Nicknames

I have been thinking about some of the many nicks that I was given when younger.
Ever since I was born, all my aunties called me Baby. Ok tats convenient since there are like thousands of other babies. Thing is...the Baby nick stuck with me till I was in my teens. Reason being I do not have a chinese name...n my aunties couldnt pronounce my English name.
Imagine going to my aunties' houses during Chinese New Year...all grown up n pretty with boobs n all....they go "Aiyoooo Baby...an tai ey ah?" (Translated from Hakka: Aiyoo Baby...grown so big?) Ermmm...they didnt mean the boobs by the way.

When I got to primary school, I was so like a boy. Always standing up to guys who bully gers.
Anyhow...there was this bully who was teasing a ger all the time...i got fed-up and called him "lao shu" (Translated from Chinese: mouse) since he had 2 jutting out front teeth. In retaliation, he called me "He ma" (Translated from Chinese: Hippo). Basically my surname is HO and in hanyu pinyin, it is "he". So Hippo stuck with me. Even till now, when my primary schoolmate calls, he calls me Hippo. Grrgghhh....its so ironic coz my mouth aint tat big wor.

Anyway, I was shopping around one day and I saw this cutest hippo keychain. I just couldnt resist buying it to pay some tribute to my nick. *LOL*