Before I go on with my list, I just wanted to say that I’m not a hairstylist. I’m just a customer who’s exceptionally anal about my hair. Actually, not even hair – it’s just my bangs.

If you’re a budding hairstylist or even a veteran and that paragraph just deterred you from reading on, I can guarantee you will never become a great hair stylist.

#1 Because great hairstylists listen.

Hairstyling is an art, and I understand that you view people’s hair as your canvas – but the reality is that the only canvas you have free reign over is a mannequin’s wig. Real people have their own vision of how they want their hair to look. Your job is to recommend what looks fit or don’t them based on face shape, hair textures etc. Please understand that the customer has every right to reject your ideals. Obnoxiously imposing your style will never get customers to come back.

#2 Because great hairstylists understand the concept of “shape”

I’m not sure if this is just a very sad epidemic with Singapore’s hairstylists or something mediocre hairstylists just can’t quite grasp. But if I show you a picture, it is very likely I want the, for a lack of a better word, “shape” of the hair.

This is where every mediocre stylist seem to fail miserably. I’m not sure what you’re taught in school, but it’s all about the shape. If you can’t create it, tell me. I am willing to pay more to get someone who can.

Shape – done well.

#3 Because great hairstylists do not have to use excessive hair products or devices.

Shape should not completely hinge upon things like wax, tongs, treatment and whatever else. Those are things meant to enhance shape, not create it. Shape should be created by your scissor skills. Don’t have it? Learn.

My new ‘do is just beyond pathetic. It now looks like I can’t get a decent haircut in this country for under $70 and a waiting list – of which I didn’t have time to wait, since I was in dire need of a trim. I’d do anything to go back to Toronto and have my trusted Korean Ahjumma from Kyoung Hee Hair Salon cut my hair again.

So now I’ll be off to the drugstore to find me a decent pair of scissors to cut my own bangs. It’s been a while since I had to bust out my moves. Tsk tsk.

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Truth be told, I don’t really know what to write about my transitions – from school to work, from sheltered life to a real one, from childhood to womanhood, from North America and back to Asia. All those transitions with one plane ride is honestly too much for my heart to handle; so, I blind it with indifference. If I were a little more honest with my feelings, I’d likely express a pinch of fear, a touch of excitement and a whole tablespoon of uncertainty.

Leaving Toronto, an almost God-sent paradise, has not been as depressing as I thought. Of course, I left behind a whole lot of a friends, a loving boyfriend, streets upon streets of good food and a wonderful society. But somehow, I’m completely happy doing so. Perhaps, it’s because I’m sure that I will someday return. But for now, I must do what I must do.

And that is to keep walking forward.

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1. Goodbye Toronto

Sorry for being away from the blog scene the past week. I’ve been extremely busy preparing for my return to Singapore next week; renting out my room, packing up, buying last minute stuff has been incredibly time-consuming and taxing. I’ll be blogging erratically for the next 2 weeks. Hopefully, by then I think I’ll be completely settled down in Singapore.

New Camera!

Perils of moving across 12 timezones aside, my boyfriend and I drove to the middle of nowhere to get me a new camera yesterday (because it was that much cheaper than buying it downtown). It’s the one I’ve been eying on since its release: Canon Powershot A590 IS. It’s a budget camera that takes amazing shots with full manual controls. It only costs 160 CAD. What a steal! And I even got a 4GB SDHC card for 15 CAD.

All psyched out like a little kid, I was haphazardly taking hundreds of pictures on the way back home from the store. I didn’t really have the time to figure out how to use the manual controls, so I shot everything in Easy and Auto mode. And this is how it turned out…

12.40PM: First Test Shot

As we were leaving the store, we drove past a marsh. It was so ugly that it was unworthy of my new camera. So I pointed the lens at the sky instead. It was shot on Easy mode in a moving car. Not the brightest colors but amazing nonetheless.

1.00PM: Lunch at Pacific Mall

Hunger struck. So, we drove to Pacific Mall for lunch (you know, the one Russell Peters refers to in his ‘Chinese bargain’ joke). And this is what I had: Chinese-cooked Korean food. Marinated BBQ beef (Kalbi), with potato noodles (Japchae), spicy seaweed and salad with fruit dressing (yuck! no, and I don’t mean the name).

1:00PM: Emperor Chair

This was on my left while I was savoring my lunch: the emperor chair. The sign on the chair was absolutely amusing. It says “Please do not sit on the emperor chair.” If I hadn’t had known it was an emperor chair, my urge to sit on it wouldn’t be half as strong. The irony.

2.00PM: Cosplay Store

After lunch, we spent a couple hours just checking out the stores. And then we walked past a cosplay (costume play) store. This mannequin particularly caught my eye because I instantly recognized which anime it was from (Ulquiorra Schiffer from BLEACH). I would have loved to try it on. Too bad the store was closed. I spent another 5 minutes peeking through window hoping to catch a glimpse of another costume that I might’ve recognized. Unfortunately, the 3500 anime episodes I’ve watched didn’t help with identifying anymore costumes.

3:40PM: Long Drive Home

I snapped quite a few pictures on the way home and I particularly liked this shot. I wanted to capture the yellow flowers as the car was coming to a halt (for the red light). Just as I switched on the camera, a bus was rushing from behind, so I haphazardly snapped before it would block my view. I was so sure that the camera wouldn’t shoot in time and I would have ended up with half a bus in my frame. But as you can see here, it’s 100% bus-free. What speed.

4.00PM: Longest Street in the World

Yonge Street used to be longest street of the world at 1,896 kilometers. Despite having its record broken, Yonge Street is still an important road as it neatly splits Toronto from the East and the West. The picture on the left is a snapshot of Yonge Street somewhere in the Greater Toronto Area (i.e. far away from downtown) and the picture on the right shows Yonge Street downtown. (I used to live not too far from here.)

6.00PM: Dinner at Korean Town

My favorite place to be. Doesn’t look spectacular but the food is amazing! Wasn’t paying much attention to where I was shooting, but the stuff at BnC cake house is just too yummy. The fresh cream cakes are just.. wow. If you ever visit Toronto, you must try one!

Epilogue

With this I ended my first date with the Canon A590 IS. My photography skills are currently at 0%. Nevertheless, I think the pictures turned out well. I just started to learn about aperture and shutter speed today and hopefully I can take some professional-like pictures when I go to Niagara this Thursday. So, until then, enjoy the rest of my amateur shots at my Flickr account.

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