Special Guest Entry!!

Editor's Note: This entry refers to an event that took place over a month ago, but the writer has been very busy and just recently got around to writing this entry.

Like everything in Singapore, it was no surprise that when Satyan had to get his hair cut, it was done with efficiency and elimination of “useless” frills. Within 10 minutes of sitting in the chair, and 10 sing dollars, Satyan was in and out with a fabulous Asian haircut. If anyone has seen Satyan, they know he has tons of thick hair, so who would dare to take on such a feat? None other than Asia’s QB House. The Wall Street Journal, in a recent special report, told the fascinating story of Kuniyoshi Konishi, who started a chain of barbershops - QB House - in Japan in 1996. Mr. Konishi saw opportunity within a problem: He got tired of paying 3,000 to 5000 yen ($25 to $50) for a haircut that took an hour. He came up with a concept to create a no-frills barbershop where the customer could get a haircut in ten minutes at a cost of 1000 yen? (About $10.) Since 1996 there have been over 400 shops that have opened throughout Asia.

So what exactly are the frills that Mr. Konishi did away with? Well let me start at the beginning of Satyan’s haircut experience. After showing up at the QB House location at Plaza Singapora, Satyan took a seat on the waiting bench. To begin with QB House does not take reservations, walk in’s are their business. The flow of information begins before even stepping foot in the shop. Customers are informed of a barber's availability - and waiting time - by lights that are displayed outside the shop. As Satyan sat on the bench watching men, women and children come and go in lightening speed in and out of the barber chairs the bench he was sitting on was transmitting real time data to QB headquarters on how many people were waiting and on the average wait time.

So after about 10 minutes it was Satyan’s turn to get his haircut. Before even coming in contact with the barberchair, Satyan had already paid for his haircut. QB House's barbers don't accept cash. In place of a cash register, each barbershop is equipped with a ticket-vending machine. The customer puts his money, only a 10 dollar bill is accepted, into the vending machine, and is given a ticket that he hands to the barber. The barbers don’t have to waste time making change, they can focus on cutting hair. After handing the female barber the ticket satyan takes a seat in the barber chair. Now, in the US a haircut starts off with a shampoo or at least getting drenched by a spray bottle. Not the case at QB or in Asia, in general they wash a customers hair after cutting, at QB even that option has been rid of as a FRILL. Since Satyan wasn’t getting his hair washed its all about getting to business- cutting his hair. I watched nervously from outside the shop door, as Satyan gave a 30 second explanation of how he wanted his hair cut. As a woman, this is one of the most important discussions a girl can have. I usually have pictures of my favorite celebrities and photos of my hair from three years ago, along with a paint sample to illustrate the color I want my hair. Let’s just say that part of my salon experience takes at least 10-20 minutes with detailed discussion with my stylist. I nearly panicked as I watched Satyan pick up a few strands from the top of his head make a scissor motion with his hand and point to the old man behind him that had just gotten a buzz cut. With his back to me, facing the mirror, Satyan could see my reflection, the panic on my face as I raised eyebrows, flinched and closed my eyes with each snip of the clippers. The barber started at the back of his head cutting close and short, then moving to the top taking chunks and chunks of hair. The whole time I was skeptical of her skills, how would she manage Satyan’s furlick without getting his hair wet, would she just cut the whole thing off??? All these questions ran through my head as I watched hair fall from Satyan’s head. There were moments in the haircut where satyan had what looked like a mushroom, a bowl cut, and even the start of a mohawk. After about 7 minutes I had gained some confidence in Ms Scissorhands, Satyan's haircut was turning out good, great even. She was almost done when she started taking what was a good haircut to another level-an asian haircut. In general asian people have thick, silky hair, what I consider the best hair in the world. I found that regardless of where you are from, everyone gets the asian haircut, which means getting thinned out so hair can be somehow groomed or managed. The barber took a razor to Satyan’s hair and thinned out the top.

What was the end result? A great haircut that looked adoreable. It looked much like what every other Asian guy had between the ages of 6-40 but it looked fantastic on Satyan. After cutting his hair the barber used a special vacuum cleaner she pulled down from the ceiling and to tidy him up and we were on our way. In less than 10 minutes Satyan was had a hip new Asian do, the plastic comb that was used to cut his hair and a sweet smile on his face. All for the bargain price of 10 sing or about 7.50 US and 20 minutes from start to finish. What a deal!