Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Bringing Back Movember

I grew a mustache just the other day. It wasn't as a sad sign of slovenliness, a demonstration of burgeoning masculinity or even manifestations of an inner hipster.

Somewhere in the dusty living hall of our family home in Bangkok, there is a wall of sepia-toned pictures taken way back when photographic portraits were an annual event where the entire clan gets dressed up to the nines to be marched off to the photo studio. All suits and ties, dresses and hats - certainly not one of our usual selfies these days in tacky tees and shorts.

My Thai grandfather, ever an avid fan of photography back in their heyday, always seemed to be searching for a reason to take the next picture. There is even one of him seated at the office desk, staring moodily into the camera. The original emo Instagrammer.

Which eeriely resembles me since I'm supposed to be quite the doppelganger of said grandfather. Except he had grown a bushy mustache back then.

Hence the recent dare my cousins made for me to grow one.

Didn't sound all that challenging to me. Fortunately with my family genes, it isn't all that difficult to grow some facial hair since I do tend to be quite hairy - hence my regular daily shave with foam and blade. Figured letting it grow for a week or two would do it.

Didn't look as fetching as Godfrey Gao though. 

Turns out it takes just a couple of days to nurture quite a fine mustache. One look at the fogged up mirror was enough to confirm that my cousins' suspicions were right - and that I did actually look like a still portrait from the 1930s. Even more uncanny the likeness when I put on my suit for a quick snap of the camera to compare.

But the mustache. Highly bothersome! Oh, if only I had known how difficult it would be to maintain! Never expected it to be strangely irritating but seriously, damn it itches. Even the lips get a quick unwary brush every now and then from the one stray hair. Let's not even talk about having food particles getting caught in the brush!

Totally understand now why bushy-beared fellows keep incessantly scratching their face!

And trust me, it is almost impossible to shave properly. Especially when you're trying to grow a mustache in properly in equal parts. Nick one part too much and you'd have to cut the opposite side just to balance it out. Future mustache growers, please get a pair of mini scissors to trim the edges as well.


2 comments:

Kenny Mah said...

Sounds like quite the project. :D

savante said...

Had to keep the mustache tamed after all, kenny!