It was MIL’s 86th birthday last December 6, 20 of those she has spent with me, lels. It must not have been easy for her living with me under 1 roof those many, many, MANY years. So I really must congratulate her for her determination & need for self preservation. 😛 In fairness to me though, it wasn’t easy on my end either.

Because she is traditional chinese (gahhh with all the traits, customs & traditions that come with it), we treated her to dinner at our favorite chinese restaurant in the south, PHOENIX COURT. It never fails to put a smile on our faces! <3 We got the Dimsum-All-You-Can at 850 php each which included hot dishes for our main course. Everything you see here (plus more) is included in the set menu at 850++ php. There is another set menu at 650++ for just all-dimsum.

Phoenix Court Bellevue Hotel

We started with a Fish Lip Soup (single serving at 160.00++ if you don’t get the set menu). Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take a photo before everyone started slurping in! 😛 Sigh, do they not remember that there is a blogger in their midst???

BBQ Duck Bun Siopao 3 pcs. 150.00

Scallop Dumpling 4 pcs/160.00

(Must have!!) Hot Prawns Salad 540.00

Watercress dumpling (veggie dish) 4 pcs. 110.00

We got a whole lot more orders of dimsum (coz we are bottomless pits) but I already posted them HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE so I didn’t include those in this post anymore.

Jelly fish with Century Egg 350.00

My gorgeous dalaga took care of our orders. I foresee her MIL’s future hahaha. She’s also one fireball, this spunky girl of mine! <3

Unico Hijo. I really advice that everyone must have more than 1 child. Believe me. The more the merrier. You’ll appreciate them as you grow older 😛

(Partially consumed) Deep-fried Lapu-Lapu Fillet with Garlic Oyster Sauce 480.00

Sweet and Sour Pork with Pineapple 290.00

Roasted Duck Hong Kong Style 490.00

Pan-fried Beef Tenderloin Chinese Style 420.00

Stir-fried Kong Po Chicken 320.00

Braised E Fu Noodle with Seafood 420.00

Yang Chow Fried Rice 320.00, Fried Rice with Chicken and Salted Fish 320.00

Thank you Phoenix Court for this birthday cake, and of course the birthday song number! 🙂

Happy Birthday Ma. Sorry I’m not the ideal daughter in law. Maybe I would have been if our circumstances were a bit (ok, a LOT) different. But I will forever be grateful & indebted to you for raising your son for without him, my life would just not be complete. I promise to be more patient & tolerant in the days to come. (Lord help me!) 😛

Looking at her life, it’s not easy growing old. You are alone most of the time, and you just have to find ways & means to amuse yourself in order not to go cuckoo. It’s a sad life really, if you don’t have a husband anymore to spend the days with. Or friends to play mahjong with. It also sucks if you have an only child who is busy all the time & has to devote whatever time he has left for his wife & kids. Your importance level just keeps going down as one grows old. 🙁 I really must be more patient with her. But I can’t, for the life of me be more attentive, because I also need to exercise self preservation! 😉

I know it’s a cycle of life we have to face. More & more I’m fearing the impending twilight years.

I hope when I’m old & gray I’m still blogging & you guys are still with me hehe. We can comfort & amuse each other and be each other’s BFF! ;P