Shopping with Baby

Generally you can shop in relative peace here in Toronto. There may be the occasional "oh isn't she, or is it a he, a cute baby!" (people are never sure if Bella is a boy or a girl given her lack of hair), but you can navigate through a store without attracting too much attention.

Well, was it ever different in Hong Kong. Before I went I read a few blogs of parents of mixed children living in HK and got the sense that such children were still a bit of novelty. But I didn't realize they would still attract so much attention. Mostly I don't mind it - I mean, who doesn't want to hear that their baby is cute - but when you are trying to shop in one of the most famous shopping cities in the world, such attention can be distracting.

Actually, shopping in HK has taught me what Chinese people consider desirable (not just aesthetically but in terms of luck and fortune, of course!). Bella often was complimented on her:

1. big, round eyes (like a Westerner)
2. folded eyelids (again, like a Westerner, but I have them too and I'm all Chinese)
3. big, thick earlobes (the bigger they are, the longer life one has)
4. her skin colour (whiter than all Chinese babies because she's half; and given all of skin whitening products in HK, I am guessing that pale skin is valued)
5. her height (or more accurately at this stage in her life - her length) - "oh, she's going to be tall!"

Don't get me wrong, I am not ungrateful that people think that Bella is a cutie pie, but please don't think that you can touch her. And when I say "touch", I don't mean a one-second touch with a finger but more like "all hands on deck!" Sales associates would grab her hand, kiss it, stroke her head, and some would even try to hold her. I guess it was no big deal in the grand scheme of things, since I got "tourist" discounts in the end.

Ring it up.