Boredworkers.com

Chinese New Year is just around the corner. What this means is that most saloons and barber shops would have increased their haircut fees. Usually, the amount increased is a dollar or two (e.g. around RM12.00 per haircut from the usual RM10.00). During this time, I normally avoid going for a haircut. However, a few friends and family members were pushing me to get a haircut. Two of my colleagues wanted to go to Express Cut located in Sungai Wang. I tagged along.

Now Express Cut (EC) as the name suggests is one of those 10 minute hair cut outlets that have sprung up around the Klang Valley area. They are supposed to have a website but it is still under construction. For RM12.00, you’ll get a 10 minute haircut and a free comb. I wasn’t very certain about the quality of the haircut but I figured it couldn’t be any worse than some saloons and barber shops that I go to.

We decided to go during lunchtime. The shop is located in Sungai Wang (or rather Bukit Bintang Plaza). After Starbucks, take the staircase going down. Its the first corner shop in front of you. You can’t miss it. We arrived at 1.10pm but the four hairstylists were already busy with clients. So we took a numbered seat on a bench. We sat there waiting for about 20 minutes and finally got our turn at 1.27pm. Considering that when we arrived, the customers ahead of us were already getting their hair cuts, and the waiting period, it was very obvious that the claim of a 10 minute haircut wasn’t quite holding up. I was determined to keep an eye on the clock.

Anyway, I took my seat on the stylist chair and waited. The guy who was going to do my haircut informed me that I had to pay RM12.00 upfront. Oops. I forgot about that. After paying him and telling him what I wanted, things got underway. If nothing else, these people are experts with the buzz cut machine thingy (I really don’t know what its called). It took the guy all of 3 minutes to chop my unkempt hair down to a more manageable state and the desired length before proceeding to trim it and put on the finishing touches. Wrapping things up, he dusted me off and handed me my complimentary comb.

My hair cut was completed at 1.38pm, clocking in at 11 minutes. Not bad. Just a minute over the stipulated time. But that’s more than I could say for one of my colleague’s haircut. He started before me and took 10 minutes more! I suppose that means that the time taken is subjective and depends on the requests and complexity of the hair style. Or maybe that some hairstylists are just faster than others. If you do the math, the whole process took slightly under half an hour (including the waiting period).

All things considered, the haircut I received was a pretty good one. It is what I would have expected from a barber shop (minus the razor shave). However, WL hasn’t seen my new hairstyle yet, so it hasn’t quite passed the acid test. So next time you find yourself in a hurry and don’t mind a slightly more expensive haircut, you might like to try out Express Cut. I would check out the queue first, since the waiting period may take longer than the haircut itself.