Getting your first TATTOO! My recommended tattoo artists.

Hello everybuddeh!

Do you have a tattoo? Are you planning on getting one? Is it your first time? Then you're in the right place! Haha! I'm gonna do a simple guide based on my experiences on getting tattoos and what should you do when getting one.

Having a tattoo doesn't make you a member of a Mafia group, doesn't make you an evil person, doesn't make you a murderer. Tattoo is just a body modification done by inserting indelible ink into dermis layer of your skin to change the pigment. Two words, ART and SCIENCE. I personally have 8 tattoos on my body and those tattoos are very very visible and huge. That doesn't mean I can't earn as much doctors or pilots can :)

I got my first tattoo when I was 15. Hell, my dad was furious when I got home with a tattoo on my back! We didn't talk to each other for a month. Well, I guess I was too young to think of the consequences because it was all about fun. I regret getting only 1 when I was 15. I should have done more haha! As years go by, I added another and another and another. I love each and every one of them as they have meanings of their own.

If you're planning on getting your first tattoo, here's what you should do:

• Pick the right time to do it. Do not do it if you're gonna be exposed to sun or water (submersion)  a week after the tattoo is done. You gotta give it more time to heal say 2 weeks

• Choose the right design. It could be portraits, geometrical, maori, tribal, calligraphic and so on. You can go to your chosen tattoo artist to request for a design. 

• Choose the right spot. Think twice before getting a tattoo on a visible part of your body. Remember, your body is a canvas and it is freaking huge. If you're doing sales job for example, do it on the back of your body so that it won't be very visible to your clients. Closed minded people judge by what they see, f*ck em.

• Meaningful. Do it for a reason or else you'll find it "pointless" years later. For instance, I have tattoos of both Nasty and Happy and there's no way I'm gonna regret it.

• Ask around. I've had one incident where I did a tattoo on the spot without checking much about the artist's background and he caused my tattoo to be "blown-out" and fucked it up but I'm fine with it. It was my mistake. So, don't do the same mistake I did.

• Do it! Nuff' said. :) Don't be afraid to go back for touch-ups. Be sure to take good care of your new tattoo. 

Here are three of my tattoos, Nasty, Happy and an Ukulele! 

Done by Bobby James

Done by Pip Lubasi

Done by Ronny, Ignore the leg hair :/

**If you're wishing for cheap tattoos, go ahead but don't blame anyone if you get crap out of it. Remember, they spent years of training and improving in what they do. So they charge you with what they think is reasonable. 

I have 3 artists I trust with my life. When the session starts, all I have to do is relax and chill. And when it is done, taddaaaa! I feel euphoric.

Mind you, I've got tattoos from them and my recommendations are purely based on the results they produce on my body as well as their portfolio.

1. St James Tattoo (Bobby James)

• He got his first tattoo the same age I got mine, 15. He wasn't scared at all. 

• How did he got himself in this industry and what inspired him? According to Bobby, he just likes to draw since he was 7 years old. He'll just do whatever he wanted to do and what makes him feel comfortable.

• What's the best tattoo you've had up to now? His reply was hilarious! "It would be the ones done by my friends when they were still 'beginners' although most of the tattoos look shitty" Haha!

• 10 years of professional tattooing has got him hooked up with new friendships and their trusts ranging from lawyer to mechanics.  

• He aims for public to understand more on how to know that a tattooist is good and which is bad. He has had a lot of customers going like "WOW SO EXPENSIVE!" but seriously, you're buying his work that require years of experiences and he is only charging you what he think his art is worth.

• Were you nervous when you had your first customer? "What's there to be afraid of? Its a start of my career!"

• His advice to first timers, "Make sure you know what you want. Do some research and not asking tattooist on what you should get because it is your life, so do what you want!

Be sure to check out St James Tattoo's Facebook page to check out his artwork and get in contact with him! His artworks are undeniably awesome!

