Does anyone else have whitey's ice cream? I live in western Illinois so I don't know if it is regional but it is soooooooooooo good.

This is what I have always thought of Starbucks as well.I've never been to one.Its just what I have been told by everyone I know that has.

Yeah I can't stand Starbucks coffee. Tim Horton's reigns supreme here, they are everywhere. Their coffee is pretty good too, though it always seems to be at the melting point of titanium whenever I get one.

I find 7/11 coffee to be surprisingly good here(Vancouver).

I don't willingly go into a Starbucks. As in, if I have to kill an hour and that's the only thing around, I'd go in, but otherwise not. The coffee is meh and it's pretentious.

Sadly Tim Horton's is not everywhere, yet. We don't have one anywhere nearby.

Yes, we have Starbucks. As I don't drink coffee I buy Starbuck's Hot Chocolate. The young hipster, posers and playboys like it, the rest has no opinion (Be it bad or good) about it.

Everyone's favorite part is... the cup.
Specially because that kind of cup isn't normal around here. And even better... It has your name in it.

We prefer it that way, goes with the sugar and cream filled plates of nothingness we eat for breakfast.

Tim Hortons has a stranglehold over western New York. I'm not a big coffee fan so I can't comment.

Yes there are starbucks here. I don't drink coffee unless needed, and Pacific Cafe is better choice for me.

We have kielbasa every year for Christmas, along with all types of pierogi (potato, cheese, sauerkraut, potatoes and sauerkraut) and mounds of sauerkraut. Our leftover meal is Reuben sandwiches which have sauerkraut. We like our sauerkraut.

As for starbucks, the local store makes pretty good coffee, but all the other ones I've been to have either been too bitter, too sugary, or give me a coffee that takes a whole hour to cool down from 12414243 degrees.

Is there anyone around here who is from Greece?

Looking for a translation.

It is a fast food company, second largest in the world, McDonald's being the largest.

Related to the coffee, I saw that Costa (which I think is much better than Starbucks, the creamy coolers are to die for) was voted the best in Britain.

About time for post resurrection!

We had some heated talks these few months, that Hong Kong should have abandoned its country parks and start building over the hills. I personally think that's a bloody stupid idea. We have been praised by foreigners for having such beautiful wilderness inside our concrete forest, but instead of expanding available landmass that we've been doing since 1898, we're killing our own asset for some stupid number sacks.

What is your city like? Is it all buildings extending for miles from CBD to the country? How elf-like/dwarf-like is your city when it comes to human nature convergence?

Oof: To everyone else: do you have Starbucks in your country? Do you ever buy Starbucks? In what esteem is it held in your country?

Yeah Starbucks are around here, though I don't see them very often, I know of only 2 maybe 3 in Glasgow City Centre - plenty of other smaller coffee shops.
Nope, can't stand the smell of coffee or the taste.
Ermm, no one cares about it, unless they're some stupid trend-follower from one of the universties.

I don't live in a city. Not many elves or dwarves here, but we do get deer and foxes.

But most cities in Britain gradually peter out from high rise CBD to satelite towns and suburban residences, interspersed with varying numbers of parks.

There does seem to be a growing trend of businesses relocating to the cheaper suburbs, but this has drawbacks as not all suburban buildings are suited for running a business out of.

Living effectively on the edge of the countryside (lakes and woods are visible from my house) I've never really felt that city parks were all that great. They just feel like ugly parodies of nature to me. The grass never grows properly and the trees and flowerbeds look wilted. But then I guess larger parks have more space for nature to take root properly.

^ When I saw you'd replied to this I really hoped you were going to have asked 'why are Scottish women so hot'? I had an answer prepared and everything...

Yup and yup. It's just like any other chains. A green McDonald, just more expensive.

It is often the kind of place city guys over here have always been craved for to live in.

Why are Scottish women so hot?

Because they don't have air con and it's summer time

Well I'll echo Howie and ask for that answer!

Though I still think the French ones were the best, even if it is difficult for an Englishman to say that. I'm sure the Paris Syndrome shouldn't have affected my judgement too much.

Even the cold air burns in their fiery hair.

I would prefer Dutch/Swedish, even thought they're likely twice my height

I think German girls are better, and they have a better accent.

I live near the edge of Philadelphia in an apartment complex overlooking Forbidden Drive and the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wissahickon_Creek. I can walk down to the creek and there's several miles of hiking trails around there. It's one of the best areas in the city for green space and parks.

The closer you get to the city center the less green space there is. Most downtown parks tend to look like http://www.flickr.com/photos/62619569@N00/4496425406/ and are only three or so blocks long/wide.

Different areas in my city have different amounts of greenery. In the suburbs there is a lot of parks and trees and grass along the roads, with many houses having front gardens. In the inner city areas where I live, there isn't much greenery but you'll get the occasional park or fields which are quite big, and some of the long roads and lanes have trees along them. In the centre I think there is only one or two green areas, and they are quite small (Liverpool One park is one, which is very small).

Hi!

I have this katana that my dad bought when he was visiting China. It has somehing written on the blade near the tsuba (crossguard). I don't even have an idea if this is in Japaneese or Chineese. So I give you a picture to decipher it, it's bad quality (old cellphone) but I think it's enough to see what's there:

http://s7.postimage.org/loknladu1/Katana_napis.jpg

Thanks in advance!

My city is well, it's my city and we have one of the greatest on/off love/hate relationships ever known.
The parts of the city I go to are the city centre which is a large mix of Victorian Gothic and 21st Century buildings, I much prefer the old gothic buildings like http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uJoLUEbryew/T2pneXyS7VI/AAAAAAAAFR8/pyM7hvvPVp0/s1600/Central+Hotel++Glasgow.jpg then there's the likes of the http://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/01/94/57/1945718_3c6c23d1.jpg by the river Clyde which was at one point nice looking but now it's somewhat of an eyesore now. Glasgow is almost littered with parks and greenland. Ermm as for dwarf/elf-like people there are plenty of Smeagle impersonators so much so you could recast the whol LoTRs cast with them