California Pen Show 2026 and the things I ate
Food, food, some stationery, and more food
The annual flight to California Pen Show in February always kickstart the beginning of our stationery spring events. It was with a trepid feeling about this season that I got on a late flight to Los Angeles from Seattle on Sunday night. Although I anticipated being very busy for the rest of the week, I want to start the week off on a relaxing note by finally exploring more sides of LA outside of the show venue, taking advantage of the day off from President’s Day.
First, we feast
This year, my friend RJ from Pinky Elephant promised a fun tour of Pasadena, her stomping ground. A few friends also joined us on our day trip in this part of town. It also happened to be Lunar New Year’s Eve, so we started off the day with some serious eating at Sea Harbor Seafood Restaurant. It had been quite a while since I’ve had dim sum and I was in great company with friends and big appetites. What we didn’t expect was the torrential rain that battered against us despite our chilly queue underneath the awning of the restaurant. I must have brought the Pacific Northwest weather with me on this trip. At one point during our meal, phones started buzzing with the alarm of flash flooding notifications. However, everyone still concentrated on the more important things at hand, dim sum.
The stuffy and white table cloth draped round tables with banquet chairs inside the restaurant immediately swept me back to my childhood having family gatherings around similar tables — I would be plotting a third cup of the plum juice while the adults forces fish and veggies onto our dishes. Walking into a dim sum restaurant now as an adult bears a different familiarity and a sense of wonder at my more pronounced palate and appetite for this Cantonese delicacy. The bigger worries nowadays is more about which dish to order and how much more should we add to our menu paper.
A flurry of steamer baskets arrived at the table quickly, containing shumai topped with truffles, braised chicken feet (my favorite), bbq pork buns, charcoaled color har gow, and delicious sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves. The hot and soothing chrysanthemum tea warmed our bellies from the surprisingly cold weather and also helped washed down second, third servings of cheung fen with beef and shrimp.
The highlight of this delicious brunch was dessert: Ma La Gao (Cantonese style steamed sponge cake) and steamed lava salty egg yolk buns. Despite us already stuffing our faces for an hour, we still find some space to fit in these “not too sweet” dessert item to wrap up the meal, the highest compliment for any Asian dessert. At the table, we recount our favorite dim sum dishes and childhood memories; it was the best way to celebrate the typical Lunar New Year’s Eve feast.
Cafe and Stationery around Pasadena
Our friend courageously braved the intense rain to drive us around the city. We hit up Guiji, one of my favorite Taiwanese bubble tea place that opened up in San Gabriel. I got their iconic Hongxuan Black Tea (0% sugar because I am trying my hardest to be good this first quarter about sweet drinks) and we waited out the worst of the downpour in the comfort of the cafe. The place soon filled up with hurried parties picking up their drinks for the family gatherings that are expected of this day. We relished the warmth and dryness of the cafe while we compared our bag trinkets. When my shoe finally dried, we’re ready to head out again.
I love exploring stationery stores in new cities and Mt. Fo’rest is a new local favorite in this area. We thought the holiday and the rain would keep most of the crowd away, but we arrived and found a huge crowd inside the store — all the stationery enthusiasts have found their haven here on this dreary day. I thoroughly enjoyed pouring over all the shelves and selection the store curates. There were a lot of local artists and creators that were highlighted throughout the store decoration, a feature I greatly appreciate in the AI-filled environment. For a brief moment, I found reprieve in this little analog corner and I even discovered some new treasures.
I also love flipping through the tester notebooks laid out in the center table; you can often find delightful snippets or doodles left by customers that passesbouthrough the store. I also left my own easter egg doodle in one of the booklets, although I wonder if people still recognizes my “Penguinscreative” penguin these days. It felt freeing to pick up a random pen and just draw on a whim. I’m really looking forward to exploring more of that care-free wonder in my MD Notebook sketchbook this year (that’s another story for another day).
