Posts by: Rica Espiritu

I’m doing this instructional piece to document my experiments on creating the ‘best’ DIY dip pen reservoir. The best meaning – it can hold a lot of ink and at the same time, easier to create and maintain. I only had pictures as reference from the different fountain pen forums when I looked up “wire reservoirs for...

I still can’t believe it. It works! I was skeptical because I kept wondering how something like that could affect ink flow and just how much ink can it really hold. I guess it is just a big hassle because you have to do this every time you use a dip pen.

I never gave this much thought until I tasted Marise’s homemade Chili-Garlic oil. It used to be something I’d just put on chinese food [dumpling and soups]. This one is tastier and more flavorful. Mars placed it on almost everything – eggs, fried fish, veggies and salad. I got hooked. I never realized that when...

I never thought that doodling had its advantages until now. My friend Mars introduced me to the world of zentangles a few weeks back. Watching her draw was hypnotic. It wasn’t until I did my first serious doodle that I actually caught the bug. It was a wonderful way to take a break and collect one’s thoughts. One...

I am impatient. It shows in everything I do. Which is why it takes a lot for me to be patient when doing something – anything. From cooking to coding. I have to find something to distract me while I wait. That’s when I browse, do something else or in this case, practise getting used to my pens. I used the 6mm pen for...

I think I’m beginning to get a hang of the Pentel brush pen. Once I perfect this style, I will try another font. However it seems that I am running out of ink. I wonder if you can use fountain pen ink on these brushes.

What do you do when your computer is taking forever to save a file? Take sanity breaks of course and play with pens. So that’s what I am doing. Pen playing.   Actually that’s what I do when I don’t feel good. I distract myself with work or anything else that doesn’t require much thinking.

I really think I’ve forgotten how to write. I’ve spent so much time working in front of the computer that my hand freezes and aches when I start writing. Hand cramps, is there such a thing? I haven’t even started writing journal entries yet.   Yes it is horrible. The letters are uneven and so is the pressure. How has it...

During my last year in college, my first boss gave me this advice: “Do what you love best and money will follow.” She didn’t tell me how money “will follow”. Decades later, I realized how. When you do what you love you become good at it. After a few years, you become a master in your own right. People will seek you out for...

Pat was one of the artists I worked with under Animasia, an animation house back in the 90s. He was among the second batch of animators from Philippine Women’s University that was trained and hired. He owned a beetle [the old Volkswagen] back then. He’s the kind of artist that always brought sunshine into group whatever...

When I was in grade school I hated my lunch. It was a single hotdog on 2 cups of rice, squished in a Sanrio plastic lunch container. By mid noon, the rice would be cold, tough and the hotdog in the middle would taste boiled. I had a nanny who dutifully prepared my meals which consisted of either a drumstick or a...

I  am not a chef. The last cooking lessons I took were back in high school. I am, however, a mother. Like most mothers, I try to make sure I cook something healthy for the family. So when I come across something that I really, really like, I try my best to replicate it. This is one of those instances. I was able to...

I mean really… how many nights a week do you cook at home? What do you usually cook or end up doing?

There’s no way you can cook good Palabok in less than 30 minutes. I tried and failed. I can’t be miserable about it because the main ingredient, aligue, makes everything taste heavenly. This was an experiment. It succeeded the first time we tried it at home because I had several people helping me out to prepare the...

Mothers–there’s just nothing like them on the face of the earth. I am one. I am not saying am a good one because that is something that only time can tell. I realized that one DOES have to be a mother to know how it is like. You don’t have to give birth to be a mother. Time comes when you start caring for somebody...