Postcards for the weekend 48: Philippines

I'm finally back in Singapore after a 3-week outstation work. I'm happy to end this Saturday with a dinner together with a friend from the Philippines. He's here for a business trip and since there are no Filipino restaurants in Beijing (where he's based now), we decided to eat at a Filipino restaurant. Talking in Filipino and about the Philippines made me miss home even more. Hence, this weekend, I'm sharing scans of postcards that I sent out in the past while I was still based in Manila.

There are three main island clusters for the Philippine archipelago. Luzon in the north, Visayas in the middle, and Mindanao in the south. Let's start from the north -- 

Vigan is a city on the northwest coast of Luzon. It's a popular tourist destination due to its well-preserved colonial Spanish narrow streets and buildings. On this postcard is Vigan Cathedral, a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site declaration for the City of Vigan.

The capital city of Manila is on the same mainland Luzon as Vigan. Luzon is a long stretch of land mass and the distance from Vigan to the nation's capital, Manila is approximately 405 km. On this muti-view postcard, we have a glimpse of old and new buildings in Manila. And oh, there's the monument of our national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal.

An island to the southwest of Manila is Palawan. Here's a subterranean river national park postcard from Palawan's capital of Puerto Princesa. 

From the center of the Philippine archipelago: Visayas, there's the beautiful city of Cebu. Here's a postcard of a grand Taoist Temple, that is open both for worshipers and non-worshipers. I had a great time exploring the place back in the year 2012.

And from the south -- here's a dance called dugso. 

Its origin is the mountainous province of Bukidnon in Mindanao. It's a dance of thanksgiving and invocation of protection. The dancers wear colorful costumes in local patterns, wear equally colorful headdresses, and bell anklets to which they dance with the rhythm.

Happy weekend everyone! I hope you enjoyed these postcards from my home country.

~maria

P.S. We will have no linky party for the first 2 weekends of August as I will be on a holiday. We will resume on the 3rd weekend of August. Ciao everyone!

Postcards for the weekend 42: Historic sites / buildings

Souvenir postcard, Spring 2017 trip to Malta

I didn't know anything about European Capital of Culture until I visited Malta 2 months ago. It was quite well advertised around Valletta, Malta's capital. In fact, I first saw the information on this postcard! My partner, being European himself, explained to me that every year, European Union has a different city, designated as the main venue to highlight European culture. This aims to boost focus and attention into European culture, as much as there's always big discussions about politics and economics. 

Souvenir postcard, Spring 2017 trip to Malta

Valletta is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was the city of the Knights of St. John and has been described as "a city built by gentlemen for gentlemen". It's built to a grid pattern on a narrow peninsula, offering wonderful urban views and historical sites at almost every corner. Among its major attractions are the Church of St. John, the Manoel Theatre, and the Grand Master's Palace.

For historic sites / buildings,

~maria

Sunday Stamps: Places of Worship

Left stamp - Cathedral of Gniezno

The stamp was issued on 1 March 2002. It is also showing the coffin with relics of St. Adalberg. 

The Cathedral of Gniezno, according to wikipedia, served as the coronation place for several Polish monarchs and the seat of Polish church officials continuously for nearly 1000 years.

Right stamp - Fortified Church of Biertan

The stamp was issued on 11 September 2011. The Fortified Church of Biertan was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993 under the category: villages with fortified churches in Transylvania.

For more places of worship stamps, visit See it on a Postcard.

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 29: France

Private Swap, Sent by Ulla
Sent on 12 December 2012, Traveled 10,897 km

For our theme this weekend, I'm sharing postcards from France - one among the many countries that I wish to visit. This card is special as it was written and sent to me on 12.12.12. It shows the French tri-color flag and different UNESCO World Heritage Sites. France is 4th in rank in ascending order of Spain, China, and Italy for countries with the most number of world heritage sites.

Direct Swap, Sent from Lyon
Traveled 10,747 km in 6 days

Lyon, a city that is in the UNESCO WHS for culture has always been on my list of a specific city that I want to explore. My partner is from this place. It is in the south of France and the third biggest French city next to Paris and Marseille.

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent by Wan
Traveled 10,747 km

This is a postcard he sent me from Lyon back in 2011 I believe. It was sent in an envelope together with stamps from his collection. On this card that I received from him 6 years ago when we're yet to be a couple, he wrote: Here is a postcard from Lyon, my parents' place as I promised ... I'm sure you'll get to visit it someday just like the French Riviera. And hopefully you'll have a nice guide (myself ;-) ) This year in the summer, we'll travel to France together. Reading about the historic places just in Lyon alone, I can't wait to board the plane for France!