My purchase landed me two raffle tickets and a fun turn at their gacha machine. I submitted my luck for a special Itoya edition Lamy Safari and took home a purple paper omamori charm. I knew I might get into some trouble at the California Pen Show, but I didn’t realize I’ll start breaking into my stationery budget as early as Monday before the show even begins.
We took another cafe break, this time at Mandarin Coffee Stand inside the gorgeous Burlington Arcade building. Throughout the day, I couldn’t help noticing all the interesting facade of the architecture and variety of styles in Los Angeles, so different from the blocky new buildings in Seattle. This arcade had an almost English vibe with arched skylights, boutique storefronts, and even a whimsical red telephone booth in the middle of the shopping lane. The Mandarin Coffee Stand stood out with bright colorful window paintings and delicious drinks — I had the Gui Hua (Osmanthus) Latte, a continuation of my Chinese New Year-themed eats of the day. The rain had finally let up and we enjoyed chatting in the open seating underneath the arched skylight, no longer covered by stormy clouds.
Our second to last stop for the day is Vroman’s Bookstore, one of SoCal’s oldest indie bookstores. The space was filled with carpeted floors and aisles of books mixed together with peculiar gifts and lifestyle goods. It also has a charming bar/cafe at the back of the bookstore where patrons can sip on spirits with a book. We headed straight to the stationery section though. They have a row of glass cases boasting a great selection of Japanese fountain pens. I admired the Sailor fountain pens from afar, slightly daunted by the MSRP (hiked significantly this year along with the global economy). I came away with a MIDORI stamp that I wasn’t sure if I already owned — the design features a dog with a short to-do list…heck, it doesn’t hurt to have two of these around the house.
We wrapped up this fun-filled day with a short tour of Pasadena’s glorious City Hall, a building designed with Mediterranean Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival architecture as inspiration.
We walked under beautifully arched walkways and looked up at solemn looking domes pointed towards the skies. The courtyard is thick with bushes and trees so different from the type back home in the Pacific Northwest, I can imagine myself stepping into one of the Renaissance paintings at any of the angles I look. The rain had thoroughly stopped and we were rewarded with a glimpse of a sun break in the sky. I’m excited and looking forward to the rest of the week and the California Pen Show to come.
A brief stint in Long Beach
Prior to the pen show, I stayed at Long Beach for a few days to visit my colleagues for a few days of co-working in the new warehouse space. I was welcomed by mixed weather: one day it was windy and stormy, another day gave me incredible sunshine and SoCal warmth.
Before I made the trip down to Long Beach, I bid farewell to Pasadena with a decadent breakfast of Mio Pane, a new bagel shop that opened up in the neighborhood. Mio Pane came all the way from Taiwan and makes an innovative roster of chewy and light bagels, stuffed with different cream cheese flavors. This place was newly opened and boasted long queues throughout the day. Luckily, it was just around the corner from my hotel so I got to pick up half a dozen bagels before checking out of the hotel.
Before driving South, my friend Jackie and I made a little detour to Paper Plant Co’s new Highland Park location. This is Paper Plant Co’s second location in Los Angeles and is relatively more spacious than their Chinatown location. Along the green walls, Japanese and other Asian stationery brands are lined neatly against wood shelves. I picked up a few postcards from Ours Studio (a Taiwanese creator duo) and some stickers from local artists. I almost succumbed to a new Opus 88 fountain pen (a collaboration with Soupy Tang, a Taiwanese illustrator) This store is another great addition to the stationery community in Los Angeles.
Finally, I arrived in the afternoon at our company’s US headquarter, tucked away in an industrial business park in Signal Hill.
It was pretty amazing to see how our team and office space grew from the basement of an office building to a larger warehouse space it resides in today. Our team thrifted discarded furniture from a local rental staging company and we made the office space homey and comfortable, almost like a outpost of TRAVELER’S FACTORY in Japan! Too bad it’s not open to public and for visitors, because I would love to show off our lovely space more to fans of our brands.
