i'm usually pretty forgiving when i get my hair cut...in the sense that i always make it a point to go back to the same hairdresser at least twice. i haven't had any major disasters so far (touch wood), so i believe in giving the person a second chance...in case it was an "accident" the first time round.
here's my track record for the past few years:
sometime in '00 ~ feb '05 - the scene, wisma atria (level 3), jack:i actually started off with this hairdresser named may lee (as in 美丽), but she left after my first cut, so the second time i went back, i was introduced to jack...
a malaysian (sarawak) who came to singapore to learn the trade, jack was definitely effeminate (at best), pretty talented...though not david-gan-malaysian-turned-singaporean kinda skills (i blame him for not making me look like christopher lee after ANY cut he did)...but i found him a likeable guy...and so i stayed loyal to him and to the scene. imagine staying with one hairdresser for 5 years...so far, i haven't even managed to stay with a girl for that long...hmmm...maybe i'm...nah, i like girls too much. haha. i only changed hairdressers cuz i wanted a different
everything after adeline broke up with me that february.
silly...i know. har har.
mar '05 ~ sept '05 - le salon, takashimaya, level 1, stanley:i went to le salon one month to the day after the happenings in february. i needed a haircut, and i needed a change. i happened to be in taka, so i decided to splurge on something nice and soothing for myself (btw, i hate the word "
pamper"...it just sounds so gay...). anyway, i walked past le salon, took a second look at the hairdressers, who appeared pretty busy (which was a good sign), and sauntered in. i was astonished at the level of service that i was met with...the receptionist ushered me inside, whipped out a robe, helped me put it on, and politely directed me to my station. wow.
i could go on and on...from the green tea, to the lovely shampoo massage, and the friendly
shampoo girl...everything was just
lovely (another taboo word that i would noramlly hesitate to use...except when in reference to hairdressing salons).
stanley was a young chap...he looked a bit gayish at first, with his silky, smooth and fair complexion, complete with floppy-curly-boy-band hair...but he was
probably straight...i think...you can't be TOO sure when talking about designers of any sort...hair-works or otherwise...haha. anyway, he's malaysian (jb) too...we'd always talk about girls, computer games, movies and shit like that...he even asked me about blinkymummy (there was once when she acommopanied me to get my hair done)...he's one of the good guys.
the only thing i didn't like about le salon was the price...$43 (AFTER 15% discount) for wash and cut...which was (and still is) pretty steep for a guy to get his hair cut.
oct '05 ~ nov '05 - supercuts, far east plaza, level 4 (?), some-butch-who's-name-i-can't-be-bothered-to-remember (?):i was in search of a cheaper alternative to le salon...and someone recommended supercuts in parkway parade...so i figured that the far east square model couldn't be too much different from the one over on the other side.
but hmmm...let's just say that this was the place that i was referring to when i said that i'd give someone a second chance if they didn't do a good job the first time round. do i really need to explain why i only went twice??? haha.
dec '05 ~ june '06 - shunji mitsuo, isetan orchard (wisma), level 1, kenji, some-guy, some-auntie, & caley:i think i only remember the first guy's name cuz it sounded so poserish...kenji...you'd expect some japanese punk-ass-killing (in more ways than one, given the stereotype of male hairdressers) scissor magician...but alas, his giveaway was the constant peppering of "lahs" and "lohs"...and the fact that he
didn't do the neat thing with snippers...you know the trick where the pro-hairdressers flip the scissors back into their palms with relative ease (aiyah, you know what i mean)...and he wasn't gay. but anyway, the cut wasn't too bad...and since kenji wasn't around the second nor third time i went back (don't say that i never tried to give him a second chance hor...i just always happened to go cut hair on wednesdays...which coincided with his off days), i ended up with no-name-guy and no-name-auntie.
call it fourth time lucky or whatever you will, but i ended up with this cute chic named caley. she has this spunky jap girl look, though she was very quiet and conservative, portraying the image of the salon she worked for...bottomline: i had high hopes...but in the end, her cut and style was just as "normal" as the rest of the other aforementioned-no-names from shunji matsuo...but i continued with her for 3 months just for the heck of it. haha.
anyway, to make a long story even longer...
today - reds hairdressing, takashimaya, basement 2, rita ho:
1815hrs*
moby steps up to reception counter to ask for haircut...receptionist leads him to station*
1825hrshairdresser,
rita ho (rh): so how you wanna cut your hair ah?
moby: i want a new style...i'm in sales, so i want something modern and professional...but
not too messy. i need to take a lot of the sides, and a bit off the top. can?
rh: ok loh, if you insist...
moby: huh?
*
rh walks away to chat with another customer*
1835hrs*
pregnant shampoo girl (psg) comes to wash
moby's hair...
psg has no strength to massage
moby's head.
moby sian already.*
psg: please wait a while for
rh...
*
moby gets extremely bored, and waves to
psg*
moby: can i have a magazine to read please?
psg: ok... *hands
moby "female" and "her world"*
moby: ...
*
rh turns to chat with the receptionist*
1845hrs*
rh comes back*
rh: so how you wanna cut ah?
moby: basically, just cut the sides short and a bit off the top.
rh: you want your sides sloped?
moby: err...i just want the sides short...
rh: short can have slope what!
moby: i leave it to you loh...i'll let you decide...
rh: you say one ah?
moby deep inside: knn...you're the hairdresser what.
*
rh proceeds to snip in silence, while
moby tries to read articles about wives complaining about husbands fucking hookers during their honeymoons*
1850hrsrh: ok. wait for the girl to rinse hor. *prances off to yet another conversation with some other person*
moby: so fast?
inexperienced-looking shampoo girl (isg): come, i wash for you.
*
moby gets rinse and goes back to seat*
isg: you want gel?
moby: err...normally i use wax.
isg: ok... *gets wax, comes back, slabs on a few gobs of the crap, and commences to try and style
moby's hair.*
moby: what???
isg: why? you want it messy?
moby: sigh. yeah. ok. *resigns to the fact his haridresser doesn't give a shit, and that he just basically had his first really fucked up haircut experience*
isg: ok! *happily pulls at
moby's hair with apparent delight and nonchalance*
moby: sigh.
1900hrs*
rh magically reappears*
rh: how?
moby: can i see the back?
*
rh glares at
moby, grabs a mirror, shows
moby the back for exactly 3.29 seconds before returning the mirror to the rack*
moby: err...ok loh.
*
rh shows
moby to the payment counter, tells the receptionist the amount owed, and struts away without even looking back or saying thanks and goodbye*
fucked up. this was the worst experience i've ever had in a hair salon.
rita ho, you suck. i'm never going back to your place...in fact, i'm never going to ANY reds hairdressing ever again. i am willing to break my rule of forgiveness for you and you alone.
and please don't give me that crap about "oh, think about how the hairdresser feels"...fuck you! she's in the service industry...if she can't be polite, then at least be civil. i don't need to go there again.
anyway, thus ends my long long story...
so i guess it's back to good ole jack...if he's still at the scene of course. haha. unless of course you have some other better suggestions...cheers. =)
