The first on the first

"What sort of diary should I like mine to be? Something loose knit and yet not slovenly, so elastic that it will embrace anything, solemn, slight or beautiful that comes into my mind. I should like it to resemble some deep old desk, or capacious hold-all, in which one flings a mass of odds and ends without looking them through. I should like to come back, after a year or two, and find that the collection had sorted itself and refined itself and coalesced, as such deposits so mysteriously do, into a mould, transparent enough to reflect the light of our life, and yet steady, tranquil compounds with the aloofness of a work of art."

      -- Virginia Woolf's journal                      

This year: more writing, more learning and more sight.

Hier

Among the random things that are making me happy recently are a very girly, spontaneous manicure and round two of French lessons.  

The nails, well, I'm enough of a magpie that looking at something sparkly every day makes me smile.  And French?  Well, apart from loving the language and enjoying the daily interaction - every lesson is a revelation -, as a teacher, I relish three hours of not being the one at the front of the class.

Instead of exercising the eyes in the back of my head, I'm quite content to open my books, lean back and let someone else take the reins.  

(Plus, one of the teachers is pretty funny and I have an entire secret sidebar in my notebook for his daily jokes, for example, "When you use the reflexive, you are doing something to yourself.  Like I bathe myself, or I dress myself, but there is one verb you are not allowed to use on yourself: to argue.  Because you can't argue with yourself.  Unless you're Gollum."  Oh, you!)

My travel journal

My colleague Rebecca and I have been planning our trip to Europe since last year.  One day, we were lolling around on the office couch (working, obviously) when we realised that we had photography, a love for coffee and wanderlust in common.  And so, after slogging for seven months without a break, I'm finally off on a month-long adventure with her!

As much as I love my current Muji spiral-bound dot grid journal, I felt like this holiday deserved its own book and so I've pulled out one that I've been dying to use since my colleagues got it for me for my birthday last year: A leather-bound Kikki K travel journal!

While I don't normally like travel journals that are fussy and full of maps and random forms that I have no interest in filling in, this one suits me perfectly.  It's full of blank, lined and gridded pages so that I can draw and write whatever I please, but also contains cute quotes and doodles.  

Instead of forms, there are a couple of pages with prompts such as "describe your day on a plate" and "what are your surroundings right now" which I find very charming.  And of course, a back pocket filled with stickers never hurts!

I'm trying to pack very lightly for a month so I'm not bringing my laptop and probably won't be blogging (though I might queue a couple of posts).  I hope to be back though, with stories to tell and pictures to show.

The stories, at least, I can now record obsessively.

Weapons of choice

Here's a quick glimpse of the book I'm currently using as a journal; a small Muji notebook that I've had for two years but never really delved into.  It's all the things I promised I'd never do - white, spiral bound, dot grid - but I.  Love.  It.  

Maybe it's something about the way the spiral holds a keychain that one of my students shyly handed to me last week.  Maybe it's that the dot grid perfectly contains both my cramped handwriting and drawings.  Maybe it's that the pale cover matches whatever I throw at it.  I'm completely smitten.  I don't even mind how the spiral makes me contort my hand over to the next page.

While we're at it, I thought I would showcase a few of my weapons of choice as well.  The paper is possibly a poor 80gsm which isn't bleed proof for markers (I don't even mind that!) so I've been relying on gel pens for colour, as well as stickers, deco rush tape (essentially correction tape with patterns on) and of course, my beloved rolls of washi.

From left to right:

1)  Mildliner in lilac - just about the most acceptable amount of inkiness before bleedthrough hits.
2) Pilot Hi-Tec-C Maica Gel Ink Pen in brown - I bought it for the jewelled top and the loop in the cap for stringing charms just killed me. 
3) and 4)  Muji 0.5 gel pens and cheapo plastic pen grip.
5) Uniball Signo 0.38 in Green Black - my new favourite colour.
6) Uniball Signo 0.38 in Black - the best everyday pen ever.
7) Delfonics pen from Becky - Awesome for lighter grey lines and precision in a ballpoint.

A cup of kindness

Unlike Christmas, which I am rather ambivalent towards, I like New Year because it feels like a new beginning for me.  Sure, it's arbitrary and man-made but an artificial chance is still a chance. 

