Philippine Hoyas Stamp of 2011

It's Sunday Stamps time again in Viridian's Postcard Blog and the theme is summer, especially butterflies. I regret that I don't have butterfly stamps to share...but summer is also about flowers in bloom! Butterflies love flowers, so I am sharing this Philippine Postal Corporation 2011 First Quarter Issue of Topicals Philippine Hoyas on 08 March.

Hoyas can be found all over the archipelago. It can be found in 200-300 varieties, either in vine or shrub type. Shown here is a se-tenant block of 4 at P7 each. My favorite is the Hoya mindorensis since this variety is endemic to my home province of Mindoro.

Trivia: This genus was named by botanist Robert Brown in honor of his friend, Thomas Hoy. Brown is one of the pioneers in the use of microscope in botany. Hoy was a gardener to the Duke of Northumberland at Syon House in Middlesex, UK.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org , http://www.philippinestamps.net

St. Hierarch Nicolae Church, Moldova

I really wanted to join Beth (with a really catchy and interesting blog title, 'The Best Hearts Are Crunchy') in her Postcard Friendship Friday but my broadband connection has been too slow and I kept on being kicked out from the net. Since just a few hours have passed since Friday, I wish this post would still qualify...

The postcard is a direct swap Moldova. The sender's name is Kate and she said it's her first time to mail a postcard to the Philippines. Hurray for her and I am really glad that I am the one who received her first card to Las Islas Filipinas.


More to my delight is this picture of a cute and white church on a seemingly summer day in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. I bet my grandmoms would be equally delighted if I can tour them here! (Too bad I am not yet capable in fulfilling that wish.) I came from a devout Roman Catholic background from both sides of the family and my aguelas, Victorina and Editha are both devotees to the Virgin Mary. This church belongs to Eastern Orthodoxy but it is still a very pretty Catholic church!


The captions confused me at first but after some research, I learned that the church pictured here is only a part of a bigger structure, Capriana Monastery. Hence, the caption at the bottom of the postcard. Capriana Monastery was built in 1429 and is one of the oldest in Moldova. The church in the picture is from 1903. 
Source: http://www.tur.md/eng/topheritage/58/ 


Republica Moldova can be found between Romania and Ukraine, check out the red mark on the map below:

Suomi/Finland

We're staying in the same location on our map from last week and here's the all-green postcard from that place.

Finland is Swedish and Suomi is the Finnish name of this Nordic country bordered by Sweden, Norway, Russia, Estonia and Finland.

The Moomins are a family of trolls and a big hit in Finland and Sweden for Family Entertainment.  (pictured in this stamp from the back of the card is Moominmama) 


Happy weekend everyone.



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Kuopio, Finland

The handmade postcard is from my pen pal Tuija. This is my first postcard from Finland. You can see the origin of this card marked in red on the map above.

 

I wish to participate in the 'Sunday Stamps' hosted by Viridian but I don't have a se-tenant stamp yet. I thought the stamp at the back of this card is one and I did an extensive research about it. However it's not. I was happy about the information that I found about it nonetheless :D

The stamp is under the architecture and design style issued in 2007. It shows part of a chair standing for the empire neoclassical style, inspired by Napoleon and popular in the 19th century. This chair can be found at the empire hall of the Sinebrychoff Museum Art of Helsinki. The wallpaper known as the 'Porvoo Garland' was once the wallpaper at the home of the national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg. The picture frame shown on the stamp is typical of the subdued empire style of the Nordic countries. Source: Filahome.nl

The Nature's Cradle: Anawangin, Zambales

 

It's gray and wet outside and I can't think of some place else to go than a place that is sunny and gay. And here it is, right in this handmade postcard that my bestfriend, Jeri sent me. This is of a photo that she took in Anawangin, Zambales.

The place has been synonymous with sun and fun in a non-commercialized setting. Anawangin is a total repose in the arms of nature.