I reunited with my friend Job for the next two days in Long Beach. He took me to Sonoratown, a taco joint featuring the classic Sonora style tacos which uses thin but chewy tortilla. My platter of street tacos has three types: tripa, cabeza, and asada, a variety of texture from crunchy to juicy to chewy. The salsa looks chunky and mean (a sharp spicy kick) but oddly addicting. I employed their house-made horchata de coco to put out the fire in my mouth before going back for another bite.
We ended our first evening’s meal with delicious scoops from Long Beach Creamery: Crispy Mallow and Midnight Oolong. This ice cream shop is directly next to the Intertrend building, a Taiwanese-American owned marketing agency that used to be the home of Designphil America (we rented out their basement space). This marketing agency always has some fun interactive things going on with their window display during Chinese New Year and we enjoyed pseudo celebrating the New Year’s Day next to the decoration — Year of the Horse!
My second day at Long Beach is filled with other delicious meals (apologies, this is turning into a food journal instead of a stationery adventure log). My morning coffee came from Black Dog Roasters, our local coffee shop that used to occupy our current warehouse space. The owner Francisco sources single-origin coffee beans from El Salvador and is also a car enthusiast (he stores his prized collection next to the coffee roasting machinery in the shop space.)
For lunch, we caught up with our boss (who was visiting from Japan) over rich tonkatsu broth at HiroNori Ramen. I added extra minced garlic (I had to!) and I boasted an extra stinky breath for the rest of the afternoon. Finally, for dinner, we filled our tummy with authentic Thai-Lao cuisine from Owl Owl. Their boat noodle does not skimp on the spice and the blood ingredient in its soup (which other Thai restaurants usually avoids to cater to the western palate). The papaya salad packs a spicy punch and I swear the pain helped me erase all the stress from the day’s work.
California Pen Show 2026 outdid itself again
Other than the questionable use of generative-AI image on the California Pen Show Show Guide pamphlet (boooooo), this event seemed to out do itself year after year. Our first time attending the show was 2023 and the people interested in analog tools and stationery has grown since (my recap of the show in 2024 and 2025 here). California Pen Show 2026 (2/20 - 2/22) saw its highest vendor count yet, in which the show had to expand the space to a second ballroom near the front of the lobby. Although the separation kept me from seeing a lot of my friends who are placed at the main ballroom, it did allow more room for people to browse around comfortable. Our TRAVELER’S COMPANY table always draw a huge crowd, so the circular Lighthouse ballroom also had room for visitors to queue comfortably.
Just like what I’ve observed at other shows, Fridays (or the first day of each stationery event) attracts the most crowd. I think everyone knew that going on the first day will allow them first dibs into what’s exciting and new. It is also true that most vendors don’t tend to restock throughout the weekend, so going on day 1 or early on day 2 gives you the best bet to purchase exciting things from vendors and artists. However, for the first time ever, we experienced a consistent flow of customers even on Sunday, indicating the power of the appeal of analog tool in today’s political climate.
I’ve also accepted the fate that I’m always going to be a “third-day pen show gal” in which I don’t get to see the show in its entirety until the last day of the event. This year, the continuous flow of visitors to this show had us pinned to our tables most of the time. It was only during the relatively calmer VIP-hours on Sunday that I was able to take myself to the main ballroom and visit all the vendors there. Obviously, by then, most of the vendors had sold out of their feature items and popular selection; but even the slim pickings at the end of the show are still interesting to browse and learn about.
Let’s get into it!
Around the Lighthouse Ballroom, our home base
The Lighthouse Ballroom is the new addition to the California Pen Show space this year and is also the main entrance for visitors when they arrive at the show. Customers will first see a full display from The Washi Station, Monrche Studio, and Cheery Human Studios.
Switching to the other half of the room, FLAX Pen to Paper occupies a full corner selling notebooks, fountain pens, and unique Japanese stationery from Saiko Stationery. Their diverse offering also ensured that their tables were swamped the entire weekend too. I heard that Maruman were doing clearance sales towards the last day of the show and people were able to score nice deals on notebooks and notepads on Sunday afternoon. Nahvalur is one of the main sponsors of the show and they always have a nice cluster of tables showcasing their newest pens. I was intrigued by the mechanical looking retractable fountain pen…the sharp edges are not comfortable to hold, but the way they click together to eject the nib is fascinating and feels like a fun toy.