From the age of 12 I've been making resolutions (some absurd and most not kept) but this year I got to thinking about the resolutions early.  At lunch with Edie, Sindhu and Shirin the other day, Sindhu put forward the idea that if you cannot genuinely be happy for people, the Universe takes things away from you and I was greatly struck by it.

I felt like the principle extended to a kind of general niceness - if I couldn't genuinely try my best to be kind, then maybe there would be some kind of seriously negative energy generated. 

The more I thought about it in conjunction with my resolutions, the more I realised that all the mean, unkind, inappropriate things that I do, say or think have to do with temptation.  Anger and irritation tempt me to mean thoughts or unnecessarily sarcastic words.  Delight in gossip tempts me to see the worst in people.  

And while I don't really think people should eschew wicked humour and view each other with a sugary piousness, I do feel that I could try harder to understand where people are coming from or to walk a mile in their shoes rather than judging them in my head right off the bat. 

I happened to run out of pages in my old journal several days before 2014 and so, with the theme of fresh starts in mind, I put this C.S. Lewis quote on the first page of my new one.  

In the New Year, I plan to practice holding off the temptation to be nasty... for an hour each time, at least.

While stocks last

Just looking at that Mustafa window logo makes me excited.  So much oppoortunity!

I tend to forget about Mustafa and grump about the cost of living until, every few months or so, Mel texts and suggests going there in the middle of the night.

Among the goods that are up for grabs: a pack of 12 red leaf ballpoint pens for $4.  A box of 50 Zesta Ceylon teabags (good tea!) for $2.50.  50ml bottles of Adidas Eau De Toilette for $8 a pop.  

And a camera section that I studiously ignore.

Monday night

It's been ages since I did any colouring.  It felt good to flex the fingers and take the Derwents out for a walk.

A couple things

Last week was lots of fun.  Because the 'rents were out of town, I got to do whatever I wanted, swanning round the house like a Duchess.  (Full disclosure: when they're away, I pretend I'm the Queen and sleep in a different bedroom every night.  The best nights are in the giant king-sized bed in the master bedroom.  I toss and turn with abandon and wake up feeling delighted.)

I also got to spend lots of time with my friends, including a long overdue book-binding tutorial with colleagues where I made this.

Now, I like to journal and I like to draw, but I can't do crafts to save my life.  I'm one of those irritating people who can't cut paper in a straight line, even with a guide.  I briefly entertained origami one long-ago Christmas morning and ended up shredding neon paper and flinging it violently at my mother.  (She's crafty.  And smug.)

So for me, at least, the bookbinding session promised to be a disaster.  And you know?  It wasn't half bad.

It started off a little shaky, but I think once I got the hang of the strokes and how tightly I should be pulling the thread, I managed to make a somewhat decent piece of stationery that I would probably use.

We used the coptic stitch, which means that the book will lie flat. 

It's too complicated for me explain via text and we had Rebecca actually giving us directions, but there are plenty of videos on YouTube and it's how most people learn.  The clearest video I can find is this one which has a great view of the steps and some good instructions.  All you need is a needle with a large eye, thick thread, paper to fold into signatures, and covers.  We used some plain 100gsm stock and for covers, I cut up a cereal box.

Speaking of boxes, the first round of Project Box also ended last week.

As I said here, Rebecca, Amanda and I decided to start sending some good old-fashioned mail to each other in the form of a themed package every month.  Instead of writing letters, we planned to design a package of presents, artwork, photos and other bits and pieces.  This month's theme was "Greed" and I sent my package to Rebecca.  In turn, Rebecca was supposed to give hers to Amanda and Amanda, hers to me.

When I opened my mailbox to find one package from Rebecca and one from Amanda, I was first confused, then worried that we had gotten our wires crossed and that Amanda was receiving nothing.

To my surprise, Rebecca's package came with two pictures in a frame, a red pen for Teachers' Day, and a note that said:

This is my interpretation of greed.  Putting two photos in one frame.  

Sending two packages when you're only supposed to send one.

I thought it was a very unexpected twist on the theme.

Her brother, an animator, drew the second picture.  She didn't say it, but I know that's me being greedy over a massive pile of sweets.  Rebecca knows I'm a chocolate fiend and we spend ages at work lolling around the pantry and teasing each other with, "How many calories do you think this cookie is?"  (Amanda said hers was a girl surrounded by piles of clothes and handbags!)

