The Lion City

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: My twin, Wan
Sent from Singapore, Singapore, Sent on 11 June 2012
Received on 20 June 2012, Traveled 2,392 km in 9 days

I got this as a 'welcome back to Asia' card after an almost one month visit to Scotland and the United Kingdom. I fell in love with the places I visited there. Edinburgh and Stratford-upon-Avon were my favorites. I told myself I would love to live in any of these two places. It was like being inside a fairy tale with the ambiance there.

Then, exactly one month ago, at this very same hour, I was preparing for my early morning flight for Singapore. I had a four-day experience of Singapore, the 'Lion City' and I told myself, I want to relocate and would love to work and find advancement with my profession there. Singapore is more a reality to me than living in Edinburgh and/or Stratford-upon-Avon. It's almost industrial and commercial landscape all over the place, but it still remains clean and green. Despite the busyness, one can still find zen in the midst of tall buildings and continuously buzzing people and transportation because there are nice and relaxing gardens and lots of tress everywhere. I think it's a really nice place to make professional dreams coming true while being able to stay healthy inside and out as a person. The biggest considerations, the western competitive vibe for continuously working hard for a good quality of life is there but, this place is less expensive than US/UK/Europe, very much closer to home, and the weather is very similar to the Philippines.

Chinatown Food Street dining experience with my twin / bestfriend Wan 
(who sent the postcard and who invited me to visit Singapore).

I am a 'can-never-tolerate-the-cold' person having been raised and lived in a tropical country for 20+ years. An airconditioning temperature lower than 18 degrees Celcius makes me shiver already! I realized it would be an extreme torture for me to permanently live and work in the cold western countries, especially during the during winter. Plus I would be too far from my family and friends here in the Philippines. Family is very important for me and also my most trusted friends are staying here in the Philippines (like my bestfriend who would be a lawyer here and she can't be a practicing lawyer somewhere else without additional years of studies and qualifying exams).

Given the chance to live and work outside the Philippines, I realized I would prefer another country which is closer to home (read: where plane ticket to fly back to Manila whenever necessary is a lot cheaper :p ). 

One simple realization but it taught me some things which are substantial. Sometimes, we imagine ourselves in fairy tale dreams. We love these dreams because of course, fairy tales are always beautiful and are always coupled with 'happily ever after'. But then, how about our personal realities? Are they fit to let us truly enjoy a 'happily ever after' in the fairy tales we dream and imagine for ourselves?

It also taught me that yes, sometimes it helps to wander far to discover where the heart truly belongs. But in that quest, we should always remember who we truly are and what will truly and completely make us profoundly happy at the end of the day. And with that, I wish everyone a nice Friday and a relaxing weekend ahead! 

~maria

p.s. I still dream about Edinburgh and Stratford-upon-Avon. Not the thoughts of relocating there anymore, just that it would be nice to experience being in a fairy tale place once again for a few days in this lifetime! :p

Breclav, Czech Republic

CZ-154420, Sender: Pavel
Sent from Louny, Czech Republic, Sent on 22 Dec 2011
Received on 19 Jan 2012, Traveled 9.909 km in 28 days

Written in English at the back of the card:

The old Breclav roadside shrine / A glass of wine decorated for a festival / A pair of dancers from Breclav-Postarna / A girl in the traditional costume of Lanzhot / Breclav lace.

Pavel wrote:

Hello Maria, I found for you a postcard with costume from South Moravia. I visited this region with my girlfriend in the autumn, where there took place 4th Czech postcrossing meeting.

Thanks so much Pavel for sending me a card from my wishlist!

I love that Breclav heart design on the bottom right of the card and I'm entering that to Clytie's Guest Heart Thursday. It's a holiday tomorrow so I'm off to a long slumber, folks! :)

~maria

Ciudad Murada

Ciudad Murada means 'walled city'. The fortified place was Maynilad, the core of everyday activities in a Muslim settlement by the river in the 16th century. When Miguel Lopez de Legazpi came to the place, he decided to make it as the center of Spanish activities in the colony. A pentagonal wall was built by the Spanish to ward off Chinese invaders. It encloses a .67 square kilometer of what was called Intramuros, Latin word for 'within the wall'.

Access to Intramuros is by gates or puerta, with draw bridges. This is the reason why I thought of the similarities between Viseu and Intramuros in my previous post.

Though severely damaged during the World War II, Intramuros remains as the center of cultural heritage to what is now cosmopolitan Manila. 

Uncle Wiki said that Intramuros is listed by the Global Heritage Fund as one of the 12 worldwide sites on the verge of irreparable loss and destruction. This is really making me sad as I've been into Intramuros so many times (atop it's walls is one of my silent sanctuaries in this busy city of Manila), I know there's so much truth in it... now I don't want to touch something political here so I wish I can won the lottery so I can donate my winnings for the restoration of this national historical monument.

~maria

Porta do Soar, Viseu

PT-227143, Sender: Ricardo
Sent from Viseu, Portugal, Sent on 10 March 2012
Received on 22 March 2012, Traveled 11,935 km in 12 days

This postcard makes me dreamy, it would be a real pleasure to walk around this place for sure with it's medieval charm.

Shown here is a part of the historical old walls of Viseu, Portugal. This is Porta do Soar or Porta de Sao Francisco. According to my readings, this is only one of the two existing doors (from an original count of seven) leading to the city of Viseu. This gives me the impression that during medieval times, Viseu was a city within the walls. Which is, similar to our very own Intramuros, the old capital of Manila. 

I think that just make someone raise a brow due to confusion, so I'll post an Intramuros postcard after this one :)

Moving forward, I am pleased that this card was sent by a 12-yr old who told me, "Do you know that Maria is a Portuguese name, too?" -- Yes, Ricardo I do. Many given names here in the Philippines are Spanish/Portuguese sounding. This is because we were a Spanish colony for 333 years.

Obrigado! Gracias! Salamat for the card.

~maria

Prague of the Vltava River

Facebook Postcard Swap, Sender: Veronika Ticha
Sent from Tachov, Czech Republic Sent on 30 April 2012
Received on June 29 2012, Traveled ~10,113 km in 59 days

Veronika wrote on the card:

Hi Maria, Prague is the capital and largest city of the Prague Republic and fourteenth largest city in European Union. It's situated on the Vltava River. Prague is home to a number of attractions including the following: Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, the Jewish Quarter, the Lennon Wall, and Petrin Hill. Since 1992, the historic centre of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of WHS. 

Another UNESCO WHS card for me. Yey! :D 

To read more about Prague, here's the link for the dedicated page on the UNESCO WHS list.

~maria