Cause and effect

I can't stand myself with long hair - you know, the kind where your fringe is forever getting in your way and the sides tickle the tops of your ears. But the funny thing that army does to you is that it makes wildly protective of your hair. I guess three months of crew cut does that to you.

On Christmas day however, the motivation I needed came in the form of a large brown envelope.



It was NUS asking me to confirm my paticulars and one of the forms required a passport sized photograph. I know it may not sound like a big deal but apparently it is for some matriculation card. I don't know about you but I'm sure I don't want the admin clerk to sneer everytime I fish out my card to show her.

It was with a heavy heart that I made my way down to the spanking new QB house, just opened in Eastpoint.



Unlike the wildly popular (and possibly elitist) Shunji Matsuo franchise, QB house is the cheaper and faster cousin. They both claim to be from Japan though. For someone who is used to two dollars all-you-can-cut-a-month promotions, in camp that is, ten dollars a cut sounded like a rip-off.

For me, it was anything but.The only inconvenience I had to face was with the ticket dispenser.

For a cut you need a 10 dollar note which then is fed into a machine which churns out your ticket. Not having any ten dollar note, I went to a nearby shop to purchase some items - to return to a queue of three.

It all went uphill after that.

I have to give them hairdressers a pat on the back for their conscientiousness. To all who are used to barbers with oily electric shavers and rusty blades prepare to throw everything down the drain.

Remember the times where you had to drag your feet through a mountain of hair to get to your seat? The people at QB house sweeps it into a corner and get this - they vacuum it up. I get the feeling that the owners have some fetish for vacuums though.

Oily electric shavers with wires that tangle everywhere? No problem, QB house goes wireless.

Have to bathe everytime you cut your hair? Not a issue where they are concerned. After the haircut is done, they take vacuum hose with a brush attachment and proceed to suck up strays . Weird but man do I love it.

After I left with my new hair, there was barely a strand of stray hair on me.

Now, to take my photo.

Special update:

Due to popular demand , here it is, my passport-sized photograph afixed unto the form.



It is my duty to inform you that this was not the photograph I wanted developed. I took a total of three shots, two of which I was undecided as to whether to smile or not. This was one of the half-smile ones.

I look like...er... an engineer.