Journal Bits: November 2025

-

While I have not been updating this blog much recently due to a heavier than expected workload in my day job, much has been happening in my journaling activities as well as in the wider community.

For a start, Pelikan Hub 2025 was on 24th October 2025, a little over two weeks ago. In the South East Asia region where I live, we had the inaugural Malaysia International Pen Show (MIPS) held on 27th and 28th September in Petaling Jaya, just next to Kuala Lumpur. The first ever Singapore Pen Show will be happening on the last weekend of November, but I will have to skip this event in my home city because I will be overseas during that weekend.

In addition, the Tokyo International Pen Show (TIPS) is currently happening this weekend, 1st to 3rd November 2025. I attended last year's edition of TIPS and it was my first time attending a pen show. What an eye opener!

On a personal note, despite a promise to myself to buy less and instead spend more time enjoying the writing instruments that I already owned, I still added several new pens to my collection. These include the amazing special edition Pelikan M815 Metal Striped Blue Fountain Pen with F nib, a regular Pilot Custom 74 (F nib) before prices of Pilot pens went northwards recently and a Zebra Sharbo X Multi-pen which was and still is my first Sharbo X. Sadly, I have to forgo buying the Pelikan M200 Apricot Achat and the M600 Art Collection Rudi Rother. I really did not want to spend too much on my hobby for the rest of this year. 

Besides those I have mentioned, various manufacturers have also been busy releasing lots of stunning new pens and inks, just in time for the year-end gifting season. There are thus options aplenty for anyone looking to buy or gift pens and inks this Christmas!

As for the remaining two months of 2025 for me, I am unlikely to add to my collection any more than I already had. However, there are still many pens in my possession that I have yet to use for the first time! Therefore, I will have lots of "new pen days" to occupy myself for the next 60 days or so of 2025.

Happy journaling everyone! 🖋

A few of my favourite pens from Montblanc, Namiki, Pelikanm, Pilot and Platinum

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pelikan Hub 2025

-
Image
Although announced a month later this year compared to 2023 and 2024, Pelikan Hub 2025 will still be happening. And it will be on Friday, 24th October 2025! Registrations are currently open. So, do register fast so as not to miss out on this key event in every Fountain Pen enthusiasts' annual events diary! 🖋 Pelikan Hub 2025 on 24th October 2025
Read more

New Pen Day - Pelikan M200 Smokey Quartz and M200 Golden Beryl

-
Image
Finally, I was able to add these two Pelikan M200s to my personal pen collection.  I had missed out on the M200 Smokey Quartz that was first released in 2017 and the M200 Golden Beryl that was first released in 2021. Needless to say, I grabbed them both when I saw them at a store in Kuala Lumpur. Even though both of these pens were the last ones the store had in-stock, I just could not pass up on the opportunity to add them to my pen stash (a.k.a. collection). For some reasons which I can no longer remember, I started to collect the M200/205 series of Pelikan pens that were released each year in conjunction with the Edelstein Ink of the Year.  To date, I have collected 10 out of 11 in the series. The only one missing from my collection is the M205 Amethyst from 2015. The price of this now very rare pen in the secondary market is really high. Therefore, the M205 Amethyst  is likely to forever evade me and remain firmly in my "White Whale List" of pens. Nonetheless, I ...
Read more

Traveler's Notebook - Cloth Pouch

-
Image
The Traveler's Notebook (TN) system from Traveler's Factory simply works for me. I have tried other systems both digital and analog but somehow keeps coming back to the TN system. I love the fact that using the TN system, I can customise my notebook in as many ways as I can imagine. In particular, I love TN's association with travel and cafe. I suppose cafes always come into the picture when we travel and need a place to rest and catch up on our journaling.  In addition to its notebook covers and notebook refills, there are also stickers, inserts and of course, cloth pouches. These cloth pouches are super handy and can be used to carry my TN cover and its notebook refills around. It also double up as my makeshift coin pouches when I travel. Using the smaller size cloth pouches, I segregate the various foreign currencies inside my crossbody bag. Besides this, there are numerous other uses for the cloth pouches and they can be washed and reused.  My favourite cloth pouch from...
Read more