After we arrived on Pinang Island, just off the west coast of the Malay Peninsula, I decided my long hair needed a snip. I hit the streets of George Town and settled on a salon that charged around three dollars. A quick fifteen minutes in the chair produced a style that looked more like she ripped my hair using her fingers. With her English worse than my Chinese, I did not bother explaining the problem. I paid for services poorly rendered and hurried back to the hotel room.
I faced the mirror and concluded that a shaved head would rescue me from this disaster. I picked up my Remington beard trimmer and began above the ears chiselling an inch-wide strip down to five o’clock shadow length. Then the batteries died. If it looked bad then, it looked really bad now. I decided that I caused enough damage for one day, and would live with my new hair “don’t” until dawn.
The following morning I humbly walked into another salon and, in my best combination of body language and facial expressions, indicated I wanted the rest of my hair matching the racing stripe I carved over my ears. She nodded while laughing then sat me down. Moments later I hit the streets of George Town again, but now with the best looking scalp in all of Pinang.
I faced the mirror and concluded that a shaved head would rescue me from this disaster. I picked up my Remington beard trimmer and began above the ears chiselling an inch-wide strip down to five o’clock shadow length. Then the batteries died. If it looked bad then, it looked really bad now. I decided that I caused enough damage for one day, and would live with my new hair “don’t” until dawn.
The following morning I humbly walked into another salon and, in my best combination of body language and facial expressions, indicated I wanted the rest of my hair matching the racing stripe I carved over my ears. She nodded while laughing then sat me down. Moments later I hit the streets of George Town again, but now with the best looking scalp in all of Pinang.
