挑選韓國文創商品 / Choosing Korean design products

在文創園區漫步時，我發現一間新開的文創品牌快閃店，以韓國文創品牌為主，Kiki Quokka是一個受歡迎的韓國文創角色品牌，以短尾矮袋鼠（quokka）作為形象，也因為甜美和可愛的形象，聽說，在韓國蠻受到歡迎的，而在這邊，也受到年輕族群喜愛，和公司內熟識的助理妹妹閒聊時，我剛好看到她平日中午午休時間，用來睡午覺的抱枕，就是Kiki Quokka的，看起來，她每天中午，都應該被Kiki Quokka療癒到了。

沒想到這家店也有賣 Kiki Quokka 的商品，想想，我還蠻常受到助理妹妹的幫助，要不要順便買個小物，答謝她平日的幫忙，心動不如馬上行動，我一邊逛，一邊在腦中想像她收到禮物的模樣，也許，她會喜歡那本有設計感的日記本，可以把旅行時的心情記錄下來；又或者，她會更需要一個隨身小袋子，可以裝進日常小物，我一件件地拿起來，又一件件放回去時，心裡卻始終沒有答案。

選禮物的過程，比我想像的還要難，不是因為這些文創小物不夠吸引人，而是每一件都太有特色，讓我覺得她「可能會喜歡」。但「可能會喜歡」和「一定會喜歡」之間，，我實在是無法判斷，在逛了一圈又一圈之後，最後，我居然什麼都沒買，雖然如此，我的心情反而輕鬆，俗話說，送禮要送到心坎裡，與其送給她不喜歡的禮物，增加她的煩惱，還不如不要送。

或許，我應該再花一些時間冷靜思考，她到底需要甚麼東西，其實，帶她來這裡，讓她自己挑一份喜歡的小物是最簡單的，但這樣一來，驚喜感就全沒了，送禮的意義也打了折扣，我發現，我好像也有了選擇障礙。

While strolling through the cultural and creative park, I stumbled upon a newly opened pop-up store, mainly featuring Korean cultural brands. One of them was Kiki Quokka, a super popular Korean character brand inspired by the quokka, often called “the world’s happiest animal.” Thanks to its sweet and adorable image, it’s apparently quite a hit in Korea, and clearly loved by young people here too.

As I was chatting with one of my coworkers, a junior assistant I’m pretty close with—I suddenly remembered that her lunchtime pillow for napping is actually a Kiki Quokka one. No wonder she always looks refreshed; she’s probably being healed by Kiki Quokka every afternoon!

To my surprise, this shop was also selling Kiki Quokka items. I thought to myself: since she’s always been so helpful to me, maybe I should pick out a little gift for her as a thank-you. So I started browsing, picturing her reaction as she opened the present. Maybe she’d like a stylish diary to jot down her thoughts while traveling. Or maybe a handy pouch for carrying her daily essentials. I kept picking things up, imagining her using them, only to put them back again. Somehow, I couldn’t make up my mind.

It turned out that choosing a gift was harder than I expected. Not because the items weren’t appealing—quite the opposite. Every single one was so unique that I kept thinking, “She might like this”, but “might like” and “definitely like” are two very different things, and I just couldn’t bridge that gap. After circling the store over and over, I ended up leaving empty-handed. Oddly enough, I felt a sense of relief. After all, as the saying goes, the best gift is one that truly hits the heart. Giving something she doesn’t actually like would just add to her clutter, so maybe it’s better not to give anything at all—for now.

Maybe I just need to take more time to think about what she really needs. Of course, the simplest option would be to bring her here and let her pick something herself. But then, the surprise factor would be gone, and that kind of ruins the fun of gift-giving. In the end, I realized something: I might actually have a serious case of gift-buying indecision.

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