     2. Jesselton Tattoo and Gallery (Pip Lubasi)

• Pip did his first tattoo when he was 17. It was quite fun for him because he was curious on how tattoos were done. It was done by a friend of his using stitching needles and mechanical pen ink for the tattoo pigments. It is a common and cheap method back in those days.

• He got into this industry by meddling with his home-made tattoo machine. He tattooed his uncle and cousin as well as his own skin for fun. until he landed a job as a tattooist in Taboo Ink Tattoo Studio in Kuala Lumpur back in 2005.

• He has patches of tattoos all over his body as he collects them from various friends around the world that he trusts. According to Pip, "I wish to have a back piece tattoo". 

• Pip said, "Since I became a tattoo artist, I've joined a few tattoo conventions around Asia and Europe. I've only won once, 2nd place for best tattoo of the day in Dutdutan, Philippines in 2007. Clients' satisfaction makes me happy each time they get a tattoo from me"

• Pip's advice for first timer, "Choosing the perfect tattoo design is more important than choosing the size and DO NOT tattoo your boyfriend's/girlfriend's name permanently LOL!"

Check out Jesselton Tattoo and Gallery's Facebook page! 

3. Passion Of Ink (Ronny Taptoe)

• As common as it seems, Ronny got his first tattoo when he was 17. He wasn't scared but instead he was excited about it.
• He was inspired by his first tattooist as well as friends who are into tattoos.
• Most of his tattoos were done when he was young. He has tons of tattoos and his favourite is the portrait tattoo of his wife and a few skull tattoos on his leg and neck. 
• His advice to you first timers out there, "Do what you wanna do while you're still young so you have stories to tell when you're older".

Check out Passion of Ink Tattoo Studio's Facebook page!

If you're thinking of getting a tattoo, STOP THINKING. Do it! :)

Thank you guys for supporting! As always, be nasty stay happy! We'll be posting stuffs on our site twice or three times a week yea.

Love, Nath.

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Getting your Sulcata Tortoise!

Yay! First post in 2015!

We're gonna boogie oogie oggi, jiggle wiggle and dance with a Sulcata Tortoise. Yes, I am an animal lover and I also have a thing for reptiles. The number of reptile keepers are vast increasing these days especially in Sabah. So, this is my second guide about reptiles, go check out the first one which is on Guide to Bearded Dragons. 

Before I begin, Sulcata Tortoise can grow seriously big as in humongous, enormous, gigantic, supercalifragilistics huge! They are also known the African Spurred Tortoise. Sulcata are the third largest species of tortoises in the world. Baby Sulcata are pretty friggin' cute, trust me. Comparing to Sulcata in the wild, in captivity they grow 3-4 times faster. They can grow up to 80 cm in shell length and weigh 70 kg! I'll attached a picture of how big can a Sulcata get from google images later in this post.

Sulcata originates from the southern edge of the Sahara desert in northern Africa, and that is why they do not do well in wet, damp or cold conditions. They are very gentle and fun to play with. However, placing more than one male together in a housing can cause them to be slightly aggressive because they will ram into each other and attempt to flip them over. You MUST  always be cautious to make sure they do not lie on their backs because they might not be able to flip themselves over and eventually it might cause death. They love burrowing, climb and jiggle jiggle around in search for food. I just love to watch them walk around minding their own business. They're active, yes, very active.

Play and enjoy with them as much as you can when they're young because once they grow, it'll be harder to handle them with one hand due to their size and weigh. You can use brightly coloured edible flower or a piece of fruit to lure them if you need them to move. Baby Sulcata can be kept in vivariums or any dry aquarium. When they grow bigger, no aquarium can fit their size so, you can either build a tortoise house for them or just let them free roaming around the house/garden. If you're planning to put them outdoors, make sure you have secured fencing as they can be very strong and may take down your fences.
Also, make your that the house remains dry and it is best to raise the ramp slightly off the ground so it is not too steep for the Sulcata. Avoid steep inclines as it might topple the tortoise over it's back.