Our cluster of tables from Designphil sits at the back of the room, which includes TRAVELER’S COMPANY, PLOTTER, and the newly introduced MD PRODUCT. Throughout the busiest times of the day, the crowd forms organized queues along the curvature of the room, which also allowed them to look at tables such as Coles of London, Itoya Studio, and Leuchtturm (I missed my opportunity to make a customized pen, again!)
As always, what powers us during the busy hours of the pen show were the fans and friends who always came by to say hi. Aside from the two rush during the day: 9 AM VIP hours and 11 AM General Admission, we were able to catch our breath and chat with friends who visit with snacks or stickers for moral support.
It’s amazing how the pen show became the place to meet a lot of my online friends and acquaintances face to face. Although we only see each other once a year, the familiarity fueled by our shared passion for the hobby made each meeting all the more exciting and meaningful. I passed out stickers to visitors who mentioned that they listen to my podcast and I pour over people’s journals and notebooks. Although the pen show is a lot of work (my back is sore and it hurts to talk at the end of the show), I still consider it a fun experience that I wouldn’t miss for the world.
Other core memories include eating hand-held onigiri while kneeling on the floor, hiding from the customers. It got so busy on Friday and Saturday that most of us didn’t get to eat lunch until 2:30. Sunday finally slowed down for us to take turn eating out of take-out boxes from Ding Tai Fung. Paired with delightful sips of milk tea from CHAGEE (thanks RJ from Pinky Elephant!), it was the perfect way to end our three day grind.
Pens, pens, and more pens
This year, I challenged myself to take more time to look at fancy pens that are typically outside of my budget. This includes elaborate makie or urushi pens from AP Limited, seY, and Urushi Pens.
I think the market also noticed the shift in the pen market demographic and trend. There were a lot more girls at the show as well a younger generation of pen lovers. I enjoyed admiring the more dreamy and flowery selections from Zek Pens, Papa J Studio, Rubato Pens & Pressed Flowers.
Of course, I always had to check out a few of my favorite pen makers such as Schon DSGN (I think this is finally the year I’ll be buying a Monoc nib), Carolina Pen Company, and Skogsy Pens. My friends at Kyuseido sold all of their pens during the first two days of the show and there were only a few samples to look at when I made it to the main ballroom (I missed seeing the beautiful Kyuseido Kakari Natsu-Ajisai Summer Hydrangea by Sophie.) Whilst I didn’t purchase any pens (not that there were much to choose from anymore!) I’m looking forward to shopping from them later this year when I finally can enjoy the San Francisco Pen Show as a customer.
Notable vendors from Japan are Bungubox, Hachimonjiya, and Nagasawa. Sadly, Pilot Corporation’s table were covered on Sunday morning, so I didn’t have a chance to try out their pens and ask about future price increases, haha! I’ve already done enough damage at Bungubox a few months ago during Tokyo International Pen Show, so I didn’t leave with anything new. I also made a pact with myself to not purchase any new inks this year, so I marked myself safe from Nagasawa and Hachimonjiya even though they brought their best selection to the show.
Other than pens, I also looked at pen rests and stationery stands. My friends at Fountain PENdulum and Stationery Stack both brought an impressive selection of ink vial holders, pen rests, and even notebook display holders. Their works were immaculate and colorful, and great additions to the table top of any stationery enthusiasts. I told Gailyn (of PENdulum) about my little sad army of Daiso toothbrush holders strewn all over my table holding individual ink vials and she was kind enough to gift me a four-ink vial holder for the road. It is going to be the perfect ink sample holder for me to use with my glass pens and I’m so excited to use it.
Of course, vintage pen dealers are still a huge part of the show. However, I am still quite daunted at the selection, but I admire others who were able to dig and find gems throughout the show.
