Let me introduce you to 675 square feet {Kitchen}

I'll start with the kitchen. :)

Kitchen in Hong Kong

675 sq. ft. is actually the size of our entire apartment, not just the kitchen. I'm not sure what portion of 675 sq. ft. the kitchen takes up, but it doesn't really matter - it's still small. To be fair, the space itself is not terrible by Hong Kong standards. It is actually much more similar to standard Madrid kitchens, however we were super-spoiled in Madrid with a huge kitchen.

I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that every person who came into our apartment in Madrid made a comment about how large the kitchen was.

Kitchen in Madrid

It was awesome! And now I regret speaking any harsh words against it. :)

I've decided that living abroad wouldn't be nearly as meaningful if I didn't really get stretched out of my comfort zone...even in my own home. Well, God is sure stretching my homemaking abilities here. Not just by the small size of the kitchen, but by what is missing from it.

The two big items missing from our kitchen - and most kitchens in Hong Kong - are a dishwasher and an oven.

After living here now for a few months, I am getting use to living without these appliances that I have taken for granted my entire life. I have learned - and am continuing to learn - to adapt my cooking to stove top and microwave dishes. We also have a little toaster oven which works pretty well despite it's small size.

And the dishwashing...my dad is probably laughing at the fact that I must wash all our dishes by hand everyday! Dishwashing has long been my most hated of household chores. Here's a view of my little dishwashing station...





I do have a nice little view out the window, don't I? I have done my fair share of grumbling and complaining about this dishwashing situation, but God is giving me contentment in it. Instead of dreading it, I am trying to view it as a normal part of my evening, an important way to serve my family, and to make it more enjoyable (listening to music, talking to Brendan, or just praying or thinking about something). I also have a wonderful husband who has known about my dislike for washing dishes since we got married. He likes to serve me on occasion by doing the dishes for me. He's pretty awesome!

I also hope that when we do have a dishwasher once again, I won't be nearly so bothered by washing a couple of pots & pans each day. We'll see. :)

I do need to be completely honest and share with you that our kitchen here in HKG does have something we missed in Spain - a dryer! Yay! It is a washer/dryer combo and it's great! Sometimes I kinda miss hanging our clothes out to dry...maybe we'll do that again someday by choice...but having a dryer again sure is nice.

Hope you enjoyed the view of our kitchen in Hong Kong. I'll introduce you to the rest of our apartment another day!