Today was my scheduled day to get a haircut. You see, I have a recurring event on my calendar so that every two months I get a haircut. Always the same haircut, preferably always at the same place. However, that wasn't really an option this time. And there's no way I'm waiting almost another month before I get a haircut, so I had to go find a place here in Makati.
Google Earth to the rescue, as always. Apparently there's a pretty standard-looking salon nearby called Bruno's Barbers. Looks simple enough, not unlike any normal Supercuts back home, so I figured I'd give it a shot.
Supercuts can suck it. This place was way better.
It's part of that whole service-oriented culture here. First of all, the place was not understaffed. There was no waiting. If you want a haircut, there's somebody standing there who wants to give you a haircut. It's convenience like that which already sets it apart from the normal salon chains in the US.
But the haircut itself was markedly better. Normally I just have them use the electric trimmer. A #2 on the top and a #1 on the sides. Quick, easy, simple. I don't know if the numbers translate directly here, so I just attempted to convey the idea of "electric trimmer" and "very short." The guy understood, but he also knew better than I did.
He proceeded to use the electric trimmer on the sides, as expected. Everything was going along as planned. But for the top he switched to scissors. Was he just doing some touch-up or something before using the different trimmer attachment? No, it was all comb and scissors for the top. And he was skilled. It was admittedly a little unnerving at first, but this guy clearly knew what he was doing.
Before I knew it, my hair was starting to look... not bad. I mean, I'm no expert in hair styles by any stretch. I wouldn't know a good haircut from a bad one unless it was really bad. But this one was starting to turn out good. He continued with the scissors until it looked just right. So I figured we were done.
No, we were not done.
He continued doing little touch-ups here and there before he brought out his sculpting tool. A proper old-style straight-edge razor. Was he going to give me a shave? I hope not, because I don't want that. But no, he was using this to touch up around the whole head. It was marvelous, honestly. By the end, I could tell that I've never had a better haircut.
In hindsight, maybe I should have taken him up on the offer for a shave. He also offered a scalp massage and other services, but there's only so much I'm willing to let a stranger do to me. So the haircut was plenty. And it only came to like $5 US.
I love this haircut. I feel like a million pesos, which is 23,563 bucks. This is proper grooming, including lots of application of alcohol and basic scalp care. My buddy Crouch was definitely onto something when he switched to using a straight-edge. It's clearly superior.
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