I have been to 3 types of barbers and everyone of them are special in their own little hair snipping ways.

Honestly, even though sometimes I did got some haircut that was not of my liking, the Abang barbers are still the top choice for me. And I do believe that its the top choice for most males in Singapore. I guess its pretty hassle free. You go in, read some Berita Harian, wait for them to point you to a seat, say "Pendek aje lah bang," and they start snipping. And usually these abang barbers are pretty friendly, so if you are in a chatty mood, you can always start a conversation with them. From trigonometry to quantum physics, no subject is taboo with these guys! But if eavesdrop is your thing, then you might want to open your ears and listen to the conversation they engage among themselves... that is if you know Malay. Usually it will be some soccer-related stuff or barber shop politics like:

So apart from the barber jargon that I have mentioned before in part one, everything else is peachy:)

There was this time I remembered walking at Serangoon Road heading to a center which belonged to this man named Mustafa. Singapore heat was at its all time high and my hair was getting frizzy and out of control so I went in the nearest barbershop I can find. Everything is pretty much the same. The Indian uncle cut my hair as expected. But like always, I can’t tell if the haircut is looking good cause I can’t see shit without my glasses.

But in the middle of the haircut something bizarre happened. The uncle caressed me on my shoulders and started to knead it. << Wait. That sounds wrong. What I mean to say is that the uncle, grabbed my shoulders and gave me a masculine, non-sexual massage. I was in the state of shock because I didn’t know that they give free massages on top of a haircut! What a bargain!

The Korean barber I went to was when I was in LA. I wanted to go to the nearest barber where I was staying but the crowd was kinda "unfriendly". I mean this IS Los Angeles. You gotta watch back when you are here man. The Korean barber does not know a word of English so I was trying to figure out how I can translate "Pendek aje lah bang" in Korean but after a couple of hand gestures, shadow puppet presentation and mooing sounds, the Korean barber manage to figure out what I want.

Different from them Abang barbers and massaging Indian uncle, this guy wrapped my neck with toilet paper and covered me up tight with a plastic sheet. All his barber tools are displayed in total order. I almost thought that I was going for surgery.

To end this tales of the 3 barbers, I would just to mention that the one customer that all barbers HATE is the one that chats on his handphone in the middle of a haircut. That is a grave sin in barberland.

Buzz! Buzz!
Evil Bunny!