Are you from Penang?

A lot of times strangers (and sometimes friends) have been mistakenly identify me as a Penangites.

There is absolutely nothing wrong if you are from Penang, but it really doesn't make sense to me when I am not related to Penang, not even a scratch. So how come? How did they derived to the conclusion that I must be originated from the beautiful state called Penang? Believe me, I don't mind having a home near a beach somewhere in Penang.

The clue must have been my face and my nose and my skin tone. I have the Penang chop. haha...

You see, I've spent a few weeks in Penang last year. During the time, I came across hundreds of Penangites face-to-face as part of my work-holiday-things-to-do. I observed, watched, communicated and reflected... Strangely, nobody looked like me. Even my friends suggested that she looked more like a Penangite than me coz the makciks that we saw automatically spoke Penang with her, instead of me.

What a revelation. My friend features were the total opposite of me. I can only laughed out loud at her. Unfortunately, she did not like the comparison.

So what makes me look like me? The formula is Jawa. Yup people, I am half Jawa.

Introducing my dad, Mohd Mokhtar, and my mom, Rodah

Try to guess. Which one is Jawa?

My parents and me. I was cute heh?

My brother and I. We laughed a lot during our childhood.

When I was younger, I thought I looked more like my father, mainly because I was darker. Having a fairer little brother made him my natural competitor. I was cute, but my brother was cuter by miles. He always had more presents than me. Envy :<

Later I turned out to look more like my mother than my father. This was great because I know my mom younger self was hot! haha. She was sort of a beauty queen during her hay day. Nevertheless, I was struggling with confidence during my teenage years. I didn't fully embraced my genetic beauty till now.

See for yourself, she was hot!

Looking back, I wished my mom had made me her princess. Play doll all day, have room full of teddys, get princess birthday parties... Too late. I grew up with two boys. I played with dirt and robots.

All in all, I don't mind having to be associated with being Jawa. I actually liked it. My dad had his blood from my nenek and atok whom decendants were directly from Java island. One thing missing was that my dad did not taught us Javanese language. A few times I told my dad I wish to learn. It didn't happen though. I only know how to count to five. Siji, loro, telu, papat, limo... haha.