hobonichi cousins pros and cons

I've been trying to find justification for getting a hobonichi cousin. Yup, the A5 size. For me, I need to list the pros and cons before deciding to buy one. Let's start.

Pros.

+ A5 is actually an ideal size. Many compatibilities with other writing equipment, such as binder note, file pouch, etc.

+ ‎Lots of space to write, draw, paste anything you like in day-per-page

+ ‎The weekly section which has similar layout like Jibun

Cons

- It's in original version only. Which means different colors for each month ( I don't feel like writing about work in red-coloured page) and mm/dd format instead of dd/mm format (which sometimes confuse me).

- ‎Too many blank pages need to filled in. It could be intimidating when I'm behind schedule or when I have no time for journaling.

- ‎I have tried Jibun and A6 weekly supplement, which has similar weekly layout, and it just didn't work for me.

- It costs 3780 yen. With that price, I might print out myself a planner designed by me.

Sorry cousin, I think I won't buy you this time.

planner evaluation

Last year, I boasted to start 2018 with these 10 planners. But I have to admit that I didn't manage to use all of them. Let's begin the evaluation..

Dated

1. Hobonichi Weeks. Main planner, mostly for work and study related. - I gave up after a couple of months. In February I couldn't keep up to jot down my schedule in it. Couldn't figure it out why.

2. Hobonichi Planner (A6, English version) planner. I'm gonna use this as my diary. - This is ok.

3. TH Pocket Diary black.  I will use it for my pak boss schedule and everything related to him. - Many things happened in 2018 related to pak bos. Gave up after some months.

4. TH Agenda Schedule blue. This is for home related matters, such as daily expenses, bills, groceries, meal plans, etc. - I just completely forgot about this. Sorry. Perhaps I lost it somewhere.

5. Fancy Taiwanese planner. I have it discussed on my previous post here. To be honest, I haven't use it cos it's too pretty. - Yup, it's too pretty.. I didn't use it at all. It's part of my pretty collection.

6. ‎Daiichi schedule check. Will leave this on my desk. Can be double serve as desk calendar and planner. - Yeaa.. this thing kinda work tho.

7. ‎Starbucks planner. Will use it to record my life with my hubby which will be going ten in 2018. - Another planner I gave up in February.

Undated

8. Kikki K personal size. This chunky planner will stay on my working desk, I'll use it for meeting notes. - Are you kidding me? I didn't even figure out how to use it.

9. ‎TN passport size. This is my idea book or mini bullet journal. - Same with number 8. I just put it aside in my drawer.

10. ‎Seyes generic Monoprix notebook. I'm using this to note down everything related to my dissertation / thesis. - This one is still on duty until today.


Let see.. only 3 planners I used during the year. So I guess I won't need so many planners. Just try to make the best use of what I've got.

In mid 2018, I bought a pink pocket weekly moleskine and apparently it worked for me.

hello again

It's been a while since I left this blog. I'm still passionate about stationery, lunchbox and school stuff.  No doubt about that. But I'm also more rational these days. I realize my stationery are piling up high, and I have no place to store them. There are also things I haven't use for ages, such as many colour pens, and the ink starts to dry out. So I try to write more here, reviewing things, without any intention to get many followers. I am just happy if I could find a fellow stationery geek from around where I live or from other part of the world :)

So, see ya around !!

hobo in kyoto

Sorry for this throwback post. 

Went to Japan with my family in July last year (2018). I just managed to take one photo of my hobo while I was there.

Yeah, my hobo visited his home country :) This photo was taken in Kyoto, at Higashi Hongan-ji temple. As you can see, it's not far from Kyoto tower. I wish I could visit Japan again. Although I have swear I wouldn't buy stationery again, it's still hard to resist. You just can't. They have so many cutes, various types, and excellent quality stationery. There's no country can beat Japan in this case.

nobita-shizuka hobonichi cover

As I said in my previous post, I'm not interested to buy any cover for my hobonichi this year. For 2020, I will keep using my Nobita-Shizuka which still cute and steal my heart.

