This was only my second time attending a pen show. And because it was the inaugural Malaysia International Pen Show and it was also held in a venue relatively close to my home city, I decided to travel to attend the show; also taking the opportunity to meet up with friends whom I have not met for some time.
The Malaysia International Pen Show (MIPS) was held in Petaling Jaya, next to bustling Kuala Lumpur on the weekend of 27th and 28th of September 2025 at the One World Hotel which is adjacent to the One Utama Mall.
On the first day of the show, I arrived at the One World Hotel around 10.30am. However, I was unable to find the event space that MIPS was held. This despite enquiring with then hotel staff. Eventually, I mamboed to locate MIPS after searching around with some locals who were also attending the event.
Presenting the pre-purchased entry tickets' QR codes for my friends and myself, we were each given a goodie bag and allowed to enter the venue. This process was fast and efficient.
Each goodie bag we received contained a 30ml bottle of Diamine ink, a floor plan of the show, a pin button and some brochures, all nicely packed in a reusable MIPS-themed cloth carrier. The colours of the bottle of ink in each goodie bag were different and we were glad all three of us received ink of different colours.
Entering the event hall, it was really crowded. I had to gently ushered myself into the area and due to the crowd and the number of vendors, space in the event hall was a premium. Many times, I had trouble even trying to squeeze myself to have a closer look at the merchandise and pens on display at the Vendors' tables. As a result, I did not manage to get to try out any pens. I was also unable to ask for more information on many of the merchandise and pens at the event. As a result, I ended up not buying any pens at the show. I compared this to the thousands of dollars I spent at the Tokyo International Pen Show (TIPS) in November last year and was somehow glad that I had saved a lot of money.
But saving money was not the point of attending a pen show, at least not for me. I was thus rather disappointed that I did not manage to find and buy those pens I was looking forward to purchase at this show. Well, there is always another time to spend those hobby budget!
What I did purchased at the show was an extremely beautiful and finely crafted Toyooka Pen Box made from Japanese Cypress a.k.a. Hinoki. The Japanese gentleman manning the booth was really kind to explain to me the different designs and also helped me to find a design that I like.
With a storage capacity of 40 pens, my first Toyooka Pen Box now sits proudly in my Study. Housed within are my favourite Montblanc, Pilot, Platinum and Sailor pens. I will need to get another of these fine pen boxes for my Pelikan pens soon!
At the show, I also purchased two 80ml bottles of ink in "Chendol" colour, an event exclusive ink made possible by Diamine x PenGallery. Chendol is a local dessert in Malaysia and Singapore that is made with shaved ice. Coconut milk, sweet palm sugar syrup and pandan-flavoured green jelly strips are added to the shaved ice. It is the green jelly strips that provided the inspiration for this ink colour, thus the name Chendol. I also bought other inks from Diamine and Bungubox.
Overall, quite a well organised event even though I walked away with zero new pens purchased! But I did have my new Toyooka Craft pen box and new bottles of inks.
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