The cripps in Hong Kong Hong Kong, Repulse Bay, Cripps, Crippo, Mark Cripps, Joss Cripps

Zai Jian 再見 (Hope to see you again soon)

A diary about our expedition to Hong Kong

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Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Latest shots of the boys




It's a cliche, which I try to avoid like the plague, but the boys are booming up fast.

Here's a snap of Billy in his Kung Fu gear ... he tries for his yellow belt on Sunday, which I can't quite believe. Well, actually, judging by the bruises on my buttocks where he tries me as a punchbag, maybe he should be going for black.

And a year ago almost to the day (pix on this blog - Oct 06) we took the boys to the coastal defence museum ... where they posed for exactly the same shots. They've changed a great deal in a year actually!

M

Great October weather in HK





Weather's quite perfect at the moment -- sleeping with windows open. Balmy 26 degrees at night. Blue skies and no humidity. So we're spending lots of time on the beach! And so is most of Hong Kong -- here's a quick snap of thousands of filipino helpers who spill down to the beach on a Sunday (their one day off) so that they can have fun & do BBQ etc etc.

M

Googleplex California



Back now in Hong Kong after a week's jaunt around California - LA & San Fran.

Had an interesting time down in Silicon Valley -- been there quite a few times because of the accounts I was working on @ Hyde & Partners and at Publicis Technology -- seems to have regained its vibrancy.

We popped in to two orgs of the moment -- Facebook and Google. I felt about 20 years older than most of the staff -- probably because I actually am 20 years older than most of the staff! The Google campus was quite amazing ... smoothies and massage chairs in reception .. a canteen to die for (FREE oysters!). Staff looked deliriously happy - nothing to do with the $quillion$ of stocks they're sitting on. Hey ho.

And a quick tour round Palo Alto (where I could live very easily) and the near-by campus of Stanford University .. what a great campus that is. You could smell the fresh air (compared to HK) and the leaves were glorious autumn colours. Must say, I miss the seasons at the moment.

Sorry about the sideways view of the Transam building (as seen from my hotel window) but the software won't let me turn it round!

M

Monday, October 29, 2007

Hmmmm

Makes sense this bloke.

Maybe I should be cutting down my carbon footprint a bit -- already recycle like crazy.

M


Thursday, October 25, 2007

Good to be back in California




The traveling has notched up a couple of points again recently, and this week I find myself in California.

Today and yesterday, I was in Los Angeles checking out the IPG Emerging Media Labs http://www.ipglab.com which are interesting - lots of good data on the site if you're interested.

And Thursday/Friday we're in San Francisco visiting various famous dot com companies such as facebook and google. Can't wait for that.

Los Angeles was baking hot ... 32+ degrees ... hotter than Hong Kong .... and they're all (not surprisingly) fretting about the wildfires which are raging through the countryside just North of LA .. 500,000+ people have been evacuated. The land looks parched - from the air, I hardly saw any green. Plumes of smoke run inland from the coast for about 60 miles.

Tonight in San Francisco, we went to a restaurant called 'The Stinking Rose' - as the name suggests, it's a restaurant specialising in garlic. Tagline: "It's chic to reek!". I hear it's a tourist trap, but good fun and great garlic steak. I avoided the garlic martini "Gartini" and garlic ice cream for desert! http://www.thestinkingrose.com/

M

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Good to be back in Beijing





After a period of nine months away, I find myself back in Beijing. It's nice to be back actually. This time last year, I was in Beijing weekly - got to be a bit of a grind. And I found the whole experience interesting but depressing at the same time - I thought the city was soulless; extremely industrial and unwelcoming.

This time round, it feels more human somehow. I think that's because a lot of the construction I saw last year is near-to-completion (at least the external faces of the buildings are close to being finished) - there's the Olympic deadline pushing this of course. Also, the weather here is quite perfect at the moment - warm (22-24); blue unpolluted (for Beijing) skies and crisp cold (9 degrees) nights. Quite a contrast to HK.

"The construction's nearly completed" is not quite true -- the skeletons of a few skyscrapers and 'statement buildings' are still contrasting against the skyline. The most interesting of which is the building which will be the HQ of China TV (CCTV). I've written about it here before -- it looks like a kind of twisted N shape. In the pictures, it defies gravity - now you can see it 2/3 built, it is quite awesome. I was remarking to someone that there's no way it's going to be completed by the time the Olympics kicks off next August - but they said CCTV would ship 100's of extra builders in to ensure it happens. Sure enough, I was looking at the structure in the middle of the night and it was ablaze all over with arc welding lights --- waterfalls of bright orange molten steel sparks cascading down 40-50 stories. Reminded me of a meteor shower. Night shots are of my hotel and the surrounding streets. Check out the pavement & bike - quite typical!

First night here, I returned to my favourite peking duck restaurant (roasted over fruit wood)- it's a tourist favourite, but the food's great and there's a healthy contingent of locals eating there too. Don't you love the menu? Any one for pig lung?

M

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Tim's 40th birthday

Had an amazing day out on this fantastic HUGE catamaran owned by a millionaire friend of a friend.

Will look back on days like this when we return to grey London.

M