Marked for life: Stories behind tattoos

That was just the start. Months later, while I was in Hawaii and feeling sad that my trip was coming to an end, I decided to get another tattoo to remember it by.

At the airport, TSA stopped me when they saw my new paper clip tattoo. “What does it mean?” the agent wanted to know.

“Keeping it together!” I said, grinning as I waved goodbye.

That’s when I realized that tattoos make the best souvenirs. I started keeping a notebook that listed my dream artists in different cities.

Tattoos as souvenirs

In Singapore, I got a teddy bear and a rubber ducky tattooed. In Kuala Lumpur, I got school supplies and a cyclist on a tightrope. In Copenhagen, I got a tattoo of the Danish fairy tale character The Brave Tin Soldier. In Hong Kong, Peter Pan—and it’s still the most painful tattoo I’ve ever gotten. In Seattle, I was tattooed for nine hours straight. I will never do that again. But those tattoos remain my favorites: Amy Winehouse on my left arm, Rainbow Brite on my right—the two sides of my personality.

In Tokyo, I got a tattoo of a bowl of ramen near my left shoulder—complete with extra chashu and tamago, just the way I like it. In Berlin, it was a mug of beer. In Los Angeles, a taco. In Italy, I got a girl eating pasta tattooed on my right shoulder. Oh yeah, I like food tattoos.

Of course, I also continued getting tattooed in Manila, mostly by my favorite artists Wiji and Dyuntats Depasupil.

I now have so many tattoos that I’ve lost count. Over 30 of them and all on my arms because I like seeing them all the time. Some are serious, some are silly, but they all mean something special to me. I could fill a book with all the stories.

When you’re tattooed, people have the tendency to ask you the same questions over and over again. Are those real? (Duh.) Did it hurt? (Yes, but not as much as you think.) Do your tattoos have stories or meanings behind them? (Yes. And I especially love the ones inspired by my brother and my grandmas.) Who’s your artist? (It’s a long list.) How much did it cost? (Not cheap but totally worth every penny. Like I told my brother when he was looking for an artist for his sleeve—a tattoo is something you shouldn’t scrimp on. It will live on your skin forever.) What does your family think? (My mom hates them.) What will you do when you get old? (Keep loving them.)

People—even strangers—also like reaching out to touch and rub them. (Please don’t.)

I am trying to decide which tattoo I want to get next. I still have a long wish list.

I relish the whole process of getting a tattoo—from coming up with an idea, choosing an artist whose style matches it and booking the appointment to waiting in anticipation to see what they come up with and finally having it inked.

Trusting the artist

A friend was horrified when he found out that most of the time, I wouldn’t know what design the artist has come up with until the day of my appointment. But for me, that’s one of the most exciting parts—finally seeing how they interpret your idea. When you choose your artists well, you’ll end up with an even better design than you imagined.

I trust my tattoo artists implicitly and like giving them the freedom to add their flair to the piece. That is, after all, why I chose them—because I am impressed by their skill and I like their style. I also want them to enjoy tattooing me. I’m like their walking canvas and I’d like them to be proud of the work they did on my skin.

The healing process used to be the most annoying thing about getting tattooed. But that has changed, thanks to whoever thought of using hydrocolloid dressing to heal tattoos. Tegaderm, Saniderm, Tatuderm—these transparent bandages have been an absolute godsend. They speed up the healing process, protect your fresh tattoos from bacteria, dirt and friction, eliminate scabbing and make aftercare more low-maintenance. I will never heal tattoos any other way.

That’s just one of the biggest changes I’ve seen in the tattoo world since I started getting inked a decade ago. The other is how much more accepting people have become of tattoos—these days, it feels like everyone has one. And I like that.

Just last week, I was buying fries at Potato Corner and the ladies at the stall and the one next to it were eager to talk about tattoos. They wanted to show me theirs.

I really do like talking to people about their tattoos. The stories are always so interesting.

In this column, four of my favorite tattooed people share the meaning behind their ink.

Raymund Marasigan

Musician Raymund Marasigan was already in his late 30s when he first got tattooed. “It’s a logo of Atari on my left arm—the video game I played as a child and my daughter’s name.”

It’s not the only tattoo he has that’s inspired by his daughter Atari Kim. “I have a couple of little stars drawn by my daughter when she was a child. She’s an adult now and she also got a tattoo drawn by me.”

“I think tattoos are expressions of personality,” said the Sandwich, Pedicab, Squid9, Party Pace, and Eraserheads band member. He has a lot of tattoo artist friends and each one has a design specialty.

Raymund no longer knows how many tattoos he has. “Maybe 16 or 20, I’m not sure,” he said, laughing. “I like my tattoos to look like stickers. Each one has a story but I also want them to be funny to me. My latest one is a green Super Mario mushroom which cheekily means extra life.”

He and his girlfriend got matching sunset and sunrise tattoos. “We love how the artist Jajan Labrador Amosco of Coal Tattoo Studio rendered the vivid colors. We later find out that he is color blind!”

He is planning to get more tattoos. “I’ve been thinking of getting an origami dragon.”

Raymund feels that society’s attitude about tattoos has changed over the years. “When I was growing up, they were frowned upon. ‘Pang preso yan.’ Now, I think I know more people who have them than folks who don’t have them.”

