The Kuala Lumpur Railway Station, Malaysia

and for my last post today (yeah, sorry, but it would be only four posts despite so much time has passed - but better something than nothing ;-)

I have two cards showing the Railway Station in Kuala Lumpur.

this one came back in 2010, unless I had mixed up something, for the Surprise RR.
The back of the card says: the Kuala Lumpur Railway Station built at the turn of the 20th century, is a beautiful example of Moorish architecture with its bold minarets and elegant arches.

the stamp is from a set of 8 definitives issued in 2005

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This one, as you can see, arrived as an official card...from someone who took the time to browse to my endless collections and tried to find something I do not have yet in there...and I am really thankful for that :)

The back of THIS card says: Designed by British Architect A.B.Hubback, the former Kuala Lumpur Railway Station has a profusion of minarets, spires and arched verandhas.

So here I got puzzled with the word 'former'....coz nothing about it is mentioned in the first card...but than taking into account the first card arrived in 2010...no wonder changes may have occurred...and from what I could google, now, only the commuter trains stop here, while all the intercity train services stop at the KL Central station, not so far away from this one...

So this is what happens when one doesn't post regular updates and lets cards pile and pile up...thank God for this second card, otherwise I would have probably remained ignorant...

and the thoughtful sender used train stamps as well :) the lovely train stamps issued in 2010.
Speaking of officials...Im going a bit nuts with how slow they have been travelling lately..I miss a more frequent Hurray! in my mailbox...and the anticipation of drawing new addresses.....

ok then, that would be all for today...have a great week ahead folks :)

Oulu, Finland

a train card i had in my favourites for a long long while....and as it usually happens with this, first you dont have it at all, then you get it twice within less than a month :)

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One arrived as an official, the other one for the Surprise me RR. Im thankful to both thoughtful senders! :)
The thing about this card is that, next to the name of Oulu, stands the year of 1967....so it is very logical to think that this shot was taken back then...which in a way i find it surprising, coz to me it seems like a very modern image...but you know, looks can really fool you sometimes :)

still, whether it was taken nowadays or centuries ago, this is still more than a fantastic card and i LOVE it!

as i said, i got this card twice, and one of them (the official one) arrived with the Kimi stamp! (great combination, no...train card plus Kimi stamp!) Btw, im really mad at Kimi for not going back to F1....not that it matters, anyways :)

the other card came with the 2008 Christmas stamp called "Frosty night" 

Lake Cumberland, USA

last card for today comes from Kentucky in the USA.

the card shows Lake Cumberland, which covers parts of seven counties in southern Kentucky. The lake covers over 50,000 acres of land, over 100 miles long and over 1200 miles of shoreline. Famous for some of the world's finest houseboats and fastest speedboats. - from the back of the card.

And some stats according to aunt Wiki:

-The normal summer pool is around 723 feet above mean sea level.
-The tree line is about 725 feet.
-The maximum pool is 760 feet at the top of dam floodgates
-Lake is considered at "flood control" level from 723 to 760 feet.
-Normal power drawdown is between 723 and 673 feet.
-At 760 feet elevation, the shoreline of Lake Cumberland is 1,255 miles.
-At maximum possible elevation of 760 feet, Lake Cumberland is considered to be 101 miles long, with a total surface area of 65,530 acres.
-Surface area at 723 feet is 50,250 acres.
-At minimum power pool of 673 feet, the surface area is 35,820 acres .
-Average depth of lake at summer pool of 723 feet above sea level: 90 feet.
-Deepest point in lake: original river channel adjacent to Wolf Creek Dam: 200 feet

The lowest water level recorded (since construction) was 675.10 feet above mean sea level on January 27, 1981. The highest water level recorded was 751.70 feet above mean sea level at 2:00AM, May 13, 1984,

I find these numbers more confusing than helpful......

Ever since the US international postage had increased, I dont see the 94 stamp so often...and then there are also four samples of the Tiffany Lamp issued in 2008.

Thanks for reading and have a great Sunday...im about to enjoy the sunshine! 

Bath, England

A UNESCO card received in the Surprise me RR...one of my favourites!

