Day 2

OKay now finally on some sort of schedule that doesn't involve waking up at 5 am and then wanting to sleep all day. Spent the day touring the grand palace and riding the river on a boat. Got caught in the rain in the middle of the river.

Bangkok is hot hot hot. Ninety degrees before 10 am. This is great for Natalie, who really would love to live in Northern Sweatlandia. Not so good for myself, as if I don't get back into A/C every two hours or so I will turn into a pool of salt water.


Side note, I am on day 3 of election detox. Before I left I promised myself and Natalie that I wouldn't obsessively read blogs or poll websites. So far so good. Palin could have singlehandedly stopped the financial meltdown and captured Bin Laden and I would have no idea (if that didn't happen please don't tell me, I can save the grieving until I get back).

Some thoughts:

1. Man the Thai King loves to see himself in photos. Except we finally saw a present day photo and maaan has the king let himself go. Sort of like only knowing Al Pacino from "Scarface" and then seeing Al Pacino in "88 Minutes."

2. You can't walk 50 feet without finding some good small food vendor. The best part is that the food on the street runs the gamut from grilled vegetables to fresh fruit to fried chicken. Clearly I am leaning on the latter vendors.

3. I can't pass other tourists without thinking "I wonder if they are on a sex tour." I can't pass a tourist walking alone without thinking "that person is definitely on a sex tour."

4. I brought too many pairs of shorts. Only schoolkids or guys working construction wear shorts. I feel like an ass.

5. Bangkok traffic is a lot like Philadelphia, but with waaayy fewer stop lights and a lot more of those little pocket bikes that got banned from here.