… and the world’s your oyster. So goes the 80s hit from the musical CHESS (as a big chess player, I’ve always had a soft spot for that song). Jason and i arrived in Bangkok last night about 10pm after a 9 hour flight from Sydney (as I was sitting in business class, I was able to open my Macbook Pro, it even had power sockets!, and sort through 2200 unread emails) and went straight to Club Perdomo, Sukhumvit Soi 28. Hillman Lentz (@hillmanlentz), the Big Boss of Perdomo Asia, has spent the last 18 months getting the first Club Perdomo up and running here and let me tell you, folks – it’s AMAZING. We’ll shoot a bunch of photos and video to share with you while we’re here, but let me try to build a word picture for you:
Imagine landing in Bangkok. It’s late at night, about 28 degrees C, a little muggy, in a city with 12 or 13 million people. You jump into a taxi driven by a mad man and speed in and out of traffic for 20 minutes through the heart of Bangkok. Finally you arrive in a quiet side street outside of tall, imposing gates. High above the gates you can see a large, dimly-lit “P” in a circle – that’s the Perdomo logo. You walk through the gates and are greeted by two very large, heavy oak doors. As you push on them, they quietly swing gently open and you walk into a small, air-conditioned hallway. Walk a few steps, turn a corner, up five stairs, and you’ll see some glass doors. They are opened by uniformed staff who greet you “sawatdee” and bow, hands together in front of them.
Club Perdomo Bangkok
As you let your eyes wander around the dimly lit room, you’ll see about 30 leather chairs, wooden tables, oak walls, and a couple of small groups of people smoking cigars and nursing a drink. It’s exquisitely done, tasteful, elegant, a throw back to a different era – I expect to see Commander Bond sitting there, throwing back a Vesper, recounting his latest adventures (of course, it’s more likely to be The Perdomo Man rather than Bond – more about TPM in later posts).
When you relax into the soft, luxurious leather, a staff member will quietly ask you what you would like to smoke and drink. They will help you choose a cigar if you aren’t sure what you are in the mood for, then they will clip it, light it, and hand it to you. Then your drink will come out – last night I had the best dirty martini and the best bloody mary that I have EVER had. And I lived in Melbourne for 20 years. I kid you not.
So you sit there, sinking deep into the leather, in a quiet little haven, a few other people sitting around you, chatting about business, politics, science, philosophy – last night we covered it all. Hillman will probably introduce himself to you within minutes of your arrival and then will introduce you to a handful of other people in the club from around the world. Last night I met James With, Australian actor, director, producer, businessman (who we’re shooting a video podcast with on Monday), as well as a businessman visiting for a month from Las Vegas, and a number of locals.
After you’ve finished a cigar (or two), you’ll check the time on your iPhone and realize it’s 4am. Time flies at Club Perdomo. It’s a little, private, members-only sanctuary in one of the busiest cities in the world.
We need one in Brisbane. And Sydney. And Melbourne. And Adelaide. And Canberra. And Perth.
