Monday, September 16, 2013

Malaysian in Orange County, Southern California

We have a growing number of members for our Malaysian in Orange County group.  Currently we have about 40 members.

It all started when I met another Penang mom at Pretend City.  We both were attending Parenting Skill program offered by KIDA.  The program was seven weeks long and I only met her on the last week when I heard her talking to her son in Hokkien dialect. We exchanged phone numbers.  At that time she was still living in Costa Mesa and was moving to Irvine in another month.

I still remember vividly on the first week, my husband and I were sitting in the same table as her.  She has fair complexion and never in my mind would ever thought she's from Malaysia.  When she spoke in English, we could tell she is not native speaker.  My first thought was that she's a Taiwanese.  Later, I also met her husband whom is also from Penang.

Second mom I met whom also from Penang was from my son's summer school at Eastshore Elementary.  He was attending Jumpstart to Kindergarten and the other boy was also in the same program.  His mom and a friend of mine were friends.  So we would be standing and waiting together for the kids at pick up time.  We all conversed in Cantonese and initially I thought she was from Hong Kong but not long after that, I found out she is from Bukit Mertajam.  Well, by then I already knew three people from Malaysia and all from Penang.

The next person I met was Bee from Rasa Malaysia.  Another Malaysian friend who lives in Pasadena told me the author for Rasa Malaysia also lives in Irvine.  So out of curiosity, I emailed her to ask if she would love to join us, the three Penang ladies for lunch.  Surprising, she replied and said Yes. 

And from Bee, I also met another two friends, one from Penang and the other from Johor.  And our list grew longer and longer. 

Now we have gathering once every few months.  The purpose is to get together, eat and talk.  Just like back home, we always have conversation over food.  It is fun to be able to see so many Malaysians in Orange County.  If you are reading this post and you would like to join our gathering, kindly leave me a comment here.
 

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