty. It was the best liberty anywhere. For $5 we could drink all the beer and eat all we could consume and go back to the base with money in our pockets.
One of our favorite foods was called monkey meat. I don’t know if it was actually made from monkeys, but passing by buildings we could see cages outside windows that housed monkeys. Walking down the streets there we would see men of the Philippines squatting down using a small charcoal grill cooking small bamboo skewers with pieces of meat stuck along the skewers. They were delicious!
Other things we ate were tacos. Those were the first tacos I had ever eaten and they were also awesome.
When I returned home, I told Joyce about those foods and told her how they were prepared. We began having those two meals for many years afterward.
This memory just popped up from somewhere deep in my sometimes addled brain, so I sat down and wrote this post to share it with you.
The following link shows the nice side of Cavite for tourists. There is also a video of the sleasy side of town which shows the town is worse than when I was there. Click on the grayed out text that follows to see the video. Video of Cavite present day. The tourist part of town shows a more modern and cleaner place than it was 60 years ago.
