Stationery Review 17: Parker Quink Blue Fountain Pen Ink (57ml) for ZAR 50

Hi Guys, 

Parker Pens have been my favourite since time immemorial and I still remember that I won one Parket Beta in my favourite Yellow Colour from a contest in Saket, New Delhi from NIIT. That was a ball pen and it really glued me to the Parker quality. Thereafter I bought many Parker Rollerball pens and also some fountain pens. Overall, I had 3 Parker Vector Fountain Pens in three body colours that I really loved. They all had ink converters inside of them and also I got some ink cartridges as well. 

As I was randomly visiting the CNA store in Sandton City, which is now closed as well permanently, I found this Parker ink going for sale from its market price of ZAR 150 to ZAR 50 at a 67% discount. I immediately thought of buying the same. Once the ink entered my home, it took me around 4 years to finish the 57ml Blue Ink bottle. The next one I bought I got for ZAR 75 at a 50% discount again. 

Till that time I only had some fountain pens and not like today when I have a lot in my collection, so I can say this ink brought a lot of pens into my life and took away a lot of my hard-earned money. Coming back to the colour of the ink, Parker Quink Blue is a different kind of blue, it's dark and has a little bit of red sheen. It's not a brilliant blue or sky blue kind of colour but much darker than that. It doesn't match with any of the other blue inks I have in my arsenal. It's a totally unique ink that can get you started in the fountain pen world. I have filled so many pages of journalling with this ink. I feel like it's a mixture of grey ink mixed with blue colour as it's not darker on the paper. Overall, this is the biggest amount of ink I have used as an adult so I will definitely love my first love but you can decide on your first ink with your first fountain pen for sure. 

I have not tested the Parker Quink Ink in Black Colour as yet because they never go on sale, I don't know why and I am sure not I am not going to buy it as well as I have Noodler's Black Bulletproof ink as well along with Camlin Syah Black, Montblanc Mystery Black and Lamy T52 Black ink bottle. 

Thanks to CNA Africa Sandton City Store for the annual sale, I got this ink for only ZAR 50 for a 57ml bottle. I will also finish the first bottle of fountain pen ink used or consumed to write using the Parker Fountain Pens. Thanks and enjoy the video. 

Link to video - https://youtu.be/DJJAPO1Q2mk - Your Views Are My Only Blessings!

If any ink brand wants to send us their inks, please contact me at editor@thelifesway.com. Even if they cannot ship to South Africa, I can provide them with the Aramex Global Shopper Address where they can send the same to their local country address as well and I pay the courier charges to get them to South Africa.

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Aum Namah Shivay!

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New Year Resolutions - Week 23 Achievements & Failures in 2023 #TheLifesWay

Hi Guys,

Week 23 is now in full swing as there are some of the new smartphone launch events as well as some of the new gadgets to get introduced to. I feel thankful and grateful to the brands which value me but don't like if they don't give me importance like I give them by creating content using their products or about their products. 

1. Launch Event - I was invited to the launch event for Vivo V27 5G and Vivo V27e Smartphones. This time they have chosen some of the influencers who already had the phone available to them. Last year I did a lot of YouTube Shorts for Vivo from their launch event but despite that, I was not the chosen one. I received the phone the same week it was launched for two weeks but was not allowed to take the same to Zambia. It was an opportunity missed by the brand for sure. They also had a creative manager whom I tried contacting and he knew me as well to my surprise but he was not interested so I left the conversation and took the goodies bag and came back home immediately after. Thereafter I even rejected the interview requests as they didn't fetch more than 20-30 views in the whole year since the last year's launch event. 

I also received the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 which I won during the NDA event for the Galaxy S23 smartphone. It took a while but I felt great to be receiving any gadgets I can make Youtube videos on. I also returned the Samsung Galaxy A54 that I received to review. 

I also had a meeting with the Deli Stationery country manager at their office in Johannesburg CBD. They gave me some of their products that I made videos on my channel but I think they didn't like my content and I have not received any further comms from them to date. 

2. Thank You - I started from 13000 onwards and reached 45000 counts by the end of the week. This is the best exercise I can do on a daily basis. It frees me from all the negativity and thoughts that really are not the best for me. 

3. Entertainment - I watched the Fast X movie and it's a one-time watch. I now have forgotten the story of the same as well. I think the series needs to now take a break but there are so many ensemble cast that they can continue forever till they live or even after that using the AI tools and green screen. 

4. YouTube - I have stopped doing 5 Shorts on a daily basis since the start of June 2023 and the growth has not slowed down for sure. I have reached 2080 subscribers on my channel. I have taken a break as I was getting mentally stressed due to the same. It takes a lot of time to make and work on creating content all the time. 

5. Stationery Videos - I have been posting a lot of stationery items from pens to other fancy products and more are going to be posted in the coming months as well. Let me know if you are interested in watching this type of content. I am really thankful to all the brands that exist and create a lot of videos on the same. I am not creating to get views as I don't do trending videos at all. I don't even get views on these types of videos which is not going to get me even some cents from Youtube adverts but I love creating the passion I have for the stationery items since childhood. I have spent a lot of money all my life on these items which I could have spent enjoying with friends or eating things I wanted to. 

Sometimes I think of quitting all this but then you need to have a thick skin and can't leave a dream because some people are not aligned with your future goals. The Life's Way was not created for someone but it was my dream passion project and despite all the good and the bad times it will continue. I have lived my life with a lot of internal and external struggles and have accepted that this is part of the same coin. You have to continue living the life and my life has been the Life of Pi as I was born on 22/7 i.e. 22nd July and Pi as a number has infinite potential and never ending or fully divisible and so is my life. 

Aum Namah Shivay!

Till next time...Aashish
Thanks! Cheers!!!
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