Happy Birthday, Momma!

Mom and I in the 1990s

My mom celebrated her birthday last Thursday so we decided to treat her to a full day of eating, R&R, and more eating. My entire family with the exception of myself had the day off so we ended up having lunch at the Filipino restaurant Max's of Manila (1520 Steeles Ave W, Vaughan), which is close to my workplace. We always eat at Max's whenever we get the chance to and it always reminds us of good food and of good times from living in Manila all those years ago.

My parents ordered the tapsilog, a combination of the breakfast food items tapa (marinated beef), sinangag (fried rice), and itlog (egg). Alternatively, my sister and I decided to go all out and ordered the half chicken dinner for lunch. It came with soup, half of Max’s famous fried chicken, garlic rice, and a caramel fudge bar. Unsurprisingly, my sister and I finished the entire meal and even had enough room for traditional Filipino dessert. My mom ordered the halo-halo (mix-mix; ube ice cream, leche flan, red bean, jelly, shaved ice, and macapuno) while my sister and I ordered sago’t gulaman (tapioca balls, jelly, shaved ice, and cane syrup). After lunch, I went back to work with a food coma while my parents and sister traveled back west for the rest of the afternoon.

My family and I reconvened at home before leaving together for dinner at The Keg Steakhouse & Bar (670 Matheson Blvd W, Mississauga). My parents each ordered a surf and turf combination of sirloin and shrimp while my sister and I shared the pecan sirloin with twice-baked potato. The meal and the service was excellent that evening. My mom was even treated to a generous piece of the mouth-watering Billy Miner’s Pie. We then continued the birthday festivities at home, where my mom opened her presents and blew out the candles on her mocha cake from Something Sweet. ☺

Happy Birthday, Mom! I heart you! <3