Quarantine Hair and Cooking

A man wears a face shield and mask as he gets his hair cut in Hong Kong

The last time I got my hair cut was just before Chinese New Year in mid-January, and while I cut the bangs two weeks ago, my hair was so long I looked like a shaggy dog.

I tried to schedule an appointment with my hairdresser earlier this week, but she was either off on one day and busy the other. Finally I got to see her today.

She reported being very busy in the past week, with people having their locks groomed before going back to the office next week, following civil servants.

Quarantine cooking: Brussels sprouts and ham with rice

"It's been a lot of work for me cutting hair these days because everyone's hair is so long!" she exclaimed, after washing my long hair.

One of her male client's hair was almost an inch longer than usual, half covering his ear. She seemed to think it was admirable he was able to stand having it that long for a long time.

Chop, chop, chop went the scissors to my hair and lots of it fell to the ground. Instantly my head felt lighter, but she wasn't finished and kept snipping bits of here and there.

She asked what it was like working from home. "Did your cooking improve?" she asked.

I told her it was hard to cook three times a day, though I may have improved slightly; it was more about filling my body with the necessary energy than taste -- I leave that to professional chefs to sate my taste buds.

Stir-fried potato and tomato with parmesan cheese

My hairdresser talked about the miracles of air fryers and how you can have delicious fried chicken and fries. I added popcorn could be made in there too. I asked how big the contraption was and she replied it was quite big. "You could fry a whole pigeon in there," she said.

Then it would take up too much room, I observed. Would you really use it everyday?

As she continued cutting my hair, she asked: "Your hair looks darker. Did you do something to it?"

I looked at her puzzled. "No... I haven't," I replied. I thought for a moment.

"I haven't been swimming," I said.

"Ah, swimming!" she remarked. "I don't know how to swim, even though I love being at the beach."

I hardly noticed the darker shade of my hair, and that the chlorine had lightened my hair that much, because I went swimming at least once a week. I just thought that was what my hair looked like.

The food hall at Marks and Spencer in Central

Perhaps this is a sign of my hair being the healthiest it's been in a long while.

Afterwards I headed to Marks & Spencer to take a look at the food section. It was quite busy with customers but I was surprised to see a lot of yellow stickers on products announcing discounts. Why so many? Lots of fresh vegetables were reduced, along with packaged meals (particularly the Indian ones and pasta). What was that all about?

Had the store ordered too much stock and now it couldn't get rid of it fast enough?

A bonanza for customers, though again with people going back to work next week, will everyone continue to cook or depend on professional chefs to feed them?