While travelling, I like to try activities that are native to the area.

I've been racking my brain for an itinerary that would be representative of the places I'm visiting on my vacation. Other than eating as much of the regional food as possible, I've added Japanese hair straightening to my list. This technique was invented by the uber fashion and trend concious Japanese and the results are phenomenal, think stick straight hair that flutters in the breeze exactly how fashion magazines dictate that it should. In doing some Internet research (thank goodness for an abundance of information on every little sordid subject), I found that it really is just a perm. The process breaks the hair's natural bonds that hold the curl and restructures the bonds to be, well, straight. I also found that there are those in DC who are amused that the process was invented by a race of people who already have relatively straight hair (it just points to the Japanese tendency to take everything to an obsessive extreme) as well as curiosity towards the political and social desires of wanting to be in the majority possessing straight (and/or blond or light colored) hair.

Personally, I just want manageable hair so I don't look like a poufy lion. Whether it be curls, waves, or straight, anything attractive and doesn't take too long in the morning to "do" would be just fine by me.