Monday, July 6, 2009

New Tattoo Studio : Hustla Ink

Attention peeps! There's a new tattoo studio in town and it's called Hustla Ink!


Located at Millennium Square in PJ, the studio has been opened for the past 3 months and has already attracted a legion of fans, thanks to the excellent inking done by its resident tattoo artist Ron (watch this space for a feature on him soon!)


Sandip (Shop Manager) & Ron (Tattoo Artist)


The first thing that definitely catches your eye is the 'design' of the shop itself.....it's got this semi-goth-semi-classy look which is very appealing to the eye and very unlike other tattoo shops. Even the sitting area and 'reception' is very classy with a plush velvet couch. Think La Bodega with its bold use of deep reds and black. Very nice!

Reception area

The only thing it's lacking in is the awesome tattoo smell...which let's face it, is part of the addiction itself.
But give it time....it's still a baby after all (hmm....one wonders if they sell the smell in one of those spray-on cans??....)

Torture Work area

And then of course there are the boys, Ron and Sandip themselves who are very friendly, funny and quite insane (not in the they-need-to-be-locked-up-in-a-padded-cell way, mind you!)


The Dirty : Pricing start from RM150 (B&W) to RM200 (Colour) but it could go as low as RM100 depending on the design of course. Prices are negotiable as Ron understands what it feels like to want to get a tatt soo badly and not be able to afford it. For him, it's more about the passion for tattooing.

But personally speaking, if you plan on haggling over your tattoo price, you probably shouldn't even bother getting it done! :p



Operating Hours : Open daily from 12pm till 8pm.


Location : LOT 1046, First Floor Millenium Square, 98, Jalan 14/1, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia (Look out for their banner above Picadilly's Restaurant)



Assortment of books with tattoo designs

They have several books available for you to select your tattoo designs from. They consist of tattoo books from MPH, designs submitted by their friends, tattoo magazines, and even designs obtained from the net.

They also have Internet access and a printer



Ultrasonic cleaner and Autoclave

Ron does any form or style of tattoos but he is known for his expertise in Japanese, Religious & Gothic tatts, with a particular penchant for angel tattoos and anything that is 'dark' :p He is also more comfortable doing black & grey tatts but let me tell you, even his coloured ones are excellent.

Here are a few examples of his work....you be the judge






















Contact : You can call Sandip for appointments or directions on how to get to the shop at +6012 673 2405.


You can also check out their website here



Sunday, July 5, 2009

Megan Fox Is A Man??

Apparently the star of Transformers and Transformers : Revenge of the Fallen was born Mitchell Reed Fox. You can read the rest of the story here



Now in my personal opinion, the girl can't act to save her life but she sure has some nice ink on her!












Just above her right ankle, Megan Fox has a crescent moon overlapping a five pointed star. It is the one visibly colored tattoo that she has.




A portrait of Marilyn Monroe on her arm.


On her Marilyn tattoo which she got done after the first Transformers : "She was one of the first people I saw on television, like, literally moments after I was born. Every time I heard her voice growing up I always would cry. I wouldn't know why when I was younger but had my own theories. I've just always empathized with her."






The words "We will all laugh at gilded butterflies" on her back which is a reference from Shakespeare's King Lear.



On the inside of Megan's left wrist is a tribal tattoo of two waves entwined like a yin and yang symbol



She plans on removing this tattoo or getting it covered up as the tattoo artist was stoned while doing it and it's now all messed up.



"The guy was smoking weed while he tattooed me and he didn't do it correctly. Now it's nothing and I'm gonna get it removed. I was told he was a really amazing tattoo artist but he wasn't on his game that night. He was distracted."



On the back of her neck, the Chinese character for 'strength'


On her rib cage : "there once was a little girl who never knew love until a boy broke her HEART"

Fox has said of her tattoos that "Every time I get a tattoo, it's a little 'fuck you' to anyone who tells me not to"


The word "Brian"



On her hip, the name of her on again-off again fiance, Brian Austin Greene of 90210, the original one.

Apparently after this, the star wants to get a sleeve. Hopefully she saves some money for acting classes as well *meow* :p





Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Tattoo Mishaps #1

A few years ago i decided to get a tattoo of a cross as a symbol of my faith. I didn't want to get a 'normal' cross since most people had it so i decided to get a Celtic cross.

Can you notice that it is crooked? The left side is slightly higher than the right

Another reason is of course its Egyptian symbolism (which i am totally obsessed with!) where the Ankh means 'eternal life'. Strange, i know, given that i'd like to 'check-out' as soon as i hit 40 but it was Egyptian so....whatever......

Ernesto had to draw it free-hand


Anyway i was short of cash (the sad life of a student) so i decided to get it done by these young punks in some house in USJ.


More of a tribal look to balance it out and make it look centered


They only charged me RM70 so i thought i got it for a steal. But once it had healed, i realised that it was actually crooked! That totally bummed me out of course cos i didn't have the money to go and get it re-done.





Nearly 3 years later, i headed over to Ernesto Kalum's shop to 'correct' it.




I had initially decided to cover it up with a huge celtic-styled tattoo, but Ernesto advised me against it and suggested instead that i keep the same design and just work around it. So he added some tribal curves so that it look more balanced.



The end result was better than i could have hoped for. Ernesto is just amazing in a sense that he knows what design would 'compliment' a certain body type, and he seems to have this 'pseudo psychic' ability to know exactly what's in your mind in terms of styling and design choice.



The revised Ankh


Lesson to be learnt from this : never compromise on price and don't get a tattoo from any punk operating out of a house in USJ!


To submit a story, go here

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Chang's Traditional Hornbill Tattoo

For my first tattoo, I wanted something that can remind me to stay positive and never give up easily in whatever I do…




Robin drawing out the tattoo and preparing Chang's leg


Since I had decided to get an iban traditional tattoo, I felt the hornbill was the perfect choice for what I wanted.




The Ibans believe the hornbill or kenyalang is a messenger of the war god and is believed to provide protection against the intrusion of evil spirits living in the jungle.



Ernesto assessing his 'prey' :p


I decided to get it done traditionally cos i heard that the ink lasts longer and it supposedly has a better, more authentic look to it. Plus....less painful la :)


The tattoo artist was Ernesto Kalum. In my opinion, Ernesto is the man la.. i consider him a legend la coz he got to jam with Noel Redding (Jimi Hendrix's bassist)!!! [Chang is obsessed with guitars].


As for the tattooing, he did an excellent job and he made the experience absolutely fun! Really cool dude!


The tattooing itself was a lot less painful than i initially thought it would be. Already planning for my next tattoo which would be on my rib cage...


The finished design

A big thank you to Prem. He bet with me that i wouldn't dare to get it done....guess who ended-up sponsoring my tattoo? Heh heh heh


Chang with his Hornbill tatt