(18) Flying Lotus - Until The Quiet Comes #nowplaying

It's been a busy weekend rushing off to work, trying to spend quality time because it's finally starting to hit quite badly that it's officially going to be a month before I leave home. So many things are coming in place, and yet I feel this sense of relief with another level of tension and loss stuck like a ball of gum in my throat, I can't seem to really explain it.

Either way, this song seems to come in place and fit into my absolutely random mood well. Came across Flying Lotus randomly and I actually started to like it so I decided to put it up here.

In case you didn't know, Flying Lotus is the stage name of Steven Ellison, an experimental multi-genre music producer, laptop musician and rapper from LA, California. He also raps under another persona, Captain Murphy. His songs have this odd holding vibe which I really like, and very trippy as well. I'm sure most of you who have a few DJs you love can add this onto your list.

This one above is actually a short film for Until The Quiet Comes. I think this really relates with the life for people with more undesirable family backgrounds. It's seriously well-shot though and focuses also on how fragile life is, as well as some coverage on how rampant violence is.

You may check out more of Flying Lotus here and give a listen to all his four studio albums (definitely worth it) and let me know what you think of it!


Anyway before I go, a HUGE THANK YOU for joining and supporting this collaboration between POCKETTO and PLUS MINUS! Thanks for reading about the PLUS MINUS story and letting us know about how you love us, and areas for us to improve on. Winners of A WONDERFUL GIVEAWAY are now out!

Congratulations to:

Atiqah Zulkifli for winning yourself a copy of oh comely magazine (issue 12) and

Tasneem Petrova for winning yourself a POKETO x Furni watch!

Do drop me a PM on Facebook or an e-mail at astrylnaut@gmail.com to confirm your personal details.

Have a great week ahead!

Things: ECOSHOP + Scrapshop

Images grabbed from ECOSHOP

Am finally back from my holidays and I must say I had a lot of fun exploring the city of Bangkok. I didn't take a lot of pictures that were overly pretty so I'll spare out the details. But it was basically a lot of shopping (and probably a lack of motivation to take down some wonderful landscapes). All I could say is I don't get sick of being there because everything is awesome, from the food, to accommodation and even the people. Despite being there umpteen times, it was my first in Khao San and back in Chatuchak after a long while. Everything was great, except for the heat. Apart from the random information, I wanted to share about this interesting discovery that I came across during my trip, called ECOSHOP.

ECOSHOP was set up by local (Thai) television host, Top Pipat (who might have just scored a few more brownie points for a store like this because of his dashing looks hahah) in 2008. The store concept revolves around saving the Earth through sustainability and understanding how much further we can maximize resources. Other than merely just selling environmental-friendly products, Pipat's main aim is ultimately to help aspiring designers who have ideas that they want to develop by providing them a platform to showcase their work.

Ultimately, Pipat explains that the aim of the store is not just to make profit but to give people something to think about and consider saving the Earth more seriously than what we already know of it as. What can a plastic bag do for you then? What could paper achieve for us? 

Top Pipat (from the site on left, and a picture with his store on right; all images from site)

The idea to set up an environmental friendly store definitely isn't a new one, but this was pretty fresh to the people in Thailand. Plus, people were really warming up to the store quickly because of Pipat's consistent efforts in spreading the message he has always wanted to deliver. ECOSHOP was gaining ground and some interest and even managed to stock environmental-friendly and sustainable products designed by students from Thai universities as well.

Images grabbed from ECOSHOP

So as mentioned, I was browsing through the store (the one in Digital Gateway, Siam square area), and had a few of the products catch my eye (loving the tote on the left). Of which, was the ones by Scrapshop, designed and produced by the students of Kasetsart University Architecture. This was an eco-venture launched in 2010 and to help promote awareness on the environment through products made from reusable waste materials. The key idea is not only to motivate young designers to create just products, but for them to research on how discarded materials can be used effectively for functional, yet help create aesthetically pleasing designs.

It's interesting to see something grow so much and help make wonderful things happen. I admire Pipat's efforts, though not on an international level yet, he really tries to change mindsets instead of commercializing something and making it a fad. In order to prove his sincerity towards the cause, Pipat has been living a greener lifestyle as possible, giving talks, telling the story of how simple things we use can always be recycled for a greater cause.

Pipat keeps his belief in keeping prices low so this lifestyle may be accessible to many more and arouse people's curiosity. He also explains the key differences in reusing and recycling and how we can go about it. I think it's good to understand these terms so we don't abuse them too much.

Find out more via his site by clicking here.

And, we can start with a good reusable, yes? I've got my trusty Baggu reusables to start with!

Baggu it! Via Mindful Momma

Anyway, more on Baggu in the near future. I'm sure you guys would probably already have known about these tough and long-lasting reusables.

Hope you're having a wonderful week! There's more to come and I'm working hard to get it all up! Holla over if you've got something (;

Spotlight on: Plus Minus

Images courtesy of Plus Minus

Enter Plus Minus - An independent store based in Singapore that is all things design; where every new brand that launches in their store surprises and excites us, and even makes us want, no crave for a piece of it. It's a tiny heaven, a portal for all the brands and stuff you don't have access to in physical stores in Singapore.

Against all odds, Plus Minus opened their virtual doors and created a portal for so many wonderful brands that has not been made available to Singaporeans (in physical stores). The idea was to bring in well-designed stuff, along with good quality and at an affordable price.

So who makes Plus Minus? How do they do it?

