Be it ever so humble, I’m back home to reality. I’ll take it as a good sign that I’m happy to be here.

My last night in Vietnam was spent at an Aussie bar named Blue Gecko, playing darts with my old friends Alex and John, along with my new dart league teammates who made me feel welcome. I was pleased to play well enough to win all the games in which I participated, and that contributed to an upset of one of the top ranked teams in the league. A team consisting of Filipinos, which I thought was a little ironic.

Speaking of John, he was involved in a motor scooter accident after our dinner gathering on Saturday night. I felt especially bad because during dinner I had asked him about how dangerous it looks to ride in this city and whether he had ever experienced a crash. He hadn’t. Until I jinxed him I guess. Check out attorneys for an auto accidents, here!

Got home from the bar late (for me) and had a 5:30 a.m. alarm, ahead of my 6:30 ride to the airport for my flight’s 9:30 departure. All were accomplished on time, no thanks to the Vietnamese immigration departure queue. Longest damn line I ever did see, but I made it through with 30 minutes to spare. But while driving after drinking, we need to remember that a majority of the accidents happen due to the negligence of the driver or due to drunk driving. You can click here if you are wondering What Does a DUI Cost in Orlando and Central Florida? We need to understand that such accidents that are caused due by negligence or carelessness can destroy many people’s lives and cannot be compensated with money.

The fact that I was flying on the anniversary of 9/11 didn’t escape my thoughts. I couldn’t help but notice the Muslim gentleman sitting on the aisle across from me (as evidenced by his beard and taqiyah), but I figured the odds were good that he was a peaceful follower of the faith. Still, when the flight attendant serving lunch reached our row and announced they were out of chicken and only had a pork dish remaining, I surreptitiously watched for his reaction. It was just a shrug and he went without. Mine was up to the standards you’d expect from a third world airline. We landed safely, avoiding damaging any buildings along the way.

My regular driver, Donny, was ill but he sent someone to pick me up as scheduled. We got stuck in Manila’s notorious traffic (crawling along bumper-to-bumper for over two hours). I guess the distance we traveled in that time to be maybe ten kilometers. I know I can walk faster than we were moving. Anyway, once we reached the expressway things went better, but it was still over 5 hours of driving all told. I hate Manila and try to avoid flying out of there, but there were no direct flights to Saigon from my preferred airport in Angeles City. Oh well, it’s done.

My dogs were ecstatic to see me, and it’s always good to feel that kind of pure love. The first thing my domestic helper said to me was “you’ve gained some weight”. Nice to see you too! She’s right though, I threw my semi-good eating habits out the window, reasoning that I was on vacation so why not? I also got in fewer steps than normal, and it shows. I’ve not gotten on the scale yet, but I’ve set a new reduction goal–down to 190 pounds.

In that regard, I’m re-instituting a strict(er) low carb diet regimen (didn’t even buy ice cream at the grocery store today!) and will get back into my 20,000+ steps per day habit. I’m planning on doing that intermittent fasting thing too–a hearty low-carb breakfast and not much else until a light evening meal. I will of course continue drinking beers, but at least I’m back on those low calorie San Miguel Zero’s.

And there you have it, one day back and already my blog is boring again. Normal ain’t so bad!