This one's for Marla...

Fondue.

Good cheese (priced reasonably) is not the easiest to find here. Just when I had thought of giving up my search, I was encouraged to find a place that actually serves fondue. Thanks to Judah Ruiz who has lived here long enough to know where these secret places are!

Address: "Fondooz" in Central World Mall on Ratchadamri Road (short twenty-minute walk from where I live).

Admittedly, "Fondooz" is nowhere in the vicinity of our own "Old Swiss Inn" (Manila) but nonetheless satisfies the craving for this gustatory experience.

Chocolate fondue, strawberries and butter cake with Jolina and Judah.

Continental Dessert.

Likewise with cheese, my search for fine continental dessert (cakes, pies, pastries) has been wrought with a fair amount of frustration. Don't get me wrong, this country abounds with some of the best-tasting local desserts I've ever had but every now and then (for me, more often than most non-locals) one's sweet tooth craves for what's familiar: chocolate cake, cheese cake, rhum butter cake, brownies, cinnamon roll, ensaimada, churros, cookies, crepes, etc. Or...maybe...what I considered nondescript back home suddenly took on a special turn and became novel here where I live. There you have it. The paradox of the human heart: We desire what we cannot have!

Anyhow, my Thai officemate brought me and my boss to the "Secret Garden" two weeks ago. It's a Thai restaurant that has a portion devoted solely to serving dessert (cakes) with coffee. Not as wide an array as I would have hoped but it's feel and spread is the closest sweet haven I can find for now.

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Speaking of ensaimada, I was fortunate enough to receive several "Mary Grace" cheese rolls straight from the daughter (Chiara Dimacali) of the Mary Grace. Chiara was here last week to celebrate her boyfriend's birthday, Vic Hugo.