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

A precious gift of childhood

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

Too tired and trying to work would not be effective, I opened my phone, put on my headphones, and surfed the internet for a while to relax. Suddenly, I was attracted by the clip "Museum of Childhood". I like Le Nhan (Ms. Cano), plus the scene of the clip evoked 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 Tho milk carton 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" 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 as much food and drink as 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 and two children holding peaches, has been deeply imprinted in the subconscious of our generation. Back then, whenever my parents visited a sick person, they always had to 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. Every time he ate it, he would turn it upside down to let the thick, creamy milk flow out. Occasionally, the hot bread seller would pass by, calling out, “Hot, crispy bread here!” which had become a trademark. My mother would call her to stop, buy two loaves of bread, and break them in half for each of us. Hot bread dipped in Ong Tho milk, a simple afternoon snack, but the flavor remains unforgettable after nearly 30 years.

Then, at home, there was a bunch of ripe bananas that couldn’t be eaten in time, so my mother took them out and pressed them thinly, added some Ong Tho milk, fresh coconut, sesame seeds, and put them in the freezer. The next day, there was a delicious banana ice cream that was “tongue-wrenching”. Or simply, just Ong Tho milk mixed with water to get a cup of warm milk, drinking it on a cold winter night was the best, it warmed my stomach and I slept well. The rich, sweet, milky taste from the lips and then flowed down my 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 playing in the yard. My mother had just cooked 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 comes out.” For some reason, at that moment a very “bold” thought popped into my head: “Whatever, the sicker you are, the more you get to 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 to share some of my mother's milk. When I came home from school hungry, my eyes lit up at the milk box. Every night I drank a cup of warm milk, and sometimes I 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 game of throwing butter tubes. 5-7 children in the neighborhood gathered, used their slippers to throw the butter tubes 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 loudly and having a great time.

A ticket to sweet memories

Later, life got 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 was not yet abundant, 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 come the next day. I listened to my mother and found it to be true, my milk gradually increased, overflowing 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, in my heart still rises a very special, indescribable feeling. It is as if I have just been given a ticket back to my beautiful childhood, as if the past 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 go eat, 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 asked my colleague: "Sister, would you like to have 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, the 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 into laughter. 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 have more inspiration to complete the long deadline 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 Age Museum"here