Postcards for the weekend 18: Time/Clock

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent form Bellaire, Texas
Sent 15 December 2015, Traveled 15,996 km

As the year 2016 draws to an end, I think of those days when I was impatient; when I wish I could have pulled the arms of the clock so time could have gone faster...

But now, I'm reluctant to throw away my old calendar and switch to a new one. Is it perhaps next year is a momentous year for me to bid goodbye to my 20's? But of course, there's no stopping time! So as they say, carpe diem! For all we wish we could accomplish for 2016, I hope we're all able to tick it all off our lists. If it's something that needs to stretch to 2017, I hope we have identified ways towards accomplishment.

Thanks to all of you who has been reading my posts and to all my blogging friends who have been joining me on the postcards for the weekend linky party. I wish us all a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year!

~maria

PS. The linky is again, extended for one more day this weekend ;-)

Postcards for the weekend 17: December holidays

As mentioned last weekend, I'm going to share illustrated December holidays postcards for this weekend. I have three cards for this second set. I love this first card with the Santa Claus and the heart-shaped cookie. I think more than Valentine's Day, Christmas is a season of expressing love to people dear to us. It's always the best time of the year to gather and celebrate with family and friends. Time is such a hot commodity nowadays and for someone to put an effort to give time; it could only mean one thing -- love! I might be putting more perspective into it than necessary but living on a separate country away from my immediate family and on a long distance relationship with my partner, it means so much to me to travel or conversely, for them to travel so we can be together.

NL-2157975, Sent from southern Netherlands
on 31 Oct 2013, Traveled 10,398 km in 52 days

My partner was here in Singapore last weekend. This weekend, my whole family flew in from the Philippines. It makes my heart melt with joy, knowing that their journey by bus - ship - bus - taxi - airplane - train has finally brought them to me. If you dare ask, the whole trip took them two days!

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent from Kuopio, Finland
Received 1 Dec 2016, Traveled 8,726 km

I think this Susan Wheeler illustrated postcard well represents the joy we have, gathering as a family for Christmas time. We don't have an infant on a pram and snowfall, though. My parents, born and raised Catholic -- asked me over the phone two weeks ago while discussing the trip, "Can we attend a church service there on Christmas day?"

"Well, of course mother!", I replied.

FI-1923136, Sent from Kuopio, Finland
on 11 Nov 2013, Traveled 8, 749 km

I'm happy to find another illustrated postcard to share this family tradition of attending a church service on Christmas. If you notice on the Susan Wheeler card, she had her initials on the lower right portion of the artwork. On this one, Stina Broome, the artist has her name neatly penned on the similar spot (only lower).

I hope we're all having a splendid experience with people we love at this time of the year! Merry Christmas everyone!

~maria

PS. Thanks so much in advance to my blogging friends who will find time to link up this weekend. I'm keeping the linky open for 3 days instead of 2 this weekend to give chance for more of us to link up. For some of you who cannot, please don't feel bad nor apologetic about it. As mentioned before, our linky party is a fun activity; we shouldn't feel tied down by it. ;-)

2016 Finland Christmas stamp

This stamp came with the most recent letter I received from my pen friend Tuija. Inside the envelope came a strip of paper with the information about the stamp:

In response to public demand, Itella Posti Oy published Santa Claus' very own special stamp.

The Joulun Taika (the Magic of Christmas) stamp is based on  Antti Kurola's impressive photograph. In the magical picture, Santa Claus is throwing snow into the air with both hand. Behind the snow-covered spruce tree forest is the city of Rovaniemi. This is considered as the Christmas city in Finland.

For more Christmas stamp shared for today, please check the page See It On A Postcard.

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 16: December holidays

As a Christian, one of the most awaited holiday for me during the year is Christmas. It's when the weather is cooler and the environment is merry almost everywhere.

For these two weekends with the December holidays theme, I will split my postcards between real-life photos postcards and illustrated postcards. For the first set:

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: Dr. Arnold
Sent: 5 June 2016 from Greenland, Traveled 11,538 km

This postcard makes me miss hearing children's choir during the mass. The youngest choir I had the pleasure to listen to recently are teenagers. There's just that mesmerizing sweetness and innocence in the voice of children that I long to hear live again.

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: Terry
Sent: 9 July 2015, Traveled 16,656 km

This postcard is from a set from Garvan Woodland Gardens at the University of Arkansas. Annually, around 1.7 million sparkling lights are arranged throughout the gardens for the holiday feature. By the look of the postcard, it must be enchanting when the lights shine bright against the dark.

