Brown urushi over light turquoise becomes the popular heki-tame finish. I picked the Neo Standard form, one of Nakaya’s 2009 releases along with the Decapod Piccolo and the Equilibrium Piccolo. Mrs. Tan removed the matte gold clip and replaced it with the dragon stopper I’d been wanting for ages. The Neo Standard gently tapers along …
And I keep forgetting to put their pictures up! I’d seen the pen in pictures, and of course the Takuya website has many handcrafted leather wonders to ogle, but to see the Vestaere for real was a treat. The material for this batch of King of Pens reminds me of the Namiki Impressions. The King …
Mr. Yoshida sat behind a table of treasures: nib testers from super fine to music, trays filled with new wonders of chinkin and maki-e. He was gracious about my fangirlness. When I took three Nakayas out of my pen kimono, his eyes widened and he smiled. He asked me, through his interpreter (whom I later …
And I made it to the store opening! The new Aesthetic Bay shop is on the fourth floor of Ion, the newest, shiniest mall in the coruscating, shimmering paean to capitalism that is Orchard Road. Going up the escalator, I noticed red drapes still covering the shop signs. Aside from the expected flower arrangements speared …
I’m going to miss running to Funan Mall to visit Mr. Tan and the gang at Aesthetic Bay. The Ion is flashy and ritzy and, well, very sophisticated mall-y. But, I’m sure it will mean more foot traffic and a greater chance for the pens to be seen and appreciated by future pen addicts. What …
WHEE!
The thank-you note, reformulated with extra snarkiness for these thankless times. Feel free to add your own in the comments section – or to request me to write one for you! 😉
Very often, I do things which should be labelled, “Kids, don’t do this at home.” I was trying to widen the channel in the feed of my Pilot 742. It didn’t like what I was doing.
I am going through my pen collection with the eagerness of the several-times-successful resaccer, looking for other pens whose sacs have expired and crumbled in their barrels. I’ve had this Estie for years. The sac survived me and my predilection for poisonous ink since I purchased the pen, but all suffering must come to an …
Damn, that’s huge. During a recent foray into Fully Booked, Iñigo spotted what could be the pinnacle of Moleskine evolution. The Moleskine Folio series, created for artists, comes in A4 and A3 sizes, in Plain Book, Watercolor and Portfolio. (There might be a Sketchbook as well, but I didn’t see a sample.) I bought an …