Nov 14, 2018

Presents with Stories

We don't want to panic you, but Christmas is only six weeks away. If you're anything like us, every year you promise to be more organised and every year you find yourself trawling the internet last minute for something with super-speedy delivery, and then feel guilty about not giving it more thought.

So this year we're making it really easy for you. We've got a cracking list of pressies for everyone from your awkward father-in-law to your best pal...

Nov 07, 2018

Globetrotting: Sri Lanka

India and Thailand’s secret love child, and a heady mix of old-world elegance, tropical beauty, historic tea-estates and world-class architecture, Sri Lanka is choc-a-bloc with charm. And we haven’t even mentioned the food yet. With the days shortening here and the rainy season at an end over there, is it time to consider a little winter sun?

Here are our four top tips for exploring this wonder isle...

Nov 01, 2018

It's our 2nd Birthday!

We’re now two years in to our journey, which means it's two years since I almost toppled our first lovely customer from an extreme reaction to somebody ACTUALLY wanting to buy something...

Oct 17, 2018

Cocktail Hour

‘Tis (nearly) the season to be merry! And I don’t know about you, but we take cocktail hour quite seriously at Kalinko HQ and the difference between a good cocktail and a great cocktail is a well-stocked bar. If like us, you’re planning on channelling Mad Men this Christmas, this is the definitive home bar how-to guide.

Oct 03, 2018

Globetrotting: Uzbekistan

Not top of your list? Well, if you’re looking to top up your tan and watch beachy sunsets with cocktails, you’re probably right. But if a journey to the ancient beating heart of the Silk Road, via three enchanting cities, exquisite craft workshops and exceptional people watching sounds up your street, read on. You’ll also get niche traveller points. Less than 1000 Britons go each year – the same number that visit Armenia, and 9 million fewer than Spain.

Sep 26, 2018

Burma Calling: Tattoo Review

In Burma, the tradition is older than time. Historically, Bamar men were tattooed in boyhood from the waist to the knees, to provide immunity to bullets and knives, or in the case of cat figures on the thighs, to make a man jump with the power of a tiger.

But the most beguiling are the facial-tattoos of the Chin women, a tradition outlawed in the 60s by the military regime, but which lives on in Burma’s Southern Chin and Rakhine state. Read on...

Sep 19, 2018

Autumn Essentials

In Burma, we have two seasons: Rainy Season (June to October) and Dry Season (November to May). And while the tropical storms are on a par with the finale of the Bodyguard in the excitement stakes, we do miss the subtle changing of the seasons back home. We’re hearing reports of the first brisk chill in the air, the keenest leaves already underfoot and a sharp increase in the number of meals now being eaten from a bowl – Autumn is coming. And thanks to the longest, hottest Summer on record, we’re ready for it.

Sep 12, 2018

Power Planting

How green fingered are you? We’ve jumped on the bringing-the-outdoors-in trend, and are hurling full-speed into an early-onset horticulture obsession.

Here are our four beginner’s tips for nurturing your indoor jungle (…which we wish we’d known before we started… RIP Percy the Peace Lily).

Aug 29, 2018

Bonkers for Bangkok

Dear old Bangkok… the birth-place of millions of regrettable backpacking moments, every stag-do cliché in the book and a bunch of dodgy tattoos.

But beneath all of this is a sophisticated cosmopolitan city, and a regional hub for art and design, replete with Michelin star restaurants (some with white table cloths and some with nothing of the sort) and some pretty excellent shopping. Here’s where we like to Eat, Sleep and Shop when we’re in Bangkok.

Yangon Post