Johor Bahru Hair Cut

July 10th, 2010 admin

For Male Singaporeans who need to go for reservist, one of the “must do” includes getting a decent haircut, unless you want the RSM to point you to the in-house barber before you can change your camp pass.

Not to say that the in-house barber is bad – it is cheap (at the going rate of S$5.00). It is fast (usually done within 8 minutes). Except that there are probably 30 Privates, SGs, LTAs before you and some of them (because it is in-camp training) probably didn’t even bother to wash their hair. Worse still – the barber uses the same comb, shaver and brush-er. So all the dead cells from the skin of your comrades gets on to you. And later when you have finally checked in to your bunk, you realised that you have an uneven haircut and a terrible itch.

A more decent haircut would typically cost about S$10. For the most particular or “atas” ones, a haircut at Reds or Monsoon cost about S$30.

In Johor Bahru, a haircut at cost even less than that from your army barber. And you get the following:

1. Firstly, you enter into an Indian Barber shop similar to that in the picture below. You are apprehensive that while your haircut can pass the RSM standard, your colleagues get a chance to laugh at you after the ICT.

Typical Barber Shop in Johor Bahru

2. You do not have to wait long. There are at least 5 barbers on duty and if you need to wait a short while, plenty of magazines to occupy you in this duration.

3. A barber signals you to the barber seat. He wraps a piece of toilet paper around your neck and a piece of cloth around you. Turning on the shaver, he starts doing his work.

4. You realise that if you do not tell him what hairstyle you want, you get the standard haircut. Typically, he may just point to the back of your head and ask: “Slope?”. You simply nod your head. Not as if there are much options you know anyway.

5. He completes the job in 10 minutes. You attempt to start up after the cloth is removed but he signals a WAIT sign.

6. In the presence of you, he inserts a NEW blade into the razor and starts doing the shaving work.

7. He completes the job in 3 minutes. You attempt to start up after the cloth is removed but he signals a WAIT sign, again.

8. He started using cologne water on your neck and uses a piece of wet tissue (very similar to the kind you see used in Chinese Restaurants wrapped in plastic and you can “pop” them) to wipe your face.

9. He completes the job in 1 minutes. You attempt to start up after the cloth is removed but he signals a WAIT sign, again.

10. He combs your hair and started giving your a quick massage! You start to worry if he will charge extra.

11. Job done! He removes the cloth and toilet paper around your neck from you. He crumbles the toilet paper and throws it into a rubbish bin 1 meter away, with accurate precision. You stand up and ask him in Malay (probably the only Malay word you know): Berapa??

12. He says: Sepuluh!

13. You panic a bit. What is Sepuluh?? You quick do a mental count – Satu, Dua, Tiga, Empat.. and Sepulah is 10. Only 10 Ringgit!!

14. Happily, you give him the RM$10 note and he gives you a smile and a slight nod on your head.

15. You leave the barber shop, smiling widely and looking handsome. You know that you will get away from the haircut check on the first day of ICT at Pasir Laba Camp the next morning. You also tell yourself that you will be coming back next month for a haircut, even if there is no ICT!

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Entry Filed under: Services