We've been gone for a while and it really isn't surprising at this point, but we do have our reasons and we talk about them in this episode. Other than catching up with each other after our respective literal and figurative moves (Ryan to another country and job, Jika to another employer), we go into our newest finds, what we're excited about, and …

So it's Pride Month and we'd thought that it'd be a right enough time to celebrate not just queerness in the now-conventional sense, but also queerness--the characteristic that distinguishes, sets apart, makes special--the habits and things that we know and love in the hobby. This isn't an episode about buying yet another thing, but really, just ce…

So we're a spot out of sorts in this one but we showed up regardless because we want to talk about current events but, technically, cannot talk about it given the current climate in our country. Thus, we resort to talking about the issues relevant to our circumstances through pens and stationery controversies as of late. There aren't any noob disco…

If you're part of Fountain Pen Palengke (FPP), the Philippines' Facebook marketplace for fountain pen and stationery lovers, Sir Alden Castaneda would be no stranger despite being largely an enigma. Ryan and I only met him recently for this episode, after two years of buying our pens/half our pen collections from him. He's a "power seller" with a r…

We begin season 2 with an exploration of the overlaps between our hobbies in the pen and stationery community and content creation. Intellectual property doesn't seem like something overtly related to all the good stuff--journal spreads, pen pictures, shopping hauls, and the like--but, apparently it all is. So listen in on us as we talk about the t…

Happy anniversary to us and thanks for being here to tune back in. Ryan and I have been on a month-long hiatus, not to take time off, but really because work has been relentless. However, we're back and happy to catch-up with each other and with you. In this episode, we cover our personal highlights, look-forward-tos, and leave-behinds, and close t…

Before we get to the description relevant to this episode, Ryan and I thought it important to dedicate a space to important current events and the things we can immediately do to address them: inform and encourage. We want to emphasize that, despite the leisure-related topics this podcast covers, we still are educators and citizens and humans at co…

Jika took one for the team by being a guest alongside her one and only, Paulu (pronounced "paul-oo"), an artist and film scholar. In our desire to discuss consumerism and love, there was no better way to celebrate and critique these two themes than through an interview of a pen couple. Ryan prepared the cheesy questions, and Jika and Paulu willingl…

At the time of recording, it was Jika's birthday and also the full moon, so what better time to talk about tarot and journaling at once, right? For this one, we invited a familiar face, Unisse of @sushi.plans, once again to hangout, catchup, and share her tarot journaling practice. It's our goal to get Ryan in on the tarot train, really. Hopefully,…

The amount of times "noob" is said in the thumbnail is no joke, but rather a way to impress upon our viewers/listeners that there are, and have been since 2018, more than 2 pen noobs. This episode's guest is Ronin Bautista of pennoob.com, known for their helpful articles on everything from the Troublemaker Inks duo, pen people profiles, the Tomoe R…

Cuffing season is that period just before or after Christmas/the New Year when people tend to, well, break up with each other. We're hijacking that concept to talk about the things and habits we're breaking up with in preparation for 2022. So, though this is a short one (shorter than most of our episodes, at least), hang tight and keep listening as…

Excuse the pun but Christmas season is upon us and we're here to talk about our hauls and grails. We've never had a grail episode and this is our first, thus marking our characters' development from noobs to noobs-with-grails. Other than this, we also cover the latest Take A Note and Nothing Planners and talk about something we haven't experienced …

We know we took a while to come back BUT we still cannot contain our excitement over having Harry of @foxscribbler on the show, because we think it's about time to highlight a particularly dapper approach to journaling and curation. Harry and his instagram feed had come to our attention only in the last few months, but we're hooked on his mindfully…

We're testing the new Anchor/Spotify function, so try and answer the question for this episode: What are your unpopular pen, stationery, journaling, and/or planning opinions? We promise not to judge. :3 Halloween, onions, and peaches. This episode is one where we cringe, test our friendships, make butt jokes, and have a few lols over each others' o…

With all the Abbey Sy and Paper Society acquisitions as of late, it was inevitable that this day would come when your resident noobs would have Abbey Sy over. In one of our chillest interviews yet, Abbey stops by to talk about her journey, her interests, her businesses, and her community. We might be new to all this pen, stationery, journaling, and…

We finally get around to posting this special episode with a dear friend and fellow-pen friend, Unisse of @sushi.plans. Unisse only started her pen-stagram and her Twitch stream at the dawn of this horrible pandemic, but she's already so visible on different platforms and in different niches of the community. Some relevant links include: Abbey Sy's…