The building on the card looks pretty impressive....this is the Royal Crescent in Bath, which is a residential road of 30 houses. It was built by John Wood the Younger in 1767-75. Each house is the same at the front but differing at the rear, as each purchaser bought a length of the facade and got their own architect to build the house to their own specifications.
Number 1 Royal Crescent is a museum while numbers 15 and 16 are a hotel.

In front of the Royal Crescent is a Ha-ha, a trench on which the inner side of which is vertical and faced with stone, with the outer face sloped and turfed, making the trench, in effect, a sunken fence or retaining wall. The ha-ha is designed not to interrupt the view from Royal Victoria Park, and to be invisible until seen from close by. It is not known whether it was contemporary with the building of the Royal Crescent, however it is known that when it was first built it was deeper than it is at present.

A very interesting place I must say and im glad to have a postcard from there....though I had to check several images to know Ive gotten it right what ha-ha actually is.

The stamp is a Christmas one from a set of 7 issued in 2010

Texel, The Netherlands

Well, another lighthouse for today and this is actually one of the few cards I received this year...the postman hasnt really liked me so far...didnt bring me much the past 3 days...and now again i have two days to wait until Saturday when I hope he will bring me something more.

This lighthouse is situated on the Texel island in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the biggest and most populated of the Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea, and also the westernmost of this archipelago, which extends to Denmark.
Texel forms the largest natural barrier between the North Sea and the Wadden Sea.

And some Dutch Christmassy stamps...the total set of 2010 consists of 10 Christmas stamps. The other one is a definitive from 2002.

And before I close this, just wanna wish a Merry Christmas to all the people celebrating today (me including). Hope you have a nice Christmas Eve and a nice Christmas Day as well with great food and people you love and feel close to! Hugs to all!!!

Dubai, UAE

Another country which can be considered as rare...but as I had told you above....while keeping these rare countries for not-everyday postings, i eventually obtained some more cards from these places, so I thought it was about time to bring them to life.

and a card which doesnt show that pompous, million-dollar side of Dubai, but something totally different, and thats why I love it!
This is the Jumeirah Mosque, which is the largest and one of most beautiful ones, presenting a spectacular example of modern Islamic architecture, built in the medieval Fatimid tradition combined with modern building materials. This is the only city mosque that accepts non-Muslim visitors and only through organized Jumeirah Mosque tours. The only way for visitors to tour the mosque is to join one of the Jumeirah Mosque tours led by the Sheikh Mohammed Center for Cultural Understanding. The organization’s goals are directed at nurturing cultural awareness through direct experiences and promoting first-hand insight into Islam.

So if you ever find yourself in Dubai, you are not a Muslim and are curious to see this mosque, here you will be given the chance.

the stamp on the left is from a set of very well-known defintiives, issued in 2009, in a set of 7, presenting birds. The other stamp comes from a set of 2 issued this year, with regards to Expo 2010 in Shanghai.

Thats all for today...hope you liked the choice of cards...till next time :)

Fichtelberg, Germany

A great train card I received from the August Surprise me RR.

It shows the Fichtelberg Railway, which is a 750 mm gauge narrow gauge railway that leads from the standard gauge international line at Cranzahl to the ski resort of Oberwiesenthal in the Erzgebirge mountains in eastern Germany. It takes its name from the Fichtelberg mountain near Oberwiesenthal
To make it clear, narrow gauge railway (or narrow gauge railroad) is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the 1,435 mm of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between 914 mm and 1,067 m.

the well known flower-stamp from Germany.

Louisiana, USA

And, another lighthouse for today, coming from Louisiana...do you know that this is actually my first ever Louisiana card posted here?

New Canal Lighthouse - this lighthouse was established in 1838. The lighthouse has been reconstructed several times and the current tower was constructed in 1901. The height of the tower is 32 feet. The lighthouse is currently being used as a U.S Coast Guard Rescue Station.

Lovely card and lovely colours.

And one totally new stamp for my collection, the Olympics one. It was issued this year in commemoration of the Olympic Games in Vancouver. The clock stamp is rather known, and the lighthouse one is from 2009 from a set of 5 lighthouse stamps, this one showing the Matagorda Island in Texas.

Thanks for reading, and dont forget to wind the clocks forward tonight.