Happy weekend everyone,

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 28: Japan

The theme for this weekend is from a country you have visited or a favorite place in your country that you have visited. I'm sharing postcards for the former.

Last November 2016, I traveled to Japan with my partner and four other friends. Our first destination was the old capital of Japan, Kyoto.

Postcard sent to self from Kyoto, Japan
13 November 2016, Traveled 5,368 km

I would admit that I was faked in a kinda ignorant way by women walking around in kimono. I thought these are real Japanese women who roam around as part of their local tourism board initiatives. But then, I came to a realization that many of them are tourists who have rented a kimono for the day. Many boutiques offer such experience including photo shoots.

JP-905949, Sent from Saitama, Japan
Traveled 5,368 km in 17 days

I can still remember how delighted I was when I received this postcard and the explanation behind the photo back in December 2016. This was one of the fishes we were wondering about the name when we're in our Japan holiday. It's a narrow and long fish with not much flesh but very tasty. It was explained by the postcard sender that this fish is locally called as autumn sword fish or sanma. Its common name is Pacific saury.

Postcard sent to self from Nikko, Japan
16 November 2016, Traveled 5,368 km

Nikko, our second destination in Japan is a town renowned for lavishly decorated shrines and temples. On this postcard is the heavily decorated Yomei-mon Gate at the Toshogu Shrine. It was under renovation and covered by scaffolding and while plastic drapes when we were there. Nonetheless, the rest of the place was equally astonishing. More details about this UNESCO WHS can be found here. 

Postcard sent to self from Tokyo, Japan
20 November 2016, Traveled 5,368 km

Our third and final destination was the bustling and busy capital city of Tokyo. The atmosphere was a stark contrast with that of Kyoto and Nikko. Tokyo was a maze of tall buildings, colorful neon lights at night, and people on the go regardless of the time of the day. 

Japan was a balance of relaxation with the charm of the old world in Kyoto and Nikko, and adventure with the action-filled urban atmosphere of Tokyo.

Happy weekend everyone! Looking forward, as always, to see the postcards you're sharing for this weekend's theme.

~maria

Z is for Zamovka Hill, Ukraine

Direct Swap, Sender: Lidiya
Sent: 29 November 2011 from Luhansk, Ukraine
Received: 20 December 2011, Traveled 8,187 km in 21 days

The settlement at the foot of Zamovka Hill that started in mid-5th century is now what we call L'viv. Nourished by Poltava River, it developed as an organized and well-fortified town. Throughout the time, it witnessed intense religious rivalry between Jewish and Catholics, siege of Ottomans, and the revolutionary year of 1848. It became Poland's then returned to Ukraine after Worl War II.

In the postcard is the Rynok Square, surrounded by fine houses in Rennaisance, Baroque, and Empire style in preserved medieval layouts. 

L'viv at the foot of Zamovka Hill was listed as a UNESCO site in 1998.

~maria

Y is for Yakushima Forest, Japan

Postcard Swap, Sender: Mitsuyo
Sent: 27 May 2013 from Osaka, Japan
Received: 5 June 2013, Traveled 2,667 km in 9 days

Yakushima Forest was listed in the UNESCO WHS in 1993. The forest which can be found in almost round small island of Yaku, is of rich flora. In its greenery can be found sugi, an ancient specie of Japanese cedar.

~maria

X is for X = Unknown Depths of Baikal

RU-1118184, Sender: Lena

For this letter, it is quite a stretch! I hope it's acceptable as X is for "unknown". 

Located in Southern Siberia, Russia, a lot is unknown in its depth of 5,300 feet. The lake being the deepets, is also the oldest lake in the world. It is roughly 25 to 30 years old!

It was listed as UNESCO WHS in 1996.

~maria

W is for Wailing Wall, Israel

Facebook Swap, Sender: Oleg
Sent: 30 Aug 2012 from Tel Aviv, Israel
Received: 20 Sep 2012, Traveled 8,795 km in 21 days

Saturday it is! I'm feeling quite relaxed being able to sleep 10 hours!

I was able to keep myself distracted for most of the day. Until the evening came and I was again feeling really down and I felt like wailing. Thanks to reason, I was able to just cry silently, experience taught me that crying too much always ends up with a bad headache.

