Monkey

Beach.. and Party

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 08:53:22 +1600

Yps took Bonsai on another beach trip, again to Shek O. The water was cooler but clean(er), there were tons of people as it was the last school holiday (and a Sunday), wanna-be pirates on floating devices replayed pirate sea battles, some crazy dogs, no ice-cream truck, 3 HKD soft-drink cans, the late-afternoon volleyball game...

The fun didn't stop there. A nice Thai dinner (don't say "sparking water" but "Perrier" to be understood even there's only Thai water on the menu) was followed by a surprise visit to a bar in Causeway Bay, where the monkeys made up half the customers. It felt like a private party. Of course a monkey always leaves in style, no matter it was already 3am and the venue closed.

If you got the bike, you got the babes: Connie and Daisy getting ready for their ride home.

Yps wasn't drunk, he just 'slipped'...

Beach Day

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:35:41 +1600

A hot and beautiful weekday, it was the perfect opportunity to show Bonsai one of Yps' preferred Hong Kong beaches, Shek O.

Beijing 2008

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:06:00 +1600

Signs of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Summer Games can be seen everywhere across town.

Yps showing Bonsai a model of the Olympic Torch at the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront. In the background is Hong Kong Island with the HK Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Huge Olympic Rings on the wall of the HK Museum of Art.

Office

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 07:17:45 +1600

Office Monkey had invited for an open day at his office and so Yps, visiting Bonsai, Monkey and Orange Monkey went for a morning filled with fun and laughter. Who said offices would only be boring?

Rear: Bonsai, Office Monkey
Middle: Yps, Yíngying (迎迎), Monkey, Orange Monkey
Front: Kitten, Bobblehead Monkey, Cup Monkey

Who said office workers all wear black and are boring?

Office Monkey's colleagues: Sze, Emily, Joe and Fiz.

Google Olympics Monkey

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:51:45 +1600

The Hong Kong Google web site - www.google.com.hk - today features an athletic monkey to mark the currently on-going 2008 Summer Olympics.

Philippines business trip

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 03:51:27 +1600

Yps had to travel to the Philippines work-related and so visiting Bonsai went along, in the hope for a few days on a nice beach - which Yps had no time for. Bonsai's disappointment knew no boundaries.

Their biggest adventure was a sidecar (motorized tricycle) taxi ride to an Internet shop where Yps was trying to get it back up and running after it moved location from across the street. Yps' work involved everything from re-installs, clean-ups, hardware replacements to setup.

The shop setup was a mess at best, such as the old computers required a reinstall to clean them up and the new ones didn't have any software installed yet. Here Yps and Bonsai are setting up the station management software (to count the money ):

After a vey looong weekend, it all was finally operational and the first clients came in enjoying LAN parties of killing each other in Counter Strike and such alike games. Both monkeys are seen monitoring the situation - Yps looks like a stand-up comedian with the microphone.

After all work was done, a last check at the emails before heading to the pool which was right in front of the flat. Due to a weak WiFi network, the computer was mounted on an iron board stuck between 2 chairs in front of the window - which gave a great view onto the pool which was a torture during the busy working days.

Returning to Hong Kong after 3 weeks, Monkey greeted them at the airport. What a lovely surprise!

Biking

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 15:43:38 +1600

Today was the first "very hot" day of the year and so of course Yps took visiting Bonsai for a biking tour. Let's first review again the Hong Kong Observatory's recommendations for such a day: 1) When engaged in outdoor work or activities, drink plenty of water and avoid over exertion; 2) Avoid prolonged exposure under sunlight; 3) Those taking part in outdoor activities should use a sunscreen lotion of SPF 15 or above.

Their tour started by joining friends in Tai Wai and renting bikes, then riding along the Shing Mun River following the bicycle route to Sha Tin New Town, Tai Po and eventually arriving at Plover Cove Reservoir several hours later.

There was actually a blue sky and white clouds, quite a rare sight these days.

Taking a rest on a boat. They got all the things you'd like when you're burning in- and outside: spicy and hot fishballs, sausage...

The bikers. Yps was playing around, as usual...

No activity without a dinner or in this case, a party.

Bonsai helpded cutting the birthday cake into 18 pieces, quite a difficult task given that Yps was around just waiting to snatch a piece, or two, or three...

Monkey ads

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 15:13:24 +1600

Monkeys seem to be everyone's favorites these days. Here on some bus stop billboards.

