Postcards for the weekend 59: Anything you wish

I'm delighted to share these two Niagara Falls postcards with you for our theme anything you wish. 

Postcard sent to self, Traveled 15,323 km

The Niagara Falls State Park consists of three falls - Horseshoe/Canadian, Bridal Veil, and American. From this aerial view, we have the Horseshoe or also known as the Canadian Falls. It is the largest among the three. A small portion of this falls belongs to the United States of America.

Postcard sent to self, Traveled 15,323 km

On this second postcard, we have the American Falls. It's the second largest among the three falls. On the foreground, we have a boat belonging to the company, Maid of the Mist. I had the chance for a ride, wearing pink raincoat instead of blue (shown here). The boat took us up close to the basin of the Horseshoe Falls. The experience was totally indescribable! Looking back, I felt like my world stopped while standing below the 18-stories tall thundering waterfall with 600,000 gallons/s of falling water. The billowing mist made me feel like I was only dreaming.

Here's a panoramic photo I took from the Observation Deck (American side), showing the three falls:

If you happen to visit the State of New York, do yourself a favor and visit the falls!

Happy weekend,

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 57: Anything you wish

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent from North Houston, Texas
Sent 2 Dec 2013, Traveled 13,241 km in 10 days

For our theme this weekend, anything you wish, I'm sharing an anecdote, facts, and trivia about the United States of America and the states that I'm visiting during this 3-week business trip.

CA-669234, Sent from Montreal, Quebec
Sent 11 Oct 2016, Traveled 14, 644 km in 15 days

According to a report published by Instituto Cervantes, the United States of America has more Spanish speakers as compared to Spain. My first conversation after getting out of my 13 hours flight from Tokyo to Washington, DC was with a gentleman, whom I asked for directions. My un poquito Español was put to the test. Good thing some Spanish words are incorporated in my native tongue, Filipino. Evidently, one needs more than English to efficiently get by in the USA.

RU-1711183, Sent from Yekaterinburg, Russia
Sent 29 Apr 2013, Traveled 6,872 km in 37 days

My flight from Tokyo (I flew in first from Singapore to Japan) landed at Washington Dulles International Airport. I wish I budgeted a couple of days for sightseeing. I could have seen the Lincoln Memorial in the capital. 

Direct Swap, Sent from Vienna, VA
Sent 22 Nov 2016, Traveled 15,685 km

From Washington DC, I flew here to Cleveland, Ohio. This is my first main destination for my 3-week business trip here in the USA. When I came to the office yesterday, I was given a goodie bag, containing several items and a paper with a Did You Know? header. As you can imagine, it's the inspiration for my choice of postcards for this post. I learned that Ohio is the Birthplace of Aviation, as the Wright brothers were born in Dayton, Ohio.

TW-1056264, Sent from Taiwan
Sent 25 Oct 2013, Traveled 1,171 km in 13 days

On Sunday, I will fly from Cleveland to Seattle, with a connection via Chicago. The Ferris wheel was invented in Chicago in 1893.

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent from Seattle, WA
Sent 19 June 2015, Traveled 12,970 km

The state of Washington is my second and last main destination for this trip. Washington state produces more apples than any other states. I'm pretty curious if I'll have the chance to see apple orchards while I'm there. Moreover, I also hope to see one of our blogging friends, John.

Happy weekend everyone,

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 4: Autumn in the old suitcase

RU-2118338, Sender: Alya from St. Petersburg, Russia
Sent 25 Oct 2013, Traveled 8, 648 km in 39 days

Anyone here who can survive without coffee? Raise your hand please.

I'm more of a tea person but lately I needed the stronger kick from caffeine. Three days this week, I've been consuming coffee. Still it seems that I'm still always sleepy! Is it probably because the pull of bed is stronger now that the temperature has been going down?

We don't really have fall season here in SE Asia. But then, we still enjoy cooler weather around this time of the year. I'm very curious of the feelings invoked to see the nature around you turn from green to hues of red, orange, and yellow.

