The transition to summer has begun.
Aside from the obvious change in month and that it is gradually becoming warmer; the humidity is the true indicator in HK. It is the humidity that is also what makes summer here almost unbearable but it has introduced me to a few new products.
Dehumidifier
Prior to coming here, I had no idea that there was even a need for such a gadget. These suck the moisture out of the air and store it in a convenient attachment which you need to empty regularly.
Our dehumidifier stands about knee high and shuts itself off when the water container is full. It is difficult to find a quiet dehumidifier but given how much moisture is in the air, it must be hard work to suck it out so that level of noise should be expected.
As well as making the bedroom a little easier to sleep in, it is also very useful to put in the room where our clothes are drying. It is too humid to dry anything outside from now until about August / September.
Camel packs
For those that tend to do a bit of long distance exercise where additional water is necessary, you may make the mistake of thinking that I’m referring to the backpack that water goes in with a straw that takes it around to your mouth (particularly useful on bike rides and hikes).
What I am referring to is the little container full of some absorbent beads that is placed in your cupboard so your clothes don’t go mouldy. This is very important for work clothes (especially if they are steam-ironed), shoes and any nice party frock.
They are imported from either Japan or China and the instructions on them are written in those particular languages. Last year, as a new user, I followed the diagrams. I took off the pink lid that has little holes in it, stripped back a layer of alfoil, put the lid back on and put it in the cupboard. It worked.
These containers gradually suck the moisture out and the container becomes full. When it reaches this point, it’s thrown away and another one is put in its place. We only needed one in each cupboard last year for the whole season so I’m hoping that stays the same.
This is not a very environmentally-friendly solution so we’ve been looking into alternatives but are yet to find any.
Hello Summer!
* Thanks to DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince for the title to this post.