Making the Best of New Norms: YOON Salon
We are in the 3rd quarter of 2020, and I’m already tired of words like “unprecedented”, “lockdown”, “surge”, “pandemic” etc. And on top of that, there are new habits formed to keep safe or simply to be compliant.
The common phrase we use for this lifestyle is NEW NORM. I am not sure when these new norms are no longer referred to as new? What would it take for all of us to embrace them? A part of me is so frustrated with this. I cannot dash into the shop to buy a loaf of bread now. Besides doing Safe Entry, I have to wear a mask and keep my distance everywhere. Life is no longer so simple!
But everything boils down to perspectives. I learnt that if I keep whining and complaining about these changes, and if I keep seeing them as inconveniences, they will always remain a thorn in my flesh and an absolute inconvenience that is forced on me. Interestingly, if I turn it around and choose to look at it as a part of life now, I would be happier. After all, we all know that this would last for at least till there’s a confirmed vaccine!
So what are some new norms? There are so many and they keep changing as the Covid-19 situation evolves. Here are some key ones that our family face when we go out!
Out for Meals
Our family loves going to check out new hawker stalls because we love good, affordable food. And when we are trying out a new place, we like to ask our friends along, so there’s a time for good food and great hanging out. Alas! This current 5 people rule! That’s my entire family now! When we go out for meals, that’s it. We cannot ask anyone along.
How do we get around this? Well, we do a takeaway and invite friends to join us at home! You see, we can receive up to 5 guests at home. We change our perspective: that eating at home is more comfortable (just more cleaning up!). We don’t have to worry about the crowds, the earlier closing time, kids can go to bed early while the adults continue chatting. It is an absolute win-win!
I am mindful that when we are invited to another home, we may not be able to bring the kids along cos inviting my entire family meant you can’t have any other guests! But that’s ok, it happens only once in a while, there is still plenty of family time together this season. So all is good, we can still have good food and a good time with family and friends!
Out for a haircut at YOON Salon
Understandably, going for a haircut can be quite daunting this season. We will be in close proximity with the stylist for an extended period of time, we are in an enclosed place with all other customers, we don’t know if the area around us is sanitised and of course there’s many other questions on hygiene that cross our minds.
When one of our friends introduced us to YOON Salon, we were quite intrigued. This Singapore-based leading hair salon is committed to help their clients with issues related to their hair and achieve their hair goals.
What are the new norms like at YOON? We are assured that the premises are kept clean at all times. The staff maintain stringent checks on themselves to ensure no one is unwell when they are at work. They do temperature taking for every customer and even vendors that walk through their doors. Every person has to do a health declaration form and do the mandatory Safe Entry log-in. And a really assuring measure they take is, YOON sanitises all common areas four times a day to ensure cleanliness!
So is it scary to venture out for some me-time? Is it troublesome to go through so many hoops just to get some hair services? We do not have to focus on the negatives. The ‘troublesome’ bits are part of safe measures that the authorities are imposing all over the island. Look at the incentives! You get to relax at the salon, and for this season, there is a very special $28 trial!
You can try out any of their wide-ranging services for just $28! These include Premium Hair Cut, Premium Colouring (not just the regular colouring! It can be Balayage, Ombre, Highlights etc!) , Premium Hair Perming, Premium Rebonding, Hair Regrowth Treatment, Premium Hair Bleaching and Premium Wash and Blow! Wooohooo! What a long list of services available!
One of their Premium services that caught my eye is their Hair Defrizzing Treatment! Wow, and the trial session only costs $28!
With three centrally located outlets, it would be so easy to get that fresh look your hair needs or that special treatment to pamper your hair! Yoon Salon is at Havelock II, Midpoint Orchard and Queensway Shopping Centre. You can get more information about their services or make an appointment at their website.
Out to work and school
And the biggest change now is how we go to school or work!
The kids tell me school has changed so much now. Physical Education classes are now limited to individual exercise times or very short team sports. The seating in classrooms are all in individual rows and walking around is strongly discouraged. And not surprising, the change they need to adapt most to, is recess time!
For Nicole and Nathan, recess is with 1m safe distancing the entire period, and they can only sit with their own classmates. There is strictly no inter-mingling with friends from other classes. For Nadine, her school goes one step further. She has a fixed seat in the canteen, and the classmates around her are fixed, based on their class register number!
How do they get around this? The kids told me, they just have to make new friends! I’m so glad they could adjust and change their perspective!
For us adults, working from home is now the norm. We miss meeting our colleagues in person, going out for lunches, having a quick reply by just walking over to their cubicle to ask a question. Now, we communicate via texts, phone calls and Zoom!
The lack of social interaction is real, but we get around it! We hold many discussions over Zoom, we chat about our new virtual backgrounds, we ask each other about family life since we are all at home working. We still wish we could meet up, but until then, we make intentional decisions to keep in touch, have interactive meetings, celebrate birthdays online. It takes effort, but it is so worth it!
These new norms won’t be “new” soon. We are all in this together, no one is exempted! So let’s embrace them, look for positive ways to look at it, change our perspective and still keep going!
