Flo Chen

From where to where? And what was the distance, or how long did it take you to get there?

A couple of years ago, I asked on YA whether it hurt to walk barefoot outdoors. Before that time, I rarely ventured outdoors in my bare feet and every time I did so, it really hurt. Since going to college, I've had my share of nights out starting with high heels and ending in bare feet. I think I've become used to it and it doesn't hurt anymore =p

Anyhow, I guess my answer to my own question is about 1 hour when I was on vacation in Korea: I stupidly left my flip-flops somewhere on a crowded beach, couldn't find them again, and walked barefoot back to the hotel which was quite far away.

Are you having trouble getting the National Express East Coast website to work with Mozilla Firefox? When I try to access the website with Firefox (Version 3.0 = latest version), I always get this message:

"Welcome! We apologise for the difficulties you’re experiencing with accessing nationalexpresseastcoast.com. We are doing all we can to get the site up and running as quickly as possible, so please check back regularly."

However, there's really no problem with the website because as soon as I switch to Internet Explorer, it's fully up and running!

So I wonder what's wrong with Firefox... is some applet failing to load and causing the website to display a "not working" message?

Thanks!

Here's a video that's supposedly of Geir Haarde singing Frank Sinatra's "Saying Something Stupid":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN2X1Jk7Htw&feature...

Is that the real Geir Haarde? Because there's another Youtube video that's a spoof of Haarde from some comedy show, in which the fake Haarde sings "Don't Worry, Be Happy". Haha...

I've been to the NTT Docomo and au/KDDI websites but I'm still quite curious: I've heard that Japanese people tend to use their mobile phones for e-mail more than voice calling since voice calling is expensive.

So... on average...

1. How many minutes would a Japanese young adult spend talking on his/her keitai every month? This is so I can get an idea of what sort of "billing plan" the average Japanese person would go for, i.e. just a 55 minute plan which costs 2415 yen/month with a two-year subscription from Docomo... or something much more substantial?

2. How many mobile e-mails would the same person send per month?

3. Also, how much does the average mobile e-mail cost? Docomo's website says that i-mode usage costs 0.2 yen per packet, but what exactly is a "packet" and how many "packets" is one message?

4. Finally, if you live in Japan, how much do *you* spend on calling/e-mailing from your keitai every month?

Thanks!!! ^^

Every so often, I run into Christian missionaires intent on converting me over to "The Truth". I explain to them that everyone's version of the Truth is different: they're entitled to their beliefs while I am entitled to mine. Most of the missionaries are kind and understanding, but I've encountered quite a few who went on to speak of hell and damnation.

More infuriatingly, I was particularly offended at my Muslim grandfather's funeral when the presiding imam took advantage of the situation to expound on how we (his Chinese audience, largely Buddhist or atheist) would all be going to hell if we didn't believe in Allah. I can accept proselytism on the street, but proselytism at a funeral is really beyond the pale.

Anyway, why *are* Christians and Muslims so very persistent in "spreading the word" and generally foisting their beliefs on everyone? I have yet to meet a Jew, Hindu, Sikh or Taoist who tried to convert me. I myself am Buddhist but I have never attempted to convert anyone, nor do I know of any Buddhist who has.

Frankly speaking, I don't really care whether dogs are or aren't eaten in China and Korea. They might be, they might not be. What I don't understand is the big fuss over whether or not they're eaten.

Westerners tease or accuse Asians of eating dogs as if it is something nasty or horrible... very well, if their culture is against eating dogs, that's fine with me.

However, Asians deny the very existence of dog meat consumption with an equal vehemence. Personally, they might have never eaten dog meat, but who's to say that no one in China or Korea has ever done so? And even if dog meat IS eaten, so what?

I'm a Chinese girl... I've never knowingly eaten dog meat before, but if ever I am served it, I WOULD try it. And I wouldn't be ashamed. I eat cows, sheep and pigs, so why not dogs?

Before I begin... yes, I'm a medical student. That should explain things a bit!

I'm not talking about technical terms such as "hydroxychloroquine", "hemispherectomy" or "thrombocytopaenia"...

Rather, there are certain words which I use a lot and have come to see as normal... for example, "potentiate" and "dysregulate". Like Microsoft Word, Yahoo Answers has just underlined them in red and says that I have "5 misspelling(s)" ... HAH!

"Potentiate" and "dysregulate" appear on every other page in medical textbooks and journals. Hence, I don't suppose I'm the only person who has begun to use these words in non-medical contexts such as...

"This new strategy will hopefully potentiate the peace process in the Middle East", or "dysregulation of currency will result in economic collapse".

These sentences look so normal to me... why does spell check have a problem with them? o_O

What I mean is squatting like this:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3341/3344342095_ef3...

Notice that her feet are flat on the floor and her legs are tilted slightly forward to help balance the weight of her body. Also, her feet muscles are quite relaxed, without any obvious strain.

That's exactly what I have trouble doing...

Whenever I try to keep my heels on the floor when squatting, I always end up falling backwards due to the weight of my bottom (since I weigh 105 pounds and have a BMI of 18, I'm obviously not heavy... quite the contrary).

