pen prose

this was originally posted as a comment in Vivaglam's blog:

I also have this affinity for nice pens, but not at the Mont Blanc level. I remembered the first good pen I treasured was the Macky parker pen. Oh sure, everyone in the pilot class had one, but it was better than those P5 Uni-Mitsubishi-CSA pens they sold at the bookstore. That is, until I found out that each Parker refill would cost around P60, at that time a hefty sum that would strain a P50-P70 daily HS allowance. I checked with Office Warehouse this week and it's now up to P120.

Still, I yearned for the day I could get a personalized Parker pen (vanity the primary consideration). I tried to have the Macky Parker pen engraved, only to be turned down by the National people (you have to buy the pen from them first). Due to plain stubborness, I kept on asking them intermittently for about two years. Finally, I saved enough for my own all-silver Parker pen, complete with inscription! Unfortunately, all-silver Parker pens are less sturdier than their mestizo counterparts, so this pen conked out in less than six months (the clicking mechanism got jammed).

So now, although I still have around two or three engraved good pens (given as gifts over time), I prefer a Panda pen, since one Panda has always lasted me for months, if not years (unless it gets lost). I would prefer the clicking Panda, since I seem to have acquired from Macky that annoying pen clicking habit.