Panda Bears, Hong Kong

Next are two extra adorable panda bears from Hong Kong

To my great regret, I didn't manage to see the Pandas neither in Hong Kong nor in China, but it is on my list, and hoping to go back to China sooner or later, I do hope to see these lovely creatures. I've been also thinking of applying for a job as a panda bear caretaker - at least I won't need to know Chinese in order to be able to talk to them :)

Isn't this just way better than any office job out there... or just any job involving people :)

Two stamps on the card, and very conveniently, one of a panda bear too, issued in a set of 4 in 2008, in order to present the new giant panda bears in the Ocean Park in HK. The other stamp is from 2012 from a set of 6, commemorating the 150th Anniversary of stamp insurance in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong

For my final post today I decided to share with you two Hong Kong maps I received recently, both sent by Cally

I prefer this one a bit more to the other...it is more cartoonesque (but the other one has a bike on it on the other hand :))
The card says: "Hong Kong is located at the South China Sea coast. It is formed by Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories. Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the first Opium War, and now is a Special Administrative Region. It has a reputation of the Pearl of the Orient, shopping paradise. (the map card is designed by www.lazygala.com and published by www.mumubooks.com)

two nice stamps, and a nice cancellation...the bird stamp was issued in 2006 in a set of 12....this birdy here is called Haliaeetus leucogaster. The other stamp was issued in 2014 in a set of 12 definitives portraying different landscapes in HK - this stamp here shows the Kang Lau Shek rock.

this map card was probably designed by some postcrosser, at least that's my impression (www.postcollectionhk.com)

here comes the birdy stamp again...and the newest Year of the Monkey one! You know, when Nalini posted something about the Year of the Monkey the other day, since she was born in the Year of the Monkey, it dawned on me that I am a monkey too! I totally overlooked it! And yeah, I know it is not really a big deal, but I remember well that during the previous Year of the Monkey I was all kinda excited about it (dont know why)...and now it didn't even cross my mind, even though there were so many people talking about the new lunar stamps mentioning the monkey so many times...but I was just clueless..I guess it comes with age :)))

well dear all, that would be all for today..hope you liked at least something....till next time, stay well!

Calendar Poster 1937, Hong Kong

a cool card from Hong Kong..

from what I could get, it shows the HK’s Iconic ‘Two Girls’ Kwong Sang Hong Cosmetics Brand (in case you thought it is alcohol related, you are not the only one :P)

The card shows one of the posters used for the promotion of this brand that dates back to 1898...Back then, only a handful of rich families and expats could afford foreign cosmetics and seeing a gap in the market, Fung Fook Tien launched KSH. Legend has it that Fung’s branding was inspired by two beautiful women he spotted in the street, whilst another version suggests they came to him in a dream.
The funny thing I read related to this was that the girls featured on early labels and advertisements were actually men disguised as women, since – in feudal society – women were rarely allowed outdoors and models were impossible to find.

So...what do you think, are these two ladies actual ladies or...? Im a bit puzzled here...

the stamp is from a set of 6 stamps issued in 2013, under the name of "My Pet and I"...and here the pet is a rabbit...cute!!

Hong Kong

Another card from JP's trips...now moving to Asia a bit

the card shows a sunset over the International Commerce Centre at West Kowloon, which is the tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong, with 118 floors and a height of 484m. It was completed in 2010 in West Kowloon and is a part of the Union Square project built on top of Kowloon Station. The Ritz Carlton hotel occupies floors 102-118...where for one night you'd have to pay at least 6,100 HKD or around $780...pffff, peanuts

apart from having two nice stamps, we have a really cool cancellation, which I presume it means that this card was mailed at the HK airport.
The bird stamp was issued in 2006 in a set of 16 birds' stamps, where this one shows us the Common Kingfisher. The butterfly stamp was issued in 2012 in a set of six stamps representing HK insects.

Pottinger Street, Hong Kong

this lovely surprise arrived from dear Iris who thought of me during a Hong Kong PC meet-up held on 18 March this year.

