since quite a number of filipinos seem to have joined FPN over the past couple of years, and since pen collecting is such a lonely mission in the philippines, i'm offering to host an FPN members meeting, this time in my place in UP diliman, so we can all get together and do a bit of show-and-tell (and who knows, maybe some swaps and sales?).

how does saturday july 5 at 2 pm sound to you? i can spring for a light merienda. my place is at 9 juan luna, area 2, UP campus, diliman, QC (i can provide more directions later.) please respond to this thread, or PM me, or text me at 0917-5300951 so we can fix the date, if enough people are interested and available.

if you're freer the next day (a sunday), let me know as well.

salamat!

butch dalisay

(by the way, i'm a writer and professor of english in UP. check out my blog and my pens.)


[Edited to correct date (from 12th to 5th)]

i've gotten a PM suggesting july 5, saturday, or july 13, sunday instead. please let me know if you can make it on any of these days, then:

july 5, saturday
july 12, saturday
july 13, sunday

all of them at 2 pm. (i'm leaving all dates open so i can play host.)

thanks!

Great idea Prof. Butch.

I'll be available any of those dates.

Saturdays are good for me, either July 5 or 12.

folks, based on the responses here and on philmug, it looks like saturday, july 5, will be the time when most of us can get together.

so let's set it for that date now so you can fix that in your datebooks, and those who can't or who are tentatively unable to make it as of today can still find workarounds, if they want to attend (sali na kayo--you probably won't see this many pens in one place; newbies welcome!) i've posted this same message on philmug as well.

we'll have at least two more people from philmug attending. if you know of anybody else interested in pens, bring 'em along!

2:00 pm, Saturday, July 5 / Butch Dalisay's house
9 Juan Luna, Area 2, UP Campus, Diliman, Quezon City
tel 928-7364 mobile 0917-5300951

(go into UP, find the post office/shopping center area; go past the post office down A. Roces, turn left at the very end; that's Juan Luna. look for the house with the white fence and the white VW beetle in the garage). text or call me if you get lost! and kindly confirm here if you can make it, thanks!

OK!

this is looking good--artaddict, fishkiller, and leigh r have already confirmed their attendance, plus we have at least two or three more from philmug (chito limson and maryanne moll)!

see you all saturday. the others, please confirm--total newbies welcome! (and bring some of your best pens to show, of course--those who do have some!)

butch dalisay
0917-5300951

PS / i'm editing the thread title (if i can--i'll see) to reflect the correct date, july 5th. PPS/ turns out i can't, after a while. anyway, it's july 5th, not the 12th, ok?




[Edit - I can help there, just PM if you need more changes... best wishes for the meeting!!! Wish I was there!]

Why not PM a mod to change it for you? I believe they can still do so.

how many filipino members are there if you dont mind me asking..


ef

i'm not sure but my own headcount says around ten? we have quite a few more people at the philippine macintosh users group who are also pen fanciers (and about five or six of us are in both forums). i hope you can make it on saturday, if you're around.

our current headcount for the july 5 (NOT july 12) meeting is up to eight, with a few more expected. they include some FPN members who are also with the philippine macintosh users group (philmug),

1. penmanila (from both philmug and FPN)
2. soloworx (from both philmug and FPN)
3. leigh r (from both philmug and FPN)
4. fishkiller (from FPN)
5. carlos (from FPN)
6. artaddict (from FPN)
7. freelancer (from philmug)
8. gogirl (from FPN)

this is going to be a great mix of pen nuts--including a former pharmaceuticals CEO, a painter from new york, a horseracing aficionado, an advertising executive, and plain-vanilla-professor me see you all on saturday, and to all our fellow pinoys out there, sali na kayo!

i just did that, thanks for the suggestion!

plain vanilla professor? you are too humble!
FPNers, penmanila is a brilliant writer & novelist!

I'm not from anywhere near the Phillipines however wanted to comment on one of the photos of your pens. Photo #L1020130 showed the pen nib and a sample of writing -- I presume with that nib. Additionally, there was printed text from a book which showed perspective.

The photo was both visually interesting and also informative about the pen and ink. Shading of ink was particularly interesting.

