Happy 4th of July

I'm back.

It's already July and, frankly, I've been back for three weeks. But I've been playing the role of Chief Layabout since my return, to the exclusion of pretty much all productive activity. Something about a long decompression period needed, or something like that.

At any rate, here's a quick update:

* Two days back from Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, I got a nasty dose of food poisoning from the Philippines. It's ironic because:
a. After managing to avoid any serious gastrointestinal issues in Cambodia, I got sick within my first 48 hours at home, where I have never gotten sick. (Though I was under the weather for a few days in Phnom Penh, it was nothing compared to this ugly, ugly dose of nastiness.)
b. Most likely, I got the food poisoning in an upscale mall from a Western restaurant you would all be familiar with. I believe that the bacteria in a leftover hamburger (cooked to medium, of course), which I first carried around the mall for a while, then didn't reheat prior to eating is what did me in.

I figure my illness will excuse me from several days' worth of blogging.

* We spent last weekend at the beach, relaxing and doing not much of anything, although Shelly did eat the single largest hamburger I've ever seen. We ended up at the beach because...

* Our vacation to Guam and Palau was rescheduled due to emergencies at the chicken plant. Postponed is actually a better word, as it hasn't actually been rescheduled yet.

* We saw a friend (and coworker of Shelly's) married in a Wednesday afternoon wedding. Shelly actually got to be part of the wedding party. She is now a godmother, which apparently obligates her to Mary Ann for the rest of their lives. Not only was Shelly the only member of the wedding party not in white, we were the only people at the wedding who didn't speak Tagalog. Needless to say, I didn't understand much. (But it was a very nice wedding.)

* We went to the "Mall of Asia" last night, billed as Asia's largest mall. After dinner and a visit to Australia's Cold Rock Ice Creamery, we checked out the fireworks display sponsored by the U.S. Embassy just up the coast. Really, can't you see the embassy there? Just below that blurry smear of light?

We're off to the mountains this weekend, where rumor has it that the daytime high temperatures are similar to the nighttime low temperatures down in Manila. Can you say cool?