Pen Friends! Welcome to our 13th episode, a Hobo-How-To or a Hobo [1]101. Though most of you might have already received your orders, it’s only the 17th of September and we thought it’d be nice to give everyone a guide on how to navigate the site and also share our to-buys for 2022. If you haven’t put in your order yet, we hope this episode gives y…

You've been with us for 12 episodes now, Pen Friends! Half a year of podcasting and we still feel just as noob-ish as we did 6 months ago. This episode is what the title says: a mid-year checkin where we check in on each other, our progress, acquisitions, and any significant changes since the podcast launched in March of this year. We also hint at …

Welcome back, Pen Friends! As we reach the halfway mark of the year since we premiered, we thought it'd be nice to bring in a few representatives of the youth (a demographic Ryan and I are slowly inching out of). We invited two of our former students, Tots and Franz, who also happen to be fountain pen enthusiasts of various tenures and interests. T…

Welcome back to another special one! This time around, we have quite a chat with one-half of the Tokyo Inklings podcast duo, CY. We're sure that, if you're here, you've also already listened to an episode or two or all of Tokyo Inklings. Their podcast gained much traction last year when they gave us insider info regarding Japan exclusive pens and s…

It's been a long three weeks since our last episode, but we're back and keeping with our promise to release episodes right around [Filipino] paydays! Ryan and I have missed each other very much this school year, since we don't get to hangout much in online school anymore, so we dedicated an episode to catch up with each other and check in on our jo…

Hallo, Pen Friends! This episode is one we've been keeping for a while (we recorded it in May!) because we've been waiting for the right time and we’ve been finalizing our formats for our now-upscaled bi-monthly releases. As the cold open shows, we're really really REALLY excited about this one. Since Episode 7 was about Noobs, this one features ex…

You're back and you're here, Pen Friends! This episode is special to us (then again, when is an episode not?). We've invited a few of our teacher friends, Nicah and Paolo/Swapee, to virtually sit down with us, sip tea, and share tea about what it's like being a teacher and a pen enthusiast. We're all somewhat new to this game--give or take an avera…

Let's end May with some journaling, Pen Friends!Since we already covered planning in the last episode, this one was inevitable. As our summer break comes to a close, listen or watch us wax sentimental about the humble and personal beginnings of our journaling journeys and our current journal-specific habits and line-ups. Oh, and we talk about how j…

We're back with episode 5, Pen Friends! If you've been tuning in to the last 4 episodes, you might now be wondering about what to do with all the gear you just acquired. Of course, we don't #PENable for nothing, so we're here to talk about PLANNING as a regular means of maximizing pen-ink-and-paper usage, and as a means to get ourselves and our day…

Welcome back, Pen Friends! This is a bit of a long one but we promise that it's good and meaty. In this episode, we discuss the last two components of a great writing experience: Paper and Inks (PINKS, for short). We get into different paper and ink qualities and quirks, our preferences, and maybe some that could be yours. Do note that we make a mi…

Hello again, Pen Friends! Due to some demand, we dedicate this entire episode to starter pens--the pens that you, well, start with, whether they choose you or you choose them (Yes. We do lean into the Pokemon analogy very strongly in this one). We go into our own starter pens, and make recommendations about other entry-level options. We also go int…

Hello PenFriends! We're back this time to discuss nibs and the endless promise of their use. Being the ever-dependable noobs that we are, we talk non-exhaustively about our nib preferences, some nib-related phenomena, the differences between Japanese and Western nibs, and the differences between nib materials. If you're interested to hear our take …

Hello PenFriends! We're Jika and Ryan, your pen noobs trying to reclaim the term noob while also doing our best to lift the curtain off some of our favorite things: fountain pens and stationery. We're by no means experts on either, thus meriting our noob-ish title, and hope that this podcast PENlightens and PENables not just ourselves but also our …

Alden and D'mani are back! (FINALLY) This week aside from cussing out white women, the two discuss the myths associated with careers and adulthood. Join the conversation on twitter #BestFrenPodโดย Best Fren Pod

This week Alden and D'Mani return to discuss how to react when you don't care for your friend's significant others. The two also go on a random tangent about male genitalia.โดย Best Fren Pod

This week Alden and D'mani discuss feeling jealousy without background and how to combat those who harbor that energy around you.โดย Best Fren Pod