All Searches Lead to Malaysia

Malaysian plus size Even though my big planned Thailand vacation from a little over a year ago was a bust, I thought it would eventually be rectified. If things go as planned I’ll be getting to both Thailand and Malaysia in late February (I was originally aiming for mid-February to take advantage of President’s Day and to celebrate Valentine’s Day abroad, but it turns out that in 2010 Chinese New Year, which is bigger than Christmas in much of Asia, falls on the 14th. Flights are already booked solid, things will be closed, I just don’t need the extra trauma).

And in the past few days all internet searches have randomly led me to that part of the world so I know I must be making the right decision. Fate, right?

I was just Googling "goodies first" num pang trying to see if I ever blogged about their catfish sandwich, but apparently I did not. Instead, I ended up on a Kuala Lumpur fashion blog called Plus Size Kitten and I couldn’t tear myself away. Primarily because Asia? Plus size? I needed to see this.

It doesn’t take much to be plus-sized in Asia. And frankly, even here the term is near-meaningless. Ladies get all pissy over thin plus-sized models but that only means too big for sample sizes (usually 8+) and is not the same thing at all as plus-sized woman (usually 14+). Though I don’t feel like it in NYC where cutesy indie shops are still totally off limits, I’m regular-sized in America meaning I can shop in mainstream department and chain stores and don’t have to settle for elastic waistbands and animal print caftans from the weirdo matronly section in the basement or back corner. It is very illuminating that national chains start at 14 when the unusual-for-gentrified-Brooklyn, plus-sized boutique up the street starts at a 10. 10 is fat for non-poor, educated people.

And Asians, apparently. I’m fascinated by this post about a store called Ms. Read that sells sizes 12-22. I’m trying to figure out what a 12 would be in Malaysia because there’s no way in the world it’s the 12 that I wear. UK sizing I’m guessing? That would be an 8, which looks about right based on their non-overweight model (pictured above).

This is not news to me. I still recall James getting “too big!” squawked at him when trying to buy shoes in Bangkok. My foot (9.5) is also one size larger than the largest size stores carry (8) so I will be certain to pack all the clothing I need. Germany and England (or British stores like Marks & Spencer where I did buy tights in Hong Kong) might be the only two countries where I could expect to buy something off the rack. Oh, and H&M, a Swedish godsend in China.

Not much later I did an image search on nail length, well, because I’ve had a lot of free time in the past week (I unexpectedly got today off work and have Wednesday and Thursday as my final two vacation days of the year, so yesterday, Monday, was my only day in the office until next Monday and I had last Thursday and Friday off, as well) and can now concern myself with important matters like what the current popular nail shape and length is.

I click on a small little image and where do I end up? A website devoted to the ukulele scene in Singapore and Malaysia. Really?

2 thoughts on “All Searches Lead to Malaysia

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