1991
A small car was climbing round and round over the huge mountain. Even though it was in the afternoon, the weather was cool by the shades of trees. "Mommy! How long shall we have to drive on the mountain? I don't see any beach yet." I complained. The canyon was at the one side of the road and the other side was the mountain wall covered by trees. My younger cousin, who was 5 years old at the time, cried: "My head is funny. My head feels weird." He didn't know that he was feeling dizzy because of the mountain road. My mom told me that, across the "Ann" range of the mountains, we would reach " Nga-pa-li ", one of the most beautiful beaches in Myanmar. I had been river side. But I had never been to the beach and sea. "Nga-pa-li" was totally transfixing a 6 year old child. Although I was amused to see many colorful flowers waving me along the road, I could not wait to step on the sand of Nga-pa-li.
After awhile, I saw white cotton-like things floating at the sides of the road. "Mommy, what are they?" I asked. She said they were clouds. "Wow! So we're in the sky now!!" I was atsonished. My parents smiled. I wanted to touch the clouds so much. They were my fantasy whenever I gazed at the sky in my childhood. They entertained me with different interesting paitings on the sky. And that is the first time, I met the clouds. My cousin and I tried to hold the clouds. However, they disappeared when our car passed by them. I was puzzled by the magic of clouds. "How come, mommy?" I urged. My mom explained me that they acually were this cluster of vapour and mist. Although I did not want to accept answer, I could not think of other answer by myself. I still wanted to believe
that they were the sky's decorators whose cry is the rain. At that age, I was too stubborn and there were many things I could not accept. Main thing I could not accept was a fact that the earth was round. If the earth was round, we all would fall down. We would be like standing on the ball.
In addition, my grandparents planned a lot of activities to keep us amused. We and our friends used to go to the beach every morning, and sometimes we went in the afternoons too. We played a lot of board games such as dominoes, canasta, continental and monopoly. Also, we used to play outdoors. For example we did races, played hide-and-seek, and took refreshing hose showers at the backyard.
The last reason, but not the least important reason, is the exquisite meals that we ate there. My grandfather was a wonderful cook, and he used to prepare tasteful dishes for us. We tried vegetables, seafood, and all kind of meat made for him. Sometimes, my grandparents and we went out to dinner and could taste a wide variety of meals.
The beautiful location left indelible marks in our minds. The amusing time that we passed there is unforgettable. I never try again a meal with the delicious taste of my grandfather's meal. For all of that, my grandparents' house was in my memory as the most favorite place that I visited during my childhood.