toko buku sekawan

Heya there.. If you've been spying on my blog, you should've known that I liiiike to visit local bookshop or small stationery store. This time, I went to "Pusat Buku Sekawan" in Solo City (Surakarta), Central Java. 

Sewaktu saya kecil, saya mengenal namanya sebagai Toko Buku Sekawan. Yap, saya pernah diajak ke toko buku ini oleh sepupu dan orang tua saya saat sedang berkunjung ke kota Solo. Sebelum toko buku besar dengan nama terkenal masuk ke kota ini, sepertinya toko buku Sekawan adalah salah satu yang terbesar (dan terlengkap?). For sure it was pretty impressive for me.

Sayangnya pekan lalu saya agak terburu-buru saat ke Solo, sehingga saat di toko buku itu pun tak lebih dari 10 menit. Tetep ajaaa.. sempetin beli alat tulis yang menarik. So, these are what I've got.

I don't see these kind of books quite often in big bookstore. The left one is stenography book for shorthand exercise. Buku yang bersampul warna kuning itu bagian dalamnya semacam buku garis tiga (untuk belajar menulis sambung), tetapi berbeda. Buku ini lebih rapat garis-garisnya, dan digunakan untuk belajar menulis cepat (steno / shorthand). Saat ini, stenografi sudah jarang dipelajari, sehingga buku semacam ini saya asumsikan sudah cukup jarang ditemukan. Besides, the cover is pretty vintage.

The right one is books for music notation. Buku untuk menulis notasi nada ini pun menurut saya cukup unik, meskipun pasti bisa juga ditemukan di toko buku besar. But this one has also unique cover. The font makes a sudden throwback into the 80's or even 70's. 

There are also some other interesting objects, such as buku tulis cap Kera. But I didn't manage to find it as I was in a hurry. My sis said she bought some on the other day. Meskipun banyak produk alat tulis yang unik, sebagian besar produk-produk yang dijual sebenarnya produk masa kini. Toko ini menjual buku-buku pelajaran juga, selain stationery. Sayangnya saya tidak sempat melihat-lihat ke beberapa lantai lain. Perhaps I felt directed into notebook area when I saw a lifesize standing cardboard of Rio Haryanto for Kiky books ;) Agak nyesel nggak sempet selfie sama Rio..

Kalau lagi jalan-jalan ke Solo, monggo mampir ke Pusat Buku Sekawan di Jl. R.A. Kartini no.4, Timuran, Solo. I will try to visit this place again next time. See ya.

persiapan kuliah diri sendiri

Sebentar lagi masa perkuliahan dimulai. Mulai semester ini, saya juga akan kuliah lagi. Yap. Back to school. I'm quite nervous and excited at the same time. Mudah-mudahan masih sanggup mengikuti perkuliahan. Mudah2an otak masih nyampe. Mudah2an tenaga masih ada buat bolak-balik Depok-Salemba (plus hidup nomaden lagi, mungkin). Pfffttt.. bismillah.

However, the most interesting part of back to school is the stationery, of course! Apalagi ini buat diri sendiri hihihihi... Tapi namanya juga kuliah tingkat lanjut, jadinya nggak banyak yang warna warni ceria 'kali ya.. Lebih ke fungsional aja. Untuk versi sebelumnya tentang persiapan kuliah, bisa dibaca di tautan ini. As for me, here goes the list...

- Sticky notes

Masih ada banyak banget. Kebanyakan sih memang 3M Post-it notes.

- File folder / File note A5
Pakai yang ada dulu aja lah. Sekarang ini pakai file note Maruman SeptCouleur warna ungu. File note yang saya pilih adalah yang ukuran A5, dengan ring 20 dari bahan metalik.

- Loose leaf
Ukuran A5 sesuai ukuran ring binder. Kebetulan kemaren belinya kertas yang bergaris merek Paperline. Loh memangnya ada yang nggak bergaris? Ada. Ukuran A5 juga, putih polos seperti kertas hvs biasa, dengan 20 lubang. Ini pas banget kalo buat ngeprint materi kuliah atau catetan yang udah dirapihkan di komputer, trus langsung disatukan di file note.

- Bolpoin
Untuk sementara ini, berhubung bokek, pakai yang ada dulu aja. Multipen Bic 4-Color; Uniball 4&1 (4 colours and 1 mechanical pencil) 0.5 point; Frixion Ball Clicker 0.5 blue, black, and red; Uniball Jetstream warna pink dan ungu, dengan isi tinta masing-masing black and blue 0.38 point.

- Penghapus
Buat saya, penghapus paling handal saat ini adalah Mitshubishi Uni Boxy black eraser. Penghapus ini lembut saat menghapus pensil, nggak ngerusak kertas, tapi bersih sempurna.

- Correction tape
Untuk saat ini masih oke dengan correction tape merek Faber Castell QJR-506 warna pink ini. Bentuk barelnya nggak terlalu besar, sekitar ukuran spidol whiteboard, tapi pendek. Ada clickernya juga, jadi pita putih untuk correction-nya terlindungi kalo pas nggak dipakai.

- Highlighter
I don't really like to use highlighter. Usually I just underline the important words using ballpoint pens. Jadi, nggak ada yang bisa dibahas deh ya.

- Agenda / Planner
Wouuhoouuu... Nah kalo yang satu ini, beneran baru. Ini adalah agenda scolaire khas anak sekolah Prancis. Satu halaman per hari, jadi cukup luas buat nyatet tugas2, janjian ngerjain tugas, dll. Mudah2an beneran bertahan selama satu tahun akademik.