Here is what you need if you're going to get a Sulcata Tortoise.

UVB (Ultraviolet B) Lighting & Heating lamp

Fake grass as carpet or a mixture of soil and sand as substrate

Shallow bowl for water

Landscaping/Furnitures such as rocks/houses

Be reminded!

• African Sulcata Tortoises love to climb. Do not allow them to climb onto things that are too steep as they might topple over. Make sure your landscaping or furnitures are safe for them to climb on and off
• Sulcata love bright or colourful colours. It attracts them. So avoid having small colourful items that are accessible by them
• You have to clean their waste often. Daily is better. They might eat their own shit because shit happens haha!
• Water bowl must be shallow. Sulcata can't swim and get drown easily. They will also use it to soak their body so yea, just keep it shallow. Baby Sulcata love soaking their belly.
• Lighting is a MUST! Why? So they can produce vitamin D3 in their body for stronger shell and bones. Both lightings should be around 20 inches from the Sulcata's body

What to feed your Sulcata? 

1. Grasses (Main food) such as buffalo, bermuda grass, and many more. Do make sure that your grasses are of free pesticides
2. Flowers such as rose, hibiscus, mulberry and cactus (needles peeled/scraped)
3. Green leaves such as lettuce and choi sam
4. Fruits! They love fruits like smokers love nicotine and dessert after dinner.

So, where can you get your hands on them? There aren't many sources here in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah but I got mine from my friend Steven who owns an exotic reptile shop in Megalong. You can check out his Facebook page Exotic Reptile Paradise. Mind you, this is just a recommendation, not paid advertising. 

Once again, thank you all for your generous support! Do share our website to your friends and don't forget to like our Faceboook page! As always, be nasty, stay happy! Happy new year to all!

Picture Source : Wikipedia

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Happy Birthday Nasty!

Today is Nasty's 5th birthday.

Damn we miss him so much. He stayed with us for 3 and a half years since we got him. In Malaysia, dogs are not allowed in apartments. So if you're staying in an apartment, the only way to live with dogs is to make sure they're not a barker. As for Nasty, he is one hell of a barker alongside with Happy, they both go boom boom pow alot. 

Thus, we got complains from management and had to get rid of em. I was in pain, desperation, anxiety, depression but still I gotta find a way. Eventually things got sorted out now and then and both Nasty and Happy are currently living with my parents back in my home town. We miss them a lot, like a lot! Each time they see me when I go back, they go craaazeehhhh! That's why I got Happy, to accompany Nasty. Since born, Nasty was a home pup and never got exposed to other dogs or people. Happy then became his companion. They're like blood brothers.

So this post is dedicated to my boy Nasty. We love you so much. The only aim in my life now is to bring him back here united with everyone. Well that's it.

Once again thanks for being supportive guys, you are all awesome! Be nasty stay happy.

The day we fell in love with Nasty and brought him back home!

2 months old

He once had long long long fur.

Together they dominate my world.

He likes it rough

A picture of him last week

I love you Nasty, Dad.

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Dogs Breed Book Give Away!

It's that time again!

I'm giving out dogs breed book to two lucky readers thanks to Eukanuba. All you have to do is follow these simple steps;

1) Share this post out on your Facebook and include #nastyhappy and give your shoutouts!

2) If you haven't like Nasty Happy's Facebook page, go give it a thumbs up!

3) Be nasty, stay happy! 

4) Subscribe to the newsletter to keep up with future give away!

** Contest ends 20th January 2015. Winner will be contacted via Facebook.

No matter where you are in the world, I will send this book to you!

This give away is in conjunction of this post, check it out : 

http://nastyhappy.blogspot.com/2014/12/getting-your-first-pup.html

Also, a big thanks to Mabelstory for the handmade Nasty and Happy Chibis! Go check out her Facebook page ya'll!  https://www.facebook.com/themabelstory

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Getting Your First Pup!

Hey there peeps!

