The £600 haircut

The £600 haircut

It’s past midnight and the night looks surreal. The blanket of snow that covers everything is lit up in a sepia tone from the energy saving streetlights. The surreal feelings further aided by the deathly quiet due to the snow muffling surrounding noises. Steady snowflakes keep falling and I am almost finding it hard to breathe with the wind blowing it directly on to my face. I enjoy the scene before me despite shivering outside our front door in my thin cotton t-shirt and old sarong. Just before going to bed I usually smoke one last cigarette outside, whatever the weather maybe. This is a nightly ritual, wherever in the world I maybe.

I am hoping the snow keeps falling overnight ensuring another snow day and everything in London staying closed. Which usually means some quality time with my daughter. Snow fights in the field, playing catch with the dogs and getting hot drinks from our local Starbucks. All completed by us coming back to a delicious lunch cooked by the spouse. It’s too cold to stand out for too long and I manage only to smoke half my cig. I make my way upstairs to bed and my thoughts turn to my Paradise Isle.

There usually are three reasons for my thoughts to turn to the Paradise Isle this time of the year. In priority the first is the party season in Colombo that culminates with the 31st night bash at Galle Face Hotel. Secondly is getting away from the horrible cold weather in England. Call me vain, which I am, the third is my hair. All three compete with each other and I really shouldn’t prioritise them as deep inside a voice tells me the third priority might well be my first.

My hairdresser Chami is one of the greatest blokes in this world and owns a salon down Isipathana Mawatha called Hisa Ke. Going to his salon is an out of the body experience for me. Usually landing early morning I manage to take a quick wash and be ready by late morning to make my way there. Staying at my friend’s house on Fife Road means I am about a three minutes walk from Hisa Ke. When I arrive Chami first has a chat about what he will do with my hair, its washed, coloured and then cut.

Afterwards I retire to his aromatherapy section where I receive one of the, if not the best, head massage in this world. I also get a manicure and pedicure. By the time they finish the salon assistants have to wake me up as all the attention has lulled me to sleep. All my jetlag is gone and I am ready to paaarty! All of this just costs around LKR10,000 (60 GBP) at Hisa Ke!

In my case you have to add another £600 for the air ticket from London to Colombo and back. Honestly, it’s still fully worth it.