My Name Is Eleanor.
I have an interesting lineage as I belong to a small, almost diminishing ethnic group called “The Peranakans” or “straits born.” I was born in Batu Pahat, a small town in Johore, West MalaysiaPeranakans are an ethnic group descended from Chinese settlers from the southern provinces who came to the Malay (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malay_archipelago) archipelago including British Malaya (now Malaysia and Singapore, where they are also referred to as Baba-Nyonya) and Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) and southern Thailand, primary in Phuket and Ranong between the 15th and 17th centuries. Nyonya is the term for the women and Baba for the men.
I have here some pictures of a typical attire of a “Peranakan” woman. The sarong kebaya (not unlike the Singapore Airlines flight attendant’s uniforms) has evolved through the ages but it has remained as colorful and elaborate as ever.
I consider myself a “citizen of the world.” Alas, I have a bad case of wanderlust!
I have been traveling with my three children ever since they were little and now they are all young adults. These days, I find it so exhilarating to be a solo traveler! As I tell my friends and family that “I have done my time” and this is truly my time!!
As an avid traveler, the world truly is my oyster. I have always been curious about other people in other countries, their cultures and have been bitten by the travel bug since I was a child. Now that I have raised three successful children, I’m free to roam the world, at my leisure. There are so many places in the world to visit, people to meet and things to do…sigh, but so little time!
There certainly is serendipity in our everyday lives if we choose to look for it. Every day that I wake up, I’m grateful for new opportunities to find happiness. It is always around the corner.
Three cheers to a good life…wherever you may find it!