I am trying to eat less now (really, I am!!!), but sometimes, even when you want something really badly, all the universe does NOT conspire in helping you achieve it. Sorry, Paul Coelho, but it’s true.
Like just this October alone, in my mom’s side of the family, we already have 5 birthday celebrants.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
October alone.
That is 5 big dinners AND 4-6 slices of cake per dinner (because in our family, a birthday is not a birthday if there is one cake only).
Tonight Uncle Frank is celebrating his 63rd and here’s what we have, pre-6-slices-of-cake:
Birthday Noodles – tastes okay but noodles are too soft. Overcooked!
Steamed Prawns with Garlic – again, they got the flavor right, but the doneness all wrong. Prawns are hard and rubbery. Overcooked!
Duck and Jellyfish Salad – it’s supposed to look prettier than this, but the waiter tossed the salad before I could take a photo. This duck-jellyfish-mango-watermelon-cashew-nut combo is not photogenic, but please don’t be put off. This is good stuff. (And it’s not overcooked!)
Fried Seafood Roll – the one I got doesn’t have any seafood in it, so I’m renaming it “Fruit Cocktail Roll”
Braised Mushrooms with Sliced Abalone – the usual, no surprises
Fish Maw Soup – good with red vinegar
Fried Pigeon – I think these birds were on a diet for too long . They’re thin, hard and dry.
Steamed Lapu-Lapu with Taoso – again, 
Garlic Fried Crabs – and thank God, Gloria Maris finally gets something right. The crabs are meaty, garlicky, arrestingly delicious.
Masachi – I like it better with sesame
Ginataan – so good I help myself to seconds and thirds
Ube Gelatin – sweet and artificial
We like giving the celebrant a hard time... 6 cakes and 70 candles! 
He got all 63 in just two blows! Wow!
Happy birthday, Uncle Frank!!! And yes, the dog is family, too!Gloria Maris: CCP Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines.
Tel: +632-831-3816
