What is Peranakan? Who is a Nonya? The author Katherine’s Peranakan roots can be traced back five or more generations on both sides of her family. Yet her grandmother called her chelup, as though only her toes were dipped into the hybrid culture’s soup – a skin-deep Peranakan only. Later in life, when training as a docent at the Peranakan Museum, the author uncovers and unearths forgotten memories. Words and conversations that had floated in and out of her childhood connect. She then understands what makes a Baba Nonya distinctive and realises she is becoming Nonya.