Plus Minus was actually co-founded just less than two months ago in early November (2012) by lovebirds at present, Ira and Fauzi, along with a friend of theirs who has since dropped out of the venture. Despite vast differences in interests; Ira into design and checking out new brands (Ira was a graphic design graduate from NAFA) and Fauzi with his love for motorbikes and racing sorts, they share a common love for food and built Plus Minus together.

Ira and Fauzi, and Ira on interview with me at 8Q Street

The whole thing was an absolutely casual idea that took off and started growing at an amazing rate. It all began when Ira wanted to realize her dream of having her very own shop, "It runs in my family. My Dad runs a furniture business and my sister has her own online store as well. Plus I love surfing the net and sourcing for new brands and items and I just wanted to share it with everyone." On why the name Plus Minus, Ira shared that it was a completely random name that hit her in a five minute brainstorming session and it was so easy to catch on.

More prominent brands under Plus Minus - Tattly and Hype

Despite the challenges and competition in the online store business, Ira saw potential in running her very own store and kept a generally positive outlook. "So many brands are unnoticed, and most of the brands we currently bring in at Plus Minus are not available in Singapore or even Asia." Only 20 this year, Ira and Fauzi were both new and raw to running a business and coming up with an enormous captial. It was then decided that Plus Minus was to start out on its Facebook page to gain experience in running their very own business before moving on with bigger plans. Within a few days of putting everything in place, the store made its first pre-order available in early November.

"I didn't expect it to become so big and it's actually very hard to manage because I'm doing almost everything now, from marketing to responding to queries and posting the stuff out. It's basically like a one-man show and Fauzi does the accounting side of things." said Ira, when asked about what were their expectations on opening the store. But the folks at Plus Minus see it as merely a (good) start for them, and are looking to make things bigger and better than ever.

Other brands featured under Plus Minus, such as Mister bracelets

Plus Minus has since started up The General Store, which is a concept they are still working on before an actual debut, "The General Store is an actual store front I want for Plus Minus. This was created so we can put out two extreme sides - the minimalist and the expressive (louder side) to present to people and I hope to target as many people from different age groups and tastes."

In the (near) future, Plus Minus is hoping to have an actual web site (which they are working on) and set up a physical store and spread the love to more people, "That's the challenging part. I've always (wanting to build a store) in mind, and I even went to search for rental prices. It's insane over here but I hope I can slowly build this up and have a store."

Stay tuned for more (awesome!) brand launches and be surprised. You may check out Plus Minus here via their Facebook page.


Apart from all that, Plus Minus has kindly collaborated (and sponsored) with Pocketto to have A WONDERFUL GIVEAWAY! We're giving out a Poketo x Furni (coincidentally, and no pun intended) watch and an issue (12) of oh comely magazine.

If you haven't heard, Poketo is a US-based store/label founded by couple, Ted Vadaan and Angie Myung who believes in "art for your everyday" and strives to integrate real art into everyday wear and things that can be around you. These watches are part of a collaboration between Furni (Montreal based design company) and Poketo.

And if you're thinking that oh comely falls short of being a real magazine, you might want to think again. oh comely is one that brings real stories to us, from real people. With adventures to capture the feeling of being free, stories from people with tales to tell, recipes to warm your heart and craft you can make. It embraces imperfection and simple things we do in life and is delivered through beautiful words, illustration and photography.

Find Poketo and oh comely by clicking on their respective names.

Two lucky winners will be selected for this giveaway! All you have to do is:
1. Like POKOPOCKETTO and PLUS MINUS on Facebook
2. Like and share A WONDERFUL GIVEAWAY on pokopocketto (click here for the post to like and  share)
3. Comment on the post with anything (with a suggestion, things you want to see, a brand you love or just professing your love to us etc.)

This giveaway closes on 20th Jan, Sunday and winners of the giveaway will be announced by 22nd Jan.

Once again, here's a BIG thank you to Plus Minus, and a HUGE THANK YOUUU for reading pokopocketto! Cheers (from both Ira and I) and have a good day (:

(16) Ready for the New Year

Thank you Grayson for this random hip shot

2012 has been an eventful year and thank you for reading this space if you do! Pocketto is finally a little more than half a year old and I've finally accomplished a few "firsts" for the blog (had my very first giveaway etc.) and for readers too. Things are starting to look up and come in place, and December has been a mind blowing, extremely killer and quick month. But I'm glad I've come this far. Having Pocketto has made me more motivated than ever. I've learnt countless new things about people, things, art, life, music and myself as well. I really hope the blog helps (kill time for you) to bring in a little more interesting information and random awesomeness to your life.

It's been a hectic time for me shuffling between work, play and Pocketto and I know it hasn't been a smooth year for so many of you out there... But thank you once again for making time to be reading this space. I appreciate all your love and support time and time again.

But anyway, I sincerely hope you'll have an awesome and fun-filled 2013 ahead. It's finally the new year and a new theme is a definite for Pocketto in January, so (in just a day's time!) you can expect more fresh, new, things that revolve around change and the unexpected. In January, it's a lot about us finding identities, reevaluating ourselves and setting the tone for the rest of the year, so I'm hoping I can do that for Pocketto, and help enrich your lives just a little wee bit. Just hold on for a bit because I've got plenty of stuff lined up, including a collab with a good friend of mine, also another upcoming and new store which you would definitely not hate on. So watch out for that one! Just holla over if you've anything you want to share or help improve this space because I definitely want to make it a pleasant(er) read for you, and everyone else who takes time to give me a read (:

Have a good rest and prep yourself up for a brand new year! Good night!