This was an exceptionally good photo. Perhaps one of the topics you need to discuss when your group gets together is how other people can take photos which are as good as this one.

Best of luck to you in getting a new group of people together!

David

many thanks, david (and many thanks, too, artaddict!)--we'll take that up. i'm sure that at least another one of us, leigh r, can give us some pointers about pen photography.

also, folks, if you have any interesting moleskines and other notebooks to show, bring 'em along, thanks!

just an update, folks--we're up to about a dozen people who've said they'll come! if he's free, we'll be joined by another special guest, historian and writer ambeth ocampo, who buys montblancs they way the rest of us buy bananas i'm having a party tent pitched in my small garden next to the gazebo just in case it drizzles. this is going to be fun. see you saturday!

ps / people have been asking what they can bring. i say whatever's easy for you; food and drinks are purely optional, but do bring your pens to show, if you care to! some are bringing wine, brownies, kakanin, etc. if somebody brings chicharon, that would be swell. (this is hard-core filipino stuff, folks, so don't mind us filipinos will often use meetings as an excuse to eat.)

See you guys on Saturday... rain or shine. ManilaPen

see you saturday and welcome to FPN, manilapen! (we sound like twins )

penmanila

I will bring the Chicharons from Lapid's, see you...

hi, folks, this is just a bump to remind everyone of our meeting tomorrow, july 5, which is pushing through rain or shine i'm having a small tent set up in the yard, but if it rains too hard we'll simply move indoors.

i'm also laying out my small collection of pen collecting books, for anyone who cares to do some quick research. see ya at 2 pm!

Good luck on your meeting! Make sure you post photos!

Al

thanks, i'll put the pics up on m flickr page! we're up to about 15 now--even if only ten or eight turn up on a wet saturday, it'll still be fun. never knew so many fellow filipinos loved FPs. (aaargh, that means i've got to be more assiduous in trawling ebay.ph and the local antiques shops!)

thanks for taking the trouble to set this up, sir butch!

i'm a total noob to this game, so i don't really have anything noteworthy to bring. (vintage celluloid? vintage cellulite, more like!) but i'm definitely looking forward to the pens, and the company. see you guys tomorrow!

no problem at all, fishkiller! we're in this for the company, too

we're all set! the rains have stopped, the sun is out, it's a perfect saturday here in the philippines for a meeting of fountain pen nuts. see you all in three hours

See you all soon! I'm hitching with a sis so I can't predict my ETA. But I am looking forward to this.
Pep

Seeing how many Filipinos have come to love and collect fountain pens (both vintage and modern), I organized a meeting of kindred spirits in my house on July 5. More than a dozen pen lovers came, bringing with them a trove of treasures, and a great time was had by all. The pics are up on my flickr site.

Here are a few, for teasers:



Leigh's droolworthy collection. Can you spot the Oldwin everyone was trying to steal?



Pen lovers all: (L-R) George Mamonluk, Boojie Basilio, Jenny Ortuoste Alcasid (seated, with me behind her), Leigh Reyes, Eli Santiago, Butch Palma, Pep Manalang, Jay Ignacio, Caloy Abad Santos (seated), Iñigo de Paula, Chito Limson. (Not in the picture: Rayvi Sunico, who left a little early.)



Leigh Reyes's pens and inks. As you can see from her penmanship, she has every reason and excuse to collect pens--we don't!



Always a good thing to remember at pen meets

Many thanks again, all, for your interest and participation. Hasta la vista!

I'm coming out of lurker status to say what a wonderful afternoon it was. Thanks everyone for sharing! I had an awesome time playing with your pens and inks. I hope by the time we meet up again I'll be able to bring the first pen of my "serious" collection.

Thank you so much, Butch D & Beng & family for hosting this meeting! I had a great time and enjoyed meeting everyone. I even met a friend whom I hadn't seen in years - Butch P, aka vintagepenster. Thanks Leigh for writing my name with flourishes and sharing your sketches, pens, & inks. Thanks every one for sharing your pens & inks. Caloy, I'll get your pen out asap. Boojie, thanks for the game you beamed to my Treo. Fishkiller, I hope you find a nice Jade Lifetime Sheaffer pen. Chito had really nice orange pens, even if some of them did NOT have gold nibs;) freelancer showed us some calligraphy too. The place was nice, the food delicious, and the company was great!
Salamat,
Pep

What a pity I couldn't come yesterday... but the UAAP beckoned.

too bad, sammy, but see you next time, maybe in a few months!