Monkey fashion

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 14:32:43 +1600

These days, there's a lot of monkey fashion around.

Philippine visitors

Fri, 16 May 2008 11:51:50 +1600

Yps got a 4-day visit from his Philippine friends Andong (black) and Kiko (red).

Here they enjoy a ride around Hong Kong Disneyland's Inspiration Lake.

Their first day had scheduled a visit to Sham Shui Po and Mong Kok for some bargain hunting.

Yps tried various sunglasses (not recommended for use in real sunshine)...

... and here they strolled around the Mong Kok markets:

They spent the second and third day in Disneyland.

The friendly park staff at City Hall...

The last day was all about Ocean Park. They have pandas...

... and a lot of construction going on for their big expansion plans to be completed in about 4 years...

Bonsai's office

Fri, 09 May 2008 11:19:10 +1600

Bonsai the French guy invited Yps, Curious George and Beiping to his Luxembourg office. He's dealing with champagne.

Group photo with all of Bonsai's office colleagues:

Jungolo from South Africa

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:51:28 +1600

Hi, my name is Jungolo and I am from South Africa. I've known Curious George for a while and I'm going to visit him soon. I hope he also will come to my country one day, it is so beautiful and wild here. Do you see the zebras behind me?

I am a tour guide and bring tourists closer to nature.

The animals you usually see only on TV or in a zoo are roaming around free and you must be careful not to get into their way. I wouldn't like an elephant stepping onto my my foot!

There are many monkeys in South Africa. The ones living close to humans are very lazy and when they are not begging tourists for snacks, they check their rubbish for yummy leftovers.

Lion, the king of the animals, coming home from a wild party late at night:

Somebody has to do the cleaning job; give a big applause to the dung beetle.

Paris

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:39:36 +1600

What a nice Easter Yps and I, Curious George, had: a 4 days trip to Paris, capital of France!

Frog (the green guy below) drove us in his car, it was A LOT cheaper than an overbooked TGV despite the car park and highway toll. The navigation system was borrowed from friends; it didn't work until we had arrived at the city's gates...

Our hotel was next to the Gare de Lyon, a nice and not too noisy place only a few minutes away from all the major attractions.

Below 2 videos we took inside the train station:

After checking into the hotel, we went on our first day discovery tour of Paris. Here we check the map of Paris at the Bastille subway (Paris Métro). Paris isn't that big so we walked a lot.

Inside one of the subway tubes connecting platforms:

Arriving at the Eiffel Tower; very lucky with the weather:

There were so many people but they have opened 3 entries and we chose the fastest one
Just look at this view! Do you see our shadow across half the city, in the background?

The Eiffel Tower looks pretty at night (8pm):

The next day we went to a museum. There are so many in Paris.
This one was about some historic items of Paris, art and some interior design of a time long ago (looks pretty).
Yps liked the staircase, great for sliding down

We were a bit short in time so (this time) we just passed the Pompidou Centre.

We visited the Hunchback of Notre Dame but he wasn't at home. It's a nice building, the Notre Dame de Paris.
Did you know that Luxembourg also has a Notre-Dame Cathedral?

After a nice lunch we went to the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie for the rest of the day.
They have lots of stuff to play with, a planetarium, an IMAX theatre... Nice Mirage in the backround, huh?

The IMAX theatre "La Géode":

We closed the second day with a visit to the Arc de Triomphe:

Day 3 was all about the Palace of Versailles and we met Bonsai the Chimpanzee, our friend from France:

They have a really big garden there and a lot of water fountains:

We had our dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe Paris.

Our last day in Paris. A cloudy but not rainy morning; in the background the famous rooftop scenery:

Place de la Concorde: famous fountains and an obelisk (?).

Last but not least, The Louvre. We ran out of time so we just passed it. It is huge and there are way too many people. We would have needed a week to see it. The Pyramid reminds us of Toblerone chocolate

Steelworks

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 14:07:26 +1600

Curious George toured Yps around the ArcelorMittal Differdange steel plant, Luxembourg. The hot bar in the background is positioned to be flattened by rolls. It is really hot there, even several meters away; and very noisy.

Yps and George wanted to try out the controls and make their own steel products but they weren't allowed. The control tower looks exactly like a ship's bridge (way bigger than the corner in which the picture was taken).

Bath time

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:33:43 +1600

Monkey enjoying a bath.