Colourful HDB Flats, Singapore

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: My twin (bestfriend)
Sent: 4 Nov 2013 from Singapore
Received: 11 Nov 2013, traveled 2,391 km in 8 days

One-week shy of the anniversary when this card was sent to me. That was also the period when I seriously considered making Singapore, my second home.

Few words to share for this post, in response to Wordless Wednesday, also hosted @ image-in-ing.

~maria

Cambodia in my mind

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: My twin (bestfriend)
Sent: 25 June 2015 from Phnom Pehn Airport

Should / If you have / had the time to check out my previous posts about Cambodia, you know that Cambodia was just a dream back in 2009.

Fast forward to this year, 2015 -- my mind has been constantly wandering into being back to that country. The possibility to witness the above with the magnificent silhouette of Angkor Wat during sunrise in Siem Reap is slim. But I would be happy, even just with the sunrise in Phnom Pehn, seen in this photo below. The photo is also from "my twin". He captured this while we're having breakfast on a wooden boat, cruising along the Tonle Sap River.

Check out an amazing collection of photos from around the world, by clicking here.

~maria

Taal Volcano, Philippines

Sent to Mircea in Romania

I am just back here in Singapore from a 10-day vacation in my home country, Philippines. I did a Manila-Ilocos-Manila-Tagaytay-Manila tour; basically north of the country. In Ilocos, I visited the old Spanish town in Vigan, "rollercoaster-ed" and surfed on the sand in Paoay. I wanted to share a Vigan postcard but I realized that the one I had was posted here in my blog, 3 years ago.

In Tagaytay, for the third time - I climbed to the crater of Taal Volcano. The trail wasn't that difficult and there's a majestic view on top. I highly recommend this trip to anyone who wants to get out of Manila just for a day. It's 2-hour away by bus and the entire boat ride on the lake and trek up to the rim of the crater takes a total of just 3 hours.

~maria

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: Jay Tio
Traveled 1,611 km

This card is a souvenir from a friend who went to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) back in 2011. The previous weekend, I flew to HCMC and had the pleasure to actually see this hotel in person and the other two that I was only seeing in postcards back in April.

Ho Chi Minh City has the busiest yet most fluid road traffic I've seen so far in my travels. It also has some of the best dishes I've tried in my Asian gastronomic trips. Curious? You may find some of these dishes that I had in my instagram posts, shared on the upper left corner of this page.

I definitely recommend this city to any traveler who wants to have a Southeast Asian adventure -- both on the palate and on the road!

~maria 

Say it with flowers

My penpal, Tuija from Finland is ever so sweet. She loves sending me matching stamps and envelopes since we started writing to each other back in 2011.

This envelope was received in 09 Sep 2011. The Lilac stamp on it was issued back in 1 March 2006. Lilac is a common garden plant; well-loved due to its attractive and fragrant flowers.

The flower featured on this envelope received in 22 June 2011 on the other hand is a rare plant. Mountain everlasting or pussytoes belongs to the sunflower family but thrives in cooler temperature. 

For more flowers seen on stamps, hover your mouse & click here.

~maria