On the last payday, I got in the office too early so I decided to take some walk and window shopping at Uptown Mall. The mall is just beside our office building(actually they were interconnected buildings). My usual spot is the National Bookstore for any malls that is the first place/shop I always try to look for.
My Favorite Store NBS
I went there and tried to look for cheap items that I can buy. The National Bookstore at Uptown Mall has a very small range of brush pens, they don’t even have Tombow or Zig. My favorite Pilot pens are not even available so I just checked all sections and tried to look for whatever. That’s the bad thing about me when I have extra money I tend to look for something to buy any item that would cost less than 300.
So I saw a bunch of old journal stocks like they were on sale but the price knocked me down because they were expensive for their presentation. They have Rhodia sketch pads and Moleskine ruled journals there, which is something I couldn’t find at the National Bookstore of SM Bacoor. I just gave you a tip about it in case you’re trying to look for one.
This post isn’t really about my journey in digging into the National Bookstore of uptown Mall(I just realized that), this is really about the cool items I bought there. They’re good items and very affordable. Take note that I’m not an advertiser of these stores and products I just really wanted to share it.
1. VECO Sparkling Notes
It’s the best sketch pad I’ve ever seen at it’s a very affordable price. Imagine it is just 80.50 PHP.
Notebook Specs
- It is hardbound with this glittery design – Usually, this kind of notebook messes your hands with glitters, but amazingly this one gives you a very minimal amount of glitters and it looks like the dust of eye shadow. You won’t be noticing it if I didn’t even say it. I really hated glittered items because of what it leaves my hands but this one is fine.
- Unlined Cream Paper – The paper is quite thick and cream-colored. The paper is smooth for writing and drawing, I’m not sure though if it will work for water coloring. But if you’ll check on the photos it has minimal ghosting when I used a marker.
- Can be opened 180 degrees – When it comes to notebooks, I am so particular with their ability to open in 180 degrees. I’m so traumatized with the Limelight hardbound journals that were given to me by an officemate last year because after opening it widely the bound paper got detached from its hardbound cover. It is still usable but unpresentable and we never wanted that to happen, right?
- Very handy – I’m not good with sizes of paper but I saw on the price tag that the size is 5.12×7.48 I, so it’s like in between A5 and A6. It has 50 pages, so it’s very compact.
I had this notebook since the last payday which means it was on January 26, 2018, and it’s still bound well.
2. Lil’ Hands Coloring Pens
I’ve been so interested in calligraphy to the point that I’ve watched several videos on how to do it. Though I find it isn’t really for me, I still try to collect affordable items to use for practicing. One of the tools(for calligraphy) I saw online the most aside from brush pens is the Crayola Markers. This Lil’ hands coloring pen is a good start-up alternative for Crayola Markers. The price is cheap, to be honest, it’s just less than 90 PHP. I imagine how far would be the price difference for Crayola Markers, I really haven’t seen one.
Pen Functions
- Dual function tip – If you’ll see in the photos it can be used as a fine and broad tip. It has visible variations of thick and thin lines.
- Light ink flow – I’m not sure if that is the right term for that but I think it’s nice because it’s like an intense highlighter. You can color it lighter or darker. For some people, I guess it wouldn’t be nice, but as I’ve said this can just be an alternative. Based on other reviews Crayola markers are really nice.
I find it hard to use, maybe because I really don’t know how, but for people who have a background in doing calligraphy, I think they may be able to use it just fine. I found an article for Lil hands color pens and they are able to use it properly for calligraphy and the results are really nice.
Bleeding on Paper (Veco Sparkling Notes)
I love the fact that it doesn’t bleed through the page next to it but maybe the Veco paper is just really nice and also the fact that it is so affordable.
I have one negative comment about it though which is quite concerning, the tip of the marker is not really good. I’m not sure if I did something wrong with it like maybe I used it too hard or maybe I hit the tip with the cap. It was fluffed out a bit or like it split off. Can’t find the right term but please see the photo below, maybe you can describe what happened to it. It does a tiny excess line because the damaged part of the tip is protruded, it is something that you may like or not. For me it looks fine it’s like an effect or something hehe.
The thing is I bought it for practicing only, so even it’s not that high quality it’s fine. I just use one pen at a time anyway. But it is something that you may want to know.
Verdict for these two
Overall, I find these items nice. It may not as high quality as other products but this is something you can buy if your not yet sure if you have to invest in a specific hobby or not. Just so you know guys I’m someone who gets easily interested in things then suddenly feels bored. So if you’re like me, maybe these items will be a good startup item for you.
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