My mother-in-law brought this very brand back from Taiwan just before Isabelle was born (but after we had settled on a name - see the branding above (even the French spelling we chose!))
Eventually, Costco began to carry this exact brand seasonally, so we always buy a box. It's been a family tradition to have these around the Chinese New Year ever since.
All this is back-story for the following funny exchange at Costco when I recently bought a box while shopping solo (usually Costco is a family outing):
Chinese cashier: "You tried these before?"
Me: "Yep"
Cashier: "Hmm... usually Chinese people buy these to celebrate Chinese New Year."
(I start to realize I've been racially profiled: Why is this white guy buying pineapple cakes?)
Me: (defensively) "Yes - my wife is Chinese and the brand is the same name as my daughter: Isabelle!"
Cashier looks at the box and frowns, not seeing "Isabelle".
I point it out and realized she probably had never read the English brand name!
She smiles, visibly relieved that there is a rational explanation for this white dude buying Isabelle branded Taiwanese pineapple cakes.
We made some small talk which oddly wound up with her asking me what my son's name. She seemed oddly satisfied that his name is Sebastien. (I remember the old lady down the street from us in Burlington once told me they were "fancy" names.)
I left the store thinking on how when I get racially profiled I get to not feel like a victim at all, but rather my white privilege makes it a funny novelty that I even get to feel a little smug about afterwards.
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