MAR 19, 15 .. 23 MERCER STREET .. SHEUNG WAN .. HONG KONG .. PART III ..

I began this Post on January the 10th. After getting a good start upon it .. It then sat idle in DRAFT status so long that the computer evidently defaulted and sent it off to the TRASH file. But it remained in the TRASH and my webmaster Andrej helped get it resurrected. Then it got way out of hand on me as you are about to see below! 

With Patti due to arrive here in Hong Kong in just over one week on Saturday the 28th of March I am publishing this Post to refresh Patti on the small studio apartment at 23 Mercer Street here in the Sheung Wan District (said as one single word .. Shenwan ..) of Hong Kong that will be Patti’s home-away-from-home for just over one month. Some of the photos you have seen before and many you have not.

So this Post is ‘really for Patti’ but of course you all are welcome to take a little-look-see!

PART I ..

A review of the basic studio apartment at 23 Mercer Street basically as it looked the day I moved in on December 29th 2014.

A double bed. As you peruse the photos use the always present double bed to orient yourselves to the small apartment.

Above the double bed is a shelf for storage of small items.

Turning to our right from the double bed you see the small kitchenette with a kitchen sink and a small refrigerator. On the extreme right edge of the below photo at the bottom you can barely see the edge of the small desk that I show further below. You can also see the end of the small storage shelf above the desk and the nice mirror next to the desk.

The small refrigerator certainly does-its-job well.

A micro-wave oven above the kitchen counter area ..

Here is the sweet little desk that sits beside the bed you see reflected back in the mirror on the left below. On the immediate right of the desk is a standing wardrobe similar to a French Armoire.

Am I the only one here who does not know what-on-earth I would do without GOOGLE and Wikipedia? I just GOOGLED the phrase ‘standing French clothes closet’ and got my word .. Armoire!  

There is my French Armoire!

Lord God Dad save us! You call that .. that .. that ‘thing’ an Armoire .. /signed/ A REAL French decorative antique Armoire!

MY ARMOIRE! has two distinct sections ..

A section to hang clothes ..

At the bottom of the clothes-hanging-section of MY ARMOIRE are two nice drawers for additional storage. I am making space in the clothes-hanging-section as well as the top drawer in the bottom section of OUR ARMOIRE available for you to use Patti.

What’s that you asked me Patti? Where is the morass of my belongings currently in the above top drawer going to reside when you arrive? Great question and below is your answer.

They all are going into the under-the-bed storage area my Dear One!

Below you can see the two sections of OUR ARMOIRE as well as the small desk it nests against ..

Two nice fully functional windows for all the fresh air you so desire My Dear One .. Notice the Air Conditioner above the right window!

A down-and-dirty working-class view awaits you out of the left window ..

A little more interesting view awaits you out the right window ..

These photos were taken in January when there was actually sun on many if not most days.

The below photo I snapped just last evening on a Star Ferry Crossing of Victoria Harbor.

Patti! All of Hong Kong is eagerly awaiting your arrival bringing back the sun you took with you when you left Hong Kong!

Past the kitchenette is the necessary room. IF you really squint you can barely see the bed to the left of the doors into the restroom. The red door on the right of the below photo is the entrance door into unit 901.

A shower awaits you if you so desire ..

And you will NOT have to squat!

What’s that ‘Zilla? Oh! Below is a SQUATTER ‘Zilla .. What on earth would I do without your keen mind sitting right here beside me ‘Zilla?

A nice privacy curtain.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – 

PART II ..

I have purchased some things and I have made some changes to the studio apartment you have just seen in PART I above!

PATTI says .. Oh My CAP has SETTLED IN !

SHADDY says with a giggle .. Yes ! Our CAPTAIN has NESTED ! Shaddy! MEN do NOT NEST !

CAP says .. I built myself a MAN CAVE ..

GULLILBLE says .. (with a sigh) .. Oh My !

Is anybody in there? Nod if you can hear me! .. The Wall .. Pink Floyd ..

Below is a photo of the basic tools that I have at my disposal. A pin-vise with drill bits .. two vise-grips .. a wide assortment of sand paper .. a small coping saw .. a snap-blade cutter and an x-acto knife ..

My tool-box so to speak is shown  below!

The first thing I did was to expand the storage capability of the small shelf directly above my desk.

I fabricated additional shelving from cardboard.

And I really put this shelving to good use!

Then after I made the above cardboard shelves above my desk .. I decided to go-to-work on a former egg crate that I picked up (sitting under the distilled water carton below) on Burd Street beside my apartment on 23 Mercer Street. When I carried it home I saw it ONLY AS A READY SOURCE OF VERY STRONG CARDBOARD!

I have come to see many of these egg crates all over Hong Kong. None as fortunate as mine! Box 3 below is identical to my Box 2 above except it is in the trash and was gone the next time I passed this way.

Then as I set my Box 2 up into a vertical position .. I saw it as a possible ‘end table’ as opposed to merely  a source of cardboard!

For-openers I installed a permanent rigid shelf at its ‘belt line’.

This center shelf will never move since it is glued tightly into the egg carton to give it rigidity and stability.

And I immediately put Box 2 into functional use.

Then the thought occurred to me that the above use was a total waste of the potential of Box 2! I decided to install a series of drawers into Box 2! Box 2 promptly was promoted from being Box 2 to being My Little Storage Cabinet.The below photo shows the drawer runners .. the cardboard strips glued to the side of Box 2 .. that enable the drawers to slide in and out.

