10-minute haircut

After our rendezvous with Da Vinci, Carlos and I took a short bus from the Science Centre to the Jurong East MRT Station, an above-ground interchange where the North-South and East-West lines meet. We got off at the bus interchange and were walking to the MRT station when I noticed a familiar blue structure standing in the middle of the transport hub. It was one of those ubiquitous 10-minute haircut places.

QB (Quick Beauty) House started in Japan and eventually branched into Singapore and Hong Kong. Located at numerous transportation junctions, these Japanese-trained hair stylists offer vital services to consumers on the move. Everything is designed to remain true to their motto “10 minutes just cut”. You pay via inserting 10 Singapore dollars into a machine that will issue you a ticket. They don’t give out change so better prepare an exact amount. You stand in line while waiting for your turn. There’s a stoplight system which signals the customer: red light means a waiting period of more than 15 minutes, yellow light refers to a 5-10 minute wait, and a green light guarantees an immediate haircut.

While I am fascinated by the novel idea, I couldn’t help but wonder if this concept would be a hit among Filipinos. I mean, we don’t really do a lot of things on-the-fly and we as a people aren’t really go-go-go crazy. We like taking our time. And besides, how does that work, really? I wonder if they’re strict with the time limit. If you have short hair, will the stylist dilly-dally just to stretch your haircut time? And what if you have long hair? Does that mean your stylist will cram everything in 10 minutes? I myself love haircuts. Actually, I love the masahe that comes with it. So, give me Filipino barbers rather than Japanese rushed haircuts any time of the day.