Chopsticks and Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin is planning to make her first trip to Asia in September.

The former governor of Alaska, and Republican vice presidential candidate, says she is going there to learn how to use chopsticks. A reliable source reports that McCain's former running mate confides "You go to Vegas to learn how to play blackjack, and Hong Kong to learn how to use chopsticks."

She is also said to have quipped to a member of the U.S. Embassy in Hong Kong that she's glad to discover "China isn't only something you use to set the table with."

Some are already speculating that the trip presages a 2012 run. To put their minds at rest, the former beauty queen chides "panty hose run, I don't."