What would you do if you want to drink a glass of frozen margarita today?  It is a very simple thing to make it nowadays, but it was not when I grew up.  You have a blender to help you making it.  In the past, we had to buy a big rock of ice and then you shaved the ice by hand.  This is one example to show how difficult our life was.  Mama’ got up early in the morning to go to the open market.  Mama’ started fire with wooden sticks and newspaper to burn the charcoal on the stove. She put five cups of rice in the cooking pot.  She measured water with her index finger about one and one half inch above the rice.  She let the rice cook while she cut up the meat and vegetables on the hard and heavy cutting block.  When the water was boiling down to the same level with the rice,  she reduced the heat by taking some red hot charcoals out to another stove for stir fry cooking and also for boiling water.  She boiled water to make a big pot of Chinese tea and for washing clothes.  Mama’ washed our clothes by hand and hanged on the cloth lines.  I picked them up when I came home from my school.  Mama’ gave me three bahts (about 15 cents in American currency) for my daily allowance. This was my lunch and drink.  I walked two miles to my high school everyday.  The choice of public transportation at that times were SAM RAW ( human labor tricycles ), ROD RANG ( electric tram ), bus and taxi.  SAM RAW and ROD RANG had been banned in Bangkok.  SAM RAW had been replaced by TUK TUK ( motor tricycles ), because SAM RAW was too slow.  Bangkok was growing fast and modern.  I will get lost in Bangkok if I travel alone by myself.  Bangkok today has Free way, Sky train, Sub way and Sky Scrapers.  Back to my high school day, I had to wear the school uniform, white short sleeves shirt and blue knee high short.  On my left side of the shirt above my shirt packet is my first name and my high school identification number.  Both of them are hand embroidery stitches and my mama’ did them for me.  I got five white school shirts to wear to school, the same as my two brothers.  Mama’ did them all by hand.  The sewing machine operated by foot pedal,  the pedal spun the wheel, and the wheel got the belt to make the sewing machine moving for stitches.  Life in general consumed a lot of time in making things.  I forgot to tell you when mama’ and I prepared the meal in the kitchen.  Mama’ had to have a wet stone right beside her when she was cutting up the meat.  They didn’t have the knife sharpening, we used the wet stone to sharp the knife with.  Some of the Chinese dishes required ground meat, mama’ cut up meat in small pieces, then she beat them up with pestle and stone.  She beat it until the meat was fine and ground.  I write this post because I  realize how much my mama’ was giving such an unconditional love to her family.  We should be happy and cherish what we have now.  You don’t miss them until they are gone.

I appreciate the comments that I have received. Please share with me about your own life if you have grown up like me. Good-bye for now.

Mana