In Australia it is nothing like the experience here. Australia they give you a shampoo and conditioner even if you have just washed your hair at home then sit you down and grab the hair clippers and start shaving away at a hundred miles an hour (I used to go to a store called Just Cuts). In 15 minutes or less they would be finished and you are out the door $17.50 Australian dollars poorer or 490 baht.
(hairdressers on the right, papaya salad on the left)Here in Thailand I say to my girlfriend that I am going to get my haircut and bound out the door like a child going to the shop to buy candy or ice cream. For me this is like that as it makes me feel like a young kid again.
My barber is 400 metres from my house. It’s a basic set up with 2 barber chairs and some seats and magazines to read while you wait to get your haircut. My barber is always busy, he is very popular and opens around 8:00 am and closes late usually around 8:00 pm.
He cuts your hair the old fashioned way. Like all those years ago when I was a kid. He uses his scissors and trims bit by bit slowly creating his masterpiece. Even if there are 3 or 4 people waiting he never rushes. It’s the same pace and same routine for every customer.
(my barber hard at work and the guy getting the shave treatment)He is a good hairdresser but the best part is when he gives you a shave. You get laid back in the barbers chair and he applies the lather of foam and then uses one of the traditional barber razors that shaves closer than any shaver I have ever used, he goes over you beard again and again until it’s so smooth and that’s when the best thing happens.
He powders all of your face lightly with talcum powder and takes the razor and shaves your forehead, temples under your eyes, your cheeks and nose and then saves the best for last he shaves your ears. Yes! Your ears.
I remember the first time and I was thinking what the hell he was doing but then you start thinking that it feels good and you relax and enjoy the experience. I swear it makes you feel like a teenager again. And then just to top it off he gets a cools towel and places it over your face and gentle massages your temples and forehead and wipes your face down. Then he gives you a shoulder massage, down the arms to you hands where he softly cracks you fingers for you.
(looking up the little street, shops tucked away every where)After he wakes you up, you bound out of the barbers chair ready to take on the world. You pay him the massive amount of 40 baht or $1.43 Australian dollars and then go out and conquer the world.
Today as I bounded out of his shop I had to take a reality check as it was raining and I didn’t have any wet weather gear to keep me dry to get home. So I sat down and watched people riding past on their motorbikes soaked through to the bone and had a little laugh to myself just like any young teenager would.
One poor young guy pulled up on his motorbike he was coming for a haircut and got caught in the downpour and was dripping wet but luckily it’s not freezing cold so off with his shirt and jumper and wring them out and then all is well and sit down and wait for your turn for the best haircut you can get anywhere in the world.
(the young guy getting ready to wring his clothes out)
(see just a hand over your eyes and you are okay in the rain)Brunty. (I actually give him 60 baht as I am a big tipper. Ha ha)
No comments:
Post a Comment