Aesthetic Bay held a Nakaya Pen Clinic from 25-27 August 2015 and I was happy to be invited to the Pen Clinic and the Thanksgiving session for the Nakaya team, which was held on the final day of the Pen Clinic. I arrived there right after work, and there was already a crowd gathered around the table where nibmeister Shinichi Yoshida was hard at work, tuning nibs for Nakaya pen owners. There were also many pens on display, and needless to say, I was tempted by a good many of them! It was fascinating to watch the nib tuning in progress. Yoshida-san was a humble man of few words, and he was very focused on the nib work. The speed at which he adjusts the nib was amazing! The way he ran the nib across a grey stone to smoothen it out was like an artist running his paint brush across canvas. I imagined that if I was the one doing this, I would have removed all the tipping from the pen nib. Yoshida-san also could do grinds for left-handed pen users, and I was told that he does it excellently too. To help you choose the right type of […]
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Some time ago I’ve reviewed the Backpocket Ink Tester that was provided to me by Straits Pen. Backpocket notebooks and journals are made by Curnow Bookbinding & Leatherwork. They come in various designs, and as I found out, paper quality too. If you remember, the Ink Tester that I reviewed had paper that were alright, but not great, as feathering and bleedthrough still occured. This time, Justin from Blank and Write Singapore provided me with a Backpocket journal that was supposed to have better paper. Let’s see how it fares. When I received the Backpocket Journal, I was surprised to see the Blank and Write logo design on the front cover. It must be a special edition, specially made for Blank and Write. Great marketing! Justin has also included a little Blank and Write bookmark made out of a tag as a souvenir. The Tomoe River paper is paper that many may already be familiar with. I personally have never tried the paper before, but have heard raving reviews of it. There had been a couple of “mass orders” on SFPL with big demands of Tomoe River paper. Well, at last I get to try it now in a nice […]
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Ever since knowing about the Online SG50 Vision Calligraphy Set, I have grown interested in Online fountain pens. The SG50 was no doubt a very elegant piece with its brushed red body and the shiny engraving. I decided to look more into another Vision pen, this time a non-calligraphy one, and make a few notes about it here. I have this pen and other than knowing that it’s from the Vision range of pens, I have no idea what specific model name it has. It is nevertheless an attractive pen which is clearly targeted for everyday use. The patterned body is youthful with meandering silver lines against pink and purple alternating strips of colour. Taking a look at the Online Pen website, you can see that they have pens for “Young Writing”, “Fine Writing”, and “Modern Writing”. The Vision range of pens fall under the “Modern Writing” concept, which to me is like the meeting point of Young and Fine Writing instruments. The pen comes in a simple but nice textured cardboard box with a transparent plastic window. Sometimes, it’s nice to have small, light and simple boxes for a change, especially if you’re like me and like to keep […]
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Happy Golden Jubilee, Singapore! 9 August 2015 marked the day Singapore turns 50 ever since gaining independence in 1965. For all my fellow Singaporeans and those living in Singapore, I hope you had a blast during the Jubilee long weekend of 7-10 August! To commemorate this exhilarating year, a task force has been set up to support the year-long celebrations, and it’s called SG50. Throughout the island, one can see the SG50 red dot printed on many places, and as you all already know, on fountain pens too. Before we all get back to work and school tomorrow, let’s have a look at which SG50 fountain pens are up and running about right now, and where to get them (if you’re still able to)! Staedtler SG50 Flora and Fauna Limited Edition Fountain Pen Staedtler was the first that I’ve heard which launched an SG50 pen. It features a Crimson sunbird and the Vanda Miss Joaquim orchid, Singapore’s national flower, imprinted on cowhide leather using Staedtler’s innovative inkjet technology. Such a colourful fountain pen, but is limited to only 98 pieces in the country. Check out my #pendelight article about this pen written here. Where to get it (if it’s still […]
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What is Patreon? I first stumbled upon Patreon a few months ago and felt that it was an excellent concept. Patreon comes from the word “patron”, which in turn simply refers to a person who provides support to an individual, group, or a cause. On Patreon, you can provide support via financial aid to an artist or a creator that you like. If you’re familiar with Kickstarter, you would be able to understand this concept a little better, except where Patreon is different. Like Kickstarter, you fund a creator so that the creator is able to create a specific, usually tangible product to be sold for the amount that the public individual has pledged. The end goal is a product, and there are different tiers for different product types. Patreon has this tiered concept as well, but the end goal may not necessarily be a tangible, physical product. As a Patron, you fund to support creative works being made. OFP On Patreon Yes, of course OFP is on Patreon! The reason why I started doing this was, of course, to earn a bit of extra income, as blogging during my non-working hours is really not an easy task. After a day at my […]
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Pierre Cardin is a famous French fashion brand, and I never thought they were into stationery as well. I’ve just had the chance to use and review a Pierre Cardin fountain pen for the first time, and the pen I received was the Pierre Cardin Grand Aqua fountain pen! The pen came in a nice smooth box with the Pierre Cardin logo debossed on it. When I opened it up, I was really happy to see a beautiful white pen with rose gold trims! The pen looks very elegant with a smooth, shiny white pearl body, and it comes with a converter. The gold trims appear around the barrel, section, and on the clip area. First impressions scored many points for the pen. It was relatively lightweight, which suits it size. It is a medium-sized pen but slightly on the slimmer side. The cap is a pull-off and interestingly, snaps shut at two stops. I believe there is an inner cap which grips the pen at the first stop, and as you push it further, the cap is fully closed. Inner caps are supposed to prevent the nib from drying out – we will see how it performs later. The […]
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Hello there dear readers! Thank you so much for the support on the SG50 Online Vision Calligraphy Set. There was an overwhelming number of entries! I have not had the chance to pick the winners the last few days, but I am finally able to do so today. I bet you are all excited. The winners are: a Rafflecopter giveaway Congratulations to Sandra and Sok H.! Sandra has won for leaving a comment on this post, and Sok has won for subscribing via email to OFP. Of course, I have also verified if they have performed the mandatory action to qualify for the draw (which is to leave a comment on the original post), and they have: To the winners: I’ll be sending each of you an email on winning. Please reply me with your contact details so that I can get the gift to you. Also, leave a comment on THIS blog post to acknowledge winning. To those who didn’t win: don’t give up! There will be more giveaways on OFP in future, so do stay tuned, especially via your blog subscription, to be the first to know about latest posts, reviews, and giveaways! MaybellineI am the founder of […]
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After weeks of renovation and revamping its boutique in Singapore, Faber-Castell relaunched the boutique last Friday, 24 July 2015. More than 60 guests turned up at the reopening event, and I was very honoured to be one of those invited to it! I rushed down from work to the event at Ion Orchard, and very unfortunately missed the opening speeches. I arrived in time, though, to the beating of drums and clashing of cymbals, as the lion dance troupe danced in celebration of the reopening ceremony. Lion dancing is a traditional Chinese dance, very popular among the Chinese community to celebrate special occasions, business openings, and other ceremonies. The sound was deafeningly happy. It was indeed a joyous occasion! There was a registration booth where you could drop your namecards and write well-wishes in a guestbook provided. There were also goodie bags for the attendees. On another table, a local calligrapher, Susan Lui, wowed everyone with her elegant swirly calligraphy on cards holding meaningful quotes. You could get a personalized card, for example getting your name written, in the ink of your choice. Faber-Castell inks were featured and you could choose one or more inks for the writing. Congratulatory flower stands […]
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Alright, as promised yesterday, I have an awesome giveaway for my readers today. In case you’re wondering, yes, it is the Online VISION Special Edition Calligraphy Set which has been launched to commemorate SG50, Singapore’s 50th birthday! The sets are disappearing fast, but I’ve managed to secure 2 sets to be given away, thanks to the very supportive sponsorship of Fook Hing Trading Co. The VISION Calligraphy set consists of a pen with 3 italic nibs of different sizes: 0.8mm, 1.4mm, and 1.8mm, which can be fitted onto the brilliant red body of the VISION fountain pen. The pen itself has a red barrel, the colour of the red of the Singapore flag. It is made of aluminium with a brushed surface, and on it there is a diamond-engraved map of Southeast Asia, featuring Singapore as the star of the region. The pen comes together with a chrome cap with the SG50 logo engraved on it. There is also a 15ml bottle of Rubin Red ink included – “Rubin” being the German word for “Ruby”. The ink is of a bright red hue. The packaging of the product is very attractive – in contrast to the metallic material of the pen, the […]
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If you are looking for a special and exotic nib, try out the Sailor Fude nib. A couple of years ago, I bought this pen because it really fascinated me, but due to multiple distractions, it has been cast aside and almost forgotten. Such a pity! This pen is a Sailor Profit fitted with a Fude nib. By the way, it’s pronounced more like “fuh-deh” and not really “fewd”. It is one of the more affordable, below 20 USD pens, which is a real delight for anyone who want to try one of Sailor’s exotic nibs but don’t want to detonate a bomb on the wallet. You can get it on Amazon as well. It comes in a cardboard box – don’t expect too much from the packaging department at such a low price point – but it protects the pen well. Unboxing it, you’ll get the Sailor Profit Fude pen itself, as well as 2 Sailor cartridges. Sailor cartridges are for Sailor pens only and you can’t use international cartridges in the pens. The pen is very easy to dismantle. Just unscrew the cap, unscrew the barrel, plug in a cartridge, and screw all the parts back. This nib has a […]
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