US-4376395, Sender: Nancy
Sent: 1 Dec 2016, Traveled 15,145 km in 14 days

This card is among the most recent Christmas cards that I've received. It came this week. According to the postcard, each year, hundreds of thousands of visitors flock to the Country Club Plaza for the spectacular Christmas lights. The installations last from Thanksgiving night until the end of the holiday season. The fireworks on this postcard makes it look like even more radiant!

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: Tuija
Sent: Dec 2013, Traveled 8,726 km

This last card for this weekend is half real life and half illustration postcard. The dog on this postcard is Vilma, pet and companion of my penfriend Tuija, Vilma is a litter reject Mittelspitz but my sweet friend took her and they've been with each other for many years now. I always love reading news about Vilma on each and every letter Tuija sends to me. 

Until next weekend for more Christmas postcards!

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 15: Winter Scenes

Before I moved to Singapore back in January 2014, I scanned all the postcards I have. Both the front and the back were scanned. That was a rush project with all the other things that needed to be taken cared of prior to moving. When I resumed my blogging activities three months ago, I realized that some of the cards are missing the back side scan. The postcard above is one among those without the back side scan. It makes me disappointed as it always delight me whenever I review the back side scan, re-reading the message from the sender and looking up how long and how far the postcard traveled to get to my mailbox. 

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: Tuija
Traveled 9,160 km

Moving on, I've never seen snow nor experienced winter. Or perhaps I did, early February this year in Korea but there was no snow ... I've never seen snow. Winter scenes with snow always look magical to me. December is the time of the year when I normally get winter scene postcards. Often, they come with holiday greetings like these two. Do you get winter scene postcards in other months of the year, too?

~maria

Stamps: Wild animals

I'm quite pleased to share these wild animal stamps where two are illustrated and the other two are actual photos.

The two stamps on top were part of the series Australian Bush Babies. The kangaroo was issued in 1 July 2011. I can't find the exact issue date for the dingo, though. The illustrations were designed by Elise Martinson. Other stamps from the series can be found on her page. I find these illustrations well-detailed and it seems like they're out from the pages of a nice children's book with a beautiful story about animals in the wild.

On the bottom left, the bear stamp was issued 21 February 2008 as part of Wildlife in Norway III series. The label Bjorn on the stamp is an old Norse term for bear. On the bottom right, we have a lynx with its young. It's issued in 2012 as part of Native Animals series from Germany.

For a collection of stamps featuring wild animals, please check See It On A Postcard.

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 14: Lighthouses

Direct Swap, Sent: 21 Nov 2012
Sent from Black Forest region, Germany, Traveled 22 days

A maritime gem; this lighthouse is the first building to be erected on the sea floor. The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1986. It's accessible though for day trips and for rent to those who fancy a night or two in an isolated hotel.

NL-2074177, Sent: 19 Sep 2013
Sent from Utrecht. NL, Traveled 10,084 km

As mentioned in the websites where I read about the Roter Sand or Red Sand Lighthouse / Hotel -- staying here is back to basics as there's no electricity nor heating system. 

Direct Swap: Sent: 29 July 2012
Sent from Cuxhaven. Germany, Traveled 10, 406 km in 14 days

This third card looks like a nice marketing poster for Roter Sand. I'm not sure I'm brave enough for that experience even though this image looks enticing. 

~maria

PS. I'm very sorry for accidentally deleting the linky for the previous week. I searched for a way to revert it on the linkytools website but to no avail. I am sending a message to the admin and we'll see from there :(

PFF: Christmas month!

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: Tuija
Sent: 01 Dec 2014, Traveled 9,160 km 

It's Christmas month! Although in my home country, the jolly atmosphere of Christmas starts as early as September. Here in my host country Singapore, I think it's right after Deepavali. 

I received my first Christmas card for this year two days ago. It's also from Tuija, my Finnish pen friend who also sent me this red & white postcard 2 years ago. 

Are you excited for the holidays? For more pretty postcards, please visit my friend Beth's page for Postcard Friendship Friday. She always have very nice vintage postcards to share.

~maria

Stamps: 20th Century Inventions

Here are my contributions for today's theme at See It On A Postcard.

The stamp on the left was issued on 13 October 2011 under the theme, At Home in Germany: German Inventions. Among these 3 objects, the MP3 player qualifies for the theme. MP3 is an acronym for an audio coding format that was developed and enhanced mostly in the 20th century.

