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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Hello there, dear readers. Busy as I am, I have managed to squeeze time on the eve of New Year’s to scribble a final blog post of the year. And what could be more fitting than a summary of my best pens of the year! Upon updating my pen list a few days ago, I have realised that 2/3 of my pens have been acquired this year. That is to say, my pen population had seen an increase of about 200% in 2012, as compared to 2011! That is quite an epic number considering I am a fountain pen amateur. Alright, perhaps only amateurs like me buy every pen they see, without considering too much (I want that pen, I just want it). But this is likely a good start for such a hobby, no? I have not hit the 100s for my pen count yet, but already it is not an easy decision to only choose 10 from my entire posse. So, as the list goes on, it’s good to know that I picked these pens based on a variety of justifications: design, feel, nib, and price. The list is also made in no order of preference. I don’t […]
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When I saw this pen at Georges & Co. in Paris, I just had to buy it. Another impulse buy, I guess. The first reason was that this was a Faber-Castell, which I never ever tried before. The second being the pretty checkered body, which is also a design I never had, and the gloss seemed to have a mildly hypnotic effect on me. The third reason: it is the first fountain pen in broad nib that I have ever encountered. So I had to get it. The first thing I thought of this pen was that it is HEAVY. And no, it’s not the cap. The cap is light, hard rubber-like material, while the pen barrel is made of a thick plastic, lined on the inside by a cylinder of metal. No wonder it is heavy! If I flicked this pen against someone’s head, the person is bound to have a huge purple bruise that would last for weeks. So when you hold the pen to write, it is quite top-heavy, which is definitely not suitable for long periods of writing. However for a signature pen (especially with that broad nib) it would be great! I normally use […]
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Hey dear Readers, I am finally back from my two-week Spain and France trip! Actually I already touched down in Singapore on the night of 12 May, but there had been so many stuff going on that I really hadn’t the time to reply to stuff, read all the Twitter posts I missed, read all the blog posts I missed, nor even BLOGGED! Don’t ask me what happened, it’s a long list of long stories. You must be excited and anticipating my show-off of all the nice stuff I bought from Europe, eh? Here they are: The Writers And the Inkers Sadly as my trip was really rushed, I hadn’t the time to buy anything in Spain. But there I saw pens that looked identical to the kikki.k gel pen that I bought and reviewed not long ago, except for the patterns! No Silver Flower patterns, but with other designs. I didn’t buy them and I don’t know why. Now I regret. The whole lot of stuff that are displayed in the above pictures were all bought from one single store: Georges & Co. in Paris. I will talk about them in another blog post as soon as I can, […]
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