Sophie HaGirafa celebrates Hannukah, the Festival of Lights

December 1st at sundown...

• we are going to light the first candle of 8,
• We are going to eat some "soufganiot",  Berliners, doughnuts specially made for the celebration... I think the very best looking ones are made by the bakery and cafe Roladin. Click here for pictures of those yummy cakes,
• We are going to eat Latkes. It is a potato pancake that is also 'miam miam" as we say in French... Very simple to make, see the recipe by clicking!
• and we are going to exchange gifts and simply be together!

I think this is one of my favourite festivals mostly because of the simplicity of the foods and the candles. Candles always create a magical atmosphere. I am a big fan of candles. Friends who come over can attest to it ^__^

I can imagine you thinking "well well well, what a fattening celebration !! So much oily food!" ... and you would be absolutely right! Oil is the keyword of Hannukah.

Hannukah is the commemoration of a miracle that Jews believe occurred in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in the 2nd century B.C. When the Jews first returned to the  Temple after defeating Hellenist Syrians who had made it illegal for Jews to worship, they found only enough oil to light the temple's menorah for one day. Miraculously, the flame remained lit for eight days and nights, giving them enough time to find more oil to sustain the fire. Hanukkah is about the survival of the Jewish spirit. As such Hanukkah could be a universal celebration for all of us who are not accepted by others. Never lose your spirit...


Hanukkah חנוכה in modern Hebrew means "Inauguration" and we recreate the miracle of the temple's menorah by lighting candles and eating food cooked in oil!

Happy Festival of Lights everyone!

Where to get Sofi HaGirafa in Israel

EDIT- February 2012--

 Sophie The Giraffe Israel is now available directly from the site 

www.sofi-hagirafa.co.il 

and in selected Baby Boutiques.

Thank you!



Ready for business in this part of the world?

I am not talking Business Etiquette, what to wear, to shake hands or not and what topics to avoid.... no,no!  I will sum it all up in one sentence: why make things easy when you can complicate them? It is to the point that, coming from abroad, at some point, you cannot but wonder if it is done on purpose, for some obscure reason you have yet to discover...


Seriously; when I say nothing is easy, pictures of the way people and buses drive come to my mind, the way we queue at the supermarket or the post-office where having a number still does not guarantee your turn, the way one needs another form, another signature and twenty more phone calls to conclude a process...etc


Some days I can take it really well, almost laughing at the absurdity and "chutzpah" of some, it is almost like watching a show, you are the spectator, even if sometimes you have a part to play and you wonder how it will all end.... Other days I am really not in the mood and prefer to stop in my tracks and go back to packing more Sophies HaGirafot in the quietness of the office...
So whenever I go and visit the stores, I always expect "walls" because hey, it cannot be simple! Of course I did get my share of issues but I really cannot complain: they were all valid, pertinent and they helped me understand more what the business needed.


Those past days I struggled a lot though. A container was waiting at customs and the transport company was not moving fast enough... Finally after a week I recieved the merchandise. It took that long to understand each other, understand the process and what the problems were and with whom to talk to finally get the merchandise. And I was lucky to have help in that process... Again because of what should almost be an adage for the region" nothing can nor should be easy"... it would be too much fun!

Could this part of the world be compared with Golf?

 Arnold Palmer,  one of the greatest golf players once said:

“Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated; it satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and maddening - and it is without a doubt the greatest game mankind has ever invented.”

original pix

Hamley the Giraffe is gone...

I just recieved this sad news.... Even this tiny blog is not spared...


Hamley, one of the stars of the South African TV drama Wild At Heart has died after being struck by a bolt of lightning during a thunder storm.


In the serie "Wild at heart"  animals and stunning landscape share the screen with the cast. It is a family drama where Stephen Tompkinson plays Danny Travanion, a British vet who emigrated with his family to set up a veterinary hospital and game reserve in the South African bush.

 Hamley with Stephen Tompkinson 
on the set of TV drama Wild At Heart    source

Hamley was only seven-year-old. (Giraffes can live up to 25 years). He had been on the show for five years.


"It was a natural disaster, but nevertheless heartbreaking for everyone who has been involved with him - he was a real character. Our wildlife is very much at the heart of the series - Hamley was a gentle, playful and charming animal. He will be greatly missed by everybody.' said Producer Nick Goding.




Hamley had already filmed scenes, including frightening an environmental agency visitor up a tree, for the next series.


