Night # 106 to 109

Excuse Me... Are You a Tai Tai?

Stranger: So what do you do?
ME: I am a homemaker.
Stranger: A homemaker? Oh you are a tai tai!

I get that comment alot these days. For some reasons, I have been awfully uncomfortable with this label that hangs around my neck. Perhaps it is the connotation of the word or that I don't see myself in that role at all.

From Wikipedia, Tai tai is a term used in Chinese circles, which translates in its strictest sense as 'supreme wife' where a man is wealthy enough (Tai-pan) to have several wives. The term implies respect but it is no longer strictly interpreted. It now applies to the wife of a wealthy man who does not need to work for money. A Tai tai is a privileged lady of means.

Most importantly, to qualify as a Tai tai, one must have lots of leisure time, lots of money and lots of gossip to exchange.

Right... I have lots of leisure time, I don't have lots of money and I barely have enough gossip to pass around. Strangely, I always see tai tais are women who indulge themselves in manicure, pedicure, high teas, pampering sessions in the spas or hair salons, working out in some high class gym... In other words, they glam up to a fault, putting in alot of effort, not to forget money, to look their best.

I admired them for that, cause I for one, will start such regime with enthusiasm and only to lose interest after a month. It is some determination to consciously remember to put on makeup whenever you leave the house... and to conscientiously do the whole routine of removing the makeup, cleansing and toning... you get the picture...

So as I sit here with mud on my hair, I seriously doubt that I will qualify as a tai tai. Otherwise this mud treatment should be done in some hair salon and not me trying to do a diy version at home... it would ruin my nails, manicure and my expensive clothes don't you think so?