Spring cleaning

We had a bit of a warm spell a couple of weeks ago, but the last two weeks have been on the chilly side with lows in the low 40s and highs in the mid 50s. Today was still chilly, but the sun peaked out and I finally took some "me time" for the afternoon. I headed up to my old neighborhood with the intent to get my hair cut and then possibly a massage and some window shopping.

The area where I got my haircut (Wujiang Lu) has had some pretty major changes happen and I knew that they were proceeding with knocking down some of the storefronts. Unfortunately, sometime since my last haircut my salon has also closed. I stood in front of the door forelornly for a while, then decided to try a new place. I had seen a sign for a salon close by and proceeded to find it. Alize Salon was on the second floor with a little boutique on the first. I paid considerably more (almost $12) for my wash, blow and cut, but James (or Jin) did a great job - putting shape back in my hair and awesome layers in the back. I am starting to be able to banter in Chinese and that made the afternoon even more enjoyable. Sunlight streamed into the pretty salon as we chatted and relaxed. I liked it so much that I bought a discount card. :)

I then walked home via one of the parks. The confidence that only comes from a great haircut added bounce to my step as I took in the city beauty surrounding me. The trees are in the "lace" stage and flowers are peeping up. I tried to take a picture, but my camera battery was dead. No matter - it was a great glimpse of spring. Dinner with a friend and then finishing up my taxes. Spring means April 15th is coming too.

Question - What do you consider your signs of spring? Baseball games? Twilight walks? Daffodils?

Mom comes on Wednesday. We head to Sanya on Monday, April 6th - Qing Ming Jie [Tomb sweeping day]. A week of rest. A week of family. Both much needed.

G

The Beauty Salon - Part II

In my previous post about the beauty salon, I neglected to mention that Arnel, Marisha's husband also decided to get his hair cut. Men get the same treatment as women with a half an hour shampoo/scalp massage and then a haircut. Arnel's haircut finished much sooner than Marisha's and I think he started to get bored. Before going to the salon he had joked that he was going to dye his hair and as he waited his resolve strengthened. He decided to get red highlights.



It was an incredible process. The pictures below document the experience:

At one point there were five stylists standing around Arnel making sure that everything went well. I'd imagine that the highlights are pretty much gone by now - almost two months later, but they will be one of my favorite memories in the hair salon.

Also - I got my hair cut last week for the first time since the kissing stylist incident. Luckily the guy who made the move on me wasn't there and I was able to relax and enjoy my haircut. The stylist in the picture with Arnel is the one who cut my hair last week.