Shaira Luna

Photographer Shaira Luna has a deep love for tattoos. She has a lot of them. “Well over 70 if you count the small ones,” she told STAR Lifestyle. “I used to love doodling in notebooks at school, and I guess my skin just became a substitute for that. I’m also quite sentimental, and I really don’t have a problem committing to things—in a way, I love the permanence of tattoos. Except my tramp stamp!”

That “tramp stamp” was a tattoo she got when she was around 18—her very first. “I got a half moon on my lower back, because my last name translates to moon and it was trendy to have a tattoo peeking out of low-rise jeans. I’ve had it covered up three times and it is truly one of my biggest regrets!” she shared, laughing.

Some tattoos mark specific chapters in her life, like the ones that were inspired by her childhood. “I have my childhood pet bird Tiki on my nape, because he was a violet-naped lory and followed me around everywhere. I also have an owl behind my right arm, because that was a nickname or comparison that followed me growing up,” she said. “I have a couple of my friends’ songs and lyrics scattered throughout. Those definitely hold the most meaning for me both emotionally and as time capsules.”

Her favorite artist is Dyuntats Despasupil. “Dyuntats has been my artist for more than a decade! He’s also become such a good friend, and it’s hard for me to imagine getting inked by anyone else. He just gets it!”

Recently, she got two tattoos at the same time—the Taipei 101 on her back and the Eye of Horus on her lower abdomen. Shaira shared, “I have so many good memories in Taipei, and the eye sort of encapsulates one of my favorite verses in one of my favorite songs.”

And is she getting more ink? “For sure! I still have space on the right side of my neck—that could be a Faye Webster reference—and my legs are still blank.”

Wiji Lacsamana

Ask Wiji Lacsamana what’s the best thing about being a tattoo artist and she’ll tell you: “The craft is highly challenging! There is always so much to learn and that’s why it is a deeply engaging and intellectually stimulating practice for me. And then, the clients. I am so grateful to have the most amazing, kind-hearted clients. I also love that I get to connect with them on a level that’s literally more than skin-deep. I am always so grateful to be able to visually memorialize a moment in their lives.”

The way people view tattoos has changed so much in recent years. Wiji has witnessed this shift. “Tattoos have been so democratized,” she said.

In fact, she’s even tattooed clergymen. “I’ve tattooed a couple of priests already! That was fun and also really nice to see how open they are to this artform.”

She enjoys tattooing people and she also enjoys getting tattooed. “I love that it is intrinsically an act that declares sovereignty over our bodies —this vessel is mine, these stories etched on my skin are mine.”

She added, “Whenever I focus on a particular tattoo I am immediately reminded of how I was feeling at that particular moment in my life. They all mean so much to me.”

The artist and astrologer has over 30 tattoos on her body—and she’s planning to get more. “I still have lots of space on my legs!”

Her first is an illustration of The Little Prince that she got when she was 19. “He’s sitting on his planet, watching the sun set. I always knew getting a tattoo from that book is something I would never regret—it’s the first book I read as a child that really blew my mind and got me thinking about more philosophical things. It’s on my back so I don’t see it as much, but I always recall this tattoo, that moment in my life so fondly. I love how idealistic and sentimental and big-hearted I was. I always aspire to always have the heart that I had as a child.”

Her most recent ones are two tattoos on her chest area that were done by her mentor. “I kept going back and forth about what to have on my chest, but in the end I got two abstract portal-looking things.”

Wiji, who is known for her illustrative and watercolor tattoos, is inspired by visual artists like Hilma Af Klint, Agnes Peyton, Ed Ruscha, and Carson Ellis. “Their works are diverse from each other—except maybe Af Klint and Peyton—and I was thinking about the similarities that probably drew me in… Perhaps it is in their ways of truth telling. How immersed they are in their own little worlds. I love how they see the world.”

Kiko Victor

Bartender Kiko Victor got his first tattoo when he was in college—a single-line turtle. “I was inspired by how turtles carry their home wherever they go. It deeply resonated with my situation at the time. It’s a reminder of the strength that I proudly carry until now.”

Kiko, who works at The Curator Coffee & Cocktails in Makati and won Diageo World Class Bartender of the Year PH in 2024, has eight tattoos. “My most recent tattoo was this pair of drunk sunflowers hanging out. It’s a matching tattoo with one of my friends from Vietnam who I competed with last year. We got it in Hanoi after a deadly hangover,” he said, laughing.

He’s having a hard time choosing what to get next. “I’ve been in a slump recently about what I want to put on my body, but I really want to get more American trads this time!”

He loves his tattoo that was inspired by Gary Baseman, one of his favorite artists. “I put him on my arm because he held so much influence on my childhood.”

He also has a tattoo inspired by the work of David Shrigley. “It’s so ugly that my friends laugh when they look at it. For some reason, I can’t seem to explain why I put it there. I just thought it looked cool and I like it.”

He loves tattoo artist Crocodile Jackson. “I’ve been following him for quite a while now because of his waterhose style and modern Western-inspired artwork.”

Kiko shared, “I guess my tattoos show my progression and development as a person throughout the years. People are ever changing so it’s nice that we see it in the ink we put on our bodies. I’ve always been the type of person who is wary about the decisions I make in life, but one thing I love about tattoos is that they’re final. Everything that I put on my body were decisions made with no regrets.”