On the right , we have the Schmidt camera or telescope. It was invented in 1930 by the German-Estonian optician Bernhard Schmidt. The stamp was issued by Latvia in 2 April 2009.

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 13: Museum/university/library

For the theme this weekend, the only postcard I have for a university was featured last year. Here are two postcards instead that talk about universities:

DE-5634232, Sent: 11 Oct 2016
Traveled 10,346 km in 8 days

The sender wrote that Freiburg City, where she lives is an old university town in Black Forest Area of Germany, close to France and Switzerland. I think she's mostly referring to the 500-plus years old Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg. It is in the top 5 oldest universities in Germany along with Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, University of Leipzig, University of  Rostock, and University of Greifswald. When I look at this card, I crave for a slice of Black Forest cake, given the colors of the costume the woman & children are wearing and the name of the area.

Direct Swap: Sent: 6 June 2015
Traveled 9,981 km in 20 days

The multi-view card shows places of interest in the university town of Plzn. For this card, the sender wrote about the degree she's studying at the University of West Bohemia. It's called Faculty of Philosophy, International Relations, British and International Studies. I wish I was able to keep it touch. She seems to be a perfect person to speak with about the Brexit and the results of the recent USA elections ...

Sadly, I don't have any library card to share, but I have at least one museum postcard.

Friendship Gift Postcard: Sent: 3 June 2016

Have you ever experienced receiving a postcard in the mail and exclaiming out loud or in your mind, "Oh! I've been there!" -- this postcard is one of those cards for me. Well, except of course those postcards that I sent to myself whenever I travel. 

This postcard came to me 2 months after I was there in Acropolis. It's an understatement to say how grand is their collection, given the rich cultural history of the place. I would love to go back to get lost once again into a different age while viewing their displays.

Happy Thanksgiving to readers & participants who celebrate and to everyone, I wish us all a good rest this weekend!

~maria

PFF: Happy Thanksgiving!

Sent: 17 July 2012, Traveled 13,633 km 

Back in 2012, I sent a get well soon postcard to a stranger who needed a liver transplant. I received a thank you card in return! With that short story, I wish to greet those who celebrate a Happy Thanksgiving! I'm linking up with my friend Beth for the Postcard Friendship Friday linky, a collection of beautiful postcard shared on the last day of the week.

~maria

Sunday Stamps: Children

From left to right --

Sri Lanka Commonwealth Heads of Government Commemorative stamp when they hosted in 2013. The stamp was issued in 14 Nov 2013. I wish I could find more information about the stamp. I'm curious about the flowers the girl in braids is holding.

Netherlands Child Welfare 2010 stamp from a set of 6. I like the soft lighting and the child not looking directly to the camera. 

Another stamp from the Netherlands, this Europa stamp is the right portion of a se-tenant with a continuous design. The left portion can be seen here , the boy is on the microphone piece of this strong telephone. It was issued on 9 May 1989.

Check out the page See it on a Postcards for more children stamps this weekend.

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 12: Books/reading/authors

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: Terry
Sent: 10 September 2016, Traveled 16,656 km

I've never heard of the author, Joan Aiken until I received this postcard. After researching, I found out that she's an author of supernatural fiction and children's alternate history (AH) novels. Needless, to say, I had to read further to understand her genre... I might have read AH stories and novels without knowing that they're classified as AH. 

Thanks to my sweet bookworm friend Terry for sending me this card. She wrote, "I don't know this story but it sounds like an adventurous tale. That makes me think of you. You seem brave and willing to step out into the world to see what it has to offer!"

FI-1391098, Sender: Marjut
Sent from Vaasa, Finland, Traveled 9,032 km in 21 days

I honestly didn't notice that there's a little white dog reading beside the girl until I researched about this artwork. I wonder, what book can make a canine curious? ... This painting is called Good Friends (Portrait of the Artist's Sister Bertha Edelfelt). The painter is Albert Edelfelt, one of the founders of the Realist art movement in Finland. 

I'm back from my trip tomorrow and I can't wait to make my round of visits to the linky participants from this and last weekend's parties. 

Happy weekend everyone,

~maria

Sunday Stamps: War & Peace

From left to right --

Fighter Aircraft Sukhoi of the Operation TRIKORA - A 50th anniversary Indonesian stamp issued on 5 October 2011. The operation TRIKORA was part of the efforts of Indonesia to regain western New Guinea from the Netherlands. 

