AFTER doing Palm Springs at the height of the American summer last year, I resolved to elude the 120-degree heat this year by going back during the tail end of the North American summer when the excruciating dry heat is starting to wane.
Little did I realize that while October is starting to get comfortable in this desert oasis, responsibilities at work here in Bacolod would try to wreck havoc with my vacation schedule.
My six-week vacation plan was disastrously compressed into barely two weeks! What a bummer!
But, like always, when I am faced with insurmountable adversity, I always do my best to re-calibrate and make something worthwhile of what would otherwise be something miserable.
Thankfully, my BFF Mate’ Espina traveled with me. And my other BFFs Tiffany Garriell and Martin Yee followed a couple of days after. So did Honey Lopue.
I was supposed to join them in Vegas; and later in New York and Florida. I admit I got a little envious thinking I was not part of their rendezvous but work got the best of me as I was managing and directing work in Bacolod from Palm Springs - not to mention I had to finalize business negotiations in the desert. This was not the vacation I had envisioned.
Because of all the planning adjustments and re-accommodations which I'm sure disappointed them, I needed to redeem myself by hosting for them a welcome dinner when they all arrived in Palm Springs. At Alicante - a tapas bar at the heart of downtown Palm Springs with its sumptuous hot and cold tapas in little servings, we gorged on delectable renderings of bacon-wrapped zucchinis, cheese wrapped in Serrano ham, baby octopus in olive oil and egg-topped bruschetta. It was a refreshing meal after a long drive from Las Vegas.
After ogling the mid-century knick-knacks shops in downtown Palm Springs were offering, we had frozen dessert at one of the wacky shops serving treats like lavender-laced vanilla smoothie, blueberry caramel ice-cream and lime strawberry shake. For a moment, I hoped everyone was forgetting how this vacation was starting to become a disaster and that I had to shorten my visit in Palm Springs. Admittedly, it was all too stressful.
Having an inexplicable fear of heights, I decided to keep my feet on the ground as Tiffany and Martin braved the Palm Springs aerial tramway. With expansive views of the Coachella Valley, I was told the cable car ride up was exhilarating and the view from above was breathtaking. I am sure it was. I can only hope to personally experience it myself someday. In the meantime, though, pictures and first-hand accounts would suffice.
Surprisingly, another friend from Bacolod was also in town. Clinical psychologist Ramon Lachica got invited to present his paper at a university in Southern California. A nice welcome dinner was definitely a must. At Le Vallauris, we had elegant French-Mediterranean dinner amid old world charm in its tree-line patio while we enjoyed a three-course French meal served by waiters and a sommelier in crisp white uniforms. Besides the food being heavenly, it really was old charm as its owner came up to every single diner, chatted with us and thanked us for choosing to have dinner at his restaurant.
The peculiar charm of Palm Springs never fails to amuse me. But before knew it, I was already packing my luggage for my flight back! And I never even got to return to the Palm Springs Art Museum which was already open. It was slated to open a week after I had left last year. Tsk tsk tsk. Oh well.
Yes, Palm Springs really was nice weather-wise for this return trip. Had I realized that sometimes well-meant plans aren't always the best-laid plans, I would have stuck with the original schedule and deal with the painful desert heat head on. But, hey it was worth the try. No harm, no foul. Next time, I will just have to invest more on sun screen and....yes, a parasol might help, too.