Postcards for the weekend 89: Anything you wish

TW-1110457, Sent from Taoyuan, Taiwan
Sent 16 December 2013, Traveled 1,171 km in 23 days

It's been almost 4.5 months now since I took a hiatus from blogging. I didn't totally stop from exchanging postcards though and I have plenty of beautiful postcards to share! Postcards are probably one of those things that I would always love despite the fact that I'm needing more and more storage boxes to keep them neat and tidy.

So the Postcards for the Weekend has now officially resumed. HOWEVER, I'm having issues with the linky tool. Pardon me! I will update this post as soon as that's sorted out.

I hope you've all been well and I'm looking forward to another series of beautiful postcards party!

~maria

Sunday Stamps - (H) Huangmei Opera from China

For the letter H - Huangmei Opera

2014 - China - Arts & Culture

Designer: Zhang Wang

Released on 6 July 2014, the picture on this stamp is entitled "The Emperor's Female Son-in-Law". This is one of the grand plays staged for the Huangmei Opera. Huangmei Opera traced its origins from 200 years ago in the rural parts of China, among which are Anhui, Hubei, and Jiangxi provinces. The costumes used in the plays are less extravagant as compared to other forms of Chinese opera. The focus was more on the tone and the beautiful singing. Storylines mirrored reality and that's why it has won the hearts of the audience. Huangmei Opera is in the list of China's national intangible cultural heritage.

For more stamps with letter "H" - visit See It On A Postcard

P.S. The Postcards for the Weekend re-opens next weekend. Woohooo! It will be open by 12 AM, 13 Oct and close by 12 NN, 15 Oct. It shall follow the same schedule every weekend from then on. As before, there will be a different theme for each weekend while every first weekend of the month will always be dedicated for anything you wish to share. Hope to see more beautiful postcards from all deltiologist bloggers! Thanks to Eva of Mail Adventures for encouraging me to restart this linky! Cheers x

Postcards for the weekend 88: Anything you wish

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent from Arizona
Sent 10 Sep 2016, Traveled 14,642 km

Perhaps true places are "sense of belonging"? The same way as a home is not a place but being with people you hold dear?

It is with deep regret that I've decided to discontinue with this blog for the meantime. I'm going through a personal crisis that I deem inappropriate to disclose here.

Thank you very much to all my blogger friends who have participated in the Postcards for the Weekend linky. If you please leave me your e-mail, I would like to keep in touch through postcards.

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 87: Festivals

Masskara Festival is an annual celebration in Bacolod City, Philippines. The place is dubbed as the "City of Smiles" hence the masks all come with smiling faces.

The festival is celebrated every October and held in as a fusion of a Mardi Gras and Oktoberfest fashion.

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 86: Costumes

First, thank you so much Monica from Beyond the Lone Islands for correcting me on the Postcards for the weekend # for last week. I have edited the post and entered the right #.

For this weekend, our theme is costumes.

LV-257306, Sent from Riga, Latvia
Travelled 9,267 in 17 days

On this postcard are folk costumes from Latvia. I noticed plenty of fabric, beautiful headdresses, and belts. I wonder which areas of Latvia each were from ...

This postcard was given to me as a souvenir from Kenya. The Maasai is an ethnic group found in Kenya and Tanzania. A red sheet worn around the body is a preferred item of clothing.

Happy weekend,

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 85: Handicraft / artwork

RU-1303535, Sent from Barnaul
Travelled 5,394 km in 17 days

Matryoshka or the Russian nesting doll. I counted 11 dolls, how about you? According to Wikipedia, the largest set of matryoshka consisted of 51 wooden dolls.

I'm keeping this one short this weekend as I need to wake up early tomorrow for work.

Enjoy your weekend, folks!

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 84: Anything you wish

In my home country, the Philippines, summer months are starting in May. The temperature and humidity rise and most daytimes feel like living in a microwave oven. If I recall correctly, the warmest and most humid month here in Singapore happens to be in May as well. We still get rain, but it's warm rain.

Hence, the mind often thinks of cooling down. And of course, the best destination always is the beach. As such, for our theme of anything you wish, here are a few sandy postcards from the Philippines.

The WOW Philippines was a tourism marketing campaign that started back in 2002. On this postcard, it focuses on Boracay, one of the Philippines' major beach destinations.  

Plenty of local and foreign tourists flock to Boracay, regardless of the season. Recently, the Philippine government has announced the closure of the island starting 26 April 2018 for 6 months. This is to give way for environmental rehabilitation. 

I've never been to Boracay myself. So now, I'm planning to head there as soon as it re-opens.

