My First Tattoo: Eligo esse felicem

“Eligo esse felicem”

I finally decided to get my first tattoo!!! At first I was hesitant because I thought if this doesn’t turn out great then I will surely regret it. Tattoo is permanent so I had to be really 100% sure when I do it. 2 weeks before I had my tattoo, I already thought of having a tattoo on my right shoulder blade but I had 2 designs in mind (2 different fonts of “Eligo esse felicem” (which is Latin for “I choose to be happy“) so I asked my friend Christian for advice, who I thought had a beautiful set of tattoos and he said the one with the thinner font is better (check the drafts below). He suggested that I should put it a little lower from my shoulder blade and then do it backwards so I can see the reflection and read it from a mirror. I said “That would create more curiosity lol! because it’s already in Latin and if I do it backwards, no one can read it.” He says “It’s better like that and it’s different. You get a tattoo for you, not for everyone else so just because other people can’t read it, it doesn’t matter.. But when you see yourself in the mirror .. You will be able to read it and remind yourself to be happy!” HE HAS A POINT nga naman! haha 😀

Eligo esse felicem - Latin for I choose to be happy!

On July 15th (Monday), I was 101% sure already!!! I then spoke again to Ms. Maricar (officemate), about having a tattoo at her brother’s Tattoo Shop, Island Ink Boracay (Merck & Fred). She requested a schedule for me with Merck Marasigan that afternoon but I wasn’t able to come until about 7pm. I was accompanied by my Boracay bestie Dominic. Ms. Maricar gave each of us RhumCoke as refreshments “pampakalma” haha!

Here’s a shot by Doms after Merck put the stencil on my lower right shoulder blade ^_^

First look at the tattoo on my bodeh! haha — First look at the tattoo (stencil) on my bodeh! haha

Here are photos from Ms. Maricar’s phone (I forgot to bring my camera).

merck marasigan bebejaz jazee llaguno tattoo

Bebejaz Tattoo 2013 Merck Marasigan Island Ink Tattoo

Merck Marasigan - Island Ink Tattoo Boracay — Merck doing what he’s good at.

[Updated on 22JUL2013]

Merck used super black color for my tattoo and highlighted it with white to make my tattoo cleaner. He said my body was stiff at first but the procedure was quick lang naman. I’d say about 30-45 minutes. After I knew how it felt, I was smiling na rin with the help of RhumCoke na pampakalma LOL! There were some times when I felt like my other shoulder is being poked by a needle but all that is tolerable. It’s not that painful to tell you honestly. I was really happy once I saw it on the mirror. So happy that I was already thinking of what and where I would put my next tattoo!!! Haha. My friends told me that once you get a tattoo, you get addicted to it and they were right! haha! But I said to myself, I want my first tattoo to be really memorable so I’ll leave it as the ONLY tattoo I have for now.. 🙂

When I look in the mirror, my tattoo reminds me that…

Life is full of pains and hardships but I CAN ALWAYS CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY and be thankful for all the good/bad people, experiences and things that God has blessed me with! Because of that, I am what I am today.