MENU: OLD SWISS INN

Four hours as Bathsheba the Warrior Princess and my stomach was growling. I looked at Sargeras beside me and could not understand how he, Dodo and Silas could go on for six hours straight just in front of their computers playing World of Warcraft without eating. "Aren't you guys hungry?" No one heard me, the noob. "I'm really hungry," I pleaded to Sargeras. "Ask Oogie to cook some crispy bat wing," he suggested. "No. Bath doesn't have the ingredients and I'm Real World hungry."

He wouldn't leave the quest, typing in FTW and smiling goofily, totally absorbed in The World. Too hungry to wait for the quest to wrap up and eat with the boys, I typed in a message to the receptionist instead. "Order please of 1 ramen, 1 gyoza, 1 bottled water."

At Station 168 (www.station168.com), the staff understands the immediacy of their guests' needs. Their clientele includes businessmen – foreign and local alike – who are in urgent need of emailing services; forlorn lovers who spend hours chatting away with their sweethearts across the globe; and the biggest market of all – online gamers who spend around six hours a day in battles and quests, who literally begin to look like zombies until they reach Level 60. So after typing in my order, within a few minutes, I had my huge bowl of ramen, a large plate with ten slices of dumplings and my bottle of water. Very efficient, very impressive.

The soup was boiling hot and I offered some to Sargeras, who gave in to the smell of real food and had some. Mimicking me, he exclaimed with the same goofy smile, "It's an explosion of flavors!" It was an explosion, alright: the heat almost burns your tongue while the spiciness wakes up your senses and brings back energy you'd forgotten ever existed. But the maddening spice is relieved by the very refreshing kimchi and radish that are served with the bowl, a really impressive Korean touch at an internet shop. Next I bit into the gyoza, which was also served very hot. It was obviously pre-packaged stuff because it was not fresh although tasty, but it came with a lovely sauce that has sesame seeds and chili bits in it that get caught in the meat when you dunk in your gyoza, making for a satisfying and fast filler.

Would I come here for the food? Still, no. There are other Korean restaurants around the block that serve far better Korean cheap eats. But would I choose 168 over other internet cafes for the food? Definitely.

But what I would do, better than choosing an internet café with a stuffy cubicle where the keyboards have been touched by hands that have not been washed, is find a restaurant or café with wifi and work from there. I have tried the several coffeehouses – Starbucks, Seattles, Coffeebean, you name it … but the pre-paid wifi is really highway robbery. P100 for an hour of wifi? Forget it.

Where would I go? Don't tell too many people but Old Swiss Inn on Makati Ave (by Manila Pen) is open 24 hours and they have free wifi. Here you won't be stuck with microwavable food but can have very good coffee, gourmet food, real cheese, or even their famous Toblerone fondue!

The food at Old Swiss Inn is fabulous. This restaurant that has been in existence since 1946 – first on Roxas Boulevard (gone), then in Paco (still open), Makati, and now Alabang - and clearly the Swiss commitment to excellence and quality is the reason for its long life. For appetizers, their raclette still stands as one of the best in the country, with the raclette flown in from Switzerland. It's a flatbed
of cheese on two plates, with baby potatoes calmly lying atop them. For your main course, you may have prime rib if you feel like having a heavy meal, but for taste I would recommend the Halibut Fillet, which simply melts in your mouth and whose natural flavor is subtly but definitely enhanced by the wasabi-mayo sauce that comes with it.

But my best Swiss Inn memories come with fondue. In college, my buddies and I would hop to Swiss Inn after drinks at Peps or Cirkulo and just drown in their chocolate fondue, which I now know makes use of Toblerone chocolates. Today, I prefer the cheese fondues. The Waatlander Fondue uses Gruyere, my latest favorite cheese, and adds oomph with a shot of kirsch, a colorless brandy.

Now this is a place where I can get lost online the whole day. It really has the best of both worlds!

Old Swiss Inn. G/F Somerset Olympia, Makati Ave. (beside Peninsula).
818-0098, 818-8251. Open 24/7. Major credit cards accepted.
www.oldswissinn.com.