While in Phu Quoc, Vietnam earlier this week, I walked by a salon and saw the word "shave" advertised in English. I asked how much a shave would cost. The young woman held up five fingers, indicating that it would be 50,000 VND ($2.13 USD). I had 1.5-days of growth, and was feeling brave, so I went for it.
I sat in a barber chair, and the woman poured water in a glass cup, let it sit for about 30 seconds, and then tossed the water out into the street (there was no front to the shop). She then poured a tiny bit of water back into the glass, and stirred up a little foam with a cosmetic/make-up brush. Using the brush, she "painted" my face with it. She then grabbed a straight razor with a removable SE blade, and made a one-pass shave, (mostly WTG). The shave was followed by a warm, wet towel, which she used to wipe my face down. I looked in the mirror and saw no nicks, scrapes or cuts. I was impressed at how quickly she finished the shave. I felt my face, and would describe it as similar to a 1-2 pass shave with a Merkur 34C. Not bad. I tipped well, and we both were happy. I looked into the glass & saw whiskers from who knows how many customers, and the razor sitting on the shelf ready for the next customer (I opened it a little for the photo, to reveal the blade). Not the most hygienic experience, but it was an experience! It helped me realized that we don't really need fancy shaving equipment to get a decent shave.
Vietnam was great. Hot & sticky, but the people were wonderful and (most of) the food was excellent. As I was leaving Vietnam, I was impressed with just how massive Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) is (nearly 9 million) as it seemed to extend to the horizon in all directions. It was overall a great experience, but the airline meal of steamed rice cake with "pork floss" wasn't quite as appetizing as I'd hoped.
I sat in a barber chair, and the woman poured water in a glass cup, let it sit for about 30 seconds, and then tossed the water out into the street (there was no front to the shop). She then poured a tiny bit of water back into the glass, and stirred up a little foam with a cosmetic/make-up brush. Using the brush, she "painted" my face with it. She then grabbed a straight razor with a removable SE blade, and made a one-pass shave, (mostly WTG). The shave was followed by a warm, wet towel, which she used to wipe my face down. I looked in the mirror and saw no nicks, scrapes or cuts. I was impressed at how quickly she finished the shave. I felt my face, and would describe it as similar to a 1-2 pass shave with a Merkur 34C. Not bad. I tipped well, and we both were happy. I looked into the glass & saw whiskers from who knows how many customers, and the razor sitting on the shelf ready for the next customer (I opened it a little for the photo, to reveal the blade). Not the most hygienic experience, but it was an experience! It helped me realized that we don't really need fancy shaving equipment to get a decent shave.
Vietnam was great. Hot & sticky, but the people were wonderful and (most of) the food was excellent. As I was leaving Vietnam, I was impressed with just how massive Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) is (nearly 9 million) as it seemed to extend to the horizon in all directions. It was overall a great experience, but the airline meal of steamed rice cake with "pork floss" wasn't quite as appetizing as I'd hoped.
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