Happy weekend everyone,

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 83: Patterns & prints

I had a minor accident last Sunday evening that has limited my mobility. Since I changed my laptop the week before and the scanned copy of my postcards were temporarily moved to my portable hard drive, I don't have access both to the actual postcards and the scanned copies at the moment. I've been staying at my boyfriend's place since the accident and my portable hard drive is in the office and the actual postcards are at my place. Thankfully, I have some scans that are still yet to be cleaned up from my e-mail. It might be a bit of stretch for this weekend's theme but I hope these still works :)

Souvenir postcard from Seoul, Korea

This postcard is from a 21-pc set entitled Painting of Flowers, Birds, Insects, and Fish. The set was printed by the Cultural Foundation of National Museum of Korea. This is among a few postcards from the set that I kept for myself as a souvenir from the trip back in mid-March.

DE-5853679, Sent from Potsdam
Traveled 9,947 km in 6 days

The label at the back of the postcard was in German. Roughly translated in English: I found them in the spring shadow, where I tied them with rosebands. I'm quite not sure whether the postcard should be in portrait or landscape orientation. The painting looks like a rose garden of mixed colors for me.

Given that this weekend's theme seems to be open for interpretation, I'm specially more excited to see the contributions this weekend.

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 81: Monuments

Private Swap

The Arch of Titus is an honorific monument dedicated to Titus, son of Vespasian. It was commissioned by the Roman Emperor Domitian in AD 82. The arch is significant for one reason among others that the menorah depicted on this arch has been the menorah used on the emblem for the state of Israel. 

Private Swap, sent from Berlin, Germany
Sent 17 August 2012, Traveled 9,860 km

Brandenburg Gate is one of the best-known monuments and landmarks of Germany. It was built in the 18th century under the orders of Frederick William II of Prussia. The gate is both a symbol of the tumultuous history of Europe and Germany and of unity and peace.

Happy weekend everyone,

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 80: Anything you wish

FI-1918321, Sent from Jyvaskala
Traveled 8,847 km in 9 days

Our theme this weekend is anything you wish. I'm pleased that it's a free and easy theme and I can select postcards that fit my mood at the moment. It's an end at least for now for a series of overseas trips. I yearn to just stay put; to be at home and see familiar pieces and parts of the same place for every waking hour and coming back at the end of the day.

Souvenir postcard from my trip to Sampaguita Gardens, Aklan, Philippines

What are your favorite pieces, parts, or sections of your home? What do you love to do the most when you're at home? Tomorrow I'm flying back to Singapore, my second home. I am impatient to lounge on the soft brown sofa while binge-watching Netflix series. 

Happy weekend everyone,

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 79: Transportation

For the theme this weekend, I'm sharing two postcards with boats and ships from my previous trips.

Souvenir from my trip to Malta, Traveled 9,863 km

This first postcard features luzzu, traditional colorful boats with the eye of Osiris. The boats are painted bright red, yellow, and blue. Moored at the Marsaxlokk Bay, these boats provide a beautiful contrast with the blue waters making the scenery even more photogenic. I've marked this postcard with 14-19 April 2017 at the back. Those were the dates of my visit to Malta. 

Souvenir from my trip to Sweden, 9,984 km

This second postcard features the Klippan, a cultural heritage area that gave birth to the city of Gothenburg. The postcard was given the title "Skepp a hoj". If I'm not wrong, I think it means, "ship ahoy". I've marked this one with 19-30 April 2017. 

I've totally forgotten that these postcards are from the same trip I made to Europe early last year. They make me nostalgic, even more so because I don't think I'll see that part of the world this year.

It's a long weekend here in Singapore for the Easter holiday and I'm not traveling this week. So, for one of those rare moments, this post comes early :)

~maria 

Postcards for the weekend 78: Spring

Private swap, sent from Timaru, New Zealand
Sent 15 Oct 2013, Traveled 8,290 km

The label at the back of this postcard says: This lamb is one of the millions of lambs born each spring in New Zealand. According to the sender when he wrote on this postcard, "the daffodils have been blooming, the lamb bleating, the weather changing so it must be springtime!"

Private swap, Sent from Amsterdam
Sent 12 Mar 2012, Traveled 10,385 km

The sender of this postcard also spoke of spring, "Here in Amsterdam, where spring has begun so more and more flowering tulips. Enjoy!"

I've never been in a real field of tulips and I wish I will one day. 

Happy weekend everyone! 

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 77: Sunrise/sunset

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent from Boras, Sweden
Sent 16 March 2017, Traveled 9,926 km

Thank you very much, Monica (Beyond the Lone Islands) for sending me this postcard!

It's such a relaxing image to cap the week with. I am in Seoul attending an international medical equipment show. Yesterday I did a product presentation. It's such a relief that the presentation is over now. I'm calm and looking forward into viewing sunrise/sunset postcards from my blogging friends this weekend.

