Thaipusam – the way of finding bliss
In Singapore, the Sri Thendayuthapani Hindu temple resonates with the rhythmic music of drums, bells and...
PHOTO ESSAY
The New Star Hair Dressing Saloon facade is quite inconspicuous. The glass door screams with the yellow letters about the air-conditioned interior. In front of the see-through walls stands a diverse collection of plastic chairs. On both sides of the entrance, small rotating light signs spin with blue and red strips trying to attract attention. Only the giant blue signboard can lure the eye of passers-by, but it is also not so special among similar signs of the adjoining restaurant and bar.
Inconspicuousness disappears as soon as one crosses the saloon’s threshold. Its interior is a time capsule that goes back decades.
87-year-old Pakari Kothandapani opened New Star Hair Dressing Saloon in 1955. The place is older than Singapore itself and remembers the times when Siglap – the district in which it is housed – was a fishing village right on the sea shore. From the very beginning, the saloon offered top quality grooming and hairdressing services. In addition – according to the traditional Indian hairdressing – light head and neck massage.
New Star Hair Saloon customers grew up with the place that has served and continued to serve generations. Grey-haired gentlemen come here seeking the company of old friends as much as the grooming services. Also, the young generation shows up – teenagers with a Harry Potter book under their arms, demanding a ‘school style’ haircut.
Everyone will leave refreshed and satisfied.
Address:
112 Upper East Coast Rd, Singapore 455006
![[English below]
Trzydniowa Japonia w pigułce rozniosła nam głowy. Kilka lat później przeprowadziliśmy się do niej na sześć miesięcy. Kraj przez pół roku konsekwentnie i nieodwracalnie przepalał nam styki. Dlatego nie zdziwiliśmy się wcale, kiedy kilka lat później w Wołgogradzie po meczu Polska-Japonia kibice naszych rywali zabrali się za porządkowanie stadionowych trybun. Co kiedyś mogłoby wywołać uśmiech politowania i wymowny gest posuwisto-zwrotny palcem wskazującym w stronę czoła, dziś było tak oczywiste, że aż trzeba się było dołączyć. Wcale nas nie zdziwiło, że przed stadionem rzesze japońskich fanów gratulowało Polakom tak żarliwie, jakbyśmy wcale nie grali o pietruszkę. Przy tym wszyscy byli tak urzekająco szczęśliwi naszym… hmm… szczęściem, jakby sami właśnie wygrali puchar. Wymianom szalików, koszulek nie było końca. Andrzej wrócił chyba z trzema. W tym jedną vintage z rozgrywek w latach dziewięćdziesiątych ubiegłego wieku. Co prawda juniorska, ale przynajmniej na jedno z nas pasuje.
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Three-day Japan, in a nutshell, blew our minds. A few years later, we moved in there for six months. The country has been consistently and irreversibly frying our brains for half a year. That's why we weren't at all surprised when, a few years later, in Volgograd, after the Poland-Japan match, our rivals' fans started cleaning up the stadium stands. What once might have caused a smile of pity and a back-and-forth gesture with the index finger towards the forehead was now so obvious that we had to join in. We were not at all surprised that in front of the stadium, crowds of Japanese fans congratulated the Poles as passionately as if we were not playing for honour at all. And everyone was so charmingly happy with our… hmm… victory as if they had just won the cup themselves. There was no end to the exchange of scarves and T-shirts. Andrzej came back with at least three, including one vintage from the 1990s. It's a junior size, but it fits at least one of us.](https://www.peryferie.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
Comments
2 CommentsAndrzej Koziara
Jul 18, 2021Your work, stories and films became for me a great inspiration. Tthe way the documentaries are shot is telling the whole story in a clear way. Good school for me.
Aleksandra Tofil
Aug 27, 2021Ah! Thank you so much!!! What a beautiful compliment! In turn, such words inspire us to do more and better every time – thank you so, so much!