Inked

Whoever said that getting a tattoo doesn't hurt is a big fat liar. I'll get back on that topic in a bit but first, I'd like to talk about our new friends, Frances and her hubby Franco.

Frances is the owner of My Little Ink Shop, the tattoo studio in Shoppesville, Greenhills. She's a small but terrible woman and I meant that as a compliment. She's about 5'2", slimmer than I am (I'm considered scrunny by some standards) but she's a helluva'n artist with her needles. Her own skin art will make Stieg Larson's heroine awestruck. Her tattoos go all the away from the neck to her lower legs. That's though right there. But...

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If her looks isn't a contradiction enough, when you get to talk to her, she'll remind you of that cool girl next door back in your neighborhood. She cringes, she laughs, she flushes - very much like any down to earth girl you meet. And that's saying something considering she's a big name in her industry.

So there, it didn't take a lot of self-motivation and pushing to finally decide on having the honor of getting my first ink at her shop. Our first inks  (Joannie and I decided to be christened together) were actually done by Mano, her guest artist because she and Franco went to the states to see the now controversial Pacquiao - Bradley cheatfest. Bradley, you're an ugly mother-effin' cheat so don't schedule any trips to Boracay anytime soon. We'll slice, dice and fillet you and feed you to the ocean fish while helmet diving. 

So anyway, lemme describe briefly how that first session went.

I wish I could say I saw the needles, passed out and then I woke up with a spanking new tattoo. That way I won't have to go through the painful ordeal. OK, so it wasn't that painful but still. My first design choice went to my right shoulder blade. That one didn't sting that much but it did leave a feeling of a really bad sunburn. The other design, a script of one of my fave mottos went to my back ribcage. Now that one was torture. I'm an unusually ticklish person and all that needle probing on my back ribcage felt like a bully of a cousin decided to torment me by tickling me until I ran out of oxygen laughing. Or crying. 

Joannie on the other hand didn't look like she felt anything at all. Me, I was sweating bullets throughout the session they had to turn the fan on and then off again and then on again because I couldn't decide if I was hot or shivering cold. Joannie just lied down and continued on chatting with Mano. Women indeed have a higher pain tolerance than men. Probably because they're the ones expected to give birth. Or in case they acquire abusive boyfriends and husbands.

To those who can recognize what this symbol means, props to you, cool person!

The healing process took about a week and a few more weeks after that, I tried my luck in contacting Frances if she's back in the Philippines yet. We set a schedule and a few more days later Joannie and I are back in her shop and finally meeting her for the first time.

This time the experience was more tolerable since I got a smaller design (that one above). We also discovered that parts of the body with thin skin and closer to the bone are the ones that will hurt much more. Frances has an unfinished looking hexagram on the back of a finger and when we inquired about it she said that it just hurt a lot that she didn't bother having it completed. That's coming from a person covered in ink form head to toe.

While it's a lie that tattoos don't hurt, it's the truth when they say you don't stop at one. It IS addicting seeing a good design on your own skin. Especially if that design represents something about you or your life. Or simply, if getting inked is on your bucket list.

That's Frances in the middle. If her shirt doesn't speak for herself.

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