Stanley

We slept in a bit today which was a nice change but we still didn't feel as rested as one would suspect. The bed is not very comfortable and the pillows are worse so we both toss and turn all night and then wake up with weird cricks and pains. We got dressed and headed down for breakfast so we wouldn't miss the complementary meal. Before we were done Peter asked for a glass of water so the waiter brought us each a mug with really warm water in it. We thought it was very strange to get warm water. I personally like room temperature water but this was really warm, border line hot. It wasn't hot enough to seep a tea bag in though so I am not really sure why it wasn't closer to cool. When we were through we went back up to our room and packed our back pack for our day. We decided that today we would go to Stanley since it was still supposed to be pretty cold out. We figured the narrow aisles of the market would help keep the wind to a minimum and us walking a lot would help our blood flow to keep us warm. Before we left the hotel I filled out a few postcards and somehow we managed to find our way to the post office to have them mailed home to the children. I hope they get them before we get back. We jumped on the 260 bus from the exchange station and then we were on our way to one of the best bargain shopping places in Hong Kong. We had so much fun the last time we came to Hong Kong we actually went to Stanley twice. The bus to Stanley is a double decker bus and you can sit right up front on the top and it is pretty terrifying but this is where Peter likes to sit. The roads are narrow and they hug the cliff so looking down is very scary. We have been on the bus several times and I think I may actually be getting use to the ride. There are still a few things that happen on the bus that take my breath away as I think to myself, oh no we are going to die, but for the most part I don't have many of those thoughts anymore.

When we got to Stanley it was if we had been there the day before and we went our way knowing exactly where we were going and what to do. We had a few things in mind of what we wanted to pick up but didn't want to load ourselves down at the very start so we looked at a lot of booths to check the prices of things and took some notes. Many of the booths have the same items, maybe in the same patterns or different but the idea is the

same at a lot of them. Peter and I looked at some art work too. Something we have never done before. In the past we have never really had any room for anything like that but now with our new house we figured if we found something we really liked we could find somewhere to hang it and it would be really cool to have something from our trip. We only bought a couple things before we stopped for lunch at the Thai restaurant we ate at the last time we were here that was awesome. I think we both ordered the same meals and it was

good but I think mine was better last time but maybe it's all in my head. We had finished about half of Stanley by this point but we were running out of time. To leave the Stanley Market you really have to exit the same way you come in so we knew we would pass the beginning stores before we left. After lunch, the shopping was on. Peter found a few shirts he liked and I found several things for the children. I was really looking forward to getting some new dresses because the ones I bought in the past from Stanley still hold up and are my favorite ones to wear. Unfortunately, most likely due to the weather, there weren't many dresses available so I only ended up with 2 or 3. We have high hopes for the Ladies Market though so hopefully I will get a few more things when we go there. We were finishing up just as things started to close down. One of the art shops we liked had already called it a day so we missed out on 2 or 3 pieces we would have liked but the larger painting that really caught our eye was at a different shop that hadn't closed yet. Peter picked that up while I went to find some scarves as gifts and some t-shirts for the family. The lady at the last shop was really sweet and asked us all about our children and told us how lucky we were that my mom could watch

them for us to go on holiday. Many of the locals here speak enough English to make a sale but she spoke much more but not fluently. I was nice to talk to her and she really seemed interested in our lives. She told us that next time we come back she wants to see our children. After that final shop we caught bus 6 (because it was ready to leave now) back to Central and then we went on to the Sheun Wan, where we are staying in Central and our MTR stop. Before we caught our last leg of the MTR we stopped to look at a cool map that had pictures of good sights and what stops they were at. When I turned to look at the tracks our train was boarding so I said, lets go and got on. Right as I stepped onto the train the doors started closing so Peter tried to squeeze through but he had the huge back pack on that was stuffed with stuff so the doors closed right on it and he couldn't move.

He panicked while he tried to pull through but couldn't get any leverage to move at all. I was pulling the backpack from in front and just as we got it to let go the doors opened back up. I am sure it was quite the sight for all the other passengers on the train that night. I really had no idea the doors were closing or I wouldn't have boarded and just waited for the next one. A train comes every few minutes so it's not like you sit there waiting for 10 or more minutes if you just miss the last one. Before we left the warmness of the MTR I bundled up pretty good to fare the cold weather and then we booked it back to the hotel. Our plan was to get back and drop everything off and then head back out to a local restaurant for some dinner. One our walk back we discovered that most of the restaurants nearby weren't open for dinner. We didn't want to go too far out as we were tired and cold. At the hotel we decided that instead we would just order one personal pizza from room service and share it so we could get our showers and get to bed.