Postcards for the weekend 31: Odd, fun, humorous

Private Swap, Sent from India
Sent 2 Sep 2012, Traveled 4,631 km in 25 days

For our odd, fun, and/or humorous theme this weekend.

Here is a traditional Rajasthani man with an oddly big mustache, a fun colorful turban, and an amazing smile.

Enjoy the weekend everyone!

~maria

Sunday Stamps: Flowers from India and Romania

These two flower stamps came with one of my most recently received postcards. Part of the Bouquet for Children issue of Chennai Post (India) in 3 September 2013, the sheet of 12 designs aimed to bring children in the cities the flowers that are mostly only seen in the villages and the forests. I really like that these two flowers allows us to see more inside into the flowers' anatomy.

These two stamps from Romania make me curious with the clocks featured alongside each. It made sense to me when I read that these two are part of a Flower's Clock. The time on the clock's face reveals the hour that the flower blooms. For sunflower is 9 AM and the viper's grass is 7 AM. Both of the clocks on these two stamps were manufactured in France in the 19th century -- a P. Bonnet and P. Pottier portico clock and a table clock, respectively. The rest of the stamps on this  25 January 2013 issue can be found here. 

For more flowers featured on stamps from around the world, check out the linky party @ See it on a postcard.

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 22: Anything you wish

Some of you may have seen in my previous posts that I have a habit of sending postcards to myself whenever I go for a trip. These postcards were sent from Mumbai Airport. I got them though from New Delhi. 

Swaminarayan Akshardham is a spiritual and cultural complex. It was placed at the Guinness World Record as the World's Largest Comprehensive Hindu Temple in 2007. 

Akshardham means the divine abode of God. Information about the place says that the mandir in the middle is the most visited structure within the complex. I was totally in awe of the statues decorating the mandir. The gajsthar (plinth of elephants) was my favorite. Our visit became all about walking around the mandir to examine and understand the story depicted by all 148 full sized elephants.

We had a great view of the entire temple complex from the elevated express way leading to the entrance of the place. We were brokenhearted at first as we thought the queue was so long and we only had 2 hours left. Good thing, we realized it was the queue for the cloak room and not for the entrance! A lot of items are prohibited inside, such as cameras and mobile phones. Visitors need to deposit the prohibited items prior to entering the place. Needless to say, the security was very tight and we had to queue for at least 15 minutes to pass through the x-ray machine and body frisking.

We're almost left by our flight from New Delhi to Mumbai. I wanted to run into the Post Office inside the New Delhi Airport but we won't just make it on time. In the end, I had quite an adventure to get the stamps in Mumbai but gladly, I was able to send the postcards from Mumbai Airport before eventually boarding my flight back to Singapore.

These are my postcards for this weekend for our theme "anything you wish" . Sending myself postcards during my business trips gives me interesting memories from the place, and not just the endless meetings and usual stuff about work -- which leaves the travel experience too dry sometimes.

Hope we're all having a good break this weekend! I'm glad to finally get a real weekend after a continuous 16 days of work! 

Signing off this post from a place surrounded by pepper farms in the province of Kampot, Cambodia.

~maria

P.S. My apologies for the late posting as internet here wasn't working last night. I wish for those who came here to my page prior to getting the linky up will be back to link up their postcards for this weekend. If not, please help me get the word out -- thanks!!

Postcards for the weekend 21: Sunrise/sunset

Thank you to everyone who wished me well for my trip to India. I'm now in Malaysia and will be back to Singapore in 2 days. It feels like I've been chasing sunrises as for two consecutive days, I was on the plane very early in the morning. One was coming in and another departing from Singapore.

For most of my postcards that has sunrises or sunsets, I reckon the most beautiful ones are those that are coupled with a water reflection. From the country that I just visited:

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent from Dehradun, India
Traveled 4,710 km

On the above postcard is a Colva Beach sunset. Colva is in the west of India. It's a popular destination because of its powdery white sand beach, tall coconut trees, and yes, beautiful sunset. I've never been to this part of India and really keen to visit just for leisure and play.

Sent from Bangkok, 18 Sep 2016
Traveled 1,434 km

One of the many postcards I've sent to myself from Bangkok ... it's from September when I was really longing to watch the sunset while on a longtail boat ride through the Chao Phraya River. This wish finally came true before Christmas when I came back to Bangkok with my partner.

