Cleared

I'm back in America after almost a month in Australia. As the titled suggested, I made it through LAX without getting arrested or detained by the FBI, CIA, DEA, DOJ, SEC, NSA, or any of those alphabet organizations. I don't have a fear of flying but there's that worst case scenario that floats around my head where I'm met at the gate upon arrival by men with short-hair cuts, badges, mirrored sunglasses, and cheap dark suits. I upgraded to Business Class on my flight home because if I was getting pinched upon arrival, I wanted to enjoy one last bit of freedom.

I cleared both customs and immigration with no problems. When the customs agent interviewed me at LAX, he noted that I was a writer and said, "I hope you found inspiration in Australia."

He was right. I had not taken a trip like that since I went to Japan almost seven years ago. I'm slowly adjusting to life back in the States. I'll write a recap this weekend. For now here are some random pictures from Australia...


The sleeping bats in the Botanical Gardens


Chinese Poker scorecard


"...and Johnny Chan the Master wins the 1988 World Series of Poker!"
Head over to the Tao of Pauly for more random Oz pics and stories.