And so I was engrossed with nursing my emotional self and realized I haven't posted for the A-Z April Challenge today. Whoa! It's almost 11PM, good I noticed I still have an hour before the day ends!

So here it is, W is for Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Located in the old city of Jerusalem, that was listed as a UNESCO WHS in 1981, it is one of the most recognized religious site by the Jewish fate. It is a site for prayer and pilgrimage, with approximately 1.5 million visitors each year.

~maria

PS. For curious readers as to why I feel like wailing, it's vaguely explained in my "R" post. Not really worth visiting though, just me releasing emotions. Please just enjoy the postcards instead.

V is for Vienna, Austria

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: Sensei
Sent: 9 October 2013 from Vienna, Austria
Received: 17 October 2013, Traveled 9,880.5 km in 9 days

Vienna is a city I dream I can be based in for work. It's such a lofty dream but as the saying goes, "the future is made of the dreams you make today".

Aside from professional aspirations, I feel being in Vienna will make me happy . The place will strike a balance for doing a technical job and living in an artistic environment!

The historic center of Vienna was inscribed to the UNESCO WHS list in 2001.

~maria

U is for Undulating Lines of Gaudi, Spain

ES-198134, Sender: Jordi
Sent: 15 Dec 2012 from Catalunya, Spain
Received: 16 Jan 2013, Traveled 11,188 km in 32 days

The works of the Spanish Catalan architect, Antonio Gaudi are famous for their undulating structure. They are outstanding examples of 20th century building typology.

One of his major projects is the La Pedrera, also known as Casa Mila, shown in the postcard. It was declared as a UNESCO site in 1984.

~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

S is for Sucevița Monastery, Romania

Facebook Swap, Sender: Mircea
Sent: 22 Oct 2012 from Focsani, Romania
Received: 12 Nov 2012, Traveled 9,137 km in 20 days

Sucevița Monastery is an Eastern Orthodox convent. It is known for the mural paintings on its outer walls. It was included in the UNESCO WHS list in 2010. It is one of the eight Churches of Moldavia built from 15th to 16th centuries. 

Another one of those churches is the Moldovita Monastery below. It's striking resemblance made me mistake if for Sucevița.

Facebook Swap, Sender: Danut
Sent: 14 April 2012 from Ploiesti, Romania
Received: 11 May 2012, Traveled 9,243 km in 27 days

This monastery church is also known as the Church of Annunciation. 

The UNESCO WHS description says that these structures undergone no significant alteration since the time they were built.

~maria

R is for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Facebook Swap, Sender: Nathan
Sent: 31 Aug 2012 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Received: 2 Oct 2012, Traveled 18,274 km in 32 days

Facebook Swap, Sender: Nathan
Sent: 31 Aug 2012 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Received: 2 Oct 2012, Traveled 18,274 km in 32 days

The long weekend to cap the  Holy Week was over. As promised, I limited my use of electronic gadgets; I did my best to spend a quiet time with myself. I fathomed the decisions I made, the life I live at the moment, the struggles for progress, the tendency to give up on hope, the grueling wait for results.

A new week arrives. To my dismay, life still looks bleak. The horizon did not change much as I hope it would. I reckon, geographically wise, I am where I incessantly prayed for. Yet, as cliche as it is, let me put myself in a position right now where I am "too near yet incredibly far" from where my heart longs to be. Perhaps I am where I want to be, not where I need to be.

As my lonely and weary soul seeks for guidance, I stumble again on this quote:

God did not promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, or sun without the rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way. If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.

I find solace that my postcards for today is most fitting. Here are two views of the Christ the Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janeiro. Seen on these postcards are the Carioca landscapes between the mountain and the sea. It was inscribed in the UNESCO WHS in 2012.

~maria

Q is for Qīngyī Yuán Imperial Palace, China

Facebook Swap, Sender: Chuan
Sent: 9 Sep 2012 from Taipei City, Taiwan
Received: Not stamped on postcard, Traveled 1158 km

I remember reading about this palace when I was in middle school and being so curious how it looks like inside. Also known as Summer Palace, it served as a resort to the famous Dowager Cixi. Uncle Wiki says she diverted 3 million taels of silver for the expansion of this place.

It was inscribed as a UNESCO WHS in 1998.

~maria

P is for Pamukkale, Turkey

TR-110839, Sender: Mervan
Sent: 8 Oct 2012 from Istanbul, Turkey
Received: 7 Nov 2012, Traveled 9118 km in 30 days

Life took a sudden sharp turn. I found myself completely lost.

