Thursday, June 15, 2006

Water Water Everywhere

Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere as wet as Hong Kong in my life. On top of the almost constant rain for the past month, water is literally coming out of thin air! Don’t believe me? Here’s how.

Almost as soon as we arrived in Hong Kong, everyone started warning us about the humidity in Hong Kong and how everything is susceptible to mold. A dehumidifier seems to be THE must-have item, so we duly purchased one. The water tank is 4L and on average I empty it twice a day. A week later, we found that all the clothes in the closet feel damp to the touch, so we buy another dehumidifier for the clost. This one runs 24/7 as well and with the smaller water tank (about 3L), I sometimes get 2.5 tanks a day. That’s a total of 15L of water per day! I wish there was some way I could use this water, because, doesn’t it feel wasteful to just pour it down the drain? With the water shortage in Hong Kong, you’d think someone would’ve thought of a way to take advantage of this “natural resource.” As for us, we’ve gotten a third dehumidifier to put in the kitchen, to keep the cork coasters and brown bagged flour from going moldy.


19 comments:

Anonymous said...

maybe you can use it to
1. water the plants
2. flush the toilets

I'd be worried about my handbags and shoes. and books. and cameras, yikes.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lynn,
i just love all your food pics! Found link to your blog from someone's fotopages. Do u have any good lasagne recipe ?

Unknown said...

umami, trust me, with humidity this high, the plants don't need watering =oP In fact, I think we've killed or orchid by watering it.

Emly, thanks for visiting! sorry, since my husband hates it and I'm not a huge fan either, I never make it.

Anne said...

Humidity! I never did get used to it (being from dry California) even after seven years in Tokyo. It sounds absolutely overwhelming. How are you liking your new place? Sounds like you found something.....looking forward to hearing more about HK!

Unknown said...

I thought Tokyo summers are bad, but it's nothing compared to HK. I'm having breakfast now and just noticed that my rattan tray has moldy spots on it. ewwww!

We've moved into our apt for a month now. My new furniture is finally arriving this afternoon (so they say). Hopefully after this I can really settle in.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lynn: you'll need a dehumidifier in every room. You can also buy small packets of "dehydrant" balls or packets from Watsons and put them in your shoes. Leather gets moldy, especially in the winter time. I hope you are not living in the upper mid levels or the Peak, as it will be fogged in most of winter. Humidity issues aside, I hope you have a great time in Hong Kong! I loved my four years there.

Unknown said...

Oh my GAWD! Please don't say that!! I'm on the peak, but I thought people say winters are dryer? Anyway, we're looking to buy a forth dehumidifier to share between the study and the guestroom. After running the three we already have for more than a day, I finally got the humidity down to 67%. Yay!! It's constant battle =o(

Tina Tuan said...

Hi Lynn, I am a friend of PeiHsien Chu. Love your blog. How did you do the categories - "let there be order"? I also use blogger but I didn't know how to set up categories. Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks, Tina

Unknown said...

Hsin, if you saw the different kinds of flour I have you'd know I need a separate fridge for them if I were to keep them refrigerated =o(

Tina, very sorry to disappoint you but I actually did that manually: created a blog entry for each category and pasted the links into them. Very low tech =oP

Unknown said...

Hi, I think hk landlords are not too fussed about pets. All the places we looked at allowed pets, so I don't think you'll have any problem in that area. Finding a place to your liking is more challenging though. Good luck!

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Anonymous said...

Hi Lynn,
my nam is Anna and i randomly crossed your blog whilst looking at other food blogs, but by far, yours is definitely the most interesting of all! I'm Chinese Australian and i found my love for cooking about 2 years ago - i'm currently 20yrs old. It is winter in Australia and in about 2 weeks time my friends and i have hired out a winter cottage so I can host our annual cook up, consisting of many slow roasts etc. My style is mostly Australian/Mediterranean slow cooking, but with an asian twist. Its great to see an asian girl with such diverse taste outside of the asian category! It is definitely hard to relate to anyone my age who is keen on cooking so i'm privledged to come across your blog! Hopefully i can swap many 'australianised' receipes with you in the future!

by the way - at what age did you start cooking? and it has been a whie since you last updated this blog...?

keep up the good work!

baobei said...

Hi,
Got to your flickr through eyes, and now your blog.

Read your entire blog in a day.

Can I ask a quick question? where can I find the nicest macarons in Tokyo?

And yes, do post a recipe of macaroons with fillings! They are getting prohibitively expensive to buy. LOL

Btw, Orchids dont need a lot of water, their roots need to be aired. If the orchids has been "shocked" to bloom, they are unlikely to bear flowers again either.

Strangely, I never quite worried about humidity issues though I live in the mini island call Singapore, and near the coast to boot!
Yes I do keep my flour in the fridge and freezer.

Unknown said...

Hi Anna, thanks for dropping by. to answer your question, I didn't really start cooking until we moved to Tokyo (I was 27??) I did cook for myself when I was in grad school but that was mainly survival cooking if you know what I mean ;o)

Baobei, I like Pierre Herme macaron the best, but a there are a lot of shops that sell macarons in Tokyo these days you should just try them all and decide =o) I never had humidity problems like this when we lived in Singapore, although my shoes did get moldy (we lived close to the east coast), but HK is horrible.

very busy these days so I have been neglecting my blog. but I'm home visiting my parents so maybe I'll have time one day to sit down and write something =oP

baobei said...

Thanks for your swift response!

I was about to try Dalloyau, until a google found theirs to be disappointing. I'll be heading to grab some Pierre Herme in some hours I hope!

grins

baobei said...

Hi Lynn,

Thanks for the lovely recommendation.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lyn,
I found your blog when searching for information on ABC cooking school in Tokyo. I just booked in for a trial lesson at the Shibuya school, and wanted to know what you had thought of ABC and a bit about how the system works (my Japanese is BASIC - I think I'll be able to understand the cooking stuff, but the admin is more difficult).
I am interested in the cooking class. Do you get to choose 3 recipes a month? Did you pay as you went or sign up in advance? And with the cooking course do you take food home or eat it after class? Are ingredients included in the course fee or extra?
Sorry to bother you with so many questions, but I have had trouble finding cooking classes in Tokyo so I'm really hoping this one works out.
Thanks so much,
Suzy.

Unknown said...

Hi Suzy, you sign up for the lessons and pay for them in advance. If I remember correctly, the minimum for cooking is 12 lessons. Then you can choose as many lessons in a month or not at all (there is an expiration for the lessons but it's quite long). The material for each cooking lesson is 800yen (I think?) but you can buy 11 tickets for 8000yen. you have to eat the food in the studio, no take-home allowed, citing hygiene as the reason.

I still have some cooking lessons left and will be taking them at the Shibuya studio (the one above Parco, not the one in the basement in that old building). If you want we can take some lessons together when I am back in Tokyo (Oct and Nov)

When you go for the trial, be very certain exactly what you want. The staff are very persistent in trying to sell you as many lessons as they can. If you need time to think about it, just say so. Don't get talked into something you are not ready to commit to. They usually try to get you to sign up at the end of the trial lesson.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lyn, I'd love to come to a class with you when you're back in Tokyo - it would be good to have someone who knows how the system works for my first time there. My email is suzanne.small @ gmail. com - let me know when is convenient for you!
Thanks!