Marilyn vs Whitney

Urgh… dah lamanya tak update this blog. Rasa gian nak tulis banyak2!

First and foremost, the reason for my absence ~ I was feeling under the weather. The two boys in the house had caught the flu bug last week. I must have gotten it from Nizzar due to the many kisses exchanged between the little boy and his Mummy. (No, not with his father, if that’s what you’re thinking…)

I feel somewhat better now. I was out of the office for two days. But in between, I managed to steal sometime to get a hair cut. Yeay! I had it cut short!

Actually, I just wanted a trim but when my stylist asked, “Would you like to try a bob?” Yeah, sure… why not? So at first glance, I now look like Katie Holmes. But after a double take, it’s just me lah. Who am I kidding, right? Hee.. hee…

MrNordin has been busy in and out of the house. KL-JB. Sometimes I see him, sometimes I don’t. Like last night, he arrived home at 1.30 am, I was already asleep. Only managed to say “hi!” and I dozed off again. This morning, I heard him woke up for subuh, and then he went to sleep again right next to me. Then he was off to work. Nasib baik Nadim tak pegi sekolah hari ni. Malas betul nak meredah jam kat MRR2 tu..

Now, talking about hair ~ remember how we used to perm our hair when we were younger? I don’t know about you guys, but I did just that before I went to the UK. Just to be different. I wanted to have a hair style like Victoria Principal, but of course lah tak menjadi. Kembang semacam je. But I liked it anyway. It made me feel “older”.

I think, in the 80’s dulu, memang orang suka perm rambut agaknya. Chinese men, especially, like to perm their hair. Why, ah?

I remember this one Chinese singer whom I used to drool over when I was a teenager ~ Koo Chong Teng, from Melaka He always appeared on rancangan hiburan on RTM 1 (black & white masa tu). Tersangatlah hansome pada firasat I masa tu with his permed hair… and he liked to wear white. Hee.. hee…

As far as I can remember, all throughout my life, I’ve only had my hair permed twice. Once before I went to the UK tu, and another one, when I had just started work. That second time was a mistake. It taught me a very important lesson ~ never be deceived by what a hairdresser tells you to do!

That unfortunate day, I was at a hair saloon in Subang Parade, thinking of having a hair cut. As usual, the lady would ask me, you nak buat apa? I said just a trim. Then she suggested, tak nak perm ka? I said, no. Then she said, “Ini perm bukan yang macam maggi punya.. ini loose perm...” That got me thinking but I still refused to put my hair under the rollers. I said, “No, don’t want”.

Then she said the most tempting thing, “This one ahh, kalau you buat ini perm ahh, jadi macam rambut Marilyn Monroe.” Wah… Marilyn Monroe? Straight away I pictured myself looking like the sexy Miss Monroe, flaunting my lovely locks with pouting red lips in front of strangers. That must be a killer!

“Ok!!” I immediately accepted her proposal.

So the lady started working on my hair while I kept myself occupied by reading the magazines provided. I couldn’t wait to see the end result. Marilyn Monroe… Marilyn Monroe…. that was all I could think of.

Suddenly, half way through the process, the hairdresser casually informed me, “Err… miss, this one ahh, mula-mula it won’t look like Marilyn Monroe….”

Haa??

“More like Whitney Houston,” she added.

Whitney Houston??!! Oh my! I could feel my stomach churned. I had a feeling this was not a going to be good. I felt my dream of becoming Miss Monroe came crushing down as she pulled out the rollers from my hair.

True enough. It looked nothing like Marilyn’s hair. The curls were tight and frizzy. I hated it and I cried!!!

A few days later, on my way home from work, I was sitting on a bus going to USJ. I was living there at that time and mine was the last stop on the bus route. It was already quite late and I was amongst the last few passengers left on the bus. There were two Indonesian men sitting right behind me, and one was trying to make a pass at me.

“Neng… mahu ke mana?”

I diam saja.

“Neng, kerja di mana Neng…?” he asked again.

I just kept quiet. I was so scared because I was the only girl left on the bus. The bus driver was right infront but I didn’t think he would hear me scream if I needed to.

“Dari Indonesia?” he tried again.

At this point, I braved myself and told him, “Bukan. Saya orang Malaysia”, hoping that he would stop interrogating me.

But no... he didn’t stop.

“Oh… dari Malaysia. Kerja di mana?"

“Di KL”, I said.

“Ohh… saya pun kerja di KL. Di Wisma Goldhill!", he said.

Hee.. hee… At that time, Wisma Goldhill was still under construction. I knew that because my office was right across the construction site in Jalan Raja Chulan.

So, sah2 lah dua mamat Indon ni kerja kat Goldhill ~ buat bangunan!!

I was so embarrassed. I spent a lot of money to transform myself into a Marilyn Monroe look alike only to be picked up by these two Indon workers. Tidaaaakk!!!!!

Because of that incident, I was determined to have the perm removed regardless of the cost and consequences. The very next day, I went to this hair saloon near my office and had the perm removed. When I told them my story, they all laughed at me and since that day, I became known as “Whitney” among the regulars there.

Because of the perming and straightening so soon after that, my hair became quite brittle and flat. It lacked shine and bounce. It took me quite a while to get over that dark period of my hair day, but I knew from then on that I should never go for a perm, no matter how great the temptation is.

And you should do the same!