60th Anniversary of Victory in WWII - A Russian stamp issued on 5 April 2005.

The Liberty Bell - As freedom is a a theme related to war & peace, I reckon this stamp can be categorized under this theme. A USA Forever stamp issued on 7 August 2009

Enfant de paix - From a 12-set warm & vibrant Les Petit Bonheurs French stamp booklet, this is my favorite among these 4 stamps. The booklet was issued 3 years ago, 12 November 2013. 

For more stamps on the theme war & peace, visit the page - See it on a postcard and other participants of the linky.

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 11: Coffee/tea/pastries

Wow!  We're on our 11th linky party, since we started on 3 September. Thank you so much to all of you who's been participating, making visits, and most of all -- showing your appreciation to each participant by leaving your comments on the postcards shared. I hope we're all having fun with our postcards for the weekend.

Pardon me, for my round of visits will be delayed for this weekend and the next as I'm traveling. Nonetheless, I'm making sure that the linky is here even though I'm away.

DE-5534053, Sender: ha45K
Sent from Germany, Traveled 10,352 km in 16 days

For this weekend, I'm a non-kitchen-genius so my idea of a theme with coffee/tea and everything usually served with either for a snack (ie, cake, cookie, biscuits) has been reduced to "pastry". I'm posting these cards ahead of time to hopefully, try to provide reference as for the inclusion of the theme. For the first card above, how I wish I have at least one of these cupcakes to enjoy with my cup of mixed lemongrass, ginger, and citrus tea at the moment.

BY-1171367, Sender: Anna
Sent from Minks, Belarus, Traveled 8,926 km in 33 days

Here's a cup of tea (perhaps coffee) with matching biscuits. I love the appearance of tiny white bunnies on this postcard. It's a work of Alyona Baranova, a Dusseldorf-based illustrator from Ukraine.

It's getting cooler and cooler here in Singapore. I'd say despite the daily downpour, I love this time of the year when I have my time out from extremely warm days! As some of you may know, our weather here in the tropics usually can only be warm, warmer, and warmest. We don't have four seasons with more significant temperature changes. This weekend until the next, I will be in a country where I can enjoy autumn colors. I'm not exactly sure though if I will very enjoy the temperature, forecasted to be at 15 degrees Celsius drop from my usual 27 - 33 here in Singapore.

Happy weekend everyone!

~maria

PFF: Autumn in Kyoto

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: June
Sent: 18 June 2016, Traveled 4,990 km

One of my colleagues here in the office went to Japan 5 months ago and sent me this card. It was funny because she sent it over the mail and ended up delivering it to me by hand still since she's the one who opens the mailbox.

I'm off to Japan this evening and my first stop will be Kyoto. My traveling buddies and I didn't create an itinerary for visit so I'm curious whether we'll get to see this Yamazaki Distillery.

What I'm most excited for is the autumn colors! I've never experience autumn before.

Happy Postcard Friendship Friday y'all!

~maria

Sunday Stamps: Fireworks and night views

For fireworks and night views:

UL - Macau International Fireworks Display Contest, issued in 2004

This stamp has appeared here in my blog back to 4 years ago. It came with this postcard. That is probably my only postcard from Macau and this is my only fireworks stamp to date.

LL - A 2013 issue featuring the Fehmarn Sound Bridge. It is a 963-meter long bridge connecting the island of Fehmarn in the Baltic Sea to mainland Germany. The bridge is considered a historic monument but I can't find any further information from wiki as to the reason for such distinction.

UR - It's from a 2-pc set joint issue in 2009 between Indonesia and Iran. This stamp is the Indonesian face featuring Masjid Al-Markaz in Makkasar. It is a center of Islamic studies in the eastern part of Indonesia. Its architecture is patterned with the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina.

LR - Almost of a night view, this 2013 stamp is from the Coastlines of New Zealand set of 5 issue. This is probably my favorite among these 4 stamps shown here in my page today. I love the aptness of the name for the tiny rocky islands and the mixed hues of yellow, orange, and blue as the background.

Visit See it on a Postcard for more fireworks and night view stamps features for today.

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 10: Foods of the world (Asia edition)

Sent from Bangkok, Thailand by myself
Sent 5 Dec 2015, Traveled 1,409 km

My partner and I love Pad Thai! This is our favorite street food in Thailand. There's a food cart run by a couple in their late 50's at the end of the street of Sukhumvit Soi 11, Bangkok. Facing the Holiday Inn Express, the cart is on the right. No trip to Bangkok is complete for us without eating Pad Thai at that humble street side location. Sukhumvit Soi 11 is accessible via BTS Nana station.

