Baba Bling!

Today I met Whitney and her mother-in-law whom she calls Amma (ah-MAH) for a day of window shopping and museum exhibits. After tooling around Orchard Road for a bit, we went to the Peranakan Museum to check out the Baba Bling exhibit (love the name) featuring Peranakan jewelry (spelled jewellry here).

Who are the Peranakans? In the Malay-speaking parts of Southeast Asia, Peranakan means "child of" and is used to refer to people of mixed ethnicities. Most Peranakans are of Chinese origins, though there are others such as the Chitty Melaka (Indian) group.

The nyonyas (women) wore beautiful and colorful kebayas similar to these but of course much more traditional and much heavier. They used often elaborate pieces of jewelry to pin them together and complete their looks.

I thought it was ok to take pictures as long as there was no flash. I only got in one or two before I was corrected. Oops! Doesn't the wallpaper look like Asian Lilly Pulitzer?

Here I am with Amma outside the museum. She lives in Dubai and is visiting Whitney and Josh for a couple of weeks. Really nice lady. Made me miss my mom today.

After the museum we walked down to Robertson Key and relaxed by the river. Then we walked over to Chinatown to check out the Mid-Autumn Festival decorations. Tonight I'm just relaxing, watching The Nanny Diaries on TV and reading travel books in preparation for our big trip that begins this weekend. Yay!