Lunch at the Top of the World

This week has turned into a pressure cooker and yet it's only mid-week. But I don't think I'll talk about work this time around but here's something for those of you who have been in similar situations. Two days ago, the big guns of my company and the big guns for this client met up to have lunch. I had to tag along.

The thing is, this client's site had a floor dedicated to their executives's lunches and entertaining what nots. Stretch your imagination a bit further and you can come up with some interesting visions of what happens on this floor. But I digress. You see, the lunch room where we were at was one of those small private intimate affairs, all the better to merge and acquire you my dear. There was a table set for 10 with all the trimmings befitting the stature of the .....ummm....eaters?!, a lounge area near to it where you can have pre-meal drinks and post-meal cigars and whiskey, and a private exit onto a large balcony area, which can accomadate a cocktail party for about 30 souls, that overlooks the entire city of Bangkok this side of the river.

The view was, for want of a better word, stunning. You could see entire length and breadth of greater Bangkok with the Chao Phraya river twisiting and bending the boundaries of a city physically divided in two and yet joined by impressive bridgeworks. It's rarefied air I tell you. Of course we sat down for lunch at the table.

The weight of executive powers at the table was deafening in that no one talked while the food was served and the first crack at splitting the iceberg was a comment about someone's weight loss. I won't go into details of what was discussed save that gorgeous food was served but blimey! How do you enjoy lunch in the midst of "diplomatic" business talk? I felt distinctly under-dressed even in my best shirt and best trousers *grin*. These guys pluck out suits from the premier line at....ummmm....Harrods...no wait..it's that expensive enough? Yeah it is. The heavy presence arounnd the table's liable to constipate you. But hey! Free food is free food.

So that was a perfect way to start a week. Now I'm on Wednesday and going home tomorrow cos my laptop crashed because Microsoft's new updates nuked it. When it rains it pours.