Dhow Sailing, Zanzibar

Well hello there, for the second time this year! Sounds strange?! Yeah, to me too! I don't know if saying 'we better get used to it' is a bit far-fetched at this moment though :P But for as long as it lasts... hope you enjoy it!

I don't participate as often as I used to in the forum's swaps/tags/round robins, but sometimes I do end up catching a good spot, and that is how I ended up getting my first ever written and stamped card from Zanzibar! (I don't get new countries that often any longer, but when I do, it sure is a gem! ;-)

The card shows a dhow sailing (in the Indian Ocean, I guess) - word of the day: dhow - generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with lateen sails used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region. Historians are divided as to whether the dhow was invented by Arabs or Indians. (It is not like historians could ever agree on anything....)
They are primarily used to carry heavy items, like fruit, fresh water or merchandise.

Now, if to anyone this stamp saying Tanzania comes as a disappointment, it shouldn't, since Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous region of Tanzania and even though it has its own Government, postage stamps are a different issue. If you do have a read about Zanzibar's history of postage stamps though, it does get a bit confusing, being that it used Indian stamps in the 19th century and then later it fell into the hands of the British Empire. So the bottom line, in this year and this century, I couldn't have possibly received a Zanzibar card with a Zanzibar stamp, but the cool thing is that even on the Tanzanian stamps, they do show some Zanzibar-related things, so that counts :D

This stamp is from a set of 4 Tourism stamps issued in 2010, showing Zanzibar attractions - here you can see the Red Colobus Monkey.

Thanks a million to Olia for this card! It is actually really cool to be able to visit a country like Zanzibar :)

Montana, USA

Next is a card from one of the people from my list of 'responsible for keeping my mailbox entertained, whether I am on a hiatus or not'.

At first glance, one may not be fully aware about what this 'enough said' entitles - one could think Montana struggles with some electricity issues, but at second glance, that would mean half of the US does as well - though now with all the Trump's policies, who knows...

But what the author of this card actually wanted to point out was the population density in Montana - at 630 miles wide and 255 miles high, Montana is the 4th largest state but the 44th least populated one, having only seven people per square mile.... yep, enough said, you guys live in tranquility.

lot of cool stamps here. First the older ones. A unique set combining four stamps in a block that contains one overall design. (I am not sure what the exact philatelic term would be for this, it is not se-tenant). This issue commemorates the 100th Anniversary of National Parks and it shows the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, an area that contains some of the earliest sites of English colonial settlement. Issued in 1972.

The forever stamps are from 2017. The se-tennat hockey ones were issued by USPS and is a joint issue with Canada, celebrating the history of ice-hockey. The stamp on the right portrays a modern hockey player, skating on a pond in present day, wearing a modern uniform and contemporary equipment, while the left one shows a vintage player, representing the game's past, against a snowy background, wearing a vintage garb and old-fashioned equipment.

And last we have two definitive grape stamps issued in 2017, for additional postage. Hmm, too many things revolving around grapes lately, and the product thereof...

Thanks a bunch to Bryon for this one! :)))

Severn Valley Railway, England

A lovely train card sent by dear Anu.

The West Country Class No. 34027 `Taw Valley` was built in Brighton in 1945 and here it can be seen crossing the magnificent Victoria Bridge over the River Severn in the UK.

Anu always uses fantastic stamps! First we have two of the Theater stamps (built during the Shakespearean era) issued in 1995 in a set of 5 - here we have the Hope from 1613 and the Globe from 1614 (the rebuilt version, after being destroyed in a fire in 1613).
The train stamp is from a set of five British Pub Signs, issued in 1995 - this stamp shows 'The Station' by Andrew Davidson. And last of course, you have her Majesty, the Queen.

Thanks a lot lot Anu!

Johor Strait Lighthouse, Singapore

Last for today is this beautiful Singaporean lighthouse, which I realized I have twice in my collection.

The first one was sent by Valentina from the Postcrossing meeting in Singapore held in July that year. Out of ll the names, I could only recognize that Lee Hock Peng and sybones attended as well.
The other card arrived as an official last year.

There are only 6 operating lighthouses in Singapore today, and this is one of them. The Johor strait is an international strait between Singapore and mainland Malaysia. Unfortunately google didnt prove very useful regarding this one, except that the lighthouse is Located at the end of a jetty at the Raffles Marina in Tuas, just west of the Second Link Expressway bridge over the strait and that there is a white flash every 10 seconds, and that it has a 12 m round cylindrical concrete tower with lantern and gallery, painted white. The navigation light is mounted atop the lantern.

Very useful google, indeed..

The stamps from Valentina's card show two from the Vanishing Trades series - first is one from 2014, showing a cage maker, while the other one is from 2013, showing a lantern maker (such crafts and trades have been vanishing from Macedonia as well...)

