It's been a long time since I told you guys about the Los Angeles crew. Please accept our warm greetings and hearts. We are mostly doing OK. I want to tell you about what has happen last week:playing golf in desert.
As you may know, we have played golf together every two month. Since I decrowned Lee,Choonshik in our group from this year, many clever chums importuned me to arrange golf tour in the expensive course at the cheapest price, taking the summer time bargain sale for the fools.
I finally found out the perfect package, getting unanimous approval. It is one night stay with unlimited golf in Marriot Hotel in Palm Spring, suggesting the jaw-dropping price of only $139 per room with two fools per night. I hurried to spread this unbelivable news to my gang, getting too many supports and compliments from them and made a reservation as fast as I can. That cunning Hotel already netted a snare for the poor people like us, with a seemingly best condition effective during the hottest summer time in the hottest place in America. The same golf package costs us around $500, more than three time higher than ours, in Winter, the perfect time for the rich playing golf there.
Our participants totals to 15 including 5 female warriors(wives), among whom are Choi, Jongtae with wife from Pheonix, Arizona, a good 5 hours driving to the hotel and Oh, Inyoung from San Jose, recently working 4 days in LA. The doomsday came finally on June 28, Saturday. The weather forecast there was as usual low 75F degrees(24C) to high 110F(43%), casting a ominous sign to us.
We planned to play golf two times, first one starting 12:30 pm on 28th and second at 6:30am on 29th (Sun). while I was driving to Palm Spring, around 120 miles east to LA, I noticed the outside temperature keeps creeping up, over 100F already when we got there. I greeted at the front dest all the guys coming in and we headed to the golf course next to hotel. Ah, I forget the hotel name it is Rancho Las Palmas Marriot in Palm Spring. The hotel has numerous small compartments built along side the golf course. It was packed with many tourist.
It was HOT enough making us sweating even before we started. We had four groups, one only for four ladies, one for gamblers only and two groups with naive kids. All of us were full with gratitue for the cheap price in this beautiful course and some excitements such as the one right before starting. I confirmed all gangs' eyes blazing like sun with a dream of "I am gonna surprise you all with my upgraded skill."
Some uneasy feeling was slowly getting bigger in my mind when I heard Oh, Inyoung suddenly said he felt dizzy at 5th hole. It was too late to get out of there. What is worse is that we were already encompassed with the deadly heat making us difficult to move and even swing. The club was very preparatory for the heat, kindly giving us a towel and icebox full with ice. Then I told our group, Hahn, Sukhee, Chang, sukwon and Inyoung to put as much ice in our cap and wrap the towel full with ice around our neck. But we could not do anything to cool us off under the boiling sun. We were all contrite for our reckless trial. The only thing we do was drinking water, munching ice and even putting some ice under the shirt. We started shambling and stopped bantering each other. I bet even the most aficionado for golf wouldn't dare to play a bit in that fiercing heat. We all were flaccid like a groggy boxer, with bleary sight and at last in trance around the final hole. After finishing, we kind of smirked at each other. We couldn't believe we finish in that kind of hell. Suckwon even said he couldn't remember how he
did at 18th hole.
The striking lesson I had is that woman is far superior to man in the extreme condition. They kept playing golf as usual, showing no tiredness or no complain, of course they did not wear ice-full towel and did not pour water on their head. What a amazing fighters they are. I was getting scared for the fact they are our wives......, I had to show "shock and awe and respect" for the super woman. That's why they survive us i n life too.
Later we had dinner together, first happy, ya really happy, guzzling cold beer as much as possible, exchanging the heroic deeds and survival ideas....,It was most unforgetta ble memory we made together. Later we knew the temperature once rose up to 118F (48C). I think our friendship would get stronger so much cause we were together to b eat that merciless natural threat. Choi, Mansung suggested the next challenge: anothe r round in Alaska in December!!!! Let me Know if anyone interested in our next excting j ourney. LOVE GUYS, HAVE A GOOD TIME WITH YOUR AMAZING WIFE..... Bye Sang Kyung from Los Angeles, June 30 ,2002 |