The Process and The Result..

This was me before.



And this is me now.. Ahem, do I look younger? lol..
(Pardon my blurry new hairdo photo but what do you expect from a 2mp handphone camera
*excuse mode on*)


So how did this thing happened?

Yeah, I know, I know, you must say that it involved a scissor, a hairdresser and of course me, but before all that, it involved a lot of emotions eg: nervoursness, excitedness, reluctance and hesitations.

Before this, when going to the saloon, all that matters to me was the result, not the process. I didn't give a damn about the process, because to me, the important thing was that, I wanted the end result fast and get the hell out of the saloon a.s.a.p. But after today, I guess my thinking was changed. The process, all the talking and interaction, with your hairdresser is important too. If they know your personality while doing/cutting your hair, they could possibly find the hair which fits your personality perfectly. By the way, hairdressers are usually so passionate about their work, everyone's hairstyle is the result of their creativity - that's why your interaction with them is important cause you're like their art piece.

I guess I kinda have one kind of syndrome before visiting a fancy saloon where the hairdressers are professionals. I name it "fancy-saloonphobia." Not that I had to be tied or forced when visiting a high standard saloon but the pre-saloon moment will involve a lot of reactions from me. I would ask my two sisters questions like:

- "Does my head looked weird?"

-"Does the hairdresser speaks Hokkien?"

- "Will you accompany me there?"

-"How should I have my hair done?"

-"I don't know how to speak Mandarin, I'm gonna make a fool of myself arggh can you guys help me to tell the hairdresser the hairstyle that I want?"

Yea, I sounded like an annoying younger sister anyone could have and yeah - I'm that weird. I'm this self-conscious before visiting a fancy saloon, probably because I am aware of how unstylish and unhealthy my hair was *nervous laugh*

But today I overcame my 'fancy-saloonphobia' and visited one of the top 5 hair saloons in Sibu, which is jeng jeng jeng ---> V Hair Image Studio.

Why did I decide to cut my hair there? Well, thanks to my eldest sister and my mom, they asked me to get a haircut from my cousin - whom we always called as Ah Bi but is popularly known as Yang Yang professionally at his saloon. Ah Bi's younger sister, who is my peer, known as Yi Yi, also worked at the saloon with him.

I was self-conscious at first. I know that I did not need to worry about the language barrier with the hairdresser (Ah Bi a.k.a my cousin) because he speaks in my mother tongue too, but there was a little twinge of insecurity in me - I did not know what topic to converse with Ah Bi later because I wasn't that familiar with him back then. At least he used to play with my two sisters, but not me. I only mixed with Yi Yi (his younger sister who is my peer) when I was little.

It's kinda funny when we get to mix freely and had little awkwardness with our own cousins when we were little but all that friendship and connection just disappeared once we grew up. Perhaps we lost contact and this phenomenon made me doubt the saying 'blood is thicker than water'. My sister then invented a new saying when I mentioned these things to her, and she said, "Yeah, blood is thicker than water, but bond is thicker than blood." (Melissa Chua 2010)

But since my mom and my eldest sister who had experienced getting their hair done by Ah Bi assured me that "Don't worry, Ah Bi's friendly" and "The other hairdressers won't bother you cause you're Ah Bi's customer", I began to feel more relaxed.

When me and my sister entered V Hair Image Studio, my cousin Ah Bi a.k.a Yang Yang greeted us and my sister told him that I wanted to have a haircut. Luckily he only had one customer before me that time - cause usually, it's not easy to find him with little customers because he's a popular hairdresser. After he finished with his customer, it was my turn.

The first reaction he had when he saw my hair was "Your hair is so thick!" (in Hokkien language). Ah, this sounds like the Ah Bi my cousin, not Ah Bi the professional hairdresser, I thought at the back of my mind. He did not talk in layers, but straightforward. After his first straightforward remark on my hair, I became less hesitant to talk and began to converse more because since he wasn't awkward, I shouldn't be too! And hey, this is my own cousin, and he knows I am not rich like the other customers! So why should I try to act cool in front of someone who already knows my background right??

