Now It's Midori For Me

Now that I'm finally using my Moleskine, here's a another product that I'm determined to add to my collection: the Midori Traveler's Notebook.


Midori Traveler's Notebook, or Traveler's Notebook is described as "a simple notebook focusing on ease of writing, with a leather cover in the which the texture gets better as you use it over time." The leather covers on these notebooks, available in black and brown, are especially hand-made in Thailand, while the notebook inserts are printed in Japan, using Midori's original paper materials. Several types of notebooks (refills) are available to choose from: ruled, plain, squared. Enhancements like card files and zipper files are also available. Midori also offers repair kits and binders for the notebook refills.

I'm really drooling over this one, especially after seeing the Traveler's Notebook photoset at Flickr. Now I'm saving up to buy one. Heard that a notebook set costs a huge US$47.95! Woah. But I'll have this, or both. It'll take a while, but I'll have one.

(Photos above are from Midori's website.)

How I Started Writing on My Moleskine

Early this month, Pastor Joe Thorn wrote about setting up a Moleskine and how he uses these precious notebooks to store ideas related to his ministry work.

I love reading stories like Pastor Joe's because it reminded me of another Moleskine story, this one by Sir Butch Dalisay. I cannot find Sir Butch's article online anymore, but that story introduced me to the elite world of Moleskines. Soon after, I was smitten.

Surprisingly, my journey to Moleskine ownership took longer than I expected. At that time, the notebooks weren't offered locally here, and the only way I could get my hands on a notebook was to purchase it online. It was a frustrating pursuit. Then I got my lucky break several months after. A friend saw an online bookstore selling Moleskines, and the company is actually located in the Philippines! And that is how I got my hands on this precious notebook. Finally, I have my own Moleskine to show off. But I did not write on it until last week, six months after I bought it from Avalon.

I started using my Moleskine by using its last page to test my pens. Yup, the last page is a tester page, and that's what I do with all of my notebooks. I do that all the time to choose the perfect pen for a particular notebook. And for my Moleskine, the perfect pen is the black Pilot G2 0.5mm.

After that, I wrote my name and contact details on the inside cover page. No rewards for me, though.

Now I tied a small knot at the end of the page marker so it won't fray and look ugly.

And I started writing on it, precisely on the front face of the third leaf. To start writing an entry, I used a red G2 to write the date and day of the week. An entry usually takes up a page or two, and with the large Moleskine's 240 pages, I figured one notebook is good for three to four months' worth of letters.

Today, my Moleskine is already five entries full. When I fill it up, I'll get another Moleskine and fill it up again.

Snippets

* Weekend na. Payday na. Buy toys. And pens. Quality time (and food!!!) with family.

* Pig-out tonight on Maki rolls and sushi. And ripe mangoes.

* Palm Sunday na sa Sunday.

* Marimar ends tonight. Finally. Period.

Blogging and Earning

I got a lot of link exchange requests recently. Some of them are from friends, and some are from bloggers who are strangers to me. But for a personal blogger like I am, this is good news. It doesn't only mean that I'm gaining new friends -- my blog's visitors are also increasing. And it's also interesting to visit and read their blogs. Most of them are newbies and hopeful to be get paid to blog.

Well, newbies out there, it’s never easy to get paid for blogging. First, your blog must be interesting enough to generate a high level of traffic. And last, you must be able to sustain it. This is where my problem came in, actually. I cannot sustain a regular blog writing schedule due to a lot of reasons. Even though I’ve found several advertisers, a good service provider with regular writing assignments and pays me on time is a real blessing. I get to write about the topics that I want, and I get paid for that. Surely blog advertising is a lot of help for bloggers like I am.

My New Pen Holders

I always surprised people when I tell them that I keep two huge pen cases in my bag. Hahaha!!! I don't know, but I have always want my pens (as well as my notebooks) to be with me. So I got two pen cases and crammed all my pens inside. I noticed later on that ugly scratches appear on the pens' barrels, especially on the clear plastic barrel of my G2s.