I notice that unlike the girl in the photo, my legs cannot make that 80-degree angle with my feet. They're stuck at a 90-degree angle and when I try to push them forward (with my back against a wall), my muscles feel very strained and sore.

I've also tried spreading out my legs a little, but then my legs cannot make contact with my thigh, I can't lower myself below a certain point, and it feels more like "suspended sitting" rather than a squat.

So... why can't I squat with my feet flat on the floor? Why can't I make that acute angle between my legs and feet? Is there something wrong with my muscles?

Thanks!

Out of boredom, I watched a couple of "amateur" ballet videos on Youtube. Most of these videos are not too interesting... usually made by teenagers and with descriptions like "watch me go on pointe", or "watch me doing relevés, am I ready to go on pointe?".

What struck me, however, is the extreme sensitivity to criticism shown by some of the video posters, as well as the pettiness demonstrated by fellow ballet students.

Going through the comments, there is a lot of "you think you're so good, but I'm way better than you"

... Both people commenting on the video AND the person posting the video would write things like that. At the mildest criticism, the video poster would defend herself fiercely. In turn, the critic would respond with an equal dose of spitefulness.

What's with the pettiness?

I don't mean to stereotype ballerinas... in fact, such people are probably a *minority* of ballet students, namely, those who are attention-hungry enough to post "watch me go on pointe" on Youtube.

In any case, what is your take on this matter? I'd especially appreciate input from ballet teachers and students... do such attitudes belong to a minority (as I hope they do) or are they actually quite common as a result of fierce competition between ballet students?

I'm curious partially because I used to take part in piano competitions and underwent rather intense training for them. Among piano students (at least in Asia), there is a culture of taking fierce criticism from very fierce teachers and parents, and just sucking it up. At master classes, we'd get humiliated in front of large audiences (I actually cried once) but we didn't really care as long as we learnt something.

... Or perhaps it isn't a pianists vs. ballerinas issue, but rather a difference between East and West, in which the West places a much heavier emphasis on the "dignity" of the individual?

Again, I'd like to hear your thoughts. Thanks! ^^

Recently I've run into a lot of girls who seem to think that "preppy" means brands like Abercrombie and Fitch or Hollister...

Well... that can't be any further from MY understanding of the "preppy" look, which is something like this:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3024/2755551888_b77...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/philipmaynard/3329655...

I guess I can pretty much describe that as my style. Brands which I'd buy from - and consider "preppy" - are Ralph Lauren (e.g. Polo, etc.), Brooks Brothers and J Crew.

Well, that's just my personal take. I'd like to hear about your opinions. In the end, labels don't really matter but I was quite shocked when I described my style as "preppy" and people associated that with Hollister or Abercrombie!

If anything, Hollister and Abercrombie are more "ghetto" than preppy... or aren't they? =p

You might be wondering why I'm asking this. Well, here goes...

I have a classmate who's from India. I've never seen her wearing closed-toe shoes or socks. She wears flip-flops and sandals to class throughout winter, even when it was snowing here in London.

One day I asked her if her feet weren't cold and why she didn't wrap her feet up warmly. She replied that she just wasn't used to socks and closed-toe shoes. She was always barefoot back at home, and after she bought her first pair of closed-toe shoes in England, she felt really uncomfortable and confined in them and never wore them again despite the freezing cold.

I was actually quite shocked that she never wore socks or closed-toe shoes in the 18 years of her life before she came to England. I guess it's only normal given the climate in India. And after some thought, I figured that I'd also wear flip-flops all year round and never wear socks if I lived somewhere like Singapore. After all, that's what I did during my summer holidays in Taiwan.

So... that's why I wanted to ask you this question! It might also help to say where you're from! Thanks ^^

台灣話go-zui（代表「可愛」）這兩個字怎麼寫？

也許您覺得這個問題很可笑……可是我人住在香港所以我最近很少接觸到台灣話！

謝謝～～！

When Chinese and Korean names are written in English, they are written as in their native language... with family name FIRST. However, when Japanese names are converted into English, it is customary to use the English order of family-name last. This is the case in all official context and in news articles. Wikipedia goes so far as to make this dichotomy a rule in its style guide.

Hence, the western media refer to the leaders of East Asia as (family name capitalised)...

HU Jintao

MA Ying-jeou

LEE Myung-bak

KIM Jong-il

... but ...

Taro ASO

Why is this so?

Thanks!

I'm sure potential answerers know what I'm talking about but for those who don't, here's a little background:

Not so long ago, the Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages once used the same set of kanji. These characters are now known as 旧字体 in Japanese and 繁体字 in Chinese. "Traditional" characters are still used in Taiwan and Hong Kong. However, Mainland China and Japan have simplified many characters, sometimes in the same way and sometimes differently. The traditional character 學 for learning has been simplified to 学 in both Mainland China and Japan, whilst 讀 for reading is written as 读 in Mainland China and 読 in Japan.

Now, more to the point...

My Japanese friend and I were practising calligraphy just for fun a couple of days ago. When I wrote the traditional characters 讀 and 學, she was very puzzled and asked me what those characters meant.