The other stamp is from 2017 from a set of 6 stamps called 'Morning of Singapore'. Well mornings usually relate to rush hours and chaos - this one seems to be rather calm so I guess it relates to one during the weekends :)))

Thanks to Valentina and deezee for this card, and to everyone signing it at the PC meeting, and thanks to you for dropping by.
Till next time...

Happy New Year 2018 and Welcome Back Here :)

*cough cough cough* (clears throat)

Well, hello hello hello out there! Oh yeah, look who's finally back! :D
You still can't believe it right? Me neither! What I esp. cannot believe is that it has been more than a year since I've done a real postcards-related post here - all those yada dada's don't count to the actual contribution to this blog, but frankly, I didn't expect that the whole Photobucket issue would end up being so demotivating in the end. But truth is, it was, cos the entire starting-things-from-scratch was so tedious, that I just never really got down to it. All the time I kinda secretly hoped that maybe Photobucket would get back to its senses and at LEAST let us unfortunate users use the photos that were already there, prior to their nonsensical decision - but of course, that day still hasn't arrived and obviously, it never will, so I just have to get over it and maybe, just maybe, one day, be able to repair the damage they had done.
But in the meantime, I guess it is time to continue this blog's sole purpose cos despite the dreadful silence here, there are still people out there who still check this place from time to time, and hope for something new. And here I would like to send special regards to my two regular bots in the form of william charles and linda clark - seems that a day doesn't go by without me getting a notification that one of you has visited one of my two blogs - you really seem to be dedicated to whatever you are doing ;-D

And lets get down to some actual business right now, with this super cute surprise that arrived in my mailbox today.

It just seems like the perfect card for this so-called 'grand entrance', plus it is holidays related, so looks perfect.
It is not signed, but based on the cancellation, I can assume who sent it to me ❤

And I just wanna wish you all Happy Holidays and a fab  year ahead. Hope life gives you health, love and lots of lovely surprises in your mailbox :)
Thank you for all the awesome cards you sent me last year - finding those surprises in my mailbox can often cheer me up even on a very shitty day, so keep them coming! :*

Fort Lauderdale, USA

Glenn has been on one of his cruises lately, and as always, never fails to send me a card from wherever he is, regularly feeding my hungry mailbox.

This card is from Ft. Lauderdale, which if I got it right, was the embarking point, but seems it has arrived like, the last...  cos just the other day i received one from the Bahamas, saying it was the last stop - but then taking a look at the cancellations something doesnt make sense so I'm a bit confused,  but alas, what matters is that they have arrived :)

Ft. Lauderdale always associates me to my best friend from primary school who moved there back then. To the rest of the world it is this popular tourist destination with plenty of sunshine, lovely beaches at the Atlantic Ocean shores.
It is named after a series of forts built by the United States during the Second Seminole War. The forts took their name from Major William Lauderdale (1782–1838), younger brother of Lieutenant Colonel James Lauderdale. William Lauderdale was the commander of the detachment of soldiers who built the first fort. However, development of the city did not begin until 50 years after the forts were abandoned at the end of the conflict.
Three forts named "Fort Lauderdale" were constructed: the first was at the fork of the New River, the second was at Tarpon Bend on the New River between the present-day Colee Hammock and Rio Vista neighborhoods, and the third was near the site of the Bahia Mar Marina.

being disproportionate in size, the cancellations kinda overshadow the stamps and this is the thing that kinda got me confused - when I checked Glenn's blog, it said that he was already back from his cruise at the end of November, but the cancellation here says 04 December, so who knows what has happened.
The stamps are from a series of four Forever stamps issued in 2016, called, Sonbirds in the Snow. Featured on these three are, from left to right: the golden-crowned kinglet (or Regulus satrapa), the cedar waxwing (or Bombycilla cedrorum), and the red-breasted nuthatch (or Sitta canadensis).

Thanks a lot lot Glenn for this, and all the other surprises sent my way!!

Bicycles

My dear Agi always somehow managed to stumble upon cards with trains or bicycles and decides to surprise my mailbox! And I was delighted to see that heh, what a coincidence, she has decided to blew dust off her blog as well :D

A few weeks before New Year's I bought new lights for my bicycle. The previous ones were steady-yellow lights, but the new ones are both in colour plus they are flashing, so it is a kind of a totally new attraction on the gloomy streets of Skopje (winters here are always gloomy, aka pollution goes through the roof and despite being a recurring issue year after year, it still persists, the Government keeps buying time until like spring time, when the pollution levels drop down and then everything is just swept under the carpet until next winter and then this vicious circle continues. Believe it or not Skopje was on the top of the list of most polluted cities in the world with cities in India and China trotting behind us. I wish more people rode bicycles, but then again, the Government doesn't really care to improve the conditions nor stimulate the people for that. So who knows, maybe we, the bike-Nazis are the crazy ones...

Agi used this super cool set of Astