Can You Get a 70 Cents Haircut?

Well, can ya'? Oh, it's not just a haircut. You can also ask for the barber to shave yer Robinson Crusoe beard. You'll also get a cup of icy cold mineral water, a warm towel, and a 3 minutes massage. The whole package for just 6000 rupiahs (about 70 cents), no additional charge at all. Too good to be true? You bet! Maybe the owner's got a bad case of philanthropy.

I've become a regular at that particular barbershop, but everytime I went there, the rock-bottom price never ceased to amaze me. Granted, the shop itself is not particularly comfortable. No windows, no doors, just a 4 x 4 room with two barber seats. Air conditioning is virtually non-exsistent, except for the warm summer breeze and the cloud of dust from the occasional traffic. The shop also has a very dominant oriental ambience, you can easily find chinese ornaments hanging on the wall and on the ceiling (maybe the head barber / owner has some chinese heritage in him, but he sure didn't look like one). The towel was warmed inside a rice-cooker (no score there for healthiness and subtlety, but full points for originality... and humor). But hey! For 6000 rupiahs, who am I to complain.

But the most important part from every visit to a barbershop is and will always be, the result (i.e., how cool my hair looks after barbering). And I can tell you this, the barbers there have never let me down. Except for the time when the barber accidentally cuts my chin and neck. But still... 6000 rupiahs man! It can't get any cheaper than that!

If you guys wanna try, head out to Pondok Kelapa Raya and look for the little pink shop with lots of people queueing (one of them will probably be me...). I always forgot the name of the shop though, sorry.