Stanley in a Double Decker Bus

We worked-out this morning, had showered and were in our room planning our day trips when the wife noticed our cruise ship steaming into the harbour. It reminded us that this would be our last full day in the Four Seasons since we would be checking out on Saturday morning. We would try to make the most of the day.

At about 9 o'clock this morning we hopped on the No. 6 bus. The No. 6 is a double-decker bus and it runs from our hotel in Central over to the other side of Hong Kong Island to a place called Stanley. From a historic point of view Stanley was where Canadian and British troops last fought the invading Japanese before they surrendered the island. Stanley is also a really cool little part of the island and a very exciting bus ride over the mountain and along the hairpin turns perched high up on the cliffs above Aberdeen and Repulse Bay, which are also very cool places by the looks of them.  A word to the wise though, do not ride over the mountain at the very front of the upper deck on one of these buses. It is like being in the leading car of a 45-minute roller coaster ride.

The market in Stanley is supposed to be the best in terms of value and although we did not buy anything we wandered through it and checked it out. It was a very relaxing atmosphere in that there were no pushy street vendors. We were really most interested in finding a place to have some brunch and we found one on the waterfront overlooking the Stanley Main Street promenade. It was a little open air place that was popular with the locals and they had a decent breakfast menu. The setting was very mediterranean. After the meal we crossed over the peninsula to the other shore and checked out the local beach. It was not beach season so it was pretty deserted but the sand was nice and it was interesting to see that all the beaches in the area were protected by shark nets. These beaches would be fine for Tracey to swim at.

We hopped back on our No. 6 bus but this time did not ascend to the upper deck having learned our lesson on the way over. We proceeded back to Central and subsequently took the train back to Kowloon where I picked up my new suit. It is beautiful and of course fits me perfectly.

We finished the day by dining in the Four Season's restaurant. We are now familiar with many of the staff in the hotel and they are all wonderful. We are very glad we stayed here. We have checked out the Conrad and the Peninsula and I think they would have been poor alternatives.