Rock out with your kok out

Can we talk about American Idol for a minute? Because in the judging arena I am really liking J. Lo (mainly because it made me uncomfortable to watch Paula Abdul stumble through her painkiller-induced haze, although, if you miss that of course you can catch it on Live to Dance) and Steven Tyler (I mean, he has feathers hanging from his hair and his last two outfits involved a magenta ruffled shirt and a blue scarf paired with a floor length jacket - what's not to like?).  Also, I was thinking Scotty McCreery and I should get married (provided I can get him to stop wearing that camouflage visor and cross necklace). Thoughts?  Maybe I just really miss America.

Separately, two weeks ago I FINALLY made it to Bangkok, the mecca of spas and shopping in Asia.  Naturally, I didn't set foot in a single spa, store or market for the entire weekend.

First stop was the Wat Phra Kaew/Temple of the Emerald Buddha.

We were informed that (95 degrees F temperature aside), local rules required the covering of shoulders, wearing of close-toed shoes and donning of sarongs.  If I ran a religion, I'd ban outfits like this and encourage people to wear flip flops and tank tops, but, as at present, I am overruled by the gods/security guards at this temple complex.  I was most upset about the close-toed shoes issue...after 15 minutes of discussion Eden and I had a revelation that maybe we should just wear tennis shoes out sight-seeing. Actually...not a bad idea in a country with a high rate of parasitic infection, schistosmiasis and leptospirosis. But most people probably know that.  Here I am, dressed responsibly:

We also saw the Grand Palace (which I suspect formed the inspiration for the Lorax), 

followed by the Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho.  We were lucky to make it there, considering that no fewer than 8 groups of people tried to tell us it was closed and that we should instead go with them to the amulet market/their buddy's store/some other temple and/or some other sketchy place.

Dodging tuk-tuks,

and clearly non-Thai pickpocket gangs,

we made it to the Chao Praya River, where we ate at this restaurant,

planned the restaurant we're opening in Hong Kong, inhaled diesel fumes, and met our waitress, who is officially the weirdest (Scientologists excluded) person on the planet.

More on Day 2 soon.