5 posts tagged “notebook”

The price of moleskine journals here in Kuala Lumpur is pretty high, so I've been for the look out for a suitable and cheaper replacement for quite some time already .... but still going back to the pocket moleskine.

I found out about a moleskine lookalike by Rhodia at www.blackcover.net called Rhodia Webnotebook.I would like to own one, to test one out for myself. After reading the full review, and some googling, this notebook will not be any cheaper than a moleskine. How soon this will arrive Malaysian shores is also a big WHEN?

So, I'm entering the giveaway contest organized by www.blackcover.net, to try out my luck in winning one. Who knows, if I win one, I might get hooked to the Rhodia Webnotebook .....

Wish me luck.

The Plan was to go out with my friend Adib a.k.a. Berisman, and enjoy some good photos at a Photo Exhibition, organized by the Kuala Lumpur Flickr Group ... KLickr.

The Exhibition was fun and I picked up a few ideas throughout the slide show presentation ... BUT the highlight of the day was finding this little journal (or notebook) at a book fair at a nearby shopping mall. The stop to the mall was just for lunch initially, but the crowd at the bookfair was so ... soooo ... irresistable.

This is the journal I got myself today. A Peter Pauper Press Pocket Journal.

The cover is thick, really thick, without any plastic, leather or faux leather wrapping. Just thick cardboard, with a glossy finish. This A6 sized (3-1/4 in. x  5-3/4 in.) journal is decorated with plaid pattern on the cover. Slightly taller and a wee bit wider than the pocket sized moleskine. The journal comes with an elastic band to keep the 192 lined page journal closed as well as an accordion style pocket attached at the inner section of the back cover.

Comparing the paper quality with other notebooks I've used, This one here is no Rhodia. The paper is a little rough but thicker than the plain pocket moleskine I normally use. I tested the paper for fountain pen friendliness, and my combination of Pelikan M215 Fine Nib, paired with Sailor Blue ink can be friends with the paper quite well. I observed very minor feathering, and bleed through is minimal. The ink bleeds through to the other page only if I write too slowly, or when I place the nib too long at a single point, while thinking of what word to write next.

This journal by Peter Pauper Press is available online.

The best part is the price. At RM14.00 (US$4.95), I can get three of these journals for the price of one pocket moleskine, with some change to spare for cab fare. Here, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a pocket moleskine cost somewhere between RM50.00 and RM56.00. I really think this is a good buy, a good low cost alternative to save some dough to cover for the higher fuel prices we are paying today.

I already have a bunch of unused journals that I've collected but seeing this one here, makes me want to get a few to add to the collection. These are some of the unused journals in my collection.

And I have a few more A5 and B6 sized journals/notebook which are not included in the "group photo" :-D ....
I may not use all of them before the end of the year but these little gems make great gifts.

Okay ... here's another one out of my doodle book.

No, I've not been to Japan recently.

I saw this scene ... this image ... somewhere but could not recall where and when. The image of the Pagoda is stuck in my mind. I might have seen this in one of the Photography magazines I bought. I really can't remember.

My bad ....

It's been almost two months since my last update here. It has been quite busy during those time, and still occupied with my daytime job, family chores and errands. I don't go out for photo outing these past few months as well, either than a couple of weddings I covered. I really wanted to.

I decided against going out on New Year's eve to get some fireworks shot because it rained heavily that evening, and I just recovered from a bad cold. On Thaipusam day, again I have to give this a pass, because I need to send my maid off back to Indonesia. Now, while waiting for the new Indonesian maid to arrive, I have to take over some of the households chores to have things running smoothly and have a clean organized home.

The short period of time I have between work and errands at the office or at home, I spent sketching ....

I am not that artist type of person, but a couple of years ago, when I started moving back from digital PDA organizer to paperbase note taking, I found myself sketching here and there in my Moleskine. I had this blank notebook on my bookshelf and one day decided to make the book as a dedicated sketchbook. Errrmmmm ... maybe a doodling book would be a better description of the notebook.

Here's a sketch I'd like to share. I sketched this a few days ago while waiting for my kids to finish school. I finished it off later in the evening while accompanying and helping the kids doing their homework and my wife busy working on the computer.

I used a Pelikan M215, Fine nib fountain for this piece. The ink is Pelikan 4001 Turquoise.

Until the next update .....

I was at the Times Bookstore KLCC yesterday, at the Pelikan pens and stationery corner and saw what I initially thought was moleskine notebooks ... well, they were not.

It's a moleskine copycat produced by grandluxe.com and branded as "monologue" notebooks. The dimension of the notebooks matches the pocket moleskine exactly, with the elastic band and the back accordian pocket. Comparing the paper with the plain pocket moleskine I had at that moment, the Monologue has slightly thicker paper. Thicker doesn't mean quality paper, I've learned, but I only get to know the quality of the paper when I put ink on the pages. It's not going to be anytime soon because I still have about half of my pocket reporter still blank ...

The price is less than a third of what the pocket moleskine would cost here in KL. The cost of one pocket moleskine can buy 3 of the monologues and I would still have change to pay for the parking.

Here are some pix ...