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An elaborately decorated zippered pouch that we bought at the souvenir tiangge in Puerto Princesa for 90 pesos, now doing service as our phone case.

Funny earrings we made out of Solane LPG keychains, zero pesos. Our friend required our presence at a media lunch to introduce the LPG provider Solane’s gas-tight safety cap and seal, tamper-proof for auto/shut-off valves. The safety cap completely plugs the gas to prevent leaks. We could’ve used these at our high school chem lab, which always had a whiff of gas early in the morning. (Ah, fond memories of hair burning in bunsen burner flames. Not ours, of course.)

The Simpsons 25th anniversary Moleskine notebook, Php1495 at National Bookstores. We like the yellow version better, but that one has lined paper.

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We’re writing a short story when a shadow falls upon the paper, followed by furry feet.

Saffy, get off our notebook, we’re writing.

Please get off our notebook.

You can’t be hungry, you just ate. And we just cleaned the litter box so you can’t complain. It’s our writing time, go away.

– I am inspiring you.
– Thanks, but what’s the point when we can’t see the page.
– That is not my problem.

Our Philippine Eagle toy arrived yesterday in its own drawstring bag. It’s a good-looking bird.

– Hello, I am Jeffrey, short for Pithecophaga jefferyi.

– I’m Drogon! You’re a funny-looking creature. What are you?
– I’m a Philippine Eagle!

– What’s a Philippine Eagle?
– A giant forest raptor endemic to the Philippines.

– A raptor? Like in Jurassic Park?
– Well we are descended from dinosaurs.
– But you look like a bird.
– I am a bird. Did you know some dinosaurs had feathers?

– Do you taste like chicken? I love chicken! Can I eat you?
– No. You may not eat me. I am rare and critically endangered.
– Oh. Wanna play?
– Okay!

– When I grow up I’ll kick your ass.
– When I grow up I’ll have dragonfire.
– Eagles eat small mammals in the wild.
– We’re not in the wild.

Get your adorable Philippine Eagle stuffed toy at The Library of Babel today. Retail price: Php699 plus shipping to the known world. Your purchase helps fund the Philippine Eagle Foundation, which is dedicated to saving this endangered species and its rainforest habitat.

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8. Dove yourself. Good skin and hair care doesn’t require huge expense; the trusted brand is available in supermarkets everywhere. We especially recommend it to people who get headaches or break out from strong (masangsang) scents. Go buy yourself a whole lot of Dove products—they’ll still fall under Basic Necessities.

9. Cheap date with yourself! Note: Cheap is bad only if your date is paying. If you’re paying, it’s great.

First, buy your favorite Oishi snacks.

Then curl up with Season 3 of BBC’s Sherlock. It’s not just a show, it’s leverage in negotiations with China. (Read Chinese Sherlock Fans Asked David Cameron to Make Producers Hurry Up.)

Baked Porky Popps, Holmes and Watson. Happy.

10. Write.

You can never have too many beautiful notebooks. To justify acquiring them, you’ll just have to write more. The Pantone Artist and Writer’s Notebook from Chronicle Books features a Pantone color chip on every page. Thick cardboard covers, perfect binding, smooth white paper. The notebook measures 7 x 9 inches and retails at Php897 at National Bookstores. (We have a book moratorium; we didn’t say anything about stationery hahahaha.)

Set of bookplates by Gallison, Php320 at National Bookstores.

We may be in bibliophilia rehab, but we can still pop into the bookstore to look at stationery. We love stationery. This probably stems from the penmanship training at our old school—we learned to enjoy scribbling on blank sheets of paper. This may also account for our choice of occupations.

The set contains 80 bookplates in 10 designs.

“Why do you have bookplates? Why don’t you just write your name on the flyleaf?”

“No reason. We just like bookplates.”

Pocket spiral notebook, cat design by Romero Britto, Php200+ (pricetag fell off).

We used to haunt the little stationery shop at St. Theresa’s, the one on the second floor near the cafeteria, for paper and rubber erasers. Did you sniff those scented rubber erasers, too? We know people who used to chew on them. They also gnawed on their Mongol pencils.

Box of Liberty art fabrics notecards by Chronicle Books, Php957. 16 cards, with envelopes, 4 designs: Clementina (1896), Pelagia (2007), Nesfield (1900s) inspired by William Morris, and Amarylis (1880s).

We would’ve gotten these notecards for the fabric-covered box.

Saffy invaded the frame, which meant she wanted a close-up.

Our favorite comic book title of the month is Crime-Fighting Call Center Agents. On the basis of the title we would buy the comics, the T-shirt, the lunchbox and accessories. So the fact that the comics by Noel Pascual and AJ Bernardo are hysterically funny would be a bonus if that weren’t the rationale for their existence. The…heroes…of Crime-Fighting Call Center Agents (CFCCA) are actual call center agents but not actually crime-fighters—they just find themselves in dangerously stupid/stupidly dangerous situations and try to survive using their limited wits.

Issue #1, in which the four colleagues are threatened by a psycho biker, is hilarious, but Issues 2 and 3, which constitute an hommage to a recent Pinoy horror movie classic, is brilliant. In its combination of geekiness and idiocy, CFCCA is unrivaled. Consider this bit of dialogue:

– Ngayon na nga lang ako manliligaw, sa pamilya pa ng mga aswang.
– Kaya nga ako, lahat ng gusto kong pormahan, sinasabuyan ko muna accidentally ng holy water.

Or this masterful teaser for a future issue:

Pati ang panel na ito, hindi pa cleared sa teaser na ito. Masyado kasing game-changing, sobrang gandang twist sa istorya, na pag nabasa mo, iisipin mo: “Ano ito! Sobrang astig, parang nagkaka-Stendhal Syndrome na yata ako!”

Tapos pagtingin mo sa relos mo, year 2037 na pala.

Get your own copies. Now. CFCCA is available at Comic Odyssey at Galleria, Planet X at Glorietta 4, Filbar’s at Festival Mall Alabang, Bookay-Ukay at Maginhawa St, UP Village, Chapter IX Books at Circle C Mall QC, and Druid’s Keep at The Fort Strip, Bonifacio Global City. Each issue costs Php75. CFCCA will also be available at the ReaderCon on 7 December at the Rizal Library at Ateneo, and at Better Living Through Xerography at the Lopez Museum on 14 December. Look them up on facebook.

Designer Beruna Girl combines her fan obsessions with her love of typography in handmade notebooks emblazoned with quotes from Sherlock, Game of Thrones, Fringe, J.R.R. Tolkien. The Fandom Jots measure 9.8 x 14 cm, with heavy kraft paper covers and plain white pages. A set of three notebooks costs Php365-456. You can buy them online.

And here’s the new trailer for Sherlock.

What really happened between Sherlock Holmes and the pavement? Has he returned to save Watson from that moustache? Season 3 premieres in the US 19 January 2014; earlier in the UK.

The new Hobbit Limited Edition Moleskine.

Essential for unexpected journeys, adventures, encounters with treasure-hoarding dragons. Php1140 at National Bookstores.

Inside: 11 illustrations from the first edition of The Hobbit.

When you unwrap your notebook, you will find a message from Bilbo.

Drogon’s full name is a compendium of dragon names (from A Song of Ice and Fire, the Arthurian tales and The X-Men). For his human father, we have selected two: one plays Loki, the other Smaug. See the resemblance? Hence Drogon Lockheed Pendragon Targaryen-Targaryen Hiddleston-Cumberbatch.

Drogon looks thin, but he’s heavy. And extremely cheerful. (“What’s this? It’s water! Wow! I love it!”)