Amanda's, as I suspected it would, employed washi tape to generous effect.

She made me this awesome piece of washi art that I've displayed on the porch with my mother's favourite cat statue.  I was especially touched that she'd used loads of her favourite red and white washi tape - ostensibly the one she's most greedy over.

This month's Project Box theme is Blue.  I'm meant to send something Amanda's way and I've already started planning it.  Hopefully it works as well!

Thus friends absent speak

Friday is my default day off.  I like waking up early in the mornings, taking walks, dawdling over breakfast.  Some Fridays though, when my mother asks me what my plans are, I put on my haughty Downton Abbey voice and say, "I will now be taking care of my correspondence."

I'll be the first to admit, it's romantic to think of sitting at a desk on a windblown weekend and penning elaborate missives to various suitors (hah!), but the reality is that I also just really enjoy writing letters to friends.

There is something deeply exciting about receiving letters, postcards and packages from friends.  I love guessing what's inside, opening them up and noticing all the little personal touches like comics, drawings, stickers, the quotes that have been chosen, even the paper they were written on.  One of my most treasured letters comes from a cousin who wrote it from a cafe in France, in flourishes all over sheets of thick cream paper studded with lavender petals.  In contrast, another was mailed halfway across the world by a friend and is hastily scribbled on a torn sheet of notebook paper and covered with scrappy cartoons.

In return, I love writing letters, thinking of the surprise that people will get when they shuffle through bills and flyers.  The time delay aspect of it is exciting and I like to put a little bit of effort into the kind of stationery I use.

Previously, I would buy expensive stationery from places like Artbox or Stationery Island.  Don't get me wrong: the paper quality is delicious and the designs are ridiculously cute, but I've recently discovered that in terms of value for money, you absolutely cannot go wrong with Daiso.

I recently popped into the Plaza Singapura branch with Ann-Marie and was pleasantly surprised to see that their stationery selection has increased exponentially.  An entire aisle was devoted to letter paper and notecards and at $2 for 10 to 12 sheets of paper and envelopes, the stationery is definitely more wallet-friendly than, say, Artbox's $4 for five sheets or so.  Some of the packages even come with stickers to seal the letters with!

Needless to say, I quickly stocked up and now have enough paper to correspond with half the world. 

The designs are pretty cute if you can ignore the ridiculous Engrish.  (Actually the small ladybird notecards are cracking me up because they rather ominously warn "There is a person who wants to inform..." and I want to give them to students as encouragement for their exams.  I sometimes pretend to be menacing in class, so I know they'll get the joke.)

The paper quality is rather uneven.  I've already sent out several letters - the adorable rabbit paper, which is my favourite design, is thin though not offensively so, but the floral blue paper is actually thicker than a normal sheet of A4.  I guess it's a little bit of a gamble, but as long as you write with a ballpoint, it should be all right.

I broke the paper in by putting together a package for something that I'm doing with my colleagues, Amanda and Rebecca, called Project Box.  The idea is that every month, we'll post a package of stuff to each other based on a theme that we've picked.  The theme this month was "Greed" and we were free to interpret it as we liked, through photos, articles, snacks and so on.  My version involved collecting a bunch of things that I was feeling greedy over and paying them forward to someone else (washi tape!). 

If you like writing to friends and are not too fussed about paper quality, I highly recommend a Daiso run. 

I'm also already planning the next batch of letters and if you enjoy receiving random letters and don't mind participating in some old school conversation, I would be happy to add new "penpals" to the list!

On a sidenote, Ann-Marie and I really enjoyed lunch at Hoshino Coffee that day.  The food was simple and tasty and I was so enamoured by the way this cheesy, fluffy, golden souffle looked that I had to take a picture.

I was also in the mood for a good coffee (Ann-Marie said, quite rightly, "When are you not?!") and the latte was not foamy but quite nicely balanced. 

The rest of my weekend is aimed at wandering around and taking some photos for practice.  I hope you enjoy yours!

Overjoyed (and a notebook geek out) aka cheaper than a Moleskine

Happy National Day, Singapore!

I've written about the random stack of empty notebooks that I own before, none of which were actually purchased by me.  A couple of them were Moleskines from my mother's events; there was a Moleskine-alike that has brilliant paper but that probably won't work as a journal because every single page is perforated (why!), and a Leuchtturm 1917.  

