So it was 10am in the office and Joanna said I might have to help her set up a dinner function before I knock off. Sigh2000. Before the day had started I found out that it would be ending a little later than usual. Boss and the managers were having a conference with the head of global corp banking so it was important. What I didn't know was that dinner was at China Club.

I first heard of china club in tatler or expat magazine. It's a members only private club on the 52nd floor of Capitol Towers. They have a lounge, a restaurant and seminar rooms which have an amzing view. Or so I heard. Who would pay thousands of dollars for this?

When I got out of the taxi with Joanna, the first thing I realised was how much nicer their lobby is. The jpmorgan and capitaland logos were plastered on the wall for us to see. We took 2 connecting lifts to the 52nd floor and when the lift doors opened I was amazed.

It felt like I had stepped into a different world.

The hallway was painted with intricate chinese patterns from floor to ceiling. There were antique rosewood partitions with beautiful carvings, separating the space into intimate sections. There were mirrored walkways and painted silk screens that hung from the ceiling high above. As I walked towards the end of the hallway, I was greeted by the reception, and my gaze was fixed to the amazing view of the city. At 52 feet, the view was so amazing. I have never seen Singapore like this before. For once, it didn't look like a city, it looked like an island.

With floor to ceiling glass panels that were 3 storeys high, it felt like the floor was suspended in the middle of the sky.

It was hard not to be distracted by the view as I set up the namecards with Joanna. The guests invited were our clients, the head treasurers of companies like agilent, siemens, apple, motorola and some other names I couldn't rmbr. They were the people that made the money decisions. Who give us business. In short. Don't mess up. It was an intimate setting with 3 tables only, and by nightfall the beautiful view of the city had turned into a dazzling light display.

Joanna insisted I have dinner, and I did not refuse! I had to watch the reception area so I insisted on having dinner by the reception. So thanks to Mr Jonathan Woon of Apple, who forgot about dinner, I had a 12 course dinner overlooking the city skyline.

The food was great. And it better be for $100+++. The cutlery was beautiful, the food was excellent, and I felt like I was eating in the set of a movie. It was like old Shanghai in the 20's, except in mid-air. And the whole time I was watching the view, savouring the food, and thinking, FUCK this is not happenening.

But it was. And as far as I wanted to reach out into my pocket and make a complete ass of myself by taking a photo of the view, I decided to take a mental picture instead. As I had time to relish the view, appreciate the artwork of the decor and just enjoy a quiet dinner, I kinda thought about all the things that have happened the last few months.

Posh restaurant? Who cares. Nice club? I don't really give a damn. But most importantly whatever I got, I worked hard for it.

The fancy things in life don't matter. But I'd like to think that the ultimate luxury is having everything and knowing that only the important things really matter. Now that's luxury.