Live in the Philippines

Live in the Philippines helps expats with visas, moving and other services regarding the Philippines.

Trip to the barbershop… want to come along?

Expats, Video / by

I have a little project that I have been working on for the past couple of months.  I want to provide more video content on this website.  I am not an expert, or anything close, in terms of doing video, so I have to learn.  Over the past few weeks, I have been buying some equipment that I will use to hopefully make some quality videos to show here on the site.  I have most of my equipment package complete, but I still need to practice in order to provide the quality that I desire to produce.

Because of the need for practice, the videos that I am currently making are far from perfect, in fact it is probably not even appropriate to use the word “perfect” in the same article where you will see the videos! 😉 But, practice makes perfect, or hopefully so, so practice I will.

Today, I have a new video that I want to share.  The other day, I decided to take a trip to the barbershop to get my hair cut, and decided to shoot a video of the trip!  You can come along by watching the video.  We start out taking a walk up to the highway where I will catch a Jeepney ride into the downtown area where I go to a certain barbershop there.  You can ride along in the Jeepney, see the sites along the way, and get some comments from me to explain what you are seeing! Have a look at the video below.

One question that I get asked a lot… “How much does it cost for a haircut?”  Well, it varies with the style of haircut you desire!  At the barbershop that I am currently patronizing the minimum charge is P45 (less than a dollar!), and prices range up to about P100.  My haircut is P50 for the style that I have them do.  Additionally, I always give a nice tip.. I give P20 tip.  P20 (less than 50 cents US) is not a lot of money, but it is a 40% tip, which is a large percentage to tip.  I have always found, though, that it is worth it to give a nice tip, because you never know when that barber might be needed to help you out with something, advise you in some way, etc.

I hope you enjoyed the trip!  I go to the barber at least a few times per month, sometimes every week.  I enjoy having a haircut here in the Philippines.  It is always a relaxing thing, especially when you finish with the haircut part and the barber then gives you a shoulder and back massage to comfort you a little before you depart!  I always find that the barber does a great job and is very attentive in his work.  Over the years, I have developed some nice friendships with various barbers around Davao.  They have always been friendly people, and fun to practice my Cebuano with!

Thanks for joining me today for my haircut day!  I hope to be providing you more videos in coming weeks… and hopefully of improved quality! 🙂

Maayong adlaw!  Good day!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Nice vid Bob! Having only experienced Bacolod City and Cebu on my trips to the Philippines it is nice to see other areas as they really are. Keep the vids coming!

  2. Hi Bob,

    I’m curious–what time of day is this? I’m amazed in the difference between Mandaue and Cebu City traffic and pedestrian wise. Is this a typical Davao City section? I can’t remember Cebu City ever being this quiet.
    Queenie

    • Hi Queenie, this was around 9:30am. Now, where I live it is not in the busier downtown area, I live in the southern part of the City, and it usually is pretty quiet. Still convenient access to stores and other things, but not crowded. But, I will say, Davao is way quieter and better organized than Cebu, based on the time I have spent in both cities.

  3. Woke up with my coffee and cig and watched your video…The things that jumped out at me where…Stop Lights ?? What are those???…Heee…. And same here in Dumaquete 7-11 has just put in 5-or 6 of them here and they have been well received….Picture quality was xlnt.. ..Quite a producer and was very entertaining

    • Thanks, Lenny. I have been saying it for years, but I know that most of you guys don’t believe me or understand… Davao is not like the rest of the Philippines! Yeah, we have lots of stop lights here, and people obey them! If you don’t obey, you will either get a ticket for a lot of money, or you might end up in jail! In many ways, Davao is kind of a perfect center point between living in the USA vs living in the Philippines. 🙂

      Glad you enjoyed the video!

  4. Hi Bob – interesting video of part of Davao. Please do more of them. It is nice to see what it would be like to live in that city.

  6. Hi Bob

    I did a similar trip earlier in the year and there was some construction work in progress on that bridge. The traffic certainly wasn’t that light then!

    The worst time to go that route, so I have discovered to my cost, is when the students are going to the University Of Mindanao and when they leave in the afternoon. Other times it is pretty much as you showed.

    Nice to see Davao again and it made me feel quite homesick!

    Cheers

    AJ UK

    • Yeah, I am glad that the bridge construction is done, that went on for a long time and played havoc with traffic!

      Certainly this was not filmed during rush hour! But, this is typical traffic during non-rush-hour times, and thankfully rush hour is fairly short.

  7. Always love getting a Haircut in the Philippines. I get the full treatment including the shave. There are only a few ole time barbers left here stateside that will do a shave. Only issue I have is that they always want to dye the grey out of my hair. 🙂

    • Thank you James! I also really enjoy going for a haircut. I have gotten a shave a few times, but not so often. I prefer to shave myself! 🙂 I feel I can do a better job than they do. 😉

  8. Hey Bob! Great vid. Love that HD! The picture is so clear, I felt like I was right there. Thanks for bringing back great memories of the Philippines, for me!

