The Better Haircut

Swish-swish-swish. Snip-snip-snip.

From the outside, you'll see different colors of light, people on the sidewalk chitchatting or dancing, and probably hear someone singing Totoy Bibo, Binibirocha, or some other English song that's a KTV favorite.

This small space that seems to have an area of a regular toilet and bath, sans the colorful and energetic KTV on its side, gave me a better haircut than a PHP300.00+ haircut from an airconditioned salon. This is the second time I chose to do it in what I call "Kanto Barberya" or "Kanto Salon" along one of the aisles of Cubao. And they only cost PHP80.00-PHP100.00.

Yes to "spray gun", no shampoo, no blowdry but magically, the haircutter dried up the strands of my hair with their fingers, comb, and pairs of scissors (and yeah, the Philippine weather). I didn't even have to describe too much the cut I wanted (because I had nothing specific). I didn't have to show a photo to imitate. All I said was, I just want to lessen the mess, I'll leave it up to you.

Barbers or layered?, they asked. 

Layered, I chose, and the spraying, snipping, and combing started. I had never seen someone who intricately cut my sideburns and the hair near my ears to make sure they were straight as if someone used a ruler, not until that moment.

Sure, my head and neck were the ones to adjust if I had to make a 45-degree angle for the next three to five minutes to the left and then to the right, but it was nostalgic. Made me remember the old days, the 21 years Aling Gina was the only one who was cutting my hair. And the familiarity of the place's ambiance — places I frequented when I was younger: during Christmas because of Ninang Liza who owns her own parlor that has the same setup and never forgot to give me aguinaldo, and Nanay's job.

Again, like the last one, my only concern in these salons is the hygiene. I'm not sure if my head will be infested by lice tomorrow, or something else. But going back to nostalgia, based on how Nanay and Ninang used to do all those, guess I can stop worrying about these and just enjoy my new haircut without breaking the bank.

Naka uwi na ako (nakapag picture na), hindi ko pa pala totally natanggal

mga buhok sa mukha at t-shirt ko. LOL.

And contrary to the natural order of things, of course, I did this at night, after the party (emphasis) (We had our work department year-end party last night).