To Die For

Tonight we had our first Group dinner at To Die For, a classy restaurant and bar founded by Bhanu Inkawat and Pornsiri Rojmeta, two of the former heads of LB/Bangkok. We took a rather large air-conditioned coach over to the restaurant, and then had the pleasure of getting to know some of our colleagues in a context outside of the office. I had a great night, as we ate dinner outside on low couches in a very relaxing terrace interspersed with small illuminated pools and a well-stocked buffet. The food was great, and the company was lovely. I had the pleasure of finally meeting two of the Asian observers to the meeting, Nicola Bolling & Carryl Van Dort, both from LB/Colombo, who conversed with me over dinner and a few rounds of Singapore Slings. Sri Lanka is one of our smaller markets, and is growing at a rate consistent with offices in countries characterized by recent turbulent political histories. I had the pleasure of listening to Nicola and Carryl fill me in on Sri Lanka’s recent happenings, ranging from the influence of Buddhist fundamentalists on media, to the status of the Tamil Tiger separatist movement, to the fallout from last year’s devastating tsunami. Also had the pleasure of telling them about M.I.A., one of my favorite recording artists of 2005, a Sri Lankan/English art school brat who turned out Arular, one of the most compelling albums of last year, which contain a rich hybrid of immigrant diaspora culture rooted in a very Tamil political awareness. World hip hop, in other words. Hopefully I’ll buy a bootleg copy of that album to give them before this meeting ends…

Anyhow, after dinner and drinks, a contingent of guests departed back to the hotel, leaving only a few stalwart boozehounds and a crew of happy folks from the LB/Bangkok creative department. I only got a chance to talk to a few members of their office, including Tawanrat, Ood, and Pam from their PR department, before being introduced to Bhanu, one of the restaurant’s owners, who has a creative reputation as one of driving forces behind Thai advertising in the last few decades. But that was then, and on this night he smiled at me as we chatted, and he looked infinitely more relaxed and more content than many of the ambitious & driven executives that routinely populate GPC meetings. I envy Bhanu a little, and found in him a living example of a career well-conducted. At some point in my life, after I reach a certain point of achievement in whatever field I ultimately end up in, I too would like to back off from the pervasive rat race of the business world and open a restaurant and bar, and feed people with the cultures of cuisines I’ve canvassed. Bhanu and Pornsiri have managed to do that quite well with To Die For, and I was sad when I departed a few hours later with the tipsy remnants of the GPC gang. Although we planned on going out, by the time we got back to the hotel, traffic had eaten up another hour of the evening, and I called it quits and went back to my room to sleep. My loss, I guess. Apparently, about 30 minutes after I left the lobby, the members of the rock band Oasis walked in, having just finished one of their shows in a three-night run here with Franz Ferdinand. They’re staying at our hotel, probably in a lush, guarded suite on one of the more exclusive floors. I’m not a groupie, but I would’ve dug running into Oasis. I could’ve informed them that while they write great songs, they’re honestly just flimsy Beatle wannabes pilfering the fab four’s melodic catalog while posing as talent, and then Liam would’ve punched me and I’d have infamous bruises and a great story to tell my indie-rock friends in Chicago…. But alas, no, I went to sleep, and wasn’t punched by any rock stars. Oh well. Dare to dream….