Here you can see the Pottinget Street, or Stone step street, one of the oldest streets in the central district.
It is made of stone steps and is named after the 1st Governor of Hong Kong, inclining from Caine Road to Hollywood Road and down to Queen's Road Central (ok, that's what the back of the card says, I dont really know of what importance are those other streets...if any). The traditional stalls you can see here sell ribbons, bows and buttons and neighboured with the modern buildings, this is where the old and the new, charmingly mix.

Can you spot the tourists?
I love such scenes, and im pretty sure i would find something interesting to buy here, even if i dont really need it...too charming to resist it :)

the stamp was issued in 2011, commemorating the 150th Anniversary of Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. thank you so much dear for thinking of me! <3

Dim Sum, Hong Kong

as for my last delicacy today, I picked a Hong Kong card...with a bunch of different foodstuffs....some look sooo yummy, even though I have no idea what they are.

the Dim Sum refers to a style of Chinese food prepared as small bite-sized or individual portions of food traditionally served in small steamer baskets or on small plates. Dim sum is also well known for the unique way it is sometimes served in some restaurants, where fully cooked and ready-to-serve dim sum dishes would be pushed around on steam carts by servers who go around the restaurant offering the dishes to customers and marking orders on a card on each customer's table.

I like that tradition of the Chinese cuisine, eating small portions of food....at the Chinese restaurants here, you are given nothing but a small portion...I guess they've adjusted it to the Macedonian standards :)

the traditional dim sum includes various types of steamed buns and rice noodle rolls which contain a range of ingredients, including beef, chicken, pork, prawns and vegetarian options. Dim sum can be cooked by steaming and frying, among other methods.

well, i think this card is really convenient if you are in China or Hong Kong....just take it with you to the restaurant, and even if you dont know a single word of Chinese, you just point to the meal you'd love to have and voila! :)

the stamp is from the set of 16 definitives issued in 2006 representing birds...this cutie is the Red-whiskered Bulbul. The card was sent from Licia, whom I havent heard from for a long while...in case she reads this, thanks so much again for the great card, and I hope she is doing ok! So....hungry anyone? :)

The Floating Children, Hong Kong

My last card for today comes from Hong-Kong.

The name of the card is 'The Floating Children" and this is what the back of the card has to say:
The incredible tableau of traditionally dressed children seeming to fly in the air was part of the Hong Kong 10th Anniversary of the handover to China parade on July 1st 2007.

A very lovely and colourful card and also different than the majority of my HK cards, which in general are view-cards and sometimes I have the feeling that im seeing the same buildings on all of them.

And a bunch of lovely stamps on the card.
The birds' stamps all come from a set of 16 definitives issued in 2006 and here you can see the Kingfisher (the $1 stamp on the left side of the lighthouse), the Sea Eagle (top right corner) and below the Sea Eagle is the Minivet. The lighthouse stamp was issued in 2010 in a set of 5 stamps portraying lighthouses in Hong Kong. On this stamp you can see Cape D'Aguilar. Which now reminds me I have something nice to show off at my philatelic blog :)

Thanks a lot to Orange for such lovely card and stamps and thanks to all of you for following and reading. Have a great week ahead!

Railway Museum, Hong Kong

And my last card for today comes from the Turkish RR, from the jubilee Group 100.

And such a great one...I think that for today i basically covered my top interests...a map, then a lighthouse, and now a railway related card. :)
This one shows the Hong Kong railway museum, located in Tai Po. Here in particular you can see the semaphore used to control the rail traffic.
There are two locomotives on exhibition at the museum, EMD G12 Diesel-electric locomotive #51 and A W.G. Bagnall 0-4-4T narrow gauge steam locomotive.

There are six coaches on the tracks for public viewing and appreciation of the contrast between the old and the new.
A 1911 third-class compartment, #302
A 1921 engineering coach, #002
A 1955 third-class compartment, #223 (an educational video room)
A 1955 luggage compartment, #229
A 1964 first-class compartment, #112
A 1976 ordinary-class compartment, #276

And also, there are a pump trolley and a diesel-engined railcar

A rather well known HK kind of a stamp I think...a definitive issued in 2006 in a set of 16 bird stamps, showing the Red-whiskered Bulbul.

Thats all for today...as always, thanks for reading and thanks for the great cards!

