New Body Art in Kota Kinabalu
On our way back to the homestay from IMAGO Mall, we happened to walk past a tattoo studio called Guntur Tattoo. We had already been thinking about getting a tattoo to mark a meaningful milestone, and this unexpected find felt like the right moment.
An Unplanned Decision
Guntur Tattoo, whose name meant “thunder”, was located on the ground floor of Riverson Walk, just a short stroll from where we were staying. We stepped inside and looked through the designs on display. One cherry blossom piece immediately caught our attention, and it felt perfect—both to celebrate a birthday year and to cover some old scars on the elbow.
We made an unplanned appointment on the spot with Victor, scheduling the session to begin half an hour later. Since Brendan’s birthday was also coming up, we decided to make it extra special by treating him to a swords and roses tattoo on his right upper arm.
Ink Time
We went back upstairs briefly to change, then returned to the studio to begin. Victor worked slowly and carefully, taking almost two hours to complete his piece. At the same time, Darren worked on Brendan’s tattoo, which took a little over two and a half hours to finish.
When everything was done, we were absolutely delighted with the results. We were already looking forward to peeling off the protective second skin in a week and properly seeing the finished work.
Epilogue: One Session Became Two
Three days later, right after returning from Kundasang, we found ourselves back at Guntur Tattoo. After checking into The Shore Suites, we rested briefly before heading out again to Riverson Soho. Cat headed off to the laundromat, while we returned to the studio for another round.
This time, Brendan added a second piece: the words “Fe₃O₄: Break” placed just below his sternum. Meanwhile, we chose to add coloured highlights to existing Mandarin character tattoos on the left arm. These characters represented the names of Cat, Brendan, our daughter Bethany, and oneself, written in Mandarin.
Brendan’s new tattoo was done by Thirdy, while Neil worked on the colour highlights. The session took about two hours for one piece, and slightly longer for the other.
Completely Worth It
We walked out feeling over the moon. What began as a casual walk back from a mall turned into a deeply meaningful and memorable experience.
We were chuffed to bits with our new body art and could not have planned it better—even if we tried!
(Do visit our YouTube Channel Have Perut Will Travel)
📍 Location:
The Klagan @ Riverson Hotel - https://maps.app.goo.gl/m8Q3wjapphY1A8Y77
Guntur Tatu - https://maps.app.goo.gl/Vni9uMbFnUTHPa84A
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