    • Hi Tim – Thanks! Glad you liked the HD. It took a LONG time to upload that Video! I started the upload to YouTube when I went to bed, and it was just finishing up when I woke up the next morning! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed it.

  9. Excellent picture quality Bob. What kind of camera are you using for this ? I havn’t done anything much with video since the days of VHS where I used a full sized camcorder.

    Thanks for the tour. I’d like to see details of inside of the barber shop. first time i had a haircut and shampoo in PH a few years ago i had to prop myself up on the cashier counter when they told me the price for both as I recall was less that One US Dollar ! Where I live in New York it cost me $20 just for an ordinary haircut.

    I look forward to more of your Video of Davao Bob.

    • Hi Bob – Thanks for commenting, I enjoyed hearing from you.

      I shot the video in 1080P, but when I produced it I took it down to 720P to save on the size of the video. Even at 720P it was almost 2GB, so very large!

      Believe it or not, I shot that video on my new cellphone. I bought this phone particularly because it has a great camera. It is a Samsung Galaxy S5. Very convenient to carry around, yet a great camera too. Perfect. I produced the video using Camtasia Studio software, and a few other tools.

      I do plan to do another video of getting the actual haircut, I’ll be doing that one soon!

  12. Wow Bob that videos look great and I don’t even see the jumping you are talking about. It almost looks like it has been mounted to a stabilizing device already…great job. Maybe you can get some video on Calamansi 😉

    • Hi Steve – Thanks! Actually, when I shot and produced the video it was VERY shaky! I debated about just trashing it and trying again, but I had a lot of work into it, and that is why I decided to put my notice in there about that I was working to improve and learn more. Then, when I uploaded it to YouTube, at the end of the upload they posted a notice that the video appeared to be quite shaky, and asked if I wanted them to use their stabilization software to fix that, so I selected “Yes” and when I saw the results, I was floored! I thought to myself “now I wish I did not say that it was so shaky!” Ha ha… so, thanks YouTube!

  13. Hi Bob,
    Enjoyed that immensely. My wife watched it through too and was happy see all the places she recognized. Wish we were over there already so it is good to feel at home watching you. Regards, Nick

  14. Im glad you showed that very realistic walk and drive. Can you count how many westerners you saw? If anyone is planning to visit and has not yet, watch this video a few times, and get used to being very lonely, and very far from home, unless you have a good woman there for companionship, you simply be reaching out back to the west through facebook and such the whole trip.
    It is not like some of the videos you see, with lots of people greeting you, and all happy smiles. The people are very serious there with strangers. Then like some have said, when you do see that one in ten mile white, American or UK person, try not to flip out because he does not feel like you, and never even makes eye contact. I go there for my honey. Shes a very good woman.

    • Hi Marc – There are several thousand westerners living in Davao, I would say 3-5,000. I probably saw a dozen foreigners while I was out for my haircut.

      I disagree about it being lonely here! Everybody is very willing to talk to you and such. Probably some people shied away when they could see that I was carrying a camera and making a video. The peopl ehere are friendly. When I was walking and came across people at the market, they mostly all waved to me (they are mostly friends that I see many times every week). The workers who were digging at the construction site all said hi to me, and waved. Davao IS “home” for me. I am not a stranger to the people you saw in the video. In my neighborhood they see me every day.

      Thanks for commenting about the video!

  15. Nice Video, I didn’t hear many backgrounds sounds, did you shoot the video and then narrate it at home. Anyway it is well done.

    • Hi Neal – you might have missed the earlier comment. After I shot the video, when I was producing it I lowered the audio by more than 50 percent and did voice over.

      Thanks, glad you liked the video.

  16. Bob,

    I also tip 20 pesos. It is really good to hear the barber say “Your so kind” with the 20 pesos tip. 40 some cents is really appreciated.

      • I can’t in my conscience give less than what would equal a dollar or two American, for a haircut. 50 to 100 pesos unless my girlfriend takes charge and grabs away the extra from me as often does in the restaurant. Teaching me to be cheap with cabs and service, well I just find that it lingers when I get back to the states.

        • Hi Marc – Many foreigners overpay for things like restaurant meals and haircuts. It is something that teaches the people here to expect that from all foreigners. That is one reason why prices for foreigners are increased compared to the local people. I have no problem with offering a good tip, but that situation is something to keep in mind.

        • Your right. A dollar tip isn’t that much for the work a barber/stylist does.

          I don’t tip a taxi driver but then I don’t feel they do the personal work a barber/stylist/waiter does. However, I guess you could say I do tip taxi drivers. The fare might be 185 pesos and I don’t ask for change from the 200 I give them.

          Rusty

            • Funny. Yup, I’m cheap or is it realistic. I didn’t give more than 10% in the States either. I figured the price of the meal went up so actually my 10% was an increase.

  17. Hi Bob, nice video gives your readers a good insight into life in Davao and the traffic
    Looks very good,everything is well organised in Davao I believe jeepneys look very good,
    Just been to naga city in Bicol for a short break what a beautiful city well run very clean
    It was a pleasure to drive there, keep the videos coming Bob really enjoyed it,
    Derek in pasig.