Since then, I've done some swapping and given some notebooks away.  (I can never resist a notebook-junkie friend asking to try something.)  I've also come down to the last ten or so pages in the Zequenz I'm currently using as a diary and although I love what I've done with it, I loathe the ridiculously translucent paper.  I decided to actively buy several notebooks that I've always wanted to try and have them all side by side so that I can review them and find my favourite once and for all. 

This desire was aggravated by the fact that the local stationery blogger, Wandrrlust, pointed me in the direction of Overjoyed, a stationery shop in Golden Wall Centre that apparently happens to be the only supplier for Clairefontaine in Singapore.  I have been dying to get my hands on some Clairefontaine paper to try and I thought it was a distant possibility if I ever visited Europe again.  Imagine my delight to find that it's available in my own backyard!

I've pared the stash down to five notebooks that all seem to meet most of the criteria I have and none of the notebooks that I bought are more expensive than a Moleskine in a shop like, say, Popular or Kinokuniya.  So.

I'm going to do a general overview before I get to writing in each notebook in turn.

First, a note about Overjoyed (Facebook here).

If you are a paper geek in any way, shape or form, please, please come here.

It's more an art store than a stationery shop and there are loads of paints, brushes, easels and wood pieces for people looking to do art projects.  Makes sense since it's located right next to the Lasalle College of the Arts.

When it comes to notebooks on the other hand, it has a formidable supply.  For one, they are the only shop that gets notebooks that come directly from the Clairefontaine supplier in Europe, which means that they carry Rhodia, Quo Vadis and the elusive Clairefontaine itself.

(Sidenote: I'm a little fuzzy on where the company stands right now, but I believe that Exaclair, the parent company for Clairefontaine, currently owns Rhodia and Quo Vadis and as such, there are Rhodia notebooks with Clairefontaine paper in them.  The Quo Vadis Habana is supposed to contain the same stuff.  It gets confusing when you realise that there are still Rhodias for sale with Rhodia paper in them (I can't tell if this is just another name for Exaclair paper or an entirely different product), but it's supposed to be very good as well.)



At any rate, the sheer range of paper in Overjoyed is impressive - there is a whole range of Clairefontaine paper that runs from pulpy-looking recycled sheets in the Zapbooks to the smooth as silk 90gsm fountain pen friendly stock it is so famous for and then all the way up to a 120 - 140gsm art block range.  I also saw Monologue notebooks and a whole bunch of Strathmore products.

The staff weren't overly friendly at first and eyed me suspiciously as I went around reverently handling things but when I started asking about where they got the paper from and about various bindings, they relaxed and we had a nerdy chat about the stock.  They're fairly knowledgeable and very concerned about the display and quality of the products, which is excellent news for notebook lovers.

I decided to get a range of things (a couple were presents) and for myself, I kept two notebooks, both by Clairefontaine and filled with Clairefontaine paper.  

My current stash, from top to bottom (all lined):

1)  Paperblanks Parabole Ultra Wrap Gutenberg Bible design (way bigger than A5)
2)  Clairefontaine A5 Spiral Bound
3)  Clairefontaine Jasmyn
4)  Leuchtturm 1917
5)  Moleskine

(Does it bother you that the band on the Leuchtturm is twisted?  I've just noticed it and now it's driving me nuts.)

I gave one Clairefontaine A5 Spiral Bound to my friend JM because I thought she would enjoy the paper and I gave a Rhodia Webnotebook (with Clairefontaine paper) away to my friend David.

A quick word about the stupidly-named Webbie: when I gave it to David, he unwrapped it straightaway and we fell to testing the famous paper.  I wrote with a fountain pen on the first page and there was absolutely no showthrough, which means, hurrah for markers!  The binding is not perfectly flat but I think it is flat enough and the paper is very pleasing even though drying time is a little longer.  For $16.90, I think it is a wonderous alternative to the Mole and will make a perfect regular use notebook.

Here is where the books stand at present, if I'm comparing like with like.

The Clairefontaine Jasmyn is my favourite.  I love everything about it from the vivid pattern to the wraparound cover, held in place with two magnets.  At $24.90, it is very pricey and I probably wouldn't buy too many of them but given that they are about $15 cheaper than Moles in Singapore and the pure quality of the product, I think you get what you pay for.

This is going to be my next journal and I already see myself loving everything from the lines to the beautiful little touch of the metal tag on the bookmark.

