Kalinga Tattoos of the Philippines

Dog Brothers

This is what all the training comes down to,and what i spend my Sunday mornings on when my body allows it,the bruises are worth it

BassCoast

Flor de Cana Finals

I made the finals and will be competing for a trip to Nicaragua,and im up against 22 talented bartenders.
The 23 Competitors in the 2nd Annual CPBA Cocktail Challenge are:
(in no particular order)
Tarquin Melnyk – Global Wine Merchants / Lamplighter Pub?
Robert “H” Holl-Allen – Jules Bistro
Graham Racich – The Refinery
Tia Stonier – The Mix by Rics
Keenan Hood – The Keefer Bar
Jonathan Richard – The Vancouver Club
Jason Browne – Calabash Bistro
Arthur Wynne – The Cascade Room
Katie Sita – Cin Cin
Grant Sceney – Lobby Lounge Bar Fairmont Pacific Rim
Rob Scope – Calabash Bistro
Jon Smolensky – Hawksworth Restaurant
Evelyn Chick – Uva Wine Bar
Giovanni Giardino – Campagnolo
Joey Donnelly – Granville Room
Marc Smolinski – A Drinker’s Peace
Trevor Kallies – Donnelly Group
Joel Virginillo – The Refinery
Derek Vanderheide – Rosewood Hotel Georgia (1927 & Prohibition)
Justin Taylor – Yew Restaurant & Bar
Colin Macdougall – Blue Water Cafe
Gez McAlpine – The Keefer Bar
Marlo Panucci – The Market at Shagri-La

A year has passed

Its been a year out since i have left coffee and have gotten behind the stick and started to mix drinks again which had a few bumps along the way with re-learning specs of drinks and getting my rhythm back into being able to consistently make cocktails and serve without getting flustered.

It took a few months of re adjusting and the kick i needed to up my game finally got me back to speed.

In the year that has passed,I have entered quite a few comps,have one a couple and placed in a few.
The layout is similar to barista comps BUT its all compressed into 5-10 mins,depending on the comp,which at first was quite daunting but you got used to it,and going up against heavy hitters in the industry really got my skills honed probably better than what it was a decade ago when i left to travel to pursue coffee.

I really enjoyed Black Box comps,where you dont know what your getting till you open the box,it tested you out for creativity and originality.I also love the community and the way everyone encourages you push yourself at every drink you make.

I will be moving from The Cascade Room on Main St to our new bar that is opening up on Union St just off Main,and have been handed the helm to write up a cocktail menu for the new bar,which is pushing me to come up with some fun and tasty drinks.As soon as it opens i hopefully will have pics of the drinks and the recipes up as well.

DINER: Habit & Cascade Folks To Open New Southeast Asian Restaurant, “The Union”

Im also the second competitor for this months Bittered Sling Bistro Competition,which is an off shoot to The Cocktail Kitchen,which will be keeping me on my toes.

GOODS: Kale & Nori Launching “Bittered Sling Bistro” Cocktail Competition Series

Awesome Acts of Randomness

Its been quite a while since ive actually thought about writing.

But this week something happened,in the mail i received a book from my sister for my birthday.
It was a tattoo book,not your ordinary old tattoo book,its MAU MOKO,The World of Maori Tattoo by Ngahuia Te Awekotuku and Linda Waimarie Nikora.
I havnt yet started reading its content but have quickly flicked through it to get a preview of whats to come,so im excited to get into it.

Ive also been learning a lot about filipino tattooing,being filipino myself,im kinda curious of what indigenous tattooing culture are alive in my country of birth.
what piqued my curiousity to learn about my roots was the sad passing of my grandmother.
As a child before moving to Australia,she would tell me stories,but i never understood any of it.
Now a few years after her passing,curiosity was getting to the point where it cant be ignored any longer,so with the help of the internet i started to search.

What i found was TAKTAK NG APAT NA ALON TRIBE http://www.apat-na-alon-tribe.com its a group of young guys doing a revival of filipino tribal tattooing.
its a dying art form,and so is the history which is unfortunate as there isn’t many of the head hunters left in the Philippines,so its quite inspiring to see these guys bringing back the awareness within the filipino community.

the second thing i Found was Lars Krutak http://www.larskrutak.com/articles/BatokFestival.
Now Lars Is an antrhopologist who is travelling around the world documenting tattoos.
There are a lot of beautiful pictures taken of the kalinga tribe,which i hope i get to see for myself.

Third find was The Vanishing Tattoo http://www.vanishingtattoo.com this is a website focussing on tribes from Borneo,Polynesia,Philippines,all the way to Scotland.
Now…..this is where it gets quite cool,i was in my kitchen preparing a snack,when i see him park his car,Vince calls out to say hello,now,in the 3 years ive lived in the apartment building,we have probably crossed paths a couple of times and exchanged quick hellos.
Today was different,as i leaned out my window to have a chat he hands me a dvd…..The Vanishing Tattoo
Strange,i said to him,Ive been wanting this dvd for ages.
Its yours
Sweet…..so we talked more and i said to him,have you heard of Lars Krutak,he said yes,and my jaw dropped……Ive done work with him.
my knees almost buckled.
Holy Shit,Not only did Vince know him but has also worked with him,so the icing on the cake was he also did The Vanishing Tattoo dvd.
All this time of trying to find info on history on traditional filipino tattooing,i find out my neigbour is a contributor on one of the sites i found.
Awesome

Tattoos Gone Wrong

ONE NewsBelgium girl with face tattooed

A Belgian teenager has told police how she emerged from a tattoo parlour with 56 stars over one side of her face, rather than the three she had asked for, prosecutors said.

“I said this part, the top, is ok, but not the rest,” Kimberley Vlaeminck from the city of Kortrijk, 90 km northwest of Brussels, told Belgian broadcaster VRT.

The 18-year-old said she fell asleep during the procedure, and woke up in pain when her nose was being tattooed.

A spokesman for Kortrijk prosecutors’ office said police were investigating after a complaint from the teenager.

The tattoo artist said Vlaeminck had agreed to 56 stars.

“She agreed, but when her father saw it, the trouble started,” Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws quoted the man as saying.

Vlaeminck said she wanted to keep the tattoos on her forehead but would have the rest removed

However, Toumaniantz is fighting back, saying that he gave her exactly what she wanted. “She was awake and looked into the mirror several times as the procedure was taking place. The trouble all started when she went home and her father and boyfriend threw a fit.”

Her story does raise a number of questions. Why did she pay and leave the tattoo parlour without complaining? Why was it not a problem until she arrived at home?

And most confusingly, who is capable of falling asleep while a very tender part of their body is being tattooed?

An interview with the most tattooed man on earth…..Lucky Diamond Rich

I had the pleasure of meeting Lucky back in 2002,back then he just had a marquesan face tattoo done,he was having lunch at a restaurant i worked in called savage in surry hills.

Moko Tattoo….A brief history in Maori Tattoo

Have you been Hustled?

So you go away on holidays,hit a hotspot of a bar,the place is hopping like a frog in a bucket of dynamite,you decide to belly up to the bar for a few drinks and watch the bartender do his thing and order a few drinks off them,hand over your hard earned cash,but did you really get what you payed for?

Probably not,as seen here,there are ways to get hustled at a bar while your watching your drinks being made