The Keelung Heartbeat series is based on snippets of conversations we hear when out and about in the city among the Keelung locals. We love telling you about the beautiful places in our city, its culture and its food—but what makes Keelung Keelung is the people. By capturing short moments of interaction between everyday people in an everyday setting, we hope to capture the essence of what Keelung is.
爸爸：是媽媽的朋友xx阿姨啊… 哇，有菠蘿奶酥耶！
小女孩：還要哦？
爸爸： 不是怕我餓吃不飽， 是怕你吃不飽。
小女孩：那爸爸要什麼
爸爸：我也想知道我要什麼。。。
I walked into the local bakery, and its in-house cat clung to my leg as I went past.
There was a father-daughter pair already in the bakery. The father, one hand balancing a tray loaded with an assortment of goodies, was exchanging pleasantries with an acquaintance as his little girl hid behind him.
As soon as the lady whom the father had been talking to left the store, the little girl, suddenly no longer shy, demanded to know who that lady was.
“Daddy, who was that?”
“She’s mummy’s friend,” the father began to explain, before a tray of buns he hadn’t seen distracted him, “hey, look! They have pineapple milk buns!”
The little girl looked thoughtful. “But we already have lots.”
Meanwhile, I had made my selection: a bun shaped like a four-leaf clover, its top shiny with glaze and each leaf topped respectively with a triangle of ham, a scatter of scallions, sweetcorn and a neat slice of hard-boiled egg.
“Well, can’t let you go hungry, can we?” the father answered smoothly.
The little girl looked satisfied at his explanation, but I had to hid a little smile. From how excited the father was when he pointed out those buns, that was definitely not the whole reason. “What about you, Dad? Which one do you want?”
“I’ve been asking myself that…”
I turned to leave after paying for my purchase, my wallet 25NTD lighter and my heart warmed by how much the father adored his little girl, and how she obviously adored him back an equal amount. A beautiful interaction between Keelung locals.
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