Hair Cut

After months of procrastinating, I finally decided to get my hair cut.

I was actually thinking if I can put it off until we go home for our vacation in May since I have several… err, misgivings about getting a hair cut here.

First of which (though not so much) is the cost. A good salon will charge you from S$ 20 to as high as S$50 for a cut which is at least three times the cost of having it done in Manila. Another reason why I am wary to get my hair done is fear that I might not be understood correctly by the stylist which would result in a botched job. And finally, it looked like that the stylists in the salons that I am scouting are snobs and I think they’d judge how I want my hair to be cut. So there.

After going back and forth two malls and checking the possible salons, I finally decided on one which exuded an atmosphere that I think I can be comfortable in. Or maybe it was just the Schwarzkopf  Professional and L’Oréal Professionnel signs that did it. I dunno.

So anyway, Hair Inn (located in Century Square Mall) was packed when I got there. The first thing that I noticed was that they didn’t have a receptionist. Some of the stylists noticed me hovering outside and one approached me and asked if I can come back after twenty minutes. I said yes so I went to get lunch first.

After I’ve had my fill, I went back to see if they had an open spot. I was ushered to one of the chairs and the stylist, Crystal, started looking at my hair and started asking me some questions. It was a bit hard to understand her and I thought that this is what I was afraid of. Fortunately, we were able to figure out what the other was saying. She argued when I told her that I wanted a layered shoulder-length cut since she thought it would be too short and wouldn’t suit me. I bowed to her will and just said okay.

I think she also didn’t want to cut my hair as is so she said it would be better if she washed my hair first. I said okay. I was however surprised that she shampooed my hair while I was sitting at the chair. It was just a bit strange. It was only when she had to rinse my hair that we went to the the reclined chair with the washbasin. Surprise, the chair is actually a massage chair! Yay!

After rinsing, she proceeded to cut my hair as we agreed. It was going well until she asked me where do I usually part my hair. I answered at the middle. She tsk tsked and told me that it was not good and went to part it on the left side. I think she’s thinking how clueless I was about what suits me and what does not. I was a bit annoyed but I let her do whatever she wanted. Haha.

She went on to blow-dry my hair. At this point, salons in Manila usually let their assistants do the job but in this case, there weren’t any assistants to be had. It was just the stylist doing everything. While she was doing this, she told me that I needed a rebond because my hair are like “wires” and were a stubborn lot. Again, annoyance.

At the end however, the advices that she gave were actually good ones. And I am loving my new hair cut!

If this looks like a poor-quality webcam capture its because it is.

Guess who’s going back to Hair Inn at the end of the month to get a hair rebond. Clue: Me.

Kings of Convenience

Photo: Åse Holte

It was our first time to watch a show in Esplanade so we didn’t know what to expect. We were in the Circle 3 section which was high up but in the center portion so it was okay. I would’ve wanted to be closer to the stage though. However, I knew the acoustics would have to be great since this was the Esplanade after all!

Kings of Convenience came into the stage amidst the thunderous applause and cheers of the Friday crowd. I think it was Eirik who said that we were louder than the people the other night. Ha!

Man, they are amazing live.

The place suited their show since you can hear the strumming and their clear voices very well. It was a little too orderly at the first half of the performance but Erlend managed to coax the crowd into leaving their seats. They had the crowd singing harmonies (which impressed them because the crowd sounded good!), snapping their fingers and clapping to the beats. Eirik had to leave the stage at one time because he was cold and went to get a sweater. I loved how Erlend was dancing around and making witty comments all throughout the show. At one point he asked the crowd at front to gather closer because “we need a mosh pit.” By the time they played “I’d Rather Dance”, Erlend went down the stage and stepped onto the chairs until he was in the middle portion. This was done while he was dancing!

It was a highly enjoyable show altogether. Even the husband, whose playlist consists of mainly Bon Jovi and Guns n Roses songs, liked it.

Take More Photos

In hopes of keeping up with my New Year’s resolution (courtesy of Monina Velarde‘s Resolution Generator):

R and I decided to start a 52 Weeks project. I thought that this would be a good exercise for me and would ensure that I pick up the camera at least once a week. Heh. R, I think wanted to do something to revive her wavering interest in photography. And to make things more interesting, we decided on a different theme per week! Yay!

1/52: Pink

I was also planning to do a Project 365 by myself. I want to do a themed one since this would be more challenging and more cohesive. I actually tried to start one at the beginning of March but I found it lacking so I’m still looking for the right idea to come to me.

Ideas, anyone?

Miriam

I met Miriam in my last job. I remember being introduced to her after her interview. My colleagues have worked with her before and I could tell that they were a really close bunch. Truthfully, I was a bit worried when I first met her because she seemed like a snob (Sorry, J!). But I really liked my colleagues and they liked her so I just assumed that she’s okay. Hehe.

So anyway, the first major project that I was involved in, she was my project manager. She was new and I was still uneasy being in the lead role because I was still struggling technically with the product. We were lucky that the person managing the whole project (who is now the COO, I believe) was very patient with us when we had questions and clarifications, but I digress. I learned quite a bit while working with her. She’s hardworking, driven and knew whenever I needed a bit of a push or a morale boost. (She was always cheerful then. Alas, those were the days.) That was the start of our osom working relationship.

It wasn’t until the company outing to Boracay that I got to talk to her in a more personal way. She wanted to walk and I wanted to see more of the beach so I went with her. I remembered thinking that she was quite a walker! It was blazing hot but still we walked. And talked.

I don’t remember much of what happened next but more often than not, I had her as my project manager and we became closer by virtue of lunches, dinners and having the same circle of office friends. She is always saying odd things that is almost always funny. She has become one of my closest friends and until now I always talk to her about work, life, when I’m bored and when I want to make fun of someone.

I remembered you because while I was organizing my files, I came across your “artworks” which I will post here for other people to uhm, appreciate.

Our team's seating arrangement

I think she drew this for me to cheer me up

:(

End of the world

Her other drawings

I must remember to add the Advil + Ice Cream drawings as soon as I find them. I miss you!

Let’s See If This Works

Trying to jumpstart this back to life by downloading a WordPress app for my Nexus One and enabling the XML-RPC accordingly.

Did it work?