With the holidays just around the corner, you know what that means; family time, delicious treats, fireplaces, last-minute shopping and for the fortunate handful….escapism! Holiday vacations are the perfect opportunity to find great new hideaways, where you can hibernate until the new year peeps in.

With so many great travel packages and competitive deals, it’s difficult to choose where to go. So why not take advantage and try somewhere new!

Perhaps you’d like to sneak away into a lighthouse where you can fall asleep to the sound of lulling waves, and wake up to a beautiful horizon.

Or maybe you’d prefer to make the most of the winter chill and stay at a beautiful hotel, made out of ice.

How about a rustic cave to settle the wanderlust in you.

Wherever you decide to go and whatever you decide to do, we want to help!

Here’s a mini “Poketo Holiday Travel Kit” that will come in handy throughout your journey!

Merry Muffle Tote, perfect to carry your day’s goodies such as snacks, a light cardigan, camera, journal, wallet, phone and more!

It wouldn’t be a trip without all the fun activities! Use the Poketo Travel Journal to plan everything out and write down funny happenings during your trip. When you come home, you have everything ready for a travel scrapbook!

A great way to capture your holiday vacation memories, the White Slim Angel Wide Angle Camera is an old school 35mm which shoots dynamic, wide-angle images with its 22mm lens. The results are perfectly charming and will make the perfect touch for your photo album.

Need something to keep you busy on those long plane or train rides? Read a good book, and make sure these Bear Bookmark Tabs keep you company as well as keep your place while you take a nap!

These cuties will definitely catch the eye of ooglers as you pay for your souvenirs. These Keep the Change accordion-fold change pouches made a trip of their own from Japan, and will become a true jet-setter as you take them on your holiday travels. Each one is hand-dyed on genuine leather, and the outlined design is imprinted, creating a subtle tactile quality to the pouch. For you cat lovers, these also come as cute kitties!

Tired of grabbing someone else’s suitcase at baggage claim? Deck out your gear with these little buddies. The Friend or Foe charms are all hand-painted and unique; no two are alike! These also make perfect zipper pulls and keychains, while adding a dash of fun and color to your travels!

Bon Voyage and Happy Travels! Don’t forget to stop by the Holiday Warehouse Sale this Saturday at the Poketo Headquarters to get geared up for your trip!

Chocolate Research Facility is a chocolate boutique/cafe in Singapore and Shanghai. Their website, concept store, and everything down to the smallest detail is designed by the amazing design house Asylum out of Singapore.

See the chocolate dripping down as you’re on their site

Love the interior of the cafe.

The packaging!

I know where I’m going next time I’m in Singapore!

Here’s our friend Miki Amano’s galaxy using SPACETIME Wall Decals! We stayed over at Miki’s place while we were in Japan and got to catch up with what she’s been up to.

Miki, a Japanese born NY trained illustrator/textile designer recently curated a show in Tokyo with Fabrica Social where she got to display her beautiful textiles and prints next to wonderfully embroidered pieces featured in the show. Fabrica Social is a great Mexican non-profit organization that uses design as a tool to empower female artisans by conserving and strengthening traditional artisan techniques. Fabrica Social works toward sustaining groups of local artisans involved in the organization through various projects that benefit them socially and economically. According to their site, Fabrica Social currently works with 4 states in the Mexico with 5 groups of female artisans who benefit more than 62 women.

Miki became connected with Fabrica Social through her good friends who work with the local artisan communities in Mexico. In January, she plans to take a trip over there to teach a workshop on Fashion Illustration in Fabrica’s itinerant design school. Through it she plans to introduce new design tools, techniques, and even the latest material trends in Japan to share with attending artisans. And there’s more. Next summer she plans to do another show with Fabrica Social at the Tokyo International Forum. The show will feature her in an illustrative collaboration that starts with her drawings and ends with the embroidery of artisans involved. Sounds fantastic. If you’re in Tokyo next year, make sure to check it out!

To learn more about Miki, go to www.mikiamano.com
For more about Fabrica Social, visit www.fabricasocial.wordpress.com

The SPACETIME Collection is co-curated by Poketo and Kitsune Noir.
For more SPACETIME products, please visit www.poketo.com

Serious insominia.

It’s no secret, Panthip Plaza is the place to go for anything computer related, from pcs, macs, drives, components, accessories…. and also, for all things pirated–software, games, movies, television. Take your pick. Or not. Occasionally, Thai authorities will do semi-secret raids on pirate stores. Hefty fines for smuggling anything across back to the US apply.

One thing that we always make time for in Korea is jjimjilbang (hot room).

From Wikipedia:
Jjimjilbang (찜질방) are large, gender-segregated public bathhouses in Korea, complete with hot tubs, showers, Finnish-style saunas, and massage tables, similar to what you may find in a Korean sauna or mogyoktang. However, in other areas of the building or on other floors there are unisex areas, usually with a snack bar, ondol-heated floor for lounging and sleeping, wide-screen TVs, PC bang, noraebang, and sleeping quarters with either bunk beds or sleeping mats. Most jjimjilbangs are open 24 hours and are a popular weekend getaway for Korean families to relax and spend time soaking in tubs or lounging and sleeping, while the kids play away on the PCs.

At the entrance, you get a set of towels, an outfit to lounge around in (usually pink for women), set of keys for lockers

Bathhouses are segregated between men and women but the all the hot rooms are co-ed. This particular jimjilbang had separate elevators for men and women

Temperature in one of the hot rooms:

Two of the many rooms - 1 with hot gravels another with hot salt

Cold refreshments to quench thirst - popsicles and drinks