use strict;
use warnings;
use Devel::Peek 'Dump';
my $token = "ba\x{f1}o";
utf8::upgrade($token);

Dump($token);
my $term = $token; # note: i have no clue what's in $term
print "match\n" if $token =~ /^$term/i;  

##</code><code>##

SV = PV(0x814d988) at 0x814d524
  REFCNT = 1
  FLAGS = (PADBUSY,PADMY,POK,pPOK,UTF8)
  PV = 0x8160848 "ba\303\261o"\0 [UTF8 "ba\x{f1}o"]
  CUR = 5
  LEN = 6
match