Thanks for posting the photos! I love seeing other folks having a good time, puts a smile on my face.

on our faces too it's amazing how pens can bring out the best in people. i'm a pretty surly fellow much of the time (so my wife says), but after yesterday's meeting, the people at home said that they hadn't seen me smile and laugh that much! (i didn't tell them it was because of the M1000 that arrived a couple of days before.... and the duofold senior from leigh_r that i'm now trying to restore...)

That was an excellent meet! Thank you Butch and Beng for your gracious hospitality and delicious food. It was great to know that there are a number of Manila based pen collectors. Made some new friends, and as a bonus, re-connected with Pep (artaddict) a friend from way back!

I recently moved back to the Philippines after 26 years in the USA. Having collected pens since the late 1980s, attended a number of pen shows and semi-active member of the Metro DC pen club, I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of meeting collectors here. Especially since I have settled down in Baguio. I was prepared to become a pretty lonely pen collector. Thank god there are others that share this obssession! Now I don't feel so strange anymore. Well okay, just a little less strange

Look forward to the next gathering, which I'd be happy to host here in Baguio if you guys want to haul your pens up here!

Thanks again Butch & Beng for hosting the meeting!
I leave on the 15th but I'll be back in November to attend a wedding - I hope we can have another penmeet around then...
Special shout out to vintagepenster, an old friend. What a coincidence that we both love vintage pens!
Pep

and thanks again for coming, pep! that meeting re-energized my FP addiction. trawled ebay the next day and ended up with a faber-castell pernambuco (mint, but with a bent nib) for $200 been buying up a storm since..... will have few more babies to show the next time. have a safe trip back to NYC!

my report on our july 5 meet is up on my blog, and should be out in the lifestyle section of the philippine star tomorrow. see here:

http://homepage.mac.com/jdalisay/blog/MyBl...ml#qeq237610769

jenny alcasid also posted her own report on her blog here:

http://gogirlcafe.wordpress.com/2008/07/10/ink-in-the-blood/

Great article, Butch! Looking forward to seeing it in print tomorrow. Let me add my own thanks to you and the very graciosa Beng for hosting our first pen meet. You surly? One would never guess…

BTW, grapevine tells me that Jay Ignacio just bought a Nakaya from Aesthetic Bay!

hey, soloworx--you're a lurker no longer! yup, jay emailed me this morning from singapore--not about the nakaya, but about a red pelikan toledo that he also got, so it seems our man is on a roll (i, on the other hand, got so envious of jay's faber castells that i got a pernambuco FC off ebay the day after our meeting. these meetings are costly!)

Maraming mga pinay at pinoy dito!

yup, there's a lot of us filipinos here on FPN! and as you can see from those pics, there are some amazing collections to be seen here. (manila's not too bad a place to find old pens, either--at least until some years ago. my local finds include a huge 1926-ish swan eternal with a no. 8 nib for about $11, a montblanc 146 for about $12, a PFM V for about $60, a mint parker VP for about $15, etc etc. ).

Ang suerte mo! I would have never guessed that there was so many finds in Manila. Taga Manila ang lahat ng collectors dito?

hindi naman. one of us came from baguio, another was visiting from new york. and some others are also in the US like yourself. it's a pretty mixed bunch of young and older collectors; i think i'm the oldest at 54

Ah, but the one from Baguio is not Pilipino - he is Ilokano It is a joke. When I was living in Hawaii all of the Pilipinos there were Ilokano and they made the distinction that they were not Pilipino, but Ilokano.

My Tagalog is rusty anyway ... I haven't spoken it in 20 years.

just a note to say that we had another more-or-less impromptu meeting of FPNers today in my place, for a video shoot for "mel and joey" about fountain pen collecting in the philippines. in attendance were leigh reyes, caloy abad santos, jay ignacio, and jenny alcasid--and me, of course. showtime on GMATV will be next sunday, 8 pm! see ya (or, see us)!

Sorry I missed it!
Pep