Ah, yet another fine activity which I enjoy; tattoos. I decidedly stated that my hobbies belonged on The Watch Post instead of here so why has this post made it into Hangouts of Singapore?
I feel that tattoos are much more than just a hobby. To me, hobbies are something that I pursue in my free time and do some casual reading up on. They may of course evolve to become rather passionate pursuits, such as my hobby of blogging which I do spend a considerable amount of time on. Tattoos however, do not fall into this 'hobby' criteria of mine. Rather, they flow into my very being, shaping the way I see and perceive things. A lifestyle, I believe that would be a far more apt description as to how I feel about tattoos.
That didn't really answer the question though, did it? To speak in a more straightforward manner, the process of acquiring a tattoo requires that you travel down to the studio itself. Many of these tattoo studios are tucked away in quaint places, so there is quite some exploring to do.
It also requires that you meet people, giving you a chance to meet some very interesting individuals. In a society such as Singapore where money is worshiped, many parents want their children to have jobs that are traditionally known to pay well, jobs such as bankers, lawyers, and doctors. Deviation from such a path is met with the staunchest of resistance from the parents. Oftentimes, very questionable methods are employed to ensure that the child does not stray from such a career path. Tattoos are at best seen as a hindrance to such efforts, if not an outright blasphemy. To these parents, tattoos are an embodiment of everything they do not want in their child.
Given this sentiment, you would expect that tattoos are far and few in Singapore. Yet when you visit a tattoo studio in Singapore, you might be surprised to see that the tattoo scene in Singapore is far from dead. The younger generation in Singapore do not see tattoos with the negative connotations that the older generation hold. If anything, tattoos are actually getting more common amongst young people in Singapore now, which I think is absolutely fantastic.
So, a little more on my personal experience. I am not the most experienced when it comes to having tattoos, given that I am only owner of one tattoo at the time of writing, with a second one to come in late February (a seperate post shall be made on my tattoos). My tattoo in February will be done by Joseph from Visual Orgasm Tattoo Studio, which is probably one of the more famous tattoo artists in Singapore.
If you haven't plead tl;dr yet, I have to go on and say that this is merely an introductory post on the tattoo scene in Singapore, which expresses my personal opinion and feelings on tattoos and that there will be many more updates to come which covers on tattoos.
So I wanted to end this post with a list of tattoo artists I might recommend to a friend who is interested in getting a tattoo. This is of course, not a definitive list, but just the ones that I would go to if I were to put a tattoo myself. Of course, I haven't actually had personal experience with all of them, I merely saw their works on the internet and rated them in my own opinion so you definitely have to do your own further research. Name links to their FaceBook pages, and some have their individual websites too.
+ Portraits / Black & white / Animal portraits
Extreme detail
+ Portraits / Color
Extreme detail
Website: Tattoos by Jerry
+ Big areas (Full back etc.) / Color
Extreme detail
Website: Visual Orgasm Tattoo Singapore
FaceBook Page: V.O. Tattoo Studio
+ Portraits / Color / Black & white
High-Very high detail
Website: Skin Label Tattoo
+ Buddhist / Portraits / Color
High-Very high detail
+ Price / Portraits / Color
High Detail
FaceBook Page: Oracle Tattoo
Medium-High Detail
+ Price
Medium-High Detail
