Cheap trim

My boys and I go to Riana Barber for our haircut. It costs only RM10 a pop for adults and RM7 for children below 12. If you want more than just a haircut, there is a price menu that details the services and even if you opt for the entire suite, it is still going to be substantially cheaper that A Cut Above. 

Before... (Apple iPhone 4s)

And after. (Apple iPhone 4s)

Call me tightfisted or old-fashioned but why do you need to spend RM80 for a straightforward haircut? After all, you are still going to be needing that gel or mousse or hair spray or pomade to style your tresses.   

The outlet is clean. Note the hose coming down from the ceiling: that's vacuum to suck the hair bits from your scalp! Have you seen anything like it anywhere tell me? (Apple iPhone 4s)

Show me a study to say that frequent visits to a Vidal Sassoon-trained hair stylist will make your locks shiny and easy to manage. Pantene and recently, Tea Tree can do that for you. In reality, your brand new hair will only last as long as you stay awake. The moment you hit the sack, it's back to its usual tousled self the morning after.

No Schwarzkopf here (Apple iPhone 4s)

If you are in the neck of Kota Damansara, it is behind the Sunway Giza Community Mall, just a stone throw from Padang Kota Nasi Kandar. The whole commercial area is called Dataran Sunway I think. I'm sorry I don't have its address on me for your Garmin satnav. 

Look out for the sign... (Apple iPhone 4s)

Desaru Adventures

Tired of luxuriously appointed hotel rooms? Fed up of the predictable food items at the buffet line? Game to try something perhaps a little bit more challenging than fitting room stakeout (read: shopping)? Then you may want to check out Desaru Adventures, a travel and tour firm based in Bandar Penawar, Johor. Please be informed though that this is not your Reliance or Sri Sutera type of tour agency: Desaru Adventures focuses on attraction sites in and around the Bandar Penawar town and Kota Tinggi district, with an emphasis on the outdoors. So you'll get to visit Crocodile Park, Desaru Fruit Farm, Ostrich Farm and if history and mythical folklore are up your alley, you can visit Makam Sultan Mahmud Mangkat Dijulang, Kota Johor Lama and Pusara Si Bongkok.

One of the proprietors' personal favourites is the kampung tour where participants can have a taste of authentic kampung way of living. I will not disclose here what this entails but apparently it is very popular not only among foreigners, our city boys and girls also enjoy it tremendously.

Another of their pride itinerary is the Bukit Pelali climb, which was described to me as more fun and adventurous than Bukit Broga in Semenyih. With the height of about 400-plus metres, they will lead the hike up from base to the peak which will take around two hours, with comfort breaks in between so you can catch a breath but I suspect this is more to cater to Facebook posties. When you reach the top, you will be rewarded with nasi bungkus, accompanied by dishes that you have not heard of or seen in a long time. But more importantly, the vista which extends to... I think I should not give away more than I should. Suffice to say that this hill is the highest vantage point in the coastal town of Bandar Penawar so go figure. The proprietors are particularly proud of this offering because of the fact that they design, build and maintain the singletrack.

As for lodging, they have chalets or camp site if you like to rough it out (rental tents available) but if you still can't part ways with creature comforts, they can arrange rooms at the nearby Desaru Resort.

If you are considering a reunion or team building exercise for your company, give Desaru Adventures a shot. These guys can propose a suitable programme, organise and manage it, encompassing the abovementioned agenda and more.

Just so you know, the proprietors are husband and wife and they run the show assisted by their children and close relatives. It's all in the family.

With Every Detail (WED)

It's fresh, unique and detailed, that's how I would describe the paper-based products sold at WED. I have never been in the market for such offering but at the same time can't recall seeing anything similar either. They have everything from paper cakes to party packs to pennants to cupcake boxes. The already stylish-looking papers are further embellished to make them look the part—with only ribbons and more papers! It's amazing how the end products look... complete. I guess it's the intellectual property that sets it apart from the others.

The brain behind WED is my other half and she kind of ventured into this creative realm with her sisters. Operating from an Ikea wooden desk at home, she and her nephew (whom I would attribute as the creative director) would ideate and churn out beautiful samples you can see here. Occassionally I would chip in by driving her around to buy ribbons, papers and stuff. In other cases, I would throw in my input about product cost and profitability, whether or not the retail price is going to be attractive. As if I'm in authority!

Do check it out. You'd probably have more imaginative adjectives to describe their products. And do me a big favour will you, please tell the whole world about it.

Muhibbah Agrofarm

Agrofarm is a strange word to a lot of us. You sort of know that agro is derived from the word agriculture. The word agro itself is Greek in origin, meaning field. Agriculture according to Wikipedia is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fibre and other products used to sustain life. 15 pages, that's how far I've gone to in Yahoo to look for the actual meaning of the term agrofarm. One site suggests that it is related to animal husbandry and breeding, which you know is redundant because husbandry encompasses breeding. But if Wikipedia's definition is anything to go by, agriculture is a holistic cultivation activity and agrofarming should be a branch of it. Any readers who are better informed than my 22 minutes' worth of cursory research please feel free to share your views.

To be honest, I've never bothered to find out what agrofarm really meant until my brother set up Muhibbah Agrofarm at the base of Gunung Panti in Kota Tinggi, Johor. Together with three other like-minded partners, the company came into being about few weeks ago. I was told that the collaboration is truly a muhibbah one, hence the name. As long as it's not 1muhibbah 1agro 1farm, I'm totally cool with it bro!

If you a restaurateur or simply someone who is in the market for tilapia, goat or chicken, do check out Muhibbah Agrofarm.