Haircut Scare in SE Asia

Hey y'all! It's been a few weeks since my last post. Some of you may know I'm studying for the LSAT while here in Singapore (4 weeks to go!). So, it doesn't leave me with much time to blog. Well, yesterday I went to get my first international haircut and wanted to share my experience.

 Here we go.

I did a preliminary Internet search to find some recommendations as to where I should go to get my hair cut in Singapore. A quick search led me to online forum where and expat guy advised going to an Indian barber shop in Kovan City (suburban area in NE Singapore). The tipster's advice was to visit an Indian shop instead of a Chinese one because Indian hair is coarser than fine Chinese hair, so Indians would be best suited to cut my African American hair (which is a lot thicker than Chinese hair). This made perfect sense to me so I set out on my little adventure with every bit of my nerves fragile from the start (you can probably stop reading now...and predict the ending to this story). After a quite lengthy (approx 45 min.) train ride to Kovan City, I took a stroll around the area to locate the shop. Chinese hair salons lined the shopping center sidewalks, and I was almost quite skeptical that the tipster had led me to the wrong place. I decided to carry on (after sidetracked by the allure of chicken balls from a nearby cart). Shortly, I stumbled upon two Indian guys.

Now before, I had come armed with the proper pronunciation of 'haircut' in Tamil (not everyone can understand my deep Southern accent). I approached the two guys saying, 'Herkat,' in my seemingly unauthentic Tamil accent. Needless to say, I left my conversation with these guys and still with the Indian barber shop nowhere in sight. I looped back (almost in despair and about to end the adventure altogether) to the train station, and I spotted another Indian guys sitting with his headphones in his ear. I decided to interrupt his jam session (could've been talk radio...I don't know). I again said, 'Herkat'. He pointed in the direction from which I had just come and said, "Go behind the Heartland Mall," (referring to the shopping center). I thanked the guy and went in the direction of his pointing. I walked and still didn't see the barber shop. I saw a Chinese guy approaching in the distance, so I decided to ask him for the barber shop's location. After a short conversation of him explaining to me the haircut business (I'll interrupt my story here to explain the haircut industry in Singapore)...

 A man's cut in Singapore can easily cost $32SGD+ (approx $26USD including exchange rates) because most men get haircuts in salons. Both young and older men get their hairstyled which varies from wash, cut, and yes, even, coloring. In Western society, this form of hairstyling is typically reserved only for women. This explains my reluctance to go inside a Chinese hair salon because, more often than not, the salons are uni-sex and the prices are ridiculous compared to Western haircuts. The story is quite different for Indian haircare. The Indian barber shops are exactly like Western barber shops in terms of structure and price (I'll describe this later).

...I thanked the guy and continued on to find the Indian barber shop. At this point, I had left the 'Heartland Mall' and was walking along the adjoining shopping center. Honestly, I thought this was a lost cause and thought to my self to turn back. Despite my reservations, I continued. To my good, I found the barber shop! It was located in a low traffic area, and it was easy not to find this little place. I walked into the shop and it looked very similar to an old gentlemen's barber shop in the US that had been in the same location ran by the same owner for 40 years by an old man name Joe and was the central place for neighborhood talk about sports and politics.

Inside, there was a lone barber with one client in the chair. The shop had white walls that had upstood its years well and black and white checkerboard floors. There was four barber-style dressing chairs, and mirrors aligned both walls, where you could see the front and back of your head as it's being cut. In the back corner was a TV (I never looked that direction but heard it playing a Bollywood film).

 Noted, no one spoke when I entered. I asked, "How much for a haircut". The mid-40s Indian barber replied, "$10SGD" (approx. $8USD). The tipster had said this would be the price. To my caution, I wanted to confirm before I sat in the guy's chair and he charged me an exorbitant fee after cutting my hair. Before I could sit to wait (the chairs for customers to wait were the exact same chairs at my hometown barber shop), an older Indian gentlemen, that now as I think about bore eery resemblance to my 'paw-paw', walked in and signaled me to his chair. I obligled. I told him to cut it low. Now, I pause here because the barber only had two pairs of clippers. This was quite shocking and very different to what I'm accustomed to seeing. Typically, many barbers I've visited have had at least five pair of clippers, but Indian hair does not require much cut with clippers, only to fade certain areas of the head and scissors are used to shape the crown of the head.

Now, I had predetermined that my style of choice in Asia would be a bald head (but not completely bald) before I left the States. So, the barber pointed to his guards, and I said "No, just them (pointing to his clippers)". I was not about to get faded by this guy because I was quite skeptical at this point, and with good reason. Not because the barber was old (I love old barbers; it's the young ones you gotta watch), but I did not know his technique. Besides my bald head is low maintenance (hence the first haircut after being in SG for a solid month). The guy preceded to cut my hair going against the grade, as is expected, but he started to run the clippers laterally across my head. An American barber has never done this before, but I was getting a bald head, so a bald head is a bald head, right?

After the hair was completely off, I waited to see if he would 'line' my head. Okay, to those that don't know what 'lining' is, it is when the barber takes a trimmer and edge the hairline to define where the hair starts to grow. This is standard for African American hair. I should've completed the haircut at this point. But, I didn't!

I said, "Shave here" (running my finger from the center around and to the base of my head). The barber walked to the sink, ran a hot towel under the water. He walked back, rubbed the towel around the edge of my head, signifying he understood me. He took his razor (thank God he changed the blade!) and began to shave...with NO CREAM. Needless to say, he was gentle. Everything was okay until he got to the front of my head. He paused and confirmed (by pointing), "Shave here?" I nodded. I should've stopped here...why didn't I stop here?

Well... He shaved the front and took the line too high up.

When I noticed, I shouted, "Wait, too high, too high!"

"Huh, too high, too high?" he inquired.

"Yes, it should be here." (rubbing my finger an inch lower)

"I didn't see no hair, no hair" he replied. I sighed, and smirked. The deed was done. He positioned to take the razor further along the top of my forehead.

I said, "No, no." Instead of letting the higher-than-supposed line extend across my entire forehead; I left with my line partly crooked.

He replied, "Sorry, sorry. Next time, ok?" He proceeded to finish his service with a nice head and back massage. This is customary in Singapore. American barbers should take note. After he finished, I paid him the $10 and left. I expected the worst and left with the worst.

Disclaimer: I will not provide visual representation of my haircut. It would invoke laughter on your part and shame on my own. You'll have to use the visual cues to restructure the image described above. Thanks for reading! Ricardo