Remember when I said that there’s an array of groups dedicated to users of the Hobonichi? Well, one of the more popular ones in the Philippines is called Hobonichi Users PH. I happened upon them one day while I was browsing Facebook & I was amazed at how welcoming everyone was to a newbie user like me! The group was created by Ms. Karen Faith & then pioneered by both her & Ms. Michelle Amina – both of which also spearheaded the beginnings of the Traveling Hobonichi.
Today, the Hobonichi Users PH has over 1,000 members and is thriving! Here’s a warning: The group is filled with enablers! Prepare to be pelted by dozens of destashing posts, cute stationeries & accessories, posts selling fountain pens, inks, stickers, Anello bags, etc. The group holds a few amount of meet-ups – small & large ones; ultimately becoming an official event of SM Aura in the process just recently! Backtracking, the biggest event we’ve ever had was the Hobonichi Tokyo Live in Manila and that’s the topic for today, folks!
The Hobonichi Tokyo team took notice the increase in number of Hobonichi users in the Philippines. Considering the significant quantity of members in our group, they’ve decided to feature us & our usual meet-ups – with great help from the admins and/or moderators!
Before the Tokyo team (Naoko Hayashi, Chihiro Komata, and Makico Hoshino) arrived in the Philippines, a few of us were informed that we’ll be interviewed to be featured in the Hobonichi store’s video & their zine. Guess who was ecstatic & worried she’ll mess up at the same time? Me! To be fair, I wasn’t wrong – I did mess up a good number of times, as predicted, but hey, bloopers! 😛
On the 8th of April 2017, the Tokyo team joined our gathering. The stage is set at SM Aura’s food court, with a great portion dedicated to our event! During the meet-up, the Tokyo team took videos of the activities & other happenings in the area: tables dedicated to free washi tapes, ink samples, stamps; sellers from different online stores were present – a test of self-control in itself, really! I was part of the “watercolor table,” wherein my table mates & I just kept painting on other people’s Hobonichis. :)) At some point, the Tokyo team called the “chosen ones” one by one for the quick interview! When it was my turn, I flailed around like a duck & ended up stammering at some point, but I finished it & they took photos of my pages!
The Zine
It was a very surreal experience! The 2nd best part of the event: the freebies, which the Tokyo team brought over from Japan! I was a happy camper! 1st best was being chosen to be part of the interview! Hehe! Thank you to the admins for picking me! I must have done something right. :))
Near the end of the event, there were raffles (I didn’t win. :(), a drawing session c/o Ms. Makico Hoshino & then it was picture time! We had all of our Hobonichis together resting on one table aka the Hobonichi stack, took a photo of it, then we captured another photo of all the attendees of the event with the Tokyo team!
Photo grabbed from Hobonichi Users PH!
My spread & the freebies we got from the Hobonichi Tokyo team!
What a fun-filled event it was! Every day, I’m glad I discovered the Hobonichi Users PH group, cause not only do I get inspired by other people’s creativity with their planners, I also somehow ended up with more friends than I could count, who also love the same things that I do. 🙂
P.S. Thank you, Tokyo team! Hope to see you again soon! 😀
Love,