It's still available for sale on Hobonichi website. For 3024 yen, I think it's still reasonable.

hobonichi release day 2020

I am not so excited for Hobonichi release day this year. I couldn't find any interesting cover. Still, I bought things on the release day on September 1st.

I tried to keep everything below $100 to avoid unnecessary tax in my country. So, prefer to buy things in (small) batches. Normally, I will use this moment to buy predictable sold-out items or cover. Since I don't feel like buying expensive things --I'm kinda broke at this moment-- so I just bought the essentials. 

Here are the things I bought.

- A Hobonichi Card Case to store some important cards or loose notes (432 yen)

 

- My Hobonichi Stencil (the Speech Bubbles) is broken, so I bought this one (370 yen) for replacement.

- This Multi 8 Set is a mechanical pencil with multicolour pencil leads. It's quite expensive (3,240 yen) so I hope it's worthed.

- A must-have plastic Cover on Cover for A6 size. Well, I bought two.. just in case. (216 yen each)

- Plastic sleeve Hobonichi Folder Set by Naoko Horiguchi is in A5 size. I like the graphic design and I can use it for keeping loose sheet of paper. Will pair it with my A5 ring binder. (464 yen)

- The color of Hobonichi Pencil Board (warm gray-pink) is sooo me. I bought for the A6 size (216 yen)

- The usual Planner Book 2020 in English A6 size (2,700 yen)

Planner options are more interesting. Beside the Original Techo A6 (in Japanese), English A6, and Cousin A5, they now have undated techo as well. Inside, there's monthly section and plain grid pages instead of day-per-page. You need to wait until November 1st to buy this undated techo. 

For those who'd like to try bullet journaling in tomoe river paper, they also have Plain Notebook. I was thinking to buy this plain notebook.. but I was hesitating. I think it's kinda pricey (972 yen) for a plain grid notebook. 

Lastly, is the Five-year Techo. It's suitable for thoose who want to note down only the essentials for each day and see the timeline for 5 years span. For the time being, I don't think it's the right planner for me. But to mark the nice figures of 5 year (2020-2025), it might be interesting to have one.

hobonichi yerevan

Barev dzez !

Hello from Yerevan. Last December (2018), I managed to visit Armenia. It was my first time and had somekinda mix feeling. I was thinking to do some research, visiting some museums, etc. But it was cold outside and I stayed in a cozy apartment. So I spent most of my two weeks at home, met my new lovely friends, and getting to know the city. 

One thing for sure, I brought my hobonichi and didn't miss the chance to take pic in front of the landmark. So here's the pic of my proud hobo in front of the Cascade in Yerevan, Armenia. 

Hajogh !

musim alat tulis

Kalau di Indonesia ada musim hujan dan musim kemarau, musim rambutan dan buah-buahan lainnya, maka di Jepang ada musim alat tulis hihihi.. Di acara televisi "The Unknown World of Matsuko", disebutkan bahwa berbagai alat tulis (dengan varian baru) banyak ditawarkan di musim gugur seperti saat ini. Agenda / planner untuk tahun depan pun juga mulai membanjiri pasaran, seperti Jibun Techo, Hobonichi Techo, Moleskine, dll.

Sayangnya di acara itu nggak membahas tentang planner. Beberapa alat tulis yang dibahas adalah gel pen yang tintanya cepat kering, buku tulis yang kertasnya berwarna hitam dan bolpoin tinta metalik (untuk menulis di kertas hitam itu). Selain itu, juga dibahas perkembangan buku tulis Campus dari masa ke masa. Tahun ini adalah peringatan 41 tahun buku tulis tsb. Ada juga tempat pensil yang ada lapisan plastik untuk melindungi pin dan hiasan yang ditempelkan. Terakhir adalah sticky notes dengan gambar karakter tertentu.

Mungkin musti nabung buat tahun depan yaaa... Kalo ke Jepang mau belanja alat tulis, maka bulan September-Oktober adalah waktu yang tepat.