It's Black Friday and I wish to stay away from electronic gadgets as much as I want. But here's the Pamukkale in Turkey for letter "p". It means "cotton castle" and how I can be in one of those pools right now -- away from the confusions and troubles of my world.

This site was inscribed in the UNESCO list in 1988.

~maria

O is for Old Church of Petäjävesi, Finland

FI-1556824, Sender: Riitta
Sent: 5 Oct 2012 from Kuopio, Finland
Received: 7 Nov 2012, Traveled 8,636 km in 33 days

Riitta wrote me many details about the old church at the back of her card:

The Old Church at Petäjävesi was marked as a UNESCO world heritage landmark in 1994 as an excellent example of a Lutheran country church built of logs. It is an architectural tradition unique to eastern Scandinavia. The church was built from 1763-1765. Nowadays the Old Church of Petäjävesi is used for worship on summer Sundays and one of Finland's most well-loved churches for weddings.

Here is another postcard with a view of the door facing the altar.

FI-1969245, Sender: Mepu
Sent: 30 Dec 2013 from Jyväskylä, Finland
Received 17 Jan 2014, Traveled 8,901 km in 18 days 

I am lucky there are many members from Finland at the postcrossing.com website and I got not two but three postcards for this site from there. Here's a card with a view of the church from the outside. We have a nice view of the main structure built with horizontal logs and the bell tower at the west end.

FI-1213439, Sender: Sipi
Sent: 29 Sep 2011 from Helsinki, Finland
Received: 11 Oct 2011, Traveled 8,944 km in 12 days

~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 

M is for Mount Kinabalu & Melaka, Malaysia

Direct Swap, Sender: Agatha
Sent: 18 Oct 2012, from Sandakan, Malaysia
Received 2 Nov 2012, Traveled 1023 km in 14 days

M is for Mount Kinabalu and Melaka, Malaysia! Wow! That's a lot of M. I am in for another demanding week but I make time to continue with the A to Z April challenge. It's motivating for me to post for letter 'M' cause I got more than 1 postcard to share for this letter. Also because I have this as initial, with my first name, Maria.

Curiosity prompted you for sure why another demanding week. For new readers and visitors here in my page, let me fill you in some of the details.It is just 3 months now since I relocated into this new city for a new job. I am learning many things and sometimes I go crazy because it is a 180° change in almost everything for me. The good thing is that it makes me step out of my comfort zone and I can now enjoy 2 days off every week. Yeeyyy!!

I feel it as a luxury now to have a 2-day weekend because in my previous job I had to work 6 full days plus more each week! So having Saturday off really makes me feel wonderful, giving me more time to live a balanced life; allowing me to recharge during weekends.

To my greater delight, the 5-day work week comes with better renumeration! I can now plan vacations! Working hard comes with a promise of a nice vacation trip later on. Malaysia is among the most probable destinations as it is close by. There's also many budget flights so it's not painful for the pocket. I love going for hikes and visiting old towns so Mount Kinabalu Park on the postcard above and Melaka on the postcard below are perfect places for me to plan for a trip. Both are UNESCO WHS, inscribed in year 2000 and 2008 respectively.

MY-91561, Sender: Jiayi
Sent: 18 Feb 2012 from Pusai Mel Nasional, Malaysia
Received: 22 Mar 2012, Traveled 2,468 km in 33 days

The views on these cards should be more than enough motivation for me to resume with work now. I hope the week is on a productive start for everyone! :)

~maria

L is for Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy

Facebook Swap, Sender: Dany
Sent: 31 July 2012 from Cuxhaven, Germany
Received date not stamped on card, Traveled 10089 km

L is for Leaning Tower of Pisa and for Last Week of Lent this year.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a UNESCO WHS that I've always dreamed to see for real since I was in grade school. While working for my masters degree, I thought of applying for a short training course in Italy so I can make a side trip to this attraction. This site has been on the list since the year I was born. So perhaps I should imagine for a monumental year to visit this, say when I turn 30? Ah, sounds like a plan!

Lent, as we know is a Catholic event on its last week for this year. I haven't been a devout and observant Catholic but I am hoping to be able to reflect and meditate more before the season is over. A lot of overwhelming changes are happening lately due to life changing decisions I've made at the start of this year. I know I need to slow down and have some time to look deeper inside myself. 

But my oh my, it's Monday! Gotta stop being pensive for now and F-O-C-U-S. There are so many things to learn and get accomplished in a little time.

I wish all of us a great week!

~maria