Stationery rules at California Pen Show
After many years of attending pen shows and blowing my budget, I knew that I needed to try something different this year. I’m also at a phase of my stationery hobby that I am not looking to add more fountain pens to my collection. However, I understand myself well and knows that this restraint does not apply to stickers and other stationery accessories. Therefore, for California Pen Show 2026, I made myself bring only $200 in cash and be limited to this budget. This is the first year I actually count out dollar bills instead of just mindlessly swiping my credit card, and it worked beautifully.
Pen shows in the United States had slowly evolved to incorporate more stationery and artist vendors in the lineup. I think this is a great development because of the diversity and the range of variety that a stationery enthusiast would want in their hobby. After all, if you give a mouse a pen, it’ll want a notebook to write with it in. If you give a mouse a notebook, it’ll want some stickers to decorate it with. If you give a mouse a sticker, it’ll want some pouch to store them in. If you give a mouse a pouch, it will probably want to buy some pens to put in it. I’m the mouse. We are all mice.
I’m excited to share the variety of stationery vendors that came to the California Pen Show. My favorite will always be Paper Treats, a local store specializing in whimsical and unique Japanese stationery and accessories. Mai, the owner of Paper Treats, had spent years cultivating meaningful relationships with artists and creators in Japan and tell their stories to the US customers through her own creative writing. Her table overspilled with interesting corners, each decorated to its own theme and whimsy. I had to partake in the cherry blossom-themed stationery, market-style sticker rolls, and other decorative stickers and postcards.
For a few years, Mai had also been selling hand-made greeting cards assembled by her mother who has such great stories and are so lively and young at heart. I had the honor to meeting her personally this year (she flew down from Washington as well!) and it was such a joy to see her help share the Japanese stationery love. This year, Paper Treats also worked with a local artist to create a special spread of wrapping paper design in her self-published newspaper about the stationery community. I love watching her using her passion for journalism to share more stories about Japanese stationery.
Of course, I also have to highlight my friend RJ from Pinky Elephant again. She and her husband manned their single table inside the main ballroom, highlighted by a cool LED light fixture that showcased the store name. They brought a great selection of wooden stamps by Little Lu as well as her unique design on the Kaweco Sports fountain pen, collaborative inks with TAG Stationery and Miki Tamura (my favorite washi tape collage artist in Japan), and other stationery from Taiwanese creators. Her table stamp is a three-step color stamp and is a great ephemera to collect from the show.
The trio of stationery friends and shop at one corner of the main ballroom were a delight to visit: Kubo and Lucy, Shady Pines Paper Co, and their helper Sari Sari Stationery. Yushing, Lelani, and Susie were so fun and they brought a huge variety of stickers and accessories to their table. I spent my last dollars at their shops, picking out great stickers to add to my notebook covers.
Other stationery vendors I enjoyed visiting at are Sugar Turtle Studio, Bloom Paper Studio, Hero of the Story (really cool greeting cards), and Savannah Scribbles. Each of these artists’ style are so unique and help contributes to the variety of the diverse stationery community. It really shows how this show can have something for anyone. My impression with pen shows used to be an exclusively older and male-dominated industry, but now you can bring your whole family to a pen show and everyone can find something fun across all age and price range.
The California Pen Show has slowly became one of my favorite events, kicking off my stationery obsession with a great start each year in February. Not only do I get to meet friends I haven’t seen in months, I also get to meet my colleagues based out of Long Beach, and check off my food bucket list throughout the city. This year, new additions to my favorite places to dine in Torrance are Hidden Garden Thai Cuisine and Ding Tai Fung (the chocolate mochi dumplings were a sweet burst of energy to last us throughout Sunday afternoon). Finally, the grand finale to my California adventure is always decadent marinated crab at Crab House inside Koreatown.
This February, I left California with a happy tummy, lighter wallet, and a filled heart. I can’t wait to do it all over again in one month. See you at San Francisco Stationery Fest in late March.
Thank you for sharing your adventures and your food! I'm looking forward to the San Francisco Stationery Fest and hope I find plenty of cheese there (but not too much!).
I vote for more stationery + all the food posts 😂🤓