Off to See Whang Od

The trip was supposed to happen on the same day that Hubby and I were wed nine years ago.  We were going to celebrate our wedding anniversary in another country, as we have been doing for the past five years now. But things don’t always go as planned, see, and sadly, the trip fell through.

To console ourselves, we remind each other of one universal truth: It’s more fun in the Philippines. So tonight, we will embark on a long overdue adventure, not in another country but ours.

We will hop on a bus headed for Tabuk in Kalinga, and from there, take a jeepney to Tinglayan and trek uphill for another hour or two till we reach Buscalan.  The 16-hour journey will lead us to the home of the last living tattoo artist in Kalinga.  Her name is Whang Od (pronounced Fang-Od by locals), and from what I’ve read and seen, she is sensational.  We will tell her that it is our 9^th wedding anniversary and  that we have sought her out so she could mark this milestone on our skin.

It will be Hubby’s 10th tattoo, and my 3rd. To be honest, the thought of getting a traditional tattoo somewhat scares me. It seems so crude and a thousand times more painful.

But I can’t think of a better way to celebrate our life for the past nine years.  It may not be a storybook life. Hell, we never expected to live happily ever after anyway.  But it is a life full of love and mutual respect.  And however imperfect, this life is ours, to have and to hold, till death do us part. We will have our inks done by no less than Whang Od to constantly remind us of this blessing.