My first haircut after living in Hong Kong for quite a few months was surprisingly expensive and not that good. For my second one, I tried another hairdresser who did a great job of cutting my curly hair. It was also expensive. This was in 2007.
To be fair, cutting curly hair well would be a bit of a challenge and not a skill many hairdressers in most parts of Asia are able to regularly practice. I don’t think this is what influences the price. Based on this logic, I should be volunteering in the same way those do for hairdresser apprentices. It doesn’t seem to work like this though and instead, I am charged quite a bit for a fantastic head massage (which includes heated towels on my neck), fully reclining seats and my haircut.
After my second cut, it was suggested that I ask a few other expat women where they get their haircuts in the hope that I would find somewhere good and significantly cheaper than my first two experiences.
I had the opportunity at a barbecue that evening and found one has her haircut every time she goes back to Sydney, another goes to Paris, one has her whole family done in New York, a few in London and I remember Canberra being mentioned too. I was having the cheapest haircuts of all of them.
This week, I’ve flown from Tokyo to visit a friend in Bangkok and I’m now in Hong Kong. It’s been great catching up with friends and colleagues, going to the HK Rugby Sevens eating my way around a couple of cities, buying some toiletries and odds and ends as well as relaxing for a bit and reflecting on my decision to move to Tokyo, my progress so far and what changes I can make to make the next part a little easier.
I’ve also just had a really expensive haircut.
* Thanks to Beck for the title to this post.