Being naive...

...is sometimes not a bad thing. I admit, generally, in the world we live in today, being naive usually gets you a lot of stick from almost everyone who have been betrayed, conned, deceived and tricked in all imaginable (and sometimes unimaginable) scenarios. Don't get me wrong - I have been down the same path but there's just this part of me that remains steadfastly hopeful that you are a good person until proven otherwise.

So one fine Wednesday afternoon as I was hurrying to the Chancery Lane tube station after work, I was stopped by this random man by the name of Taufiq, asking me the weirdest question "Excuse me miss, may I ask you where you get your haircut?". I've been asked many questions before from random strangers (what can I say, dear reader, I look entirely too friendly for my own good) but this was a new one. Not thinking, I told him I got my haircut in Malaysia because I couldn't find a good and affordable hair stylist in London. He proceeded to tell me about this great place in Central London with very good stylists and asked if I was interested in a FREE haircut.

Now usually, once you hear the word FREE from a stranger, you would immediately be on your guard and suspicious of the stranger's intentions. For in this day and age, there is truly no such thing as a free lunch. Taufiq whipped out a "voucher" that was worth £50 but because he thought I was "really nice" (his words, not mine), he would sell it to me for £30 (to be fair, the voucher did say "usually worth £500 but for a limited time only, for £50!". With that voucher, I would get a free haircut in this super saloon, a free makeover for myself and a friend at Studio London and free entry into any participating nightclub for myself and six friends. At that point, a part of me wanted to make a run for the tube station (it was so close!). But being naive, the other part of me said "super cool! I'll take it!" and with that I parted with my £30 (which I had to withdraw from the nearby ATM - yes it's suspicious that he was right next to the ATM). I was so excited about the idea of taking my Fiancé for a free makeover and professional photo-shoot for £30 that I threw caution to the wind.

No sooner as I got into the tube, the horrifying reality of what I just did hit me. I gave £30 to a perfect stranger, who had no identification on him (not that I asked for any). Not only that, as I looked down at the rather credible "voucher", I found out that the words "Limited Edition 2008" were screaming at me..and yes, it's 2010, not 2008. As I walked back home that day, I was partly sad to be conned out of my £30 and resolved not to mention anything to my Fiancé! He is one of the most cautious people I know! I felt I had disappointed him by being such a sucker. Once I got home, I immediately rang Studio London up to book an appointment using the voucher and braved myself for the lady on the other line saying "I'm sorry, but that voucher has expired/does not exist".

But lo behold, God is kind! For my Fiancé and I have just returned from a fantastic day at Studio London! We did get our free makeover (yes, even my Fiancé had some foundation on), free hairstyling, free professional photo-shoot and best of all, we have a free photo to commemorate our day. We did have to sit through a very convincing sales pitch from an extremely friendly French guy (phew, that guy can really hard sell) for more than an hour but we stuck to our resolve and walked away with our free photo. It wasn't easy!

As much as we enjoyed the experience, we really couldn't part with £70 per photo. We had four changes of clothing with us and in total, we looked through 109 photos and whittled that down to ONE final free photo. To be honest, it was tough. There were some great shots we would love to have but being practical, we decided our money would be better spent on our wedding photos and video! Overall, definitely a fun day for both of us. Some of the poses we had to go through really made us laugh out loud and seeing the results was even more of a laugh fest. I absolutely loved our matching outfits (in one casual setting, I wore my Wonderwoman shirt and He wore his Superman shirt, in another, both of us were dressed in black and white!).

So here it is, in its full glory, officially dubbed our Engagement Photo. What do you think of it? Well worth my faith in humanity and £30? Well technically, I still have yet to benefit from my free professional haircut...