YIN-YANG

J's FB status last Saturday: "After attending a Hello Kitty-themed children's party, we were off to a tattoo convention. How's that for yin-yang balance?"

From pink...

To black...

I love the range of colors that paint our dating life! =)

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Now, allow me to share my inked hubby's thoughts on "Dutdutan X: A Decade of Artistic Ink," written Saturday, Sept. 25. (Maybe one of these days I'll also share a photo of his amazing back piece. *wink*)

Top Three Mainstream Moments at Dutdutan X

Okay, Philtag's event is a decade old. But Philtag is the Philippine Tattoo Artists Guild and Dutdutan is a tattoo convention. Never mind that there was a mixed martial arts competition yesterday and a bikini open tonight, but I have never seen the World Trade Center filled with so many people. On second thought, alternative has been mainstream since the '90s. I just wonder whether their appreciation of tattoo is beyond skin deep.

3. Local tinseltown's current toast, celebrity couple Robin Padilla and Mariel Rodriguez posing atop the hood of a vintage muscle car.

2. Robin Padilla asking for permission from his “wife” if he can take off his shirt on stage and show off his tattoos: “Magpapaakalam muna ako sa asawa ko. Dahil ang mga tattoo ko ay dating pag-ibig. Ayos lang ba na ipakita ko?”

1. Robin Padilla showing off his tattoos: “Alam n'yo po, ako rin ay punung-puno ng tato!” Then shows his collection—one on his bicep, one on his chest, and one on his back. It's just that his three fistfuls—even when combined—will be dwarfed by the single backpiece of the little girl in one of the booths, gamely posing for photographs, exposing a bit of her boobies.

Anyway, after seeing all the tattoo flash, tattoo artists, and tattooed people, I'm now itching to shave my legs. Nothing kinky, though. I just want to get large leg pieces. I'm thINKing of having them done by Tatay Nero, the famed founder of Philtag, with his pointilism style.

The right leg will be a contemporary rendition of ukiyo-e (Japanese woodblock prints), inspired by the works of Masami Teraoka and Hisashi Tenmyouya, perhaps with a hint of modern hentai or traditional shunga.

On the other hand, or more aptly, leg, it will be a reworking of the propaganda posters of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, circa Mao's era, jazzed up by the Propaganda Pop and Cynical Realism art movements of the '90s, as represented by the works of Wang Guanyi and Yue Minjun, respectively.

My piercings have almost all closed up and I haven't been inked for over a decade. Maybe, it's about time.