~maria 

Postcards for the weekend 76: Masjid Sultan

For the theme - places of worship this weekend, I've chosen to share another postcard for one of my favorite buildings in Singapore -- Masjid Sultan.

I wrote "another" as I've previously shared another postcard for Masjid Sultan or Sultan Mosque exactly for the same theme last year. The building was gazetted as one of Singapore's National Monuments in 1975. According to a trivia from www.visitsingapore.com, each of the domes are decorated with glass bottle ends. The glass bottle ends were donated by poor Muslims during the construction so that all Muslims, not just the rich, could contribute.

Happy weekend everyone!

~maria 

Postcards for the weekend 75: Anything you wish

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent from Arkansas, USA
Sent 6 Sep 2017, Traveled 15,627 km

Yesterday, the United Kingdom celebrated the World Book Day 2018. I picked this card as the message from the sender is very appropriate for yesterday's event: I thought of you when I saw this card, knowing how much you love to read. 

The sender is a voracious reader herself. According to the sender, Kirsten is from the 1800's. The label behind the postcard says that this illustration is entitled, Kirsten relaxing with her favorite book by Renee Graef.

Happy weekend, everyone!

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 74: Serenity/Peace/Calm

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent from Yachiyo
Sent 16 Feb 2012, Traveled 3,022 km

I received this postcard from a Japanese acquaintance 6 years ago. The postcard didn't make any sense to me until I had the chance to travel to Kyoto, Japan and see an actual Zen garden back in November 2016.

This rock Zen garden is of The Temple of the Dragon at Peace (Ryoan-ji). This garden and the temple are listed as one of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

On this postcard, the garden is viewed at a seated position on the veranda of the abbott of the monastery/temple. There has been plenty of attempts to explain the careful placement of stones in the garden. According to a Garden historian, Gunter Nitschke, "The garden at Ryoan-ji does not symbolize anything, or more precisely, to avoid any misunderstanding, the garden at Ryoan-ji does not symbolize, nor does it have the value of reproducing a natural beauty that one can find in the real or mythical world. I consider it to be an abstract composition of natural objects in space, a composition whose function is to incite meditation."

Wishing you all a calm and peaceful weekend,

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 73: Happiness/Joy

Private Swap, Sent from Morges, Switzerland
Sent 3 Oct 2016, Traveled 10,451 km

On top of this perfectly joyous picture of little girls enjoying fondue, what made me pick this postcard for this weekend's theme was the message at the back. The sender wrote, "The Swiss national dish: fondue (cheese + white wine). I am not the father of these lovely girls!" -- I chuckled!

On a side note, I'm really happy as I'm here in the Philippines since Tuesday. It's so good to be back home!

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 72: Love/Lovely

I wish that I've bought more copies than I actually did of this postcard for this weekend's theme. Perhaps I'm too sappy -- I imagine this postcard can bring a nice smile to the recipient.

Have a lovely weekend!

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 71: Anything you wish

These are postcards that I wanted to share last weekend with the theme, mountains. I didn't have the chance to scan them though. These are from John of John's Island. The postcards are from northwestern-most part of the United States of America.

On the bottom leftmost part of this postcard is the name Dan Coe. He is a professional Artist & Sign Painter working out from his private studio in Anchor Point, Alaska.

The artist Sydney Mortiner Laurence painted this in 1935. The artwork as is printed on this is called, This is Alaska. 

This one is not really a postcard but a folded card. It's too beautiful not to share. The artwork is called Inside Passage, painted by John Fehringer.

And for the finale, a postcard showing a view of Mount Rainier and the Cascade Mountains. It was taken from the Sky View Observatory, the largest public observatory on the West Coast.

I was very glad to take these postcards with me, traveling 12,970 km from Seattle to Singapore. Now it's twice the fun, having to share these here on my blog with all my postcards loving visitors for the Postcards for the Weekend linky :)

Cheers & have a nice weekend everyone!

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 70: Mountains

PL-1276730, sent from Warsaw
Traveled 9,406 km in 15 days

Tatra Mountains is a natural border between Poland and Slovakia. They are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian range.

Postcard sent to self, traveled 10,588 km

If you look closely at the upper rightmost image, you will see the Mont Blanc overlooking the villages of Beaufortain. I fell in love with this place. It has a quiet charm during the summer of my visit, August 2017. It was super relaxing to hear the cowbells and just soak in the slow pace of village life. 

Friendship Postcard, Sent from Ushuaia
Traveled 14,020 km

Moving southwest, we have here the Martial Mountains towering over the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia. I almost didn't want to believe it as I thought a city in New Zealand is in a lower latitude ... boy, I'm wrong!

Posting about mountains for this weekend is a good learning experience for me in physical geography.

Happy weekend everyone,

~maria