In HK, there are laundromats in every other street. Why? Simply because 1) many households don’t have space for a washing machine 2) people are lazy  3) it’s cheap enough for people to be willing to use the service. I send my clothes to the laundromats more often in winter because if not my laundry will take forever to dry. And unlike laundromats in some other countries where you have to hang around and wait for your laundry to be done, in Hong Kong, you just leave it at the shop and pick it up another day. If they are fast, they can even return it on the same day – with the clothes nicely folded too!

For someone like me who lives alone in Hong Kong, I find my neighbourhood laundromat dictating my schedule whenever I send my laundry to them. You see, my neighbourhood laundromat opens at 8am and closes at 7.30pm Monday to Saturday. On Sunday it opens at 9am and closes at 5pm. So I have to work my schedule round their opening and closing times. On weekdays I can take my laundry down before I go to work. Collecting it back though, requires a bit more planning. As it closes at 7.30pm, it basically means I cannot schedule any appointments after work on the day I need to collect my laundry. Unfortunately I don’t have anyone else to help me pick up laundry!

Nevertheless, it’s a small inconvenience for a useful service. Coming home early is a good thing too – I usually make an effort to cook for myself when I am home early. So yes, laundromats, another one of those conveniences of Hong Kong life!