This postcard is from Thailand's neighbor, Cambodia and had been shared here in my blog in the past. It's one of my favorites to send out whenever I visit Phnom Penh, where my partner currently lives. Siem Reap, the city where Angkor Wat is more accessible is approximately 6 hours from Phnom Penh. Angkor Wat is truly magnificent! 2D photos like on this postcard isn't enough to give justice to the wonders within this religious and cultural complex. It's a sight to behold though with the silhouette of the towers amidst the fiery sunrise sky.

I'm traveling again to Phnom Penh at the end of the month. If any of you wishes to receive a postcard from there, please send me an email to avi_resha@yahoo.com and I'll happily mail you one! :)

Thanks in advance for sharing your sun!

~maria

T is for Taj Mahal, India

Facebook Swap, Sender: Oskat
Sent: 3 Sep 2012 from India
Received 28 Sep 2012, Traveled 4,752 km

The sender wrote:

The Taj Mahal is also known as the "Crown of Palaces". It is a white marble mausoleum located in Agra, India. The Taj Mahal is widely recognized as the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of world heritage. It was declared a UNESCO site in 1983.

~maria

Ships ahoy!

It's 2:08 on a Sunday morning. Here I am, intoxicated with coffee from a night out with high school friends. At 6 AM, I should already be starting my 5 hours journey to reach my hometown. The trip would be 3 parts: 3 hours by bus, an hour by a ferry/ship, then another one hour by a land coaster / van.

One of the biggest ironies in my life is my fear of riding a ferry / ship even though I am doing this almost 4 to 6 times a year! Well..I don't know how to swim! So...speaking of ferries / ships, here are some of the stamps that I'm sharing with Viridian's Sunday Stamps theme for today:

These Nippon stamps came with Crystal Concert Hall postcard, received on September of last year. I wish I have more information about them but I don't...if someone can provide, I'd be truly grateful.

This other stamp came with a postcard of Iduki, India. It's a part of a commemorative issue for the naval fleet review in December 2011, when the Supreme Commander (former President Pratibha Devisingh Patil) assessed India's Navy & Coast Guard. In India, this review happens once in a tenure of a president. 

Wishing every Sunday Stamps participant and everyone a happy Sunday while I'm enjoying my home bound journey :)

~ maria

Per Pacem Ad Lucem

In honor of the celebration of the Holy Week, I'm sharing this card that I received from India. The sender gave it a title of, 'Touch The Sky'. The card is of Rammakalmedu, a hill in Iduki, India. The view is of the Tamil Nadu villages and town.

Together with this card, let me share with you a poem by Adelaide Ann Procter. I saw it on an FB wall and can't forget about it ever since.

I do not ask, O Lord, that life may be
A pleasant road;
I do not ask that Thou wouldst take from me
Aught of its load;
I do not ask that flowers should always spring
Beneath my feet;
I know too well the poison and the sting
Of things too sweet.
For one thing only, Lord, dear Lord, I plead,
Lead me aright—
Though strength should falter, and though heart should bleed—
Through Peace to Light.
I do not ask, O Lord, that thou shouldst shed
Full radiance here;
Give but a ray of peace, that I may tread
Without a fear.
I do not ask my cross to understand,
My way to see;
Better in darkness just to feel Thy hand
And follow Thee.
Joy is like restless day; but peace divine
Like quiet night:
Lead me, O Lord,—till perfect Day shall shine,
Through Peace to Light.

Head over to Beth's for the Postcard Friendship Friday to see what other bloggers have shared for inspiration in this season of reflection. A meaningful Easter for everyone!
~maria

Do It Anyway

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

Two kind souls have been sharing Mother Teresa's inspiring words to me. I saw in a friend's wall post a photo of mails with a Mother Teresa stamp....I told myself, "I want one too!" But I was too shy to ask her. Since Viridian's theme for this Sunday is 'anything you wish', I scanned through my postcards and wow!! I've got one Mother Teresa stamp :D

Check out Viridian's Postcard Blog for more stamps post. Have a blessed Sunday everyone. :)

~maria