It lies flat with a bit of coaxing and even though the lines don't run all the way to the edge of the page, I don't mind because my words tend to fall off the edge and this will stop them.

This is the other Clairefontaine I bought, a simple A5 spiral bound (in my understanding they're constantly coming out with new cover patterns) and I had to give one to Jia Min to try.  The paper is a beautiful smooth 90gsm fountain pen friendly white that feels glossy and cool to the touch and for all that, it costs $6.90.  Yes.  $6-freaking-90.  I could buy a whole stack of these for all kinds of nonsense at the same price that Azone or Ugrade sells them.

To compare the two:

Both books contain the fountain pen friendly 90gsm, but the Jasmyn has the more sophisticated ivory paper and the line distribution is more to my liking.  Ultimately though, for the price, I don't think you can discount the spiral bound.

One other good thing about the Jasmyn though, is that the wraparound design means that the book won't flap open and things are less likely to fall out.  As a test, I randomly stuffed the book with thick index cards in the photo above and you can see that although the pages buckle a bit, the wraparound cover is built to be able to hold some expansion, which means that you can paste things in it!  Perfect journalling material in my opinion.

The next comparison is between the Paperblank and the Jasmyn.  I've resisted trying a Paperblank for the longest time because something about the binding and design really throws me.  Recently however, I saw a couple of videos about the high quality control of the binding and paper making process and thought that maybe it was time to give one a shot.

You can get these in Kinokuniya which is having a delightful 20 per cent sale till this Sunday (run!).

I'm both unimpressed and pleasantly surprised.  First, that the covers are absolutely stunning is undeniable.  Some of the books have metal clasps and intricate gilded covers and pages.  The Gutenberg Bible design above has the most beautifully notched spine.  The binding also suggests that the book will eventually lie acceptably flat, so okay.

This is the most pricey brand that I paid for though (still cheaper than a Moleskine!  Argh Moleskine, are you listening?) and while the paper is thick and durable, the line spacing irritates me (not in a scientific way or anything, just gut feel) and it is quite a bit more toothy than Clairefontaine.

(Clairefontaine left, Paperblanks, right)

So maybe again, not something I would purchase on a regular basis, but they will make absolutely delicious presents.  I can just see someone receiving one and feeling like they have a beautifully made, vintage-look book to write special things in.  Good work, Paperblanks. 

Now the final comparison - the ubiquitous, love-hate Moleskine and the Leuchtturm 1917.  A disclaimer: I don't think I can truly judge both books until I've used them for extended periods of time in close proximity, but this is a first impression.

Again, I was surprised here.  I expected to like the Leuchtturm a lot more.  I expected to feel like the Mole was cheap and shitty and that I would never want to look one in the face again, but what can I say?  Old habits die hard.

The inside front covers are quite similar but I prefer the Moleskine font and warmer colour.

The Leuchtturm has contents pages!  Which I imagine would be quite impressive for some people except that I have no clue what I would do with them.

Here's where the real difference lies for me.  Yes, the Moley paper is cheaper and possibly quite crappy.  But I don't write with a fountain pen so I'm not sure it will matter.  I like the colouring of the Moleskine paper better and contrary to popular opinion, I even like the obtrusive colour of the lines.

I love the fact that the Leuchtturm's 80gsm pages are numbered, but I hate that date thing on the top of the page.  Where do you get off telling me where to write the date, huh Leuchtturm?  Especially since it's right smack in the middle and I don't write the date on every page?  It looks so ugly and it completely throws the alignment of the page off, especially if you like to write left-aligned.  And why the random two languages here but three on the contents page?!  Why?! 

Ahem.  On that... impassioned note, I'll leave off here.  Ultimately, without having used any of these for a long time, I suspect that my favourite will be the Jasmyn, with the Rhodia possibly coming a close second and the Moleskine acting as a comfortable, old shoes type standard fallback. 

I'll probably have a better idea in a few months at which point, I'll do an update.  It's all a bit of a muddle right now, but there is one thing I am coming down firmly on the side of, and that is Overjoyed. 

My first visit definitely wasn't the last.
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Overjoyed is located at 89 Short Street, Singapore, Singapore 188216

Mon - Fri: 10:00 am - 7:00 pm

Sat: 10:00 am - 2:00 pm

Phone: 6333 9776