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: Uncle Robert from Canada

Am I right to imagine that it's more beautiful around sunrise/sunset when the sun casts a cooler orange glow on everything? Please let me know your emotional experiences with the changing colors of your environment whenever the fall/autumn season approaches.

Before I end this post, I'd like to thank the patience of bloggers who come to join my Postcards for the weekend link up. First I was late, then there's the linky list closing earlier than it should. I'll work my best to get things sorted out. :)

Happy weekend everyone and see you all again next week with your chosen cards for our theme, "domesticated animals". I hope you're enjoying this party so far despite my shortcomings.

~maria

Friday Reflection

I wanted to post a comprehensive entry for "Reflections" for the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge that I just completed very recently, but I am just very tired.

Here's a postcard featuring a very nice reflection, though. I am simply happy and thankful that I was able to finish from A-Z! Now, I could publish my blog entries in a more relaxed pacing. The challenge was like racing through the days but it's super fun, too! Thanks to the hosts and co-hosts!

Direct Swap, Sender: Eugenia
Sent: 03 Oct 12 from Ontario, Canada
Traveled 11,830 km

Thanks to all the bloggers who visited my page throughout the challenge. Thanks for reading my entries and leaving your comments. Thanks to the challenge for making me meet new friends here in blogland. Most of all, it's super cool when these new friends support my postcards hobby! A new friend Terra and John sent me postcards! I am still waiting for John's to arrive. Terra's card came before the challenge ended. The card she sent me can be found here.

Hope all of us are looking forward into a relaxing weekend.

Join me in checking pretty postcards roll from the Postcard Friendship Friday.

~maria

N is for Ninstints Village, Canada

CA-266884, Sender: moonlessnite
Sent: 29 July 2012 from British Columbia, Canada
Received: 25 Aug 2012, Traveled 9,980 km in 27 days

As the weather gets warmer and warmer here in Southeast Asia, I find it a pretty coincidence to be posting a card that came with an appropriate greeting at the back:

Summer greetings from the "Great Bear Rain Forest" of British Columbia, Canada. This is a UNESCO Heritage Site on the Queen Charlotte Islands (now called Haida Gwaii). These are the last remaining original totem poles that are still standing. It's a wonderful place.

Looks like a wonderful place indeed! I imagine it's nice to be kayaking on the cool water with the leaves and branches around providing some shade on a warm weather like this.

The kayakers pictured here are drifting by the totem poles in the Ninstints Village, one of the islands of Queen Charlotte.

~maria 

Indian-themed forest park

Last night, I was typing a Postcard Friendship Friday post ... but I was nodding off in front of my laptop. I decided to do it this morning instead; yesterday was exhausting but fun-filled as well. I'm congratulating myself for overcoming my fear and ziplining for the first time! Woohoo! We finished early with the supposedly '5-day' inspection. So to celebrate, we treated ourselves for a day of adventure at a forest park.

The forest park has two entrance. We went first to the zipline area and then on the other side, there's an Indian village installation. Look! I was allowed to pet that wild boar and even have it in our photo! -- Ah, me and my imagination...

The place was really nice. It was incredible experience being up there. The forest park is on a mountain; there's green everywhere and the wind was chilly. I kinda regret not bringing or wearing thicker clothing. On the good side, the adrenaline-pumping activities warmed us up enough. There were many things to do on the Indian village but on a second thought, I was asking myself "Why an Indian village theme park and not an indigenous Filipino tribe?" ... Anyway, that's just me being me. And I think in an effort to prolong the euphoria of yesterday, I'm sharing here the Indian postcards from my collection.

Plume - A Medicine Man of the Blood Tribe
Facebook Swap, Sender: Terry Lovell
Sent from Sherwood, AR, Traveled ~12,288 km

CA-324505, Sender: Nature-Lover
Sent on 9 Mar 2013 from Ontario, Canada
Received 1 Apr 2013, Traveled 12,410 km in 23 days

Amerindian Dancer
Facebook Swap, Sender: Lidiya
Sent: 6 July 2012 from Quebec, Canada
Received 26 July 2012, Traveled 13,137.6 km in 20 days

I'm posting this from the south of the Philippines, the city of Cagayan de Oro. I won't be flying back to Manila until after lunch. The inspection (and the fun) was over. While waiting for my flight, I'll work on my report because Monday I gotta fly out again for another assignment. So that's all for now folks! I wish all of you, a relaxing weekend.