Several weeks ago, my laundry lady complained about my denims' uncut bottoms. Because most of my jeans are longer than my legs, I need to fold them in every time I'm wearing them so dirt gets trapped inside the folds. Manang kindly volunteered to bring one of her friends who is a mananahi (sewer) to the house to cut my maongs for me. When the mananahi came over, I was in the middle of organizing my pens. All of them were on the floor as I sorted them out. Naturally, she asked about the pens. :)

In the course of our kwentuhan, I mentioned about my problem of finding a good pen holder so my pens won't get those ugly scratches anymore. She told me to buy cloth, any cloth of my choice and she'll do something about my problem. Last week, I passed by Panching's in San Pablo and bought a yard of flannel cloth. I liked flannel because it's soft and not too thick. I gave the cloth to Manang when she took my week's laundry last Saturday. Yesterday afternoon, the mananahi brought me my brand new pen holders.

Isn't it great? I got two pieces of this amazing pen holder.
Both coming from the single yard of cloth I bought.

Here's a more detailed shot:

And this is how it looks when it's bundled and tied up:

Imagine my joy when I placed every single pen into a designated slot in the pen holder. It's a brilliant creation: durable, washable, and very inexpensive!* Now my pens are happier in their new home(s).

* This pen holder can accommodate 12 pens. If anyone wants a similar piece, post a comment or email me, and I'll let you know how you can get hold of one. I promised Manang if people order any, I'll give the proceeds to her. :)

New Trucks

On my way to grocery shopping at Robinson's yesterday, I passed by the toy section and went home with three more trucks and less groceries. Hahaha!!!

Here are my new Tomy toys:

This one is a Furukawa Wheel Loader FL140, scaled at 1/79.

This is a Tadano Rough Terrain Crane Crevo 600, scaled at 1/160.

A hit among my male friends!

And this one here is an Off Road Dum, scaled at 1/119.

And then my Hot Wheels Fire Eater arrived in the mail this morning.

Could somebody keep my wallet for me? :)

My Weekend Date

I’m due for an eye check-up this coming weekend. I had one in November, and the doctor said I don’t need a new pair of glasses yet, but lately my vision has gotten terrible and it’s difficult for me to see distant subjects. Hopefully the frame of my old eyeglasses would still hold up to another change in lens. In case it won’t, then I can always order from Zenni Optical. Their glasses are inexpensive (they offer Zenni Optical $8 Rx Glasses), yet durable, not to mention stylish. Come on, eyeglasses do not look very fashionable, but when chosen right becomes stylish and even iconic. I’ve particularly set my eyes on this beautiful thing for it is one best thing found: Zenni Optical.

The frame of this pair of eyeglasses is made of metal alloy with stainless steel temples. It's available in several colors: silver, grey, gold, blue, or black. I want to try the blue frame for a change.

Zenni Optical sells a wide range of prescription glasses online. They offer single vision lens, sunsensor (potochromic) lens, tinted suglasses lens, bifocal lens and progressive lens. And they offer free services like anti-scratch coating, UV protection, and lens edge polishing and beveling. I am very impressed with their selection and recommended it to my friends. It’s really a great discovery: Zenni Optical.

New Shotglasses, New Toys

March is starting fine for me and my collections. Two friends kindly gave me shotglasses to add into my collection, and just yesterday, I bought my first (two, actually) Cararama, together with a new Tomy Fire Fighting ambulance.

The Mojitos shottie is from Noel, while the antique one is from Jerwin.

This one below is my 10th Tomy toy, and it's a Morita Fire Fighting Ambulance, scaled at 1/74.

And my Cararamas. These two Beetles are my first Cararama toys. The red one is a fire brigade car, and the black one is a police car. I only wanted the fire brigade car, but I had to buy the other one as well, as they came in a boxed set.

Bargain Book Finds

I'm disappointed ay my reading pace lately. Since I started reading "Love in the Time of Cholera", my pace was sluggish and I feel bad that I have not finished it yet. But as the owner (Chel) of the book said, it's not a novel that can be rushed, so I'll take my time.

Meanwhile, found these three at a Booksale shop in San Pablo last weekend:

Got them for 30 pesos each!!! Isn't that great?

I'm Not Alone

What a nightmare: Americans get too little sleep
By Will Dunham/Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With late-night TV watching, Internet
surfing and other distractions, Americans are getting less and less sleep, the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on
Thursday.

And all this sleeplessness can be a nightmare for your mental
and physical health, CDC experts cautioned, calling sleep loss an
under-recognized public health problem.

Sleep experts say chronic sleep loss is associated with
obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, cardiovascular disease,
depression, cigarette smoking and excessive drinking.

Read more...

And all the while I thought I was the only person with crazy sleep problems.