Nathan Road, Hong Kong

This is actually my first received card in 2010 :)

The card is called "Neon Fantasy on Nathan Road"
This is a composite creation made up of many of the best neon signs on both sides of the harbour. Many of the sins represent some of Hong Kong;s best restaurants and night spots. The street is real and is also known as The Golden Mile.
The card is great, the street looks incredible, but in real life such places with soooo many lights flashing around are gonna give me nothing but a headache...I guess i wont be wrong if i say its a rather noisy street as well...I dont understand the majority of these signs, but i think Dani might have fun while trying to read them all and understand them....and tell me whats in here...and maybe we can go for a drink here some day...one day :)

stamp from 2006 from a set of 16 definitives representing birds, and here is the Red Whiskered Bul Bul.

Thanks to Iris for the card, even though I told her she shouldnt be sending me one...its nice sometimes when people go against my word ;)

Hong Kong

A shiny Hong Kong card that came as a surprise from Relie and Licia..

It shows brightly lit neons signs of Nathan Road in Kowloon.
It sure IS bright! Relie says that this is the land of neon lights, dim sum, loud people, congested streets and great shopping. And thats so much NOT me. Id only like to try the dim sum...but all the rest is just not my cup of tea...no no no, not even the shopping...i actually hate shopping and i dread when i have to do it...and even then i dont really put loads of efforts but try to buy what i need at the first/second/third shop possible...shopping annoys me...the only kind of shopping i like is postcard shopping or getting stuff from a huge supermarket (so that means food and coffee and such) provided i actually have enough money to put in the trolley all that i want. But when it comes to clothes and make up and such...then please, dont call me to keep you company....thank you :)

 

this bird stamp comes from a set of 16 definitive stamps issued in 2006 regarding the Fauna, where this one represents the Red-whiskered Bulbul.

Hong Kong

Im not sure what Hong Kong is celebrating here...but surely looks nice :)

This is the Victoria Harbour....sometimes i have a feeling that all my HK cards show one or two places only... hopefully ill get two more different HK places soon...or not so soon :) And maybe a magnet too....which is something like my latest discovered new passion for stuff...as if i dont already have NO room to place stuff.
The Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour situated between HK Island and the Kowloon Peninsula.The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on the South China Sea was instrumental in Hong Kong's establishment as a British colony and its subsequent development as a trading centre.

Long famous for its spectacular views, the harbour is a major tourist attraction of Hong Kong. Lying in the middle of the territory's dense urban region, the harbour is the site of annual fireworks displays and its promenades are popular gathering places for tourists and residents.

I feel like what i wrote is a deja vu of some previous post....

Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Hello people! Sorry for not posting anything in these last few days...even though it was a weekend and i had spare time..well, thats what it may seem, but i actually didnt...and you surely are not interested to hear the details...i know :)

I sometimes wonder how many different views can you get from Hong Kong...sometimes when i look at my Hong Kong postcards, i feel as if im seeing the same buildings, but from a different angle, and with different colours, in daylight, at night, with fireworks....but i do love them all, esp. since all HK postcards are huge...
Wan Chai is a metropolitan area situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong.
When i take a look at the sentence above, it feels as an equation, that you need to divide to the smallest elements, or vice versa...you need to gather all the elements in order to reach a whole number of a fraction...in this case, Hong Kong being the 'whole' element, while all the rest being the constitute elements, where Wan Chai is the smallest one...am i making sense? I know im not...
Anyway....Wan Chai is one of the busiest commercial areas in Hong Kong with many small and medium-sized companies. Wan Chai North features office towers, parks, hotels and an international conference and exhibition centre. As one of the first areas developed in Hong Kong, the locale is densely populated yet with noticeable residential zones facing urban decay. There are many unique buildings and skyscrapers, most notably the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Central Plaza and Hopewell Centre.
I thought that Hopewell Centre had to do something with charity or some of those sacred places which give you hope....i guess i take things for granted more than needed sometimes...

Hong Kong

i love the Hong Kong postcards coz of their size..they are all big and over-sized and just look great!

