Hair Affair....

Have you ever cheated on your hair stylist? Perhaps you can help me resolve this problem after reading the exchange below with etowngirl:

"Oh, so let me ask you this. If you went to a hairdresser's and had one stylist do your hair a few times, and then switched to a different stylist in the same place, do you think that would be seen as a sleight by the other one?

I was never really bothered by who did my hair, so when I started going to this Korean salon this Korean girl did my hair a few times, but then the next couple of times I kept going on days when she wasn't in, so someone else did my hair. And now she [the new one] always does my hair, so I'm wondering if the other one's [upset] with me now. I don't really know about hair stylist politics. I'm sure someone's written an insightful novel about this called "Secret diaries of a hair stylist" or something.

But I wouldn't want to upset a Korean woman with scissors...... I've seen "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" - it wasn't pretty!"

"I think you are guilty of being a stylist slut...

Seriously, I am not joking when I say that I have heard from many a reliable source (ie. my own hairdresser) that switching stylists without having a long discussion with your old one first, or just going from one stylist to another is not good etiquette. I think it's even worse if they work in the same salon.

Watch out for the Korean woman with sharp, pointy scissors..."

"I feared as much. It's bad enough that I switched stylists in the same salon, but my new one is Japanese...... doesn't bode well, does it....?

So do you think there's a way to resolve this that won't lead to a scene out of a Park Chan-Wook vengeance movie? Those scissors are really sharp. They're made with Japanese steel, you know... It's not like I meant to sleight her - she just was never there when I went to get my haircut. So it's really her fault for not working on convenient days! Although she was there the other day, and I even had my tips coloured. Is that, like, really rubbing it in? "Hey, look, someone else is putting red low-lites in my hair!"

I thought that maybe next time I could have her cut my hair, so she doesn't think that I think she's a sucky stylist. But then I'd probably have to go on a day that my Japanese stylist isn't working. Would that be like two-timing my stylist....?

Dude, how stressful is getting one's hair done?"

"Okay, not ONLY did you get your hair cut by a different stylist, but you also highlighted your hair with her?! You have committed a double sin, and I think the only solution, in order to avoid the Japanese steel scissors, is to change salons. If you go back to the first stylist you cheated on just for a cut, she's going to think she's the runner-up and that you only think she's good enough for a cut but not a highlight. And that would be tantamount to saying, "You're my back-up date." No girl likes being the back-up date.

Before you cheat on yet another stylist, just abandon ship and find another salon. Preferably one that's far away from the first..."

So, what do you think? Should I:

a) Do nothing. Pretend this never happened. Keep going to stylist B.
b) Abandon ship and find another salon, preferably as far away as possible from the current one
c) Attempt to reconcile with stylist A (Korean woman with sharp scissors) by arranging my next cut with her on a day when stylist B (Japanese woman with sharp scissors) isn't working
d) Ditch both stylist A and stylist B (Korean and Japanese women with sharp scissors respectively) and go for a male stylist next time
e) Other, please specify

Where's the dog? And Yellow Dust....

I was gonna title this The Heart of Seoul, but that would have been far too cheesy.

So anyway, it turns out that despite my best efforts, I was unable to master Korean in two weeks in anticipation of my recent trip to Seoul. Despite this, I did manage to grasp enough of the alphabet to have a fair go at reading Korean, which did come in handy, if only to be able to order 비빔밮 (bibimbap), 불고기 (bulgogi) and 두부스테이크 (tofu satay, I think...) off the menu. I suspect the proprietors must all have thought I was weird, as having ordered one of the above, they'd ask me something else and I'd have absolutely no idea what the heck they were talking about. Of course, having mastered the alphabet, I realized that much of Korean was actually English, as in 휱넸크래브 (fitness club) and 고러프타운(golf town). OK, I kinda made those up, but it's something along those lines, anyway. So, in fact, a little Korean goes a long way.

I must say that I hadn't heard very encouraging things about Seoul before I went. Outwardly, it does appear to live up to its reputation of massive concrete, industrialized, commercialized, Americanized urbanicity, and the fact that there was a huge six-storey Tesco Home Plus store right opposite my hotel didn't bode well. Seriously, I've never seen anything like it. But in the little time I had to look around, I did find some redeeming qualities to the city. Changdeokgung Palace (창덕궁), the city's second Joseon dynasty palace, was built in 1405 and served as the king's residence following the destruction of neighbouring Gyeongbokgung by the Japanese. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the palace has been restored, as have the city's other five Joseon dynasty palaces.

The area between the two palaces is a great place for a stroll, particularly around the Bukchon Joseon dynasty village, and there's a quaint network of streets full of small stores, restaurants and cafés. Further south is Insadong, a traditional street that's now home to a number of art galleries, tea and calligraphy shops and souvenir stores. Koreans certainly appear to have an interesting concept of space, and seem to pour all their individualism into whatever square foot of space they have available in their premises, making for some fascinating architectural features.

Seoul is apparently also renowned for yellow dust, which travels in sandstorms down from the Gobi desert via North Korea, collecting all manner of sulphurous and metallic particles on its way through China and leaving behind a thick layer of yellow nastiness that is related to all manner of health problems. I'm informed that it's particularly bad in April, although I did manage to witness speckles of the stuff as they landed on my mobile phone screen.

But what about the dog, I hear you ask? Well, I asked myself the same thing. My Japanese hairdresser had informed me all about how there are only some seven dog dishes in South Korea, in comparison to North Korea, with its considerably more extensive canine cuisine. Despite my piqued interest, I didn't consciously come across any dog cuisine and nobody took me anywhere that served dog. I did feel a rush of excitement while having lunch at a restaurant in Causeway Bay in Hong Kong the following week, when I spotted 'dog' on the menu board. But on closer inspection, I realized that it read 热狗 ('hot' dog.......). So I'm none the wiser.

OK, I'm not really serious - I don't have particularly have any interest in sampling dog cuisine........

Asadal and Jump

Asadal, 227 High Holborn, London, WC1V 7DA

Sometimes, all you want is a baby chicken stuffed with sticky rice, garlic and dates, slow cooked in a stone pot and served with broth. No? Well, you will after you go to Asadal. This basement Korean restaurant right next to Holborn tube station is quite a find. It has sleek, modern but simple decor and the food is great. Definitely try the whatever baby-chicken-stuffed-with-sticky-rice-garlic-and-dates-slow-cooked-in-broth thing is called. I have to warn you that this isn't the easiest thing to eat, particularly with thin, metal Korean chopsticks, but man it's worth the effort. The tofu jeon is also good - light, deep fried tofu with peppers.

And what better way to round off a delicious Korean meal than with the high-octane, martial arts extravaganza that is Jump, down the road at the Peacock Theatre? Performed by the Ye Gam Inc. theatre company, this is like a cross between The Itchy and Scratchy Show, The Matrix, a Bruce Lee spoof and a bad 80s pop video. On amphetamines. The 'story' basically involves a martial arts-obsessed family that indulges in fights involving crazy stunts, slow-mo action replays, fast forward, rewind, tae kwondo dance routines and all manner of bizarre and highly entertaining action.