- Recorder (perekam)
Kayaknya bakal butuh alat yang satu ini. Bukan kemudian mengandalkan rekaman kuliah aja.. Perekam ini sebenarnya untuk membantu kalo ada yang terlewat dari catatan.

Sekarang, tinggal siapin mental dan energi aja buat kuliah. Allez, couraaaage !!

agenda scolaire

My fondness to agenda scolaire is a subject to be discussed. Throughout the years, I always have the urge to buy one (or two, or three.. helas), but this agenda is more likely to be only available in France. The daily agenda of Quo Vadis may also available in several other countries, though. But even if it's available to be bought online, the shipping cost would be more expensive than the agenda itself.

When I had a chance to visit Paris last May, I managed to run to Quartier Latin area. So in a hurry, as it was nearly closing hours, I grab two planners from Gibert Joseph and another two from Gibert Jaune. Both Gibert Jaune and Gibert Joseph are the big bookstores on the area. Anyway, the agendas I finally bought are as follows..

- a pocket planner (Gibert Joseph store brand, made by Oberthur)

- an Exacompta Forum Winner planner (one day per page)

- a textagenda one day per page (Gibert Jaune store brand, made by Quo Vadis)

- a Moleskine Peanuts weekly notebook pocket (18 months limited edition)

left : pink agenda Gibert Jaune, right : blue agenda Exacompta

I made my first encounter with "one day per page" agenda during my school years in Paris, back in 2003. At first, I thought it was too bulky to carry around. Besides, why would I need a whole page just for one day? I learned my classmates noted everything on their agenda. So I tried and developed the habit to write down everything, scribble here and there, jot down what's on my mind and noted all the meetings or rendez vous. The agenda has also became a place for brain dump and a not-so-secret diary. I have shared a short review about agenda scolaire few years ago here.

Let's move on. Another must-buy agenda for me is this pocket agenda made by Oberthur, licensed to Gibert Joseph bookstore. I really like the simple design and it's quite thin, light enough to be carried around on your pocket.. err, if you have big pocket actually. As for the page layout, it has a weekly spread on the left page and lined page like this.

I don't know why I bought those agendas while I already had planners for this ongoing year. Perhaps for the sake of nostalgia. Anyway, Hobonichi actually offers similar lineup. The A6 sized techo has one day per page layout and the Weekly has the same page layout to the pocket agenda. I have never bought the hobonichi weekly, as I always have more compact pocket weekly moleskine for the past few years. Ah yes, I think I will blog about the Peanut weekly moleskine later. See ya later then.

lesportsac everyday bag

Just a quick update that I finally bought this LeSportsac everyday bag. I bought it to replace the old one with merriment print that I like so much. This one is modern plaid print. I really like the colour and this print is quite classy. I can see myself having this bag on formal and casual occasion, including for school activities. Besides, this type of shoulder crossbody bag is called everyday bag. Yap, I like it a lot and I will have it for my everyday bag. See ya.

petit deco rush

Deco tape is a thin tape with pattern (decoration) on it. It looks like correction tape, it works like correction tape, but the tape is decorated instead of white. The well known brand is Deco Rush from Japan. Deco tape was quite hype among stationery enthusiast couple of years ago. I don't think they still are now.

Compared to washi tapes, deco tape is not something that can be shared. I mean, a roll of washi tape can be cut off into smaller length and shared within some of friends. The smaller (shorter) roll of washi is known as 'samples'. That way, you still have cute washi in cheaper way. This is not the case with deco tape. Although a deco tape may cost less than a roll of good quality washi, but it's still unusual to swap deco tape. In term of use, once you swipe the deco rush on paper, it stays. You can't pull it off or reposition it like washi.

So, the Deco Rush is getting scarce these days. There are Petit Deco Rush, though.. it's the smaller version of Deco Rush. This Petit Deco Rush is disposable thus non-refillable. I actually like the design of its body shape. But, there's no cap and it's not clickable like the regular Deco Rush. So well.. I bought a lot of Petit Deco Rush lately, but I haven't use them. I guess I'm more like a hoarder in this case.

bic ballpoint pen

I like this  Bic Cristal very much.

I like the way it looks. So simple, but recognizable from far away.

And I always like the blue ink. Medium point. Yes, this one.

But these days, it's getting difficult to find one in Indonesia.
I managed to bought some during my trip to Paris last May.
I haven't checked if it's available in nearby countries within South East Asia.

I think the distributor tend to offer the Bic Cristal Fine to Indonesian market.

I guess many Indonesian (or maybe most Asians) prefer fine (or extra fine!) point nib. 

Anyway, I still have chance. 

If I can't find the classic Cristal, I can use the Bic 4-Color instead.

Just make sure that the refill is in medium size. 

Oh, and by the way, they're all Made in France ;) 

 Eh Oui.

midori traveler's notebook

Last week, I had a chance to go to Hong Kong. It was for academic conference, but I managed to visit Log-On, a famous lifestyle and stationery store. I went crazy when I saw various Midori Traveler's Note items. I bought the Traveler's Notebook set. I get the black leather cover (passport size) because I'm very comfortable with this size. It's just a slightly smaller than A6, about the same with pocket moleskine. For me, the regular size of Traveler's Notebook is kinda strange. Anyway.. I also bought a plastic pocket, a the grid notebook refill, a set of rubber bands, a charm (Braniff logo) and some sticky notes. The passport size notebook cover cost me HK$ 300 (about Rp. 550K) and the refill note etc cost around HK$ 25 - 80 (around Rp. 50K - 150K). By the way, I also got my notebook personalized with my name embossed on the front cover. Nice.