Bangkok: The Tattoo

This is a quick one because I've had a few people ask and ask about this, so here it is:  I got the tattoo I've been talking about for years in Bangkok, and there's a little (but overdramatic) story attached to it.

Here it is...

Khaosan Road in Bangkok is close to where we stayed our second time in Bangkok, prior to flying to Japan, and it is packed with tattoo parlours, piercing salons, places to get braids and dreads, etc  etc.  Since looking for a place to do it (or not) was one-stop shopping Scott and I went around to different parlours to scrutinize them.  We narrowed it down to one called Full Time by Eak, an artist that was well established, was published in many magazines and who had, most importantly, an impeccable business.  I took the first step, which already made me nervous, in telling them what I was "considering", and came back one hour later to look at the design:  I loved it.

So, to go through with it or not?  I either did it, or shut up and stopped talking about it forever.  Which forever should I chose?  I took the plunge and booked for the next day.  The next day came, during which I had hours upon hours to psyche myself out.  Four o'clock finally came around and I actually walked into the appointment.  The guy was incredibly nice, waiting until the last possible moment to ensure I wanted to do it.  I really really did, but was playing mind games with, well, myself!  I sat down, started getting all sweaty and nervous, and he began.  It hurt, but not that much.  It was bearable, but annoying.  There was one problem:  I focused on it so much, and breathed SO much, I started getting dizzy 2 minutes into it and looked at Scott, all pale and clammy and said:  "I'm going to pass out".  He said, "No, you're not!".  I said, "Yes, I am"...

This is Scott writing now.  And then the head fell forward covered in her mane of hair and it was lights out.  Jenn had just passed out on the chair.  The guy had to stop doing the tattoo; I was trying to wake Jenn up to no avail.  The artist and I had to pick her up off the swivel chair and then put her on a big reclining chair.  After about 30 seconds of talking and cheek pinching she finally started to come around.  Totally dazed she could not talk and had no clue where she was.  The tattoo guy was so calm as if this was an everyday thing.  He quickly went and got a can of coke to bring her sugar up and after about 10 minutes she was standing (only just) and we were out the door and back to the hotel.

Jenn here again.  What a freak I am!  It honestly wasn't painful; I just spent almost 10 years talking myself in and out of doing it, so following through with it shocked me a little.  Ok, a lot.  And I seriously over-react physically to things I notice, so really, I'm just being consistent.  The tattoo artist also told me it wasn't unusual for that to happen to a newbie.  Nice.  Comforting?  Not really.  I had the problem then, of having a minute corner of a tattoo completed, so I had to go back the next day to do it all again!  Since I now knew better, and had calmed down, I acted like a normal person the second time around and got the tattoo finished.  It took about 2 hours, and I AM very happy with it.  

So that's my drama queen tattoo story.  I know, what a loser I am for passing out, but it made me all the tougher for going back again right??