vinyarb

We were at Bali over the weekend to celebrate my father in law’s 70th birthday. I’ve been to Bali before, but that was a long, long time ago. So this trip is almost as good as new.

As it was a family trip, with both young and old, it was 4 days of total rest & relax, itinerary wise. We also spent a huge amount of time trying to find a villa big enough to house all 10 of us. Finally, it was found in Bali Dream Villa, in Seminyak. A four-bedroom villa, with its own private pool to relax and bond with family. Nothing more we could have asked for, is there?

Besides taking dips in the pool and lounging around in the villa, we also did some exploring.

Monkeying around was the first order of business, as we went to the sacred monkey forest in Ubud. Tourists are allowed to buy bananas to feed the monkeys. If you’re lucky, they may even feast atop your shoulders!

Bali is well known for their arts and culture. So of course we had to take a pit-stop at an oil painting gallery. I use the word “gallery” loosely, as its more houses upon houses of exquisite oil paintings.

We even shed our inhibitions and shit, to take a whiff of world renowned Kopi Luwak, better known as Catpoocino. To be honest, I prefer my Nescafe 3 in 1. Besides, according to Wikipedia, most Kopi Luwak available for sale are counterfeit, as there are 50 times more kopi luwak sold, than is produced.

Intensive farming of the Kopi Luwak beans has also made the selection process invalid, creating inferior quality coffee beans, as opposed to those collected in the wild.

Finally, the sunsets. No words can describe the beauty of sunsets, so I’d rather show than tell.

Ahhh… lovely.

Oh, if you’re ever visiting Bali, and require transport/guide for the day to visit various attractions, may I suggest Mr.Bali. Great price, super responsive and friendly, we couldn’t ask for a better driver/guide/friend to bring us around in Bali.

Thank you Mr. Gustu!

The fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman took place on the night of February 26, 2012 in Florida. Martin was a 17 year old African American. Zimmerman was a 28 year old mixed race Hispanic.

The trial for 2nd degree murder and manslaughter began June 10, 2013, and on July 13, 2013, Zimmerman was found not guilty of both charges.

For those of you who didn’t follow the case, let’s back up a little and get more background into this case:

At the time of the incident, Zimmerman was living in The Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford, Florida. Trayvon was visiting and staying with his father’s fiancee, also living in The Retreat. In the 18 months prior to the shooting, Zimmerman had called the police 7 times, reporting suspicious men in the area. There had also been plenty of burglaries, thefts and 1 shooting in the area in the year before the shooting, creating an extremely tense environment within the community.

In September 2011, Twin Lake residents created a neighbourhood watch, and appointed Zimmerman to be the coordinator. He’d been licensed to carry firearms since 2009.

February 26, 2012

On the day of the shooting, Zimmerman had observed Trayvon wandering around the community, and called the Sanford Police. “We’ve had some breakins in the neighbourhood, and there’s a real suspicious guy”, he’d said.

2 minutes into the call, Zimmerman said “He’s running.” Police then heard a car door chime, and asked if Zimmerman was on pursuit. Zimmerman replied in the positive, and the police told him “We don’t need you to do that.” He replied “OK”, and told the police to call him when they arrive, so he could provide his location.

He ended the call at 7.15pm. When police arrived at the scene at 7.17pm, there’d already been what looked to be a struggle between Zimmerman and Trayvon, and Trayvon had been fatally shot in the chest.

Witness accounts

Witness accounts of the incident were contradicting, with some saying that Trayvon was straddling Zimmerman and punching him, while others told of the opposite. Some of the calls recorded background screams of “help”, which could not be positively identified to belong to either Trayvon or Zimmerman.

Racial Profiling

Zimmerman was accused of having racially profiled Trayvor Martin, and assumed he was up to no good because he was black.

Not Guilty

At the end of the day, the jury handed over a verdict of Not Guilty to 2nd degree murder and manslaughter as the prosecution did not surface enough evidence to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that Zimmerman did not act in self-defense.

Do you think there’s something wrong in the Florida justice system, when a man is allowed to carry arms, follow an unarmed teenager against the advice of police, admit that he’d shot and killed him, and acquitted with a self-defense plea?

John Oliver at The Daily Show certainly thought so.

The feeling of rifling through a book over a hot steaming cup of coffee trumps swiping over an ebook anyday. I remember reading voraciously when I was much younger, and tearing through The Three Investigator series, and then later on hooked on books by Christopher Pike.

Yeah, mystery and horror books were pretty much my staple.

As I got older, I started reading less fiction. I think it’s the peer pressure of trying to look somewhat intellectual while on the train. You’d be better judged carrying ‘Freakonomics’ than ’50 Shades of Grey’, but then again, I see plenty of that too.

I think the habit of reading needs to be cultivated from a young age, but then again, the high cost of living in Singapore means the necessities likes clothes, milk, food always comes first. Books for children, which can get rather expensive, ranks pretty far below, especially for toddlers.

The Groovy Giraffe

That’s where The Groovy Giraffe comes in. The Groovy Giraffe is a Singapore based online remainder bookstore. They source overprinted and unsold books from publishers, who sell it to them at bargain prices, and in turn, they pass over the discounts to consumers.

It depends on whether you like beef.

For example, the deeply philosophical and existential book called “Are you a Cow?” typically retailing for $9.25 is now $4.90 at Groovy Giraffe.

For the adults, “Steve Jobs” is retailing for $14.90 instead of the usual $30.

I had a chat with the owners of The Groovy Giraffe, Kheng Hoe and Pearlin, and they shared their perspective on why they decided to do this.

First of all, why the name Groovy Giraffe?

We had a long discussion on this actually. We wanted a unique name that is cool and will appeal to people of all ages. Giraffe being the tallest animal can also spot a bargain from far away!

(If you’re not convinced about the Giraffe’s appeal, here’s a picture of a giraffe taking a nap.)

Awww!

What are some of your favourite books?

My favorite books are mainly from the self help category. I love the books by Mitch Albom (Tuesdays with Morrie, Have a little faith) and Malcolm Gladwell (Outliers, Tipping Point)

While Pearlin’s favorite books are cookbooks as she enjoys cooking. She loves the recipe books of Gordon Ramsay and Nigella Lawson. She is also a big fan of picture books with a huge collection at home.

What made you want to do this?

Being new parents, we realised that books in Singapore, especially children’s books, were extremely costly. We didn’t like this, hence started The Groovy Giraffe with the dream of helping readers save on good books.

The books are all brand new, save for remainder markings or some shelf wear.

So, book readers and bargain hunters, remember this url: http://www.thegroovygiraffe.com/

They are also on Twitter and Facebook, so go show your support, and get great discounts off your favourite books!

Oh, and to celebrate their 1-month opening, from 12 July (today!) to 22nd July, all featured books at $9.90!