Paul Samson-ized

"Nikko, it's time for a haircut," said dad.

aaaawww, man! i love the long, unruly hair i've got but I don't have a choice, i was being told that a clean cut can lure women of all ages here in Qatar. darn! i fell for it. sigh. it was already 9 pm and we walked the streets of Matar Qadeem looking for dad's barber. It's in the corner of the street actually so we had to walk further. the wind blew so cold that both of us had a feeling to urinate. that was the time that I wish I was in the Philippines so I can pee anywhere I want but this is Qatar so I better keep my zipper closed and just wait till we get back home.

Finally, we arrived at the barber shop. This was my first haircut since I got here. Cool Barber shop! The chairs were inside cubicles, talk about privacy; each cubicle has it's own television, talk about entertainment; and the barbers are multi-national, talk about racism I guess. :) I should have taken a photo of the establishmen but a Qatari sitting inside stared at me so I put down my camera and just sit at the barber chair.

"Ano pong sa atin, sir?"(What will it be,Sir?) Oh nooooooooooooooooo!!!!! It was like a Yes, a Filipino but damn, a tagalog statement on my mind. Then with my sophisticated and classy kind of voice i told him, "I would like to have my hair cut, please." Woot! I beat you, Mr. Tagalog barber.

Barber: tatay mo ba yung nasa upuan?

Me: yes, he's my father. didn't you see a big resemblance between us?

Barber: Uhh..yes sir.. Ano bo pang gupit natin sir?

M: I would like a traditional barber's cut. don't cut the sideburns. trim the goatee. thin the bangs.

B: uhh... sir, bisaya ka sir?

M: Oo, bisaya ko. nganoman?

B: ako man sad sir, bisaya sad ko taga davao man ko. dili nalang ta mag english sir
M: aw, sige sige kay kapoy napud ug english.

We laughed hard after that conversation, the barber and I. Thank goodness he's bisaya so I can just tell him on what I want on my haircut. I brought my camera with me to record my first haircut but I was kinda bugging him and he was kinda distracted by the knobs and dials that I turned so I just left the camera on the counter.

He's fast. very fast. And he really followed my hair cut instructions awhile ago and he's done! it was fun actually. he removed the cloth from my body and changed it to a towel. cool. will they bathe me, too? i thought. he then placed a towel on my chest. it was a hot towel,mind you. not a warm one. it's kinda hurts at first but as he massaged it, it somehow soothed me. he then grabbed a jar full of peppermint facial scrub and scrubbed it on my face. "Argh!!" I shouted. It hurts! Not because of the beads present in the cream but the barber's hands were oh so heavy, callused and hard. :) I usually go to spa's back there in the Philippines and the maidens' hands were so light and smooth while this guy's hands look like a laborer from a cement company. It really hurts but I managed to just scream silently to let him finish faster.

Done. Really finished because he told me to get up and gave me a brush to remove hairs from my shirt. I asked how much was the service and told me it's 25 riyals. Holy crap! that's about 300 Philippine Peso. Suck it up, David's Salon. You're service just levels the Barber shops here. Went back home without taking a taxi but walked fast since both of us really need to use the bath room. Fun times with my dad,really. Goodnight.

Smelled like peppermint,

Paul