Bang Bang Tattoo in New York.

That's Kevin King aka @blvckwork

Hello from New York City!! The land of pizzas, blonde girls, and basketball! (I'm pretty sure there are more than just these but these are the things I love and this is my blog, so I'm calling it whatever I want. :p)  I'm so so so glad I'm here at this time of the year where the NBA season just returned and there are so much buzz about it!! I love love love this place despite the murderous cold weather. > <! It was forecasted that it's going to be around 15-18 degrees but there were a few days that it went as low as 3 degrees along with heavy rain and strong wind! OMG.

I love my inks but I'm not exactly the most adventurous tatt fan out there. I've always wanted to get a tattoo at every country/city I visit but the fear of aids is real. Can't blame me if you have seen some of those tattoo parlors at places like Bali, Phuket, Malaysia, or even Philippines. I've to give it to those people who have their tattoos done at such touristy spots where it just simply spells AIDS on their signboard. :x

Despite that, I've finally gotten my first travel ink at Bang Bang Tattoo at NYC! I first got to know of them via Instagram. (they actually have over a million followers!) What's so special about them that actually change my mind about getting a tatt overseas?

These guys are professional. Bang Bang is not just a single tattoo artist but it's actually a tattoo parlor that house a team of over 10 professional artists. Not only is the place neat and clean but they are so so so organized. Unlike most tattoo parlors in Singapore where it's a one man show, Bang Bang actually have an admin to help take care of their customers and bookings. They will not only help the artist to manage their time to avoid double booking, they will also take brief for them to know more about what the customers want before allocating to a specific artist for the specific style.

Very spacious studio that goes wayyy deeeeeeper in. And they have a very clean toilet and free wifi too. :p

Of course, you can choose which artist you want if you have a preference or simply because you want Bang Bang himself to do it because of his long list of celebrity portfolio. Yup, he is the guy who also inked famous people like Beckham, Bieber, Selena Gomez and many more.


He is also an author! You can read more about his stories with different celebrities in his autobiography.

Me, not knowing any of them was introduced to Kevin. Kevin is a nice young chap who is not only friendly and easy to work with but also very very very good with the thin lines. Trust me, those thin lines ain't the easiest thing to do and many artists in Singapore actually avoid doing such line artwork.



For those who are interested, Bang Bang Tattoo is located on Broome St NYC which is near to Little Italy as well as Chinatown. Or the famous "Egg Shop" which in my opinion is super overrated. (That's another story for another time)

Do not get cheated by its shop front and think that it's a very small unit. This place is huge. Like I mentioned earlier, they have more than 10 artists and when I was there, around 7-8 of them were working on their customers at the same time. And the others were either doing consultation with customers or working on designs on their iMacs. 

If you know when you are traveling, it would be best that you make an appointment way before hand. According to Shawn (the guy who replied my appointment emails), it will typically take at least 2-3 months for you to arrange for an appointment. Also according to Kevin, they get a lot of tourists coming in and out from around the world so I guess playing the "I will be out of town soon" card might not actually work.

So what did I get?

If it's a travel tatt, it has to be a tatt of my favourite city in the world and where I'm currently at isn't it?



For tatt fans who get a chance to travel to NYC, I would highly recommend Bang Bang Tattoo!!!

Anyway, I'm currently surviving on loads of coffee and my favourite bagels, doing work while trying my best to fight the jet-lag. It's not like I'm getting it bad but I actually need a few hours more of sleep as compared to my usual 4hrs avg sleeping time back home. And I'm putting on so much weight from all the good food here I actually can't wait to go back and hit the gym!!!

Can't wait to share more adventures with your guys but I've limited time in between work. So meanwhile do remember to stay tuned to my IG where I erm, give faster updates than on this space. LOL.

"New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There's nothin' you can't do
Now you're in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new
The lights will inspire you
Let's hear it for New York, New York,
New York"