A ticket back to childhood for the 8x and 9x generations, a precious gift filled with unforgettable memories of nearly 30 years.

Precious gift of childhood

At the end of the year, the work piled up, making me a bit "down". The nature of my job is to still work online, have products for Tet holidays, so I'm busy as Tet approaches. Plus, homesickness when the Spring atmosphere has begun to creep into my daily life makes me less productive in meeting deadlines. Last year, everything was so busy for me that I rarely went home, probably for 4-5 months.

Too tired and trying to work is not effective, I opened my phone, put on my headphones, surfed the internet for a while to relax. Suddenly attracted me was the clip "Museum of Childhood". I like Le Nhan (Ms. Cano), plus the scene of the clip evokes something very familiar, very close and also very funny so I did not hesitate to click to watch.

The clip started playing when I suddenly felt like a childhood memory had just opened up, appearing right before my eyes. Especially the image of the red Ong Tho milk box that I hadn't seen for a long time, so familiar. Each scene seemed to depict the exact childhood years that I had experienced, bread dipped in milk, ice cream cone covered with condensed milk, the game of throwing butter tubes,... just took me away like "time traveling" back to the past, leaving the office.

I was born in 1994, at the age of 8x, 9x at that time, life was not full, children in our town did not have much food and drink like now, only ice cream bags, banana ice cream,... were the most "luxurious" snacks. But we could not eat them all the time, only when the house had a box of Ong Tho milk did we have the opportunity to display all kinds of dishes.

The red box of Mr. Tho milk, with the image of Mr. Tho with a white beard, smiling gently with two children holding peaches, has been deeply imprinted in the subconscious of our generation. Back then, whenever my parents visited a sick person, they would automatically buy a kilo of sugar and a box of milk as gifts, so for us, Mr. Tho milk was a precious gift.

One thing I have to admit is that Ong Tho milk is delicious no matter how you eat it. My father used a knife and a pestle to make two small symmetrical holes in the edge of the milk carton, and each time he ate, he would tip it upside down to let the thick, creamy milk flow out. Occasionally, the hot bread seller would pass by with her trademark cry: “Hot, crispy bread here.” My mother would call her to stop, buy two loaves of bread, and break them in half for the whole family. Hot bread dipped in Ong Tho milk, an uncomplicated afternoon snack, but the flavor remains unforgettable after nearly 30 years.

Then, when the house had a bunch of ripe bananas that were too much to eat, my mother took them out and pressed them thinly, added some Ong Tho milk, fresh coconut, sesame, and put them in the freezer, and the next day, we had delicious banana ice cream that would make our tongues melt. Or simply, just Ong Tho milk mixed with water to get a glass of warm milk, drinking it on a cold winter night is the best, it warms the stomach and makes you sleep well. The rich, sweet, milky taste from the lips and down the throat, now when I think about it, I still feel that flavor on the tip of my tongue.

It was funny, one day when the sun was shining brightly, I was running around outside. My mother was cooking rice, and every now and then she would come out and call: "Ha, come inside and play, or else you'll get sick if it rains or the sun shines." For some reason, at that moment a very "bold" thought popped into my head: "Whatever, the sicker you are, the more you can drink Ong Tho milk."

When my mother was sick, the neighbors came to visit and gave me a lot of Ong Tho milk. So I got some from my mother too. When I came home from school hungry, my eyes lit up when I saw the milk box. Every night I drank a cup of warm milk, sometimes I even poured a little Ong Tho milk into a small spoon to snack on.

After finishing the milk carton, my father carefully ground it to remove the lid at one end, then washed it, dried it, and turned it into a rice measuring tool. My brothers and I asked for an empty carton and took it to the alley to play the butter tube throwing game. The neighborhood children, 5-7 of them, gathered together, using their slippers to throw the butter tube in a circle. Every time someone hit the target, the clanging sound would be heard and the whole group would run to the finish line, laughing heartily and happily.

A ticket to sweet memories

Later, life became better, people had many other choices. However, Ong Tho milk still appeared in our culinary life, sometimes in mixed tea cups, smoothies, brown coffee or caramel boxes,... No matter what dish, if there was a little Ong Tho milk added, it would be more flavorful.

When I had just given birth to baby Tho a few days ago, my milk supply had not yet increased, my mother-in-law told me to drink a cup of hot Ong Tho milk every night, and I was sure my milk supply would increase the next day. I listened to my mother and found it to be true, my milk gradually increased, and there was plenty for the baby to suckle.

Many years have passed, although I have enjoyed many delicious, strange, expensive, and cheap dishes, but every time I drink a cup of Ong Tho milk, sip a piece of bread dipped in milk, a very special, indescribable feeling still rises in my heart. It is as if I have just been given a ticket back to my beautiful childhood, as if the past of nearly 30 years ago is still present somewhere, as if I was still a child in the protective arms of my parents. How happy and peaceful. Memories, those are things that money cannot buy.

“It's noon and you're still sitting there in a daze. Aren't you going to eat some rice, Ha?", the voice of my colleague sitting next to me made me wake up from a beautiful dream and feel a bit regretful.

I took off my headphones and invited my colleague: "Sister, would you like some bread dipped in Ong Tho milk this afternoon?". She was a little surprised and asked me again: "Why do I suddenly crave that food?”- “It's delicious, sister.”, I smiled. So she agreed, and that afternoon, my sisters and I had a delicious snack of hot bread dipped in milk. While eating, we told each other stories of the past and burst out laughing. It turned out that our generation’s childhoods had so many things in common, one of which was the precious memories of the sweet box of Ong Tho milk.

After those relaxing minutes, I also have more inspiration to complete the long "pile" of deadlines waiting.

Ông Thọ condensed milk has been accompanying Vietnamese people since 1976, always aiming to preserve and honor pure Vietnamese values; it is the secret to bringing delicate and attractive delicacies such as traditional bread dipped in milk, smooth caramel, fragrant curry or a delicious and nutritious cup of hot milk.

Ong Tho Condensed Milk - Delicious Taste Through the Years!

Watch full MV "Ther Museum of Age"here