Sent from Yokohama, Japan by myself
Sent 16 April 2016, Traveled 5,291 km

I had the pleasure of enjoying Kumamoto-style ramen at the Shinyokohama Raumen Museum earlier this year. This ramen style is said to be invented in Fukuoka, the origin of pork bone soup base or tonkotsu. Eating ramen at the Museum felt like an experience in a different era of Japan. The place has street and shops scene replication from 1958 Japan. It's the year when the first ramen was invented.

Outgoing: sent to Manila, Philippines

Chili Crab is on my top 3 must-try dishes for a visitor in Singapore. One must be willing to eat with bare hands to enjoy this dish the most. It is savory, rich, and fluffy. To be honest, I love the sauce more than the crab meat. But it's always fun cracking the shell and extracting as much meat as you can from the delish crustacean.

I'll be traveling to Japan & Thailand before the year ends. I'm excited to enjoy the first two dishes in their home countries. I'm also very much looking forward into inviting my whole family who will visit me here in Singapore soon to one of the restaurants that serve good chili crab. I can't wait!

Happy weekend everyone,
~maria

PFF: Warm thoughts from Finland

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: Tuija
Sent 7 June 2017 from Kuopio, Finland, Traveled 9,171 km

"Sometimes it is good to catch one's breath and spend the day enjoying oneself; leaving everyday worries behind, take it easy, and be happy about good things in life."

This evening I'm writing a letter to Tuija, my penpal and close friend of many years.

Happy Postcard Friendship Friday, everyone! 

Thanks Beth for continuously hosting.

~maria

Sunday Stamps: Bizarre or Unexplainable

My guess is that this stamp is only bizarre for me. For a German, for sure it's not. Please help me identify what are these two yellow objects on the beach.

For other bizarre of unexplainable stamps, check out the linky at See it on a Postcard.

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 9: Gardens by the Bay

I thought it would be easier not to work on a theme but I was wrong! When having a theme requires me to dig through my collection, not having one puts me in a big conflict. There’s a lot of beautiful and special cards that I wish to share!

But finally … here are cards from Singapore Gardens by the Bay – a place where I love going for a jog or a walk during the weekends. Though the scenery doesn’t change, there’s always new energy depending on the crowd of people who are there at the time of my visit.

To start with, here are two artistic renditions of the place. Are you able to count how many birds are there in the yellow postcard? How about the butterfly, dragonfly, and frog on the white one?

Outgoing, Traveling to Finland

SG-221079, Sent to Arizona, USA
Traveled 14,646 km in 21 days

For these next two cards, they’re almost identical but taken at different angles. It’s nice to notice that the bright white dot-like lights on the supertrees are more luminous on the last card.

The Gardens by the Bay is self-sufficient. There are solar panels on top of the supertree structures that power the place.

SG-224826, Sent to Gwynedd, UK
Traveled 11,074 km in 13 days

SG-221631, Sent to Bochum, Germany
Traveled 10,353 km in 9 days

I hope you enjoyed these cards. Have fun visiting each other’s page for their chosen features for the theme anything you wish!

~maria

PFF: Happy Halloween

SG-221629, Sent to Saint Petersburg, Russia

Traveled 8,974 km in 10 days

For Postcard Friendship Friday this week, I'm sharing this card that received the comment: fantastic, unusual amazing postcard. I'm glad that the puzzle pieces arrived all intact.

Upon seeing social media posts of Halloween dress up costumes, I was reminded of this puzzle postcard. I think, these are two men in elephant costume for the circus.

Enjoy the Halloween festivities, everyone! 

Head over to Beth's page to see what others have shared for PFF.

~maria

Sunday Stamps: City Views

On the left, issued on 24 April 2006 under the theme, Polish Cities. Czestochowa, a city name I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing properly. The city is famous as a place of pilgrimage. It houses the Black Madonna, credited for many miracles. The architecture too is evidently magnificent, at least for me -- judging from this stamp.

On the right, issued on 30 April 2013 under the theme, World Cultural Heritage of Russia, Historical center of Saint-Petersburg. This stamp features the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island. It captures one of the two Rostral columns and the Old Saint Petersburg Stock Exchange. Both structures are significant examples of Greek Revival architecture.

The theme for Sunday Stamps this weekend is city views. Check out other entries at See It On A Postcard for views of other cities from around the world.

~maria