Some days when I have a few minutes, I browse the Xanga Blogrings to which I’m subscribed. These groups, which are meant to allow people with similar interests to more easily connect and find each others’ blogs, include things like “Bloggers Born Between 1965 and 1979”, “Foreign Films Buffs” and “I’m Addicted to NPR”.
What I don’t understand – what absolutely baffles me – is why some people who have subscribed to these blogrings would have Friends Lock enabled. This prevents someone who isn’t already their “friend” from seeing their site.
What’s the purpose of subscribing to the Blogring if you aren’t interested in connecting with other people with similar interests?
I don’t get it…
Tawn and I had lunch at S&P Restaurant Sunday. I enjoyed the traditional hot season treat, khao chae. This is a dish of rice served in jasmine-scented iced water along with a plate of seasonal treats: shredded dried pork, shrimp paste balls, a poblano chili stuffed with a pork mixture and wrapped in thin slices of scrambled egg, and other nice things. This “palace cuisine” is only served during the hottest months of the year and is a real treat.
christao408 
I’d have never thought rice with ice was nice! Makes me curious too and wonder how they cam up with that idea.
yum!maybe some people see blogrings as more of a tag?
I’m irritated with that too. I figure they should make it unable to friend lock your blog if you try to belong to a blogring or vise versa. One thing I’d like Chris…to have you put the pronunciation of the dishes you show us so we know how to pronounce them if we see them on a menu. That is if we are lucky enough to. Thanks!
Rice with ice??? Well, I think I will gladly take ice with anything these days. It is ridiculously hot! Today, in Delhi its 44C- the hottest in April in over 50 years!
@yang1815 – That may be, Andy. But it defies the community spirit. If you affiliate yourself with a group, it doesn’t work if you stand with your back to the group.
@socaltransplant – I’d be happy to. I will see about linking that to a website I know that provides little audio files to help with pronunciations. Or maybe I can have Tawn record and link to it?
@socaltransplant – Truly, though, if you just bring the written word in English, they would understand because 80% of the time, the waiters in Thai restaurants aren’t Thai.
So, we are on the same boat, coz I don’t get it either.
@murisopsis – Interesting story that I wasn’t going to dwell into but since you asked…Quoting from this website:“Now Kao Chae is catered both on roadside-shops and in restaurants. Kao Chae actually isn’t Thai food. It originated from the people of Mon, cooked to sacrifice Songkarn God. Making an original Kao Chae is a complicated procedure. “Kao Chae Sawei” or “Royal court Kao Chae” which we generally know nowadays is Kao Chae with jasmine water, it is served with side dishes which are fried shrimp paste and many color of boiled vegetable.We called “Kao Chae Sawei” because the royal court attendant offer Kao Chae to King Rama V and it became one of his favorite dishes. After 1910, AD Kao Chae become well known widely in villagers and become special menu on Songkran day.Momluang Neung Ninrat, the cook for King Rama V , she first brought recipe of Kao Chae to the ordinary thai society.Secret technique, making Kao Chae become a specialty is the way jasmine water is made. We use jasmine to float on the water to give the water fragrant. In the past rain water is used but today mineral water is used instead. Water is kept in clay pot to keep it cool before wasn’t commonly used. Ice was used later on when it was made more easy to find.”
@RestlessButterfly – Good to know I’m not alone in my confusion! =)
@Dezinerdreams – It defies convention but is quite refreshing. As for the heat, I know we’ve had some hot days but you poor guys are really dying! Here’s to hoping that global warming is just a phase…
I don’t really understand the friends lock thing either. If you belong to a blogring, I would think the main and perhaps even the only purpose would be to connect with other people that have that same interest.
@christao408 – Maybe some people just like to have their backs against others? :DOr maybe they don’t understand the real purpose of a blog ring. I’m sure some people enable the lock on purpose but maybe some don’t realize it.
Intresting food and great story to go with it. The rings really don’t work very well on Xanga or it has been my experience they don’t. Most people who put their blog on friends only are being stalked or otherwise harassed. But I do see your point. Judi
i’m not very familiar with blogrings just yet…
@christao408 – LOL. This is true.
OMG that looks amazingly good. What is S&P? I wanna have some of those =)
I’m assuming the rice is in the white bowl? What kind of rice is it?
Tomorrow night I am posting an entry decrying the damn friends’ lock. Had a good friend, and after several months, I cannot access his account because he has this lock. So I went ahead and unfriended and unsubscribed him. If people are upset about some comemnts from certain readers, they have the choice of blocking them; this way the others don’t have to feel small because now we have to “ask” to become friends again. What a load of crap.
Oh, I remember S&P restaurants, they serve good food and tasty pastries too. I remember they have one at almostevery large shopping malls. Which S&P you guys went?
@jassmine – That’s a good point, Judi. Thankfully, I’ve discovered many wonderful blogs through the blog rings, including some other expats. In fact, I think I found Zakiah’s blog through the “I Listen to NPR” blog ring or something like that.
@TheCheshireGrins – Amen to that.
@ZSA_MD – I could understand friends lock if you truly were creating a private blog just for yourself or just for family members. That part I get. But to do friends lock when you’ve joined as social circle or blog ring, that confuses me.
@jandsschultz – S&P restaurant features “Gaba” rice, which is some sort of black, whole-grain rice that is very nutritious.
@maniacsicko – Blog rings can be an excellent way to find writers with similar interest and tastes as yours. For example, I am an American living overseas in Thailand, so I’ve joined both some blog rings about Thailand and some about ex-pats and others living overseas.
@devonferris – Oh, yes – I didn’t explain S&P did I? Sorry. That is worthy of an entry in and of itself. Think of a chain like Denny’s in the US, except remove every negative thing you know about it. S&P is that “clean, polite, high-quality” Denny’s that only exists in a marketer’s dream. Oh, and it is Thai.
@curry69curry – We actually have two S&Ps located very close to us: one on Thong Lor Soi 25 and another across from Samitvej Hospital on Thong Lor 13. But this one was in the lobby of Bangkok Hospital on Soi Soonvijai, off Petchaburi Road.
I don’t use friends lock, xanga signin or restricted. I don’t understand it either.
@ElusiveWords – Not worried about all those stalkers? =)
hahaha… I’m too boring to be stalked.
I’m with you on this! Sheesh, how do you know whether you’d like to subscribe to a person’s blog unless you can see the blog?
I think those people probably signed up to those blog rings and eventually turned on Friend Lock later because of stalkers but forgot about the blog rings. I know I forget that I’m subscribed to those, although my blog isn’t friend locked. 😛
@brooklyn2028 – Yeah, there are some good reasons for friends lock, I suppose.