And I love this night view of Central and Kowloon from the Peak.
Do you know that Hong Kong itself has 3 times more population than my own country??
i cant imagine something so densely populated...so many people, on such a small territory...well, i can even more hardly imagine Mexico City with its 20 or 30 million people...huh...
As for Kowloon....it is an urban area in Hong Kong made up of Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon....its name came from the nine dragons epresented by eight peaks and a Chinese emperor.

Hong Kong

While we are still in Asia, i wanted to show you something else from this region, a Hong Kong card...

Here you can see the Tsing Ma Bridge in Hong Kong which is the world's seventh longest span suspension bridge.  It has two decks and carries both rail and road traffic which also makes it the largest suspension bridge of this type. The bridge has a main span of 1,377 metres and a height of 206 metres.
The 41 metres (135 ft) wide bridge deck carries six lanes of automobile traffic, with three lanes in each direction. The lower level contains two rail tracks. There are also two sheltered carriageways on the lower deck for maintenance access and as backup for traffic when particularly severe typhoons strike Hong Kong. Though road traffic would need to be closed in that case, trains could still get through in either direction.

Lantau Island, Hong Kong

This is the world's largest seated outdoor bronze Buddha, 34 metres high, sitting on a lotus base, 268 steps above Po Lin Monastery...well, according to some info I came across, it HAS been the largest prior to 2007...so it means its not anymore....sometimes you just really dont know whom to trust :)

It is located on Ngong Ping, on the Lantau Island in Hong Kong. It is also known as the Tian Tan Buddha. It symbolizes the harmonious relationship between man and nature, people and religion. It is a major center of Buddhism in Hong Kong... and of course, a popular tourist attraction.

Stanley, Hong Kong

One thing i absolutely love about the Hong Kong postcards, is their size...they are really bigger than standard cards...and the images look soo good on them

This old colonial building, once situated in Central next to the Murray Road carpark, was dismantled, stored and finally re-erected in Stanley in 1999, where it is now home to a number of restaurants.

I love the domination of the blue colour....

Hong Kong (02)

Here is card of Hong Kong...one of 7 in total which are waiting to be shown...but as you already know by now, i avoid showing same countries at a time...i even wait for some time to pass before i show a card from a country ive already shown (with the exception of USA) first, coz there are a lot of US cards pending, second, US has 50 states, so they can count as 50 different places...
I actually have some cards Im DYING to show, but due to this rule i self-imposed, i still cant...plus i also have cards which i figured out it will be much more satisfactory to show them at a particular time, coz there is a particular occasion related to the card...and one such occasion is coming in a few days and i just cant wait!
So, in case ive received a card from you and it still isnt shown here, know that its coz of one of the reasons above :)

The card here, shows the Tsing Ma Bridge...
It is the world's seventh longest span suspension bridge named after two of the islands in Hong Kong.
It has two decks and carries both road and rail traffic which also makes it the largest suspension bridge of this type. The bridge has a main span of 1,377 metres and a height of 206 metres. The span is the largest of all bridges in the world carrying rail traffic.

The 41 metres wide bridge deck carries six lanes of automobile traffic, with three lanes in each direction. The lower level contains two rail tracks. There are also two sheltered carriageways on the lower deck for maintenance access and as backup for traffic when particularly severe typhoons strike Hong Kong. Though road traffic would need to be closed in that case, trains could still get through in either direction.

Ok. before I head off to work...last night i added a new gadget to this blog, which is supposed to appear under each post...it gives you a chance vote for what you have just read....well, consider it for fun, so whenever you feel like clicking, go ahead :) Just, if possible, dont abuse the one with the sticking-out tongue too much...just if possible :))))))

Hong Kong

This is my first card coming from Hong Kong!


Pretty amazing view it has. It shows the beautiful Victoria Harbour and on the upper-left side you can see the Kowloon Peninsula, whereas opposite to Kowloon you can find the Central and Wanchai district on the Hong Kong island (written on the back of the card).

Its been quite a poor postcard week...I have many left behind, therefore i have loads to show...but very few received this past week, only on Monday....hopefully the following one would be more fruitful....and hopefully i wont be as lazy as this past week...though i had certain other issues as well, but thats boring :)