Thinking of getting a new dog as your pet or as I'd like to call them best friends for life, well you're in the right place. I remembered before I got my first pup, I bought tons of books on how to care for dogs. What I'm going to say here is based on my experiences with dogs. 

Here's a thought, why dogs? Is it because of their loyalty or is it because they're just cute? Well, either way, every dog needs a good owner. Provide your pets with proper attention and you'll get the same attention you deserve.

First, what breed of dogs do you wish for? What sizes? They can be as small as a teacup or even as big as a horse I suppose. If you're thinking of getting a big sized dog then you my friend need a big compound for them to run and exert their energies. You can't expect them to just sit in a cage and waiting for you to pat them. Even small sized dogs, they need to run and that's how they express fun.

If you're thinking of getting a dog and lock em up in the cage 24/7, don't even think of getting a pet fish. 

Second, did you know that you have to pay attention to their health which is very crucial for them to live a long life. Vaccinations and de-worming, food intake as well as environment are the factor you need to control when having a pet dog. You gotta make sure they get vaccinated according to the advice of your vet. Do not feed them with random stuffs, just like humans, they have allergies as well. For example, even feeding them bones could endanger their health because they might cut themselves in the process of biting and chewing. As for environment, as said, they need spaces, the proper temperature and even hygiene senses. If you're planning to let them live outside of your house, be sure to eliminate pests such as rats before doing so. Pests residues or bites can be very harmful.

Not forgetting, they need to be potty trained. It's not going to be as easy as it seem but once it is achievable. Puppies below 6 months old will be much easier to train. Mind you, puppies tend to bite on almost EVERYTHING. That's because their teeth are growing and it eases the pain when biting or chewing on stuffs. So be prepared to have holes in your shoes. Word of advice, go get a toy or artificial bones from pet stores for them to chew. 

Spaying and neutering is fine by me. However, I prefer not to meddle with their natural behaviour in which where they were born to be. So my solution is, instead of getting random genders, pick a gender if you're going to have more than one dog. By doing so, you do not need to spay or neuter them. I wouldn't like if someone meddles with my sexual organs so I assume they would feel the exact same thing. Nasty and Happy are both males. Still, the choice is yours. 

So, to summarize it;

• Identify your desired breed
• Making sure you have adequate space for your pup 
• Health - Environment, food intakes, vaccination & other form of medication
• Training - Prepare some sweet treats for them to be given each time they accomplish a task
• Spaying/Neutering (Optional)

Well, that sums about everything in getting a new puppy for the first time. I recommend adoption before buying. 

"They are an amazing creature because of their loyalty and obedience. They've changed my life. I did not adopt them, they adopted me" - nastyhappy.net

If you have any enquiries or guide requests, do not hesitate to drop me an e-mail.

Here are some pictures of Nasty when they were lil pups! :)

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First nastyhappy Post!

Hey there guys!

I am thrilled to be back into blogging again! Some of you may know me as I used to be a blogger at beyond-sights.com probably 8 years ago. I've always loved writing and by doing this blog, I can accomplish what I love doing.

Nastyhappy.net will basically be about everything ranging from food, travel, lifestyle, charities, to guides and many more! Well, I'm giving a new punch which is the nastyhappy.net give-away. I will be giving out vouchers, gifts, and many more to lucky readers so ya'll gotta' stay tune to any give-away updates. This goes to everyone, I mean everyone around the world! No matter where you are, I'll be posting the give-aways to you!

For starters, I am giving out "RM100 Parkson Vouchers" to one lucky reader. All you gotta do is complete these steps below:

1. "Like" nastyhappy's Facebook page. (You can do it on the sidebar --->)
2. Share this post on your Facebook and include #nastyhappy and your shoutouts!
3. Be nasty, stay happy!

Only 3 simple steps!

Contest ends 15th January 2015 and winner will be contacted via Facebook.

Happy feels like giving out more vouchers :/

There will be more give-away coming in by next week so be sure to subscribe to the newsletter and follow me on Facebook!

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