During hair-washing session:

Me: So busy today huh?

Ah Bi: yeah kinda.

Me: Have you eaten?

Ah Bi: Haven't ooo.. No time to eat.

Me: *imagining how many customers must have came before me*

Ah Bi: Did your mom complained about her hairdo?

Me: Err.. *finding the right words to say.. I remembered a student my mom taught told her that her hair looks like his granny's but what the heck a child won't know how to judge the beautiful hairstyle* My mom got a praise from my cousin for her hairstyle, and she was couldn't believe it. She pretended not to know my cousin complimented her and wanted me to repeat to her that my cousin said her hair was beautiful. (FYI, I didn't make that up, my cousin Dolly did say that my mom's hair looked beautiful when we ran into her last Sunday hehe)

Ah Bi: so typical.. eksyen - eksyen hehe..

In the middle of cutting my hair, suddenly my mom appeared to check on me, Ah Bi saw her and when she was out of sight, he told me.

Ah Bi: Your mom's hair so messy. Looks like feather duster!

Me: *Laughed and at the same time did this expression (-_-") inside my heart.* She didn't know the right way to take care of that kind of hair, that's why hehe.

Some of the conversations that came up while he was cutting my hair.

Ah Bi: Your hair's so rough.

Me: (-_-") Ya lah ya lah.

I realized that through this saloon experience, I was able get to know my own relative's personality first hand through the conversations. While giving straightforward remarks about my hair, he was able to praise his hairstyling skill (which I didn't doubt), but it was kinda amusing to listen to him blowing his own trumpet in front of me, his cousin who first time broke the ice with him. Seriously. I never spoken more than 10 words with him before this apart from "Happy Chinese New Year", "Thank you" and " Ah, my drink's enough. Thank you. Thank you." (-_-")

When he almost finish cutting my hair...

Ah Bi: Now you looked so much younger nah.. *proud to be the one who helped me to look younger*

Me: *smiled*

Ah Bi: Eh by the way, how old are you?

Me: Same with Yi Yi..

Ah Bi: huh? *couldn't hear my voice, thanks to the hairdryer*

Me: 22 years old.

Ah Bi: eh, I couldn't guess that. Hehe. Seriously 22?

Me: Why? You know, people think I am Melissa's older sister.

Ah Bi: Ooo, I wasn't the one who said that ah.. (or more accurately in Hokkien: em si wa kong eh ah..)

Then in the middle of arranging my hairstyle he asked me something but I couldn't hear, thanks again to the hairdryer.

Ah Bi: brbrrrr... brrr.. *sound of hairdryer*

Me: Hah? I can't hear.

Ah Bi: *switched off hairdryer* You have boyfriend bo?

Me: Haha No.. (In my mind, I expected a question regarding my hair) (-_-")

Ah Bi: Hah, you must be lying. I know you got one... Must have one..

Me: (-_-") *Somewhat flattered but what the heck I wasn't lying* Ya la, ya la, I have a boyfriend, I even have a husband.

Ah Bi: *laughed maybe because speechless*

**********************

Ah Bi: Michele's not cutting her hair? Michele's hair so little eh.

Me: Her hair so little, then if you cut, will become less leh.

Ah Bi: No lah.. If I cut, her hair could look thicker..

Me: (-_-")

There were other amusing conversations but I couldn't list them all. I guess Ah Bi has this ability to make his customers felt comfortable with him though they aren't familiar with him or just know him for the first time. My these two cousins, Ah Bi and Yi Yi - I have no doubt both of them would become successful one day. Though education and further studies thingy weren't their forte, I had a feeling that they could be successful in life because if you have a passion in what you do, you can go far, as far as you want to.

The proof that they are talented and had the power to go far is that, they had the power to change the perception of a reluctant customer like me about fancy saloons after this experience.

Well, you know, I kinda lost my "fancy-saloonphobia" after this experience. And I'm really glad I overcame it. ;)