Greetings from Vietnam – yes, I am on a business trip again. And yes, it gets tiring, and not as fun as people would normally imagine. Am I lucky to have opportunities to travel for business? Yes. Am I happy about it? It depends – when the travel gets really frequent, or if the destination isn’t very pleasant, then not really. Sometimes during such trips, I need to be stuck in jams for ages. That’s really not great, and not productive, as I am usually not able to work on the car without feeling dizzy. Bullet Journals – to beautify or not? In any case, I’d still like to do a quick Noteworthy post for y’all today. The first feature is about a problem I can identify with regarding journaling. Remember how I have been looking for an ideal planner for 2018? The need has been driven from my own envy of beautiful journals that I see all over the place. I mean, just look at the #bulletjournal hashtag on Instagram! How is it possible to achieve such ethereal-looking bullet journals?! It is like a normal person with a less-than-perfect body shape, looking at all the runway models, and hoping […]
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Hello everyone! Not a Noteworthy OFP post today, just a quick update. Final week of September leads me to think about the coming of the end of the year. Which means it’s about time to start preparing for next year. Which means… time for a new planner! How have I fared for my 2017 planner? Well, I can only say that expectations are always more positive than reality. I imagined using a beautiful planner with much diligence and decorating it from time to time. But open up my planner now, and you’ll see only chicken scratches and unkempt scribbles. Not a pretty sight. Not that it’s very important to have pretty planners, although it does lift my mood if I’m seeing something pretty, neat, and colourful. Planning a planner I have been trying to look for one to suit my moods and needs, but to no avail. Well, it isn’t that there isn’t a single suitable planner out there, but as I am picky, I have a tendency to want Part A of this, combined with Part B of another, and so on. I have found a solution though, and that is to design and make my own! And hence, […]
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It’s mid-September and I’m home alone, but preparing for a trip to… Myanmar! For the very first time! However, I’m going there for work and not for business. Still, I wonder how the fountain pen community is like in Myanmar. Do people in Myanmar use fountain pens? Any Burmese readers around? Share your experiences with me, please! Burmese fountain pens? I did a quick search online and found a thread in the Fountain Pen Network, showing photos of vintage Pilot fountain pens made in Burma in the 1970s. How intriguing! You can have a look at the thread right here. Interesting that Pilot manufactured pens in Southeast Asia in the past. The pens in the photos remind me of a crowd favourite: the Pilot 78G, which is also one of my personal favourites. The Pilot 78G is quite the workhorse pen – lightweight, nice nib, very affordable. I’ve written some notes about my 78G experience in this post here. Noodler’s Burmese stuff If you’d like to take a look at Noodler’s products that are linked to Mystical Myanmar, they have the Burma Road Brown ink, as well as the Burmese Ruby Ahab. The Burma Road Brown ink is a […]
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Welcome to the first instalment of Noteworthy OFP! I’ve had some people send me emails recently to tell me about their websites or companies. Since I’ve paused blogging a year ago, it seemed that a few more stores and services have popped up online. It’s great to see that the world is still being interested in fountain pens and everyday carry. Galen Leather The first mention I would like to make today is Galen Leather. Here is a short description snippet of them: Galen Leather is an Istanbul-based leather studio. Mostly making leather covers for popular notebooks, all items are handmade by two persons: Zeynep and her brother Yusuf. Their journey started as a hobby, making a very simple journal cover, and now it is their regular job. Also they are personally interested in fountain pens and stationery, and are members of the Turkish fountain pen community (writetomeoften). They love working with all natural ageing materials like leather, brass and wood. Galen is the name of their favourite precious stone. Also, Galen is the name of a famous philosopher name Claudius Galenus, who was born in Pergamon (present-day Bergama, Turkey – the city of leather). They are focused in making […]
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I’m back here blogging on my site! Thanks to the wonderful responses from y’all in my previous post, I’ve decided to come back here to contribute a series of “newsletter-styled” post once in a while. The poll showed a 96% positive response, which is simply overwhelming. Thank you to all of you for being so supportive. I will call this new series “Noteworthy Onfountainpens”, or “Noteworthy OFP” for short. If you’re on social media, you can use a hashtag “#noteworthyOFP” so I’ll know that you’re talking about it! The series will feature fountain pen related products, articles, and companies that are worth mentioning about. If you have an interesting article or product to share, or would like to get featured on this weekly series, drop me an email at write@onfountainpens.com. I can mention you for free as long as the product or article is of reasonable quality. Don’t forget that it needs to be related to fountain pens and writing. This Noteworthy OFP series is a step up from my previous Sunday Inkings series. In that series, I introduced links from other blog posts without much more details. Now, I’ll be writing a little bit more about each article or […]