A spokeswoman for the drama said of the scene: 'You can't teach wild animals how to act. But Hamley walked up to the tree afterwards where the actor was and started to lick his face. 'That will stay in (the series). That was just one of his many extraordinary facets, that as a wild animal he had this natural aptitude to do what you wished for.'

"Animals are such agreeable friends

- they ask no questions,

they pass no criticisms."

~ George Elliot



Sophie HaGirafa's Society

You must know it by now... Almost 50 years that Sophie La Girafe is every French Baby's must-have. Every baby has a cot, a stroller, some clothing of course....and the giraffe.


I am however constantly surprised when talking to French parents: most did not know that that Giraffe has a name. Funny, don't you think? It shows us that when a product is tried & approved, with or without a name, it will work. (Let me add that Sophie La Girafe was never part of any French advertising campaign, she succeeded by word of mouth, and that was way before the Internet ^__^)


Until 2007 Sofi was France's Best Kept Secret. I do not think it was "on purpose", the fact is when you are so used to something, in this case to Girafa Sophie, you forget that it does not necessarily exist in other countries, you do not think about it ....until someone at some point gets the "eureka" moment and launches Sophie La Girafe to be a world sensation, soothing every gum and enchanting babies and parents alike across the globe.


In the US, Sophie is big! To the point that in one of the parenting Forums, a mom who loved Sophie so much, created a badge that says : "My child is part of the Sophie Society" and other users agreeing with her, post it in their signature as well...

See how cute it is!!

NB: I am a bit puzzled with the cute owl and sleeping moon Hooters... does anyone know what it refers to? I doubt it is the restaurant!?


 In Israel Sofi HaGirafa has her own Club on the almighty Facebook and her Hebrew Tapuz Blog. It will be neat the day we discover a similar badge in Hebrew on the forums here.



In the meantime, remember: Sophie Ha Girafa is 100% Natural and 100% Love(d), she "is definitely worth it" as some like to say ...

Everyone smiles in the same language.

~Author Unknown

Sofi HaGirafa meets The Golden Giraffa

I am sure you were not expecting this post! ^__^

Golden Girafa?! Sounds very intriguing, doesn't it? Almost -- if not more intriguing than the post on the Elusive Dolphin, am I right? ^__^

Well this time: I found her! Not that I was looking for or even knew about her... and no, I am sorry.... *sigh* it is not an Indiana Jones's adventure...

A couple of days ago I shopped where I rarely do. How exciting I can see you think..... Well the fact is that I wanted some fresh fish, and no, you cannot find this in the supermarket. 

So I went to one of the very few fish stores in my city. This one is located in the corner of some tiny residential streets, among other small shops and coffee place. It reminded me in a minuscule way of the HDB Food and Market Centers in Singapore, where everyone knows everyone else, everybody chit-chats easily,no rush, good food, no cars and no parking needed.

Example of an HDB and Food and Market in Singapore,

a very pleasant outdoor experience!

And since I also needed vegetables, I decided to buy them to the next door shop!

And this is when the incredible happened....

The store was empty, spacious, but not big. The vegetables were on vertical shelves along the walls, something you do not see much in those modern supermarkets, where vegetables are usually placed in large "trays" at a customer's body level, well lit to look more enticing. I gathered what I needed, and when I was about to pay, I noticed a refrigerated shelf with some products that I did not recognize at first glance. I went to have a look and one of the items had a Giraffe!!! A beautiful, golden giraffe!!!!!!!!! Needless to say, I had to buy it! It was cheap, ... and it was a jar of "white Tahina"!

Tahina is most closely associated with the Middle East, where it is eaten as it is, and is often used in making hummus (mashed chickpeas, flavored with lemon juice and garlic), baba ghanoush (a purée of eggplant, lemon juice, garlic, and oil), halvah (a nougat-like dessert), etc. I do not know what the white tahina is specifically for, since it is still a challenge for me to eat tahina of any color, hummus barely, and impossible to eat halvah! 

This is what it looks like for those of you with gastronomic curiosity ^__^

  

Miam Miam?

This particular brand of Tahina is called "the golden giraffa" in both Arabic and Hebrew. The old man in charge of the store assured me that it was the best of its kind. I thanked him, and left very happy with my precious purchase! People must have wondered why I had this big smile on my face leaving with my bag of lemons and tomatoes ...if only they had known... ^__^

Anyway, isn't she beautiful and majestic?

Ssshhhh!

No name please, we do not want to hurt any giraffe's feeling...

I'm looking for the unexpected.

I'm looking for things I've never seen before.

 Robert Mapplethorpe