~maria

Beneficial insects.

It was pure delight to receive this souvenir sheet. I thought I would only get the regular postcards agreed upon for a swap but I got a beautiful bonus! A Ukranian lady whom I met through direct swaps in the official postcrossing website sent this to me during her first weeks of moving into Canada.

It was released in 19 October 2010 as the second issue to the Beneficial Insects Definitives, first released in 2007. While the first series focused on insects often spotted in the sky, this second series is about plant and ground dwelling bugs, said Keith Martin, the designer of the series.

Featured on the sheet are: the paper wasp (Polistes fuscatus), the assassin bug (Zelus luridus), the large milkweed bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus), the margined leatherwing (Chauliognathus marginatus) and the dogbane beetle (Chrysochus auratus).

The Canada Post website described the bugs: Each of the insects featured is a wonder to watch at work in the garden. There’s the paper wasp, chomping away on caterpillars and other gardening pests. Another “exterminator,” the assassin bug, uses its beak to suck the bodily fluids from its soft-bodied victims. Wildflower gardeners and farmers may appreciate the large milkweed bug for feeding on the juice from milkweed seeds, as well as the larvae of dogbane beetle for feasting on the same plant’s roots. The margined leatherwing larvae should also be prized for consuming a range of harmful insects.



It should be a Sunday Stamps full of surprises today at Viridian's. The theme is 'anything you wish' so I'm really excited to see what my fellow stamps bloggers have posted on their page.

Happy Sunday Stamps everyone!

~maria

'Something Black'

The reality is, no matter how many 'Happy New Year' greetings we get, or even we really wanted to jump start the year on a good note, when there's something terribly wrong from the past year/s...there's no fresh and happy start unless we find the way to mend it. Also, when you know there are terrible things ahead of you just right at the start of a new year, you just wish the time would freeze at 11:59 on that last day of December 2012.

I was emotionally down the past weeks. Worst, I was crying every now and then. I felt like the whole weight of the world is on my shoulders! I wanted to continue posting nice and encouraging postcard entries here to kick start the year cheerfully but I just can't! I wanted to write motivating entries along with those cards but I was just completely uninspired myself... sorry dear readers!

Having said that, I find Viridian's Sunday Stamps theme to be appropriate for what I was through -- lost in the dark. (I am feeling a lot better now, worry not.)

The theme is 'something black' or a black stamp.

First I have this Black Marsh Terrapin from the back of my very first (and only one mailed from SG) postcard from Singapore. It's more charming name is 'smiling terrapin'. Nice! Just the right word to make me feel a lot better! :) This turtle is considered sacred by Buddhists here in Southeast Asia and kept as a pet in temples. Sadly, Ms. Terri Smiley is classified as 'vulnerable', being hunted for food and traditional medicine.

This stamp is a part of a 10 definitive stamps set released by SingPost in 13 April 2011. The set was part of the 'Pond Life' collection.

The second stamp that I found is of these baby raccoons. And wow! I learned a new word, 'kit'. Kits or baby raccoons are vulnerable up to six weeks from birth...but looking at these stamps, they already look mischievous with that bandit-mask marking on their faces! 

This design was released by the Canadian Post on 16 January 2012 as part of the Baby Wildlife definitive stamps series.

I hope that despite this entry started with an under the weather tone, the stamps were cute enough to put us all in a light mood.

I brace myself for a terrible week ahead of me...please help me in hoping I come out of it alive...

I pray a better experience for this week for all of you (and for me too, if possible!)

~maria

P.S. Know that even though I'm having a terrible start for 2013, I am still sincerely grateful for all the 'Happy New Year' greetings that I got. Perhaps all those greetings are working to reduce the negative energy so it won't be that terrible for me after all! ;-) Salamat po!