Without several hobby shops as well as a lumber yard that I found in Mong Kok my egg crate cabinet would never have come into being!

Finding these art and hobby stores was an absolute bonanza for me.

In addition to the hobby and art shops above .. I also found good wood at a real-honest-to-goodness lumber yard in Mong Kok!

MAN ALIVE! DIED AND WENT TO HEAVEN! I really needed these sources of supplies!

Back to fabricating my drawers.

To make the drawers rigid I purchased small 1/2-inch square balsa wood pieces 36-inches in length from one of several hobby shops that I found in Mong Kok and glued it to the perimeter of the cardboard bottoms of the drawers. Below you can see this balsa wood as well as one of my completed drawers.

Using water bottles for weight I fabricated a vise-of-sorts to hold the wood secure while the glue set up. I pressed the wood piece (the one under the water bottles) tight against the wall and then the weight of the water bottles coupled with non-slip shelf liner under the wood piece held things secure until the glue had setup. The first piece of wood was easy and required no weight to setup.

I don’t really expect you to understand the above process but to make the drawers rigid the wood had to be firmly glued together.

Below are two additional drawers in their final configuration. Some drawers (the one on the left) have a balsa wood perimeter around all four sides. Some have the balsa wood only on three sides. These drawers allow me to peek into them and see their contents.

The below drawer is a special .. very deep drawer so as to accommodate the deep cookie box that has larger items within.

Below you can see what I mean when I explain many drawers do not have the balsa wood on the front so I can glimpse into the drawers for their contents. The third drawer down from the top is the above special deep drawer. Do you see the nine-count-them drawers? Trust me .. go-to-the-bank with your money .. there are nine drawers!

I engineered the drawers so that they can safely be partially opened up and left open without spilling out onto the floor.

Now if you will look very closely at the side of My Little Storage Cabinet above you will see some ‘child-like scribbling’ .. Do you see it? Below is a close-up look at this tender ‘child-art’ that some small child drew on the egg crate!

A second photo taken with a different light setting. You can see the ‘main character’ from whence the many lines you see all over the egg crate originate.

And below is the child’s ‘main character’!

Being cardboard .. My Little Storage Cabinet is vulnerable to getting its bottom wet should I spill water onto the floor. So I fabricated a wooden base to keep it safely from direct contact with the floor.

VOILA!

Now .. knowing what you are looking for .. you can see the above wooden base for my little cabinet.

See it under the cabinet! Of course sitting up on the chair it will never get wet from a water spill onto the floor but it provides the little cabinet’s uneven cardboard base a stable platform. And My Little Storage Cabinet is currently residing on the chair NOT the floor Thank-You-Dad

The time has come to address the small shelf above the bed ..

The below photo shows its capacity. Not much room for very many things is there? My C.P.A.P. Breathing Machine is the device on the far right below.

Different stuff on the same small shelf above the bed .. I had moved the C.P.A.P. down onto the bed.

To the lumber yard I trotted .. and home from the lumber yard I trotted with a nice long solid wood shelf cut-to-my-specifications.

Do you all see the above beauty laid flat upon the small shelf over the bed!

In the below photo .. notice the unsupported left end of the board over the electrical junction box.

Below you can see how I stabilized this unsupported left end of the board.

What I have on this nice long shelf varies from hour-to-hour and from day-to-day.

CAP WHAT DO YOU DO ALL DAY?

Oh I make ‘stuff’ like you see below!

I use the pair of them to hold my toothbrushes so that I rotate through them and keep them very dry!

I will start with one .. use it .. then transfer it to the other holder. When I have used each of them I repeat the process!

“God of Abraham you sure were correct!” .. “Um-m-m-m.” ..

“For about twenty years Oh God of Abraham you have suggested to me.” .. “Captain ..go to Mong Kok. There in Mong Kok you will probably find what ever it is you need OR think you need.” ..

Mong Kok is actually pronounced as ONE SINGLE WORD with NO ‘g’ present .. as in Monkok. Below are a few street scenes from Mong Kok.

My friend Ruby works in Mong Kok. Ruby has become the one person that I go-to whenever I need something. Ruby is beyond the beyond when it comes to helping me find anything from hardware stores to lumber yards to stocking caps to buttons to a seamstress to carpeting .. to ??? .. YOU name it and it seems Ruby can find it for you.

Buttons Cap .. You Want Buttons Cap .. /signed/ Ruby ..

Yes Ruby so that I can find the head of the bedding at night ..

Ruby you are too much !

Ruby on the telephone talking to Patti in Alaska!

It was Ruby who steered me to a LUMBER YARD!

Well there you have your update on 23 Mercer Street My Dear Patti!

Much Love and Much Joy .. I am sure looking forward to having you here!  Cap ..

I SOLEMNLY PROMISE YOU WILL NOT SEE ANYTHING LIKE THE BELOW DISASTER!

What all of you MUST realize is that living in a 94 square foot living area my ONLY working space is the bed! So when I am ‘organizing’ the bed is where I ‘organize’!

Patti has seen the likes of the above many times! Often the evening before I am about to leave for a six-month or longer trip!

• ← MAR 10, 15 .. SOME BIG NEWS HERE .. PATTI AND SIMON ..
• MAR 24, 15 .. TUESDAY AND PATTI ARRIVES TONIGHT !! →