Cool Travel / Tea Pot Cafe in Fort Kochi, India

February 9, 2012 | Cool Travel | by Greta Hoffman |

For anyone traveling to India, the state of Kerala is a must. And for anyone traveling to Kerala, The Tea Pot Cafe in Fort Kochi is an absolute must. Relaxed and elegantly worn goes with the territory in these parts, but this particular cafe has all the local tastes and flavours, with the quirkiness and natural cool you might find people trying to replicate in other parts of the world. A homage to the teapot, this cafe offers food and hot and cold beverages in an interior littered with vintage teapots, trinkets and relics from the old tea trade days of the Malabar coast.

Cool Travel / Woodstock in Cape Town

February 9, 2012 | Cool Travel | by Kathalijne Van Zutphen |

Cape Town is a pretty exciting place in general but if you are keen on art, good food, and second-hand shops, you should head down to Woodstock. Find new exhibitions at the Goodman Gallery and the Stevenson Gallery, have lunch at Superette or The Kitchen, and do some vintage shopping at The Cat’s Meow or Second Time Around. If you feel like some people watching and good food on a Saturday morning, then head down to the arts and crafts market, known locally as the Old Biscuit Mill.

Cool Travel / Gundam Front Tokyon theme park in Tokyo

February 4, 2012 | Cool Travel | by Gerry Mak |

A couple years ago, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Gundam anime series, Sunrise Studios built a life-sized, 60-foot-tall Mobile Suit Gundam in Tokyo. Now, a small museum/theme park has been announced devoted to the giant robots, slated to open in April of this year. My inner child is peeing himself.

Cool Travel / Fountain Studios in Crown Heights, Brooklyn

February 4, 2012 | Cool Travel | by Irina Rozovsky |

Fountain Studios is curated and directed by husband and wife team Troy Hagenbart and Susan Gargulio. Since it opened in 2008, Fountain has exhibited a large number of emerging artists, oftentimes as two person shows that spin contrasting bodies of work into unexpected dialogue, drawing parallels between installation, experimental music, photography, painting, and sculpture. Slowly shifting its mission (and possibly name) to include more conceptually oriented exhibits, I am looking out for upcoming delights.

Cool Travel / Small spooky town, somewhere unknown

February 3, 2012 | Cool Travel | by Peter Mclisky |

Somewhere, somehow, someone had a lot of time on their hands. It has not been disclosed where this town is, but methinks you might want to worry about your neighbours. Read more

Cool Travel / Hong Kong as we rarely see it

February 2, 2012 | Cool Travel | by tore claesson |

Hong Kong is narrow skyscrapers, over crowded streets, the Bank of China tower, shopping malls and a Chinese junk with Hong Kong’s main island in the background. But it’s also old-fashioned and easygoing. Read more

Cool Travel / Please Don’t Tell: a secret bar in New York

February 1, 2012 | Cool Travel | by Christopher Stribley |

Have you ever wished there was a unique place where you could take a date or a friend to really knock their socks off? Do you dream of clandestine, candle-lit whisperings over expertly crafted cocktails? If so, then I have just the place for you, but you can’t tell anyone about it. Seriously. Please Don’t Tell. You won’t find it just wandering down the street. You can’t just walk in there. To get into this exclusive speakeasy, I recommend you dress to the nines and prepare to be screened. Read more

Cool Travel / Glass Igloo Village Hotels, Finland

January 28, 2012 | Cool Travel | by Rebecca Wetzler |

The Aurora Borealis is awesome, and I can imagine this would be the ultimate way to see it. In Kakslauttanen, Finland, you can stay in the glass igloo village and have a full view of the incredible Northern Lights. ‘The Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?!’ BYO steamed hams. Read more

Cool Travel / Underwater park in Austria

January 28, 2012 | Cool Travel | by Low Lai Chow |

Found at the foot of the snow-capped Hochschwab mountains, the Green Lake in Austria is a bit of Autobot. In winter, it looks exactly like what it is: a county park. In spring, the park becomes a diving paradise as melted mountaintop snow runneth down the slopes and submerges the park entirely, with water levels reaching to as high as 10 metres. What a place. Read more

January 28, 2012 | Cool Travel | by Gerry Mak |

This timelapse footage of Yosemite National Park is pretty awe inspiring. In the future, they will have tiny little tablet postcards with this on them.

January 27, 2012 | Cool Travel | by Scratch My Nose |

At this unique privately owned museum in Los Angeles, one has to walk through a maze of corridors within the softly lit exhibits where you are introduced to an alternative history that you would not read in history books. Read more

January 26, 2012 | Cool Travel | by Nu Ryu |

This secretly underground art space in Dumbo is organized by Shawn Lyon and his friends, who love art and are also artists themselves. They have held numerous art exhibitions with young artists from all over the world. They also provide various programs for the public, such as Rabbit Tale (reading and performance), Brooklyn Creative (photo workshop), Movie Nights, and even Yoga classes.

Cool Travel / Oddities abound at the Wellcome Collection London

January 24, 2012 | Cool Travel | by Jose Fragoso |

Napoleon Bonaparte’s toothbrush, Charles Darwin’s walking stick, Lord Nelson’s razor, pieces of tattoed human skin from 1850, male anti-masturbation devices from 1880 … all those pieces are in the Wellcome Collection permanent exhibition in London. Half morbid and half historic, they have excellent temporary exhibitions, but their permanent one is worth the visit to this not very famous museum.

Cool Travel / Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co

January 24, 2012 | Cool Travel | by Jose Fragoso |

Where would you buy X-Ray Vision powder if you were a superhero? Or a secret identity kit? Or supplemental gravity for outer galaxy travel? Or just a new cape? This little store in Brooklyn provides all that and gives the money they make to the nonprofit organisation 826NYC to support students ages 6-18 with their creative writing skills. Just remember you will have to swear that you won’t use your purchase for evil purposes.

Cool Travel / Obscura Antiques in New York’s East Village

January 24, 2012 | Cool Travel | by Jose Fragoso |

The East Village in New York City is the neighborhood where you can get almost everything, including a coffin from the 18th century or a real pair of shoes, size 40. These are examples of the things you can get at the Obscura Antiques store, next to Tompkins Square Park. It’s tiny but literally full of interesting material.