Among the things that we talked about last night (for 5 hours) was getting a tattoo. I told them the only thing that kept me from getting one is the comic strip Pugad Baboy. I told them that I read one strip where the father, Mang Dagul, told Tiny, his daughter, about how ridiculous Tweety Bird would look on her wrinkly arm when she hits 80 years old.

So M had been showing me cat designs that I can try. I said no. Then he showed me a photo of the makkuro kuroske characters from Chihiro no Sen (Spirited Away) that he would want for his tattoo.

Then I said, yeah, just think how it would look like when you’re 80. Then he quipped, “if I get to live that long.”

I posted this photo on IG stories and another friend of ours, A, commented there that we should all get tattoos at the same time since she also wanted one. 😂

So it seems like we would all be getting tattoos since we’re all in our rebellious phase.

I want to get No Face (Kaonashi)

Another option is to have a tattoo based on indigenous prints/designs like the Kalinga tattoos done by Apo Whang-Od. The problem is, I need to trek to Kalinga province to meet her in the Butbut tribe village. Which I’m not prepared to do. I also don’t want to desecrate her culture since such tattoos are reserved for the warriors, specifically headhunters, of her tribe.

I also like the idea of the pintado warriors of the Visayas, the ones the Spanish conquistadores had fought with when they tried to land in what is now known as Leyte province. The Spanish demonized tattoos later on as these are associated with the indigenous Filipino warriors of yore who had been defending these islands from the likes of them.

My ancestors came from Batangas and natives of this part of Southern Tagalog are known to be feisty and warrior-like. We always had a gulok (or golok in Malay) somewhere inside or outside in the garden as a cutting tool or for self defense. It’s only when my father passed on did we dispose of his rusty gulok.

I learned in one music workshop that I attended (when I was bored with my life decades) ago that Batangas has its own music tradition—the kumintang, or war songs. Again, this was watered down by the Spaniards to become something different form the original. The kumintang now known in Batangas is a music and dance performed by couples and has turned into a…let’s say non-threatening show for the conquistadores.

But I digress. My point is, I’ve descended from warriors so I may have a license to have an indigenous tattoo meant for warriors 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

L said we can get our tats done in Poblacion, Makati. When? I don’t know. What part of the body? I don’t know. I may not even get one since some onsen may be particular about tattooed individuals.

I tried squeezing in my outdoor walk early this evening before it rained. I drove my car to UP because it was already getting dark and I don’t really feel safe walking in the dark once I get near Krus na Ligas to get to my own village.

My walk was shorter than usual because it was about to rain. I spent the last 2 km of my walk under the drizzle.

I was dissatisfied with the calories I supposedly burned so I supplemented it by doing my indoor exercises (core + stretching + weights). There finally, almost 500 kcal.

When I was lifting, my heart rate was around 125 bpm. Sooooooo…if I get stuck inside again, I can double the frequency of my lifts and lengthen my core exercises to achieve the same effect as when I walk 7km.

I’m tired but it’s the good kind of tired. I will start another panel of curtain because I finished the first one the other night.