Grocery Delivery

Having groceries delivered is not unique to Hong Kong, but it is new to me. It seems to be a city thing. I love it. All the major grocery stores here will deliver for free if you spend HK$500 ($65). Shopping is done online and the order can be placed as late as the evening before. The website has lots of features such as saved lists and frequent purchases. Payment can be charged to your credit card, but I choose cash on delivery. I still buy most of my fresh food in the gourmet store in the mall near us, but the delivery is ideal for heavy or bulky items such as alcohol, canned goods, and paper products. Remember, without a car, we have to carry everything we buy, and things get heavy quick.

Since we are so busy with work, travel, classes, and socializing, we are trying to create as much free time as possible. Sunday is the only day I have without a commitment, and I don’t want to spend all of it cleaning and grocery shopping. Today, we are testing a cleaning service. If the job is satisfactory, we’ll sign up for a plan.

The other service we use fairly often is laundry. Our washer is super small and only fits about two full outfits: two pants, two shirts, two pairs of underwear, etc. When we wash the sheets, each sheet needs to be done separately. It is a two-in-one washer and dryer and really doesn’t dry well. So sending out the laundry makes sense. A large load costs about $10, door-to-door, and is ready in 24 hours. The cost is determined by weight.

As a rule, anything service oriented is very inexpensive in Hong Kong.