Swashbuckling hair
(Ying and Jackie Chan advertising Segway rides: Sentosa, Singapore)
He just gets everywhere, doesn’t he? Even in Singapore, there is no escape from the rollercoaster of marketing that Jackie Chan rides constantly. I don’t know how I still find him lovable, even though he would evidently endorse practically anything as long as he could look as if he was enjoying it. Perhaps he would endorse this website if I wrote him a nice letter?
I know, yet again, I relinquished my duties this weekend with keeping you updated. I was (as every weekend) far too busy relaxing and gadding about with Ying on a host of little adventures. This weekend, Ying and I crammed a lot in, considering the usual manner in which we execute our weekends is in an intermittently slovenly and occasionally wasteful fashion. We began on Saturday with a haircut downtown with a hairdresser called Mike, or Ai Ye in Chinese. Each time we see him, he has altered his shock of hair somewhat, but always retains the overall aura of a small Chinese Captain Jack Sparrow, but cleaner, less tattooed and frequently sporting a neat cardigan or a cheesecloth shirt. Obviously he has also exchanged his cutlass and blunderbuss for scissors and a hairdryer. He’s very sweet; this weekend has been extremely cold and Ai Ye, finding my hands icy from the rain, warmed them with a hairdryer. Ying is convinced we receive superior service, not because we have never had our haircuts by anyone else, but more because of my colour. The hair wash, drying, massage, ear-cleaning services followed by a cut have become routine and always take two to three hours.
We trudged through the streets of pouring rain to the tailors – since Ying’s shirts, trousers and jacket have turned out to well, I wanted to try to have something made for me too. Lacking real imagination for a new item, before CNY, I brought in a pair of trousers I have been wearing gradually to death over the past two years. They measured me up and decided they should be able to make a complete, well-fitting copy. We picked this copy up on Saturday and I was both surprised and delighted with the results (pictures soon) as they were indeed practically identical to my old pair, but a much better, smarter fit. They will take some breaking in, but they’re definitely my best trousers now. It has made me consider having a coat made. I brought a small winter jacket with me from the UK (as I assumed our shipping that we packed in June would have arrived, containing our entire winter wardrobes) and this jacket is hardly substantial enough for the harsh winds and driving rain we have experienced of late. If I manage to brave it there again, I’ll let you know the results of my hooded coat in a few weeks when it is ready.
