More of a ‘life in HK’ post as the second part of today’s
double header. This is the cheery owner of the Lavender Laundry at the end of our road, Second
Street, at which we have become firm regulars.
Decadent as it may sound to people at home, and maybe even
some HK readers, we have a washing machine that has not once seen use since we’ve
been here…and it’s establishments like this one that lie behind that. They
provide an incredible service, and there is literally one on every street
corner in the more residential and un-expat areas, like ours. They take in
heaps of washing, and can turn it back into clean, fresh-smelling, dry, neatly
folded clothes within the day. And they do it for what is effectively spare
change. A little decadent as I said – sure. But it’s so super convenient and cheap,
it’s proving quite an easy little luxury to justify keeping up.
It is, however, also something to do with the nature of
expatty life in HK, I think.
For a start, we spend astonishingly little time in our flat.
We are always out and about doing stuff every evening, and I honestly don’t
think it would be all that easy to squeeze in getting the washing done as part
of our normal day! Also, I am pretty sceptical about how easy it would be to
dry clothes on a clothes horse here, given how humid the air is…
But more crucially, you get through so many clothes as part
of day-to-day life here compared with the UK. I go through 3 sets of clothes
almost daily – work clothes, clothes to go to/from work in, sports clothes. And
for me as a tragically sweat-prone chap, all of these sets of clothes cannot be
reworn, due to the effects of the never-ending heat and humidity. I have even
gone through up to 5 sets on really hot weekend days when we’ve been busy,
having to change every time we’ve gone home. As such, our laundry pile is
always massive. If we did not use the laundry, we’d be doing a whole machine’s
worth and more daily. Which seems silly. Instead, the lovely Lavender Laundry
people don’t bat an eyelid at taking 25 pounds of washing in a couple of bin
liners off my hands, and returning it pristine within hours…
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