I was quite surprised, as I usually have no trouble equating 讀 with 読 or 读, and 學 with 学. Even though I learned traditional characters in Taiwan, I can almost always understand Japanese kanji and Mainland Chinese simplified characters. My friends from Mainland China can also read traditional characters in Taiwanese books with ease.

However, it seems that my Japanese friend is not aware of "alternative" character forms. Incidentally, she is very highly educated, a humanities major in university, so I was even more shocked as I expected someone well versed in literature to have at least a basic knowledge of 旧字体/繁体字 used in daily life... characters as elementary as 讀/読　and 學/学.

Is this generally true of Japanese speakers? Do traditional characters never appear anywhere in Japan, not even in printings of classic novels and poetry? (In Mainland China, for example, many shop signs and literature books still use traditional characters. In Taiwan, meanwhile, it is common for people to write in shorthand using simplified characters and "trendy" for shop signs to use Japanese characters.)

In short, why do the Japanese seem to be less aware of "alternative" character forms than the Chinese and Taiwanese?

Thanks!!

我人住在香港但我很不喜歡讀香港的報紙。（太多廣告，新聞內容也挺無聊的。再說，雖然我自己是香港人，我家來至台灣，所以我還是比較關注台灣新聞！嘿嘿～）

那就……請問在香港買不買得到台灣的報紙，列入：《中國時報》、《聯合報》等等？更好，有沒有辦法可以在香港訂這些報紙？

謝謝！

ＰＳ：我當然知道可以在網上讀台灣新聞……但那跟看報紙還是有點不同。而且，台灣的報紙還是用竪排文字（跟以前香港報紙一樣）－－我超喜歡的！

Please do explain your reasons... quality, political allegiance, design, etc. If you like two or more newspapers for different reasons, feel free to mention both!

Here are my preferences...

My favourite is the Times for its relatively neutral stance and its rather interesting writing style. When it does express a political opinion, I find myself agreeing with its moderately conservative but usually well-reasoned viewpoint. Its coverage caters to a wide spectrum of interests (it seems to have many more international stories than the Guardian or the Telegraph, for example) and I always find myself glued to the Times for longer than any other newspaper or magazine. The opinion section is lively and often humorous.

I find the blatant political biases of the Guardian and the Telegraph rather hard to stomach. Of course, their articles are of high quality and not sensationalist, unlike the tabloids. However, the Guardian always seems to be banging on about excessive police power and social inequality, whilst in today's Telegraph, there were no fewer than THREE stories about how British people and Christians are being sidelined in favour of Muslims and immigrants. Yes, both the Guardian and the Telegraph have a point, but there's really no need to keep bringing it up again and again (often in rather trivial stories)!

That said, I like the Guardian's layout and design. It's very pleasing to the eyes and I believe it's won a couple of awards.

All right, I've voiced my opinion. Your turn now!

Hello, this summer I'll be staying with relatives in Hong Kong. I'm wondering which mobile network is the best? I've done a bit of research but self-promoting websites don't tell the whole story, do they? ~.^

Okay, so here are my details/criteria:

1. I'm probably going for a prepaid SIM because I'll only be in HK for 3 months.

2. I'll probably be making more IDD calls than local calls. So... cheap rates to Taiwan and the UK please.

3. That said, cheap local rates are a plus.

4. And finally, information on reception/quality would be nice.

Which network is most popular amongst Hong Kongers who call overseas a lot? My businessman uncle recommends 1010 but I believe that's the most expensive!!

Thanks a lot ^^

Is there a website that will allow people *outside* Japan to buy JPop à la iTunes? E.g. Buying songs per track, at affordable prices (99 cents/79 pence), for legal download.

iTunes Store restricts its users to music sold in the country of their credit card. My credit cards are all British and I can't find ANY JPop on the UK iTunes store!

I've also heard that some Japanese music sites will only allow people in Japan to download music >_<!!

So if you know of any (legal) music download sites that are truly international, can you please tell me? Thanks!

Koninklijke Philips, Koninklijke KPN, Koninklijke Ahold, Royal Dutch Shell, etc., etc.

I live in the UK and comparatively few companies here have "Royal" in their name. The Royal Bank of Scotland and the Royal Mail are the only two I can think of at the moment! (Besides, Royal Mail was once state-owned.) Otherwise, we'd usually expect to see "Royal" only in the name of state institutions, academic bodies, non-profit societies, and the like.

But the Netherlands... I can understand Koninklijke KPN, as a public utilities company, but how are PHILIPS and AHOLD Royal companies??

I think you'd be hard pressed to find ANY country, all monarchies included, that have more Royal companies than the Netherlands! Is it a Dutch tradition?

Yes, of course we know they have an army of representatives, agents, etc. etc. acting as a shield or filter between them and inquisitive members of the general public.

But surely, celebrities have personal telephone numbers and e-mail addresses too? Direct points of contact reserved for their relatives and closest friends?

Of course they do.

I'm assuming that the average person has anywhere between 20 to over a hundred personal contacts (i.e. relatives and friends). Celebrities are no exception, are they? But how can they be sure that ALL of these 20-100+ contacts can be trusted to keep the information secret? And if only ONE of these contacts leaks out the information, it would spread like wildfire, wouldn't it?