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I’ve made my fair share of mistakes when it comes to using fountain pens. Leaky ink, splayed nibs, scratchy writing – these things can all take the pleasure out of writing with pen and ink. So, having learned from my mistakes, we’ve put together a short list of the most common fountain pen faux pas and how to avoid them. A heavy hand Fountain pens aren’t like ball-points. They only need the lightest touch to produce a nice flow of ink. Unlike ball-point pens and pencils, fountain pens don’t rely on pressure to work. They use capillary action to get the ink flowing freely. Applying too much pressure when writing with a fountain pen not only makes your handwriting look scratchy, but if you’re particularly heavy-handed it can also lead to splayed nibs. Writing on shoddy paper A fountain pen is only as good as the paper you’re writing on. You’ll find certain notebooks work better with different inks. There’s lots of room for personal preference when it comes to paper for fountain pens; but even so, there are some notebooks that really don’t cope with fountain pens. Some papers absorb too much ink, creating bleed, making the writing difficult […]
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I blogged a few days ago that there was going to be a Pilot Pen Clinic in Singapore, and I had to miss it due to work trips. It was a rare event that I wish I could have attended, and met the Pen Doctor, Mr. Atsushi Takizawa, in person. It was really too bad that there was a schedule conflict! Nevertheless, Pilot Singapore and Mr. Takizawa have very kindly accommodated to my request of doing an email interview instead of a face-to-face one, so I am really appreciative of this opportunity to ask Mr. Takizawa a few questions. Mr. Atsushi Takizawa is Namiki’s nib specialist, with 14 years of expertise in mould designing for pens and jewellery before he specialized in nibs. He has been travelling globally to service Namiki pens since 2005. I was curious about some of his personal preferences and experience and was interested in his perspectives of nib choices. Here were the questions asked and the answers provided: Nibmeisters and a pen doctor like you are highly respected in the fountain pen community due to the high level of expertise you possess. It is certainly interesting for us to learn about your life as a pen doctor […]
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I recently received an invitation to the Pilot Pen Clinic in Singapore, but I am absolutely disappointed because… I WON’T BE AROUND AT THAT TIME TO ATTEND IT! Damn, why do such exciting events always clash with my business trips! The Pilot Pen Clinic will be held from 27-29 July 2016, and the esteemed Namiki Nib Specialist, Mr. Atushi Takizawa from Japan, will be present to “diagnose and heal” Namiki pens. Interestingly, he is also known as a “Pen Doctor”, since he specializes in servicing the pens. According to Pilot, a Pen Doctor is a “highly experienced nib specialist who will do his best to service your fountain pen to a reasonable condition within the allocated timeframe. Here is the background information about the Pen Doctor and Namiki Maki-e, (all information and the picture are from Pilot Singapore): A doctor of a different kind – A Pen Doctor, Mr Atushi Takizawa Mr Atushi Takizawa, Namiki’s Nib Specialist from Japan joined PILOT Corporation (formally called The PILOT PEN CO. LTD) in 1981. After 14 years of career in mould designing for fountain pens and jewellery, he joined the tip manufacturing section and has acquired vast knowledge and its technique. Since 2005, […]
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Click, click! Pilot introduces annually some new designs for their Capless retractable fountain pen, and this year they have just unveiled 3 new designs. Two of them are the Kasuri designs as seen above, in green and red. Kasuri refers to fabric that has been woven with dyed fibres that create specific patterns and motifs in the fabric, particularly in the 18th century. The two Pilot Capless Kasuri pens show a simple repeating pattern that is not too flashy, and is subtle enough for everyday use. I wonder why they chose these two colours – might there be some link to the Chinese traditional “red for male, green for female” symbolism? The Pilot Capless Kasuri pens have nibs that come in fine, medium and broad sizes, and are 18K rhodium plated, along with the trims of the pen. In addition, Pilot has also introduced a less traditional-looking, and more modern variant which is the Pilot Capless Midnight Blue. This pen boasts a striking blue colour, with matte black trims which fit the description of being a “Midnight Blue”. This pen looks a little more masculine and might attract those who enjoy a contemporary and sleek-looking pen. The blue barrel has a […]
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I bought the Montblanc Rouge et Noir ballpoint pen. Before any of you scream at me for buying a non-fountain pen – and a BALLPOINT PEN in fact, let me try to redeem myself by explaining why I bought it. 🙂 Truth be told, I do have a great many fountain pens, but how many do I actually use – and how many cartridges or converters do I actually finish using – in a year? Probably less than my fingers can count. It’s quite unfortunate that I don’t get to use fountain pens because pretty much the only time I get to use a pen would be at work, where I need to scribble in a designated laboratory book, of which the paper I wish I could burn. In fact, most of my time is spent at taking notes in this one and only book, so I never really got to use fountain pens that much at work. Outside of work, I don’t tend to write much. The only journal I keep is this website. I love my fountain pens, but I don’t get to use them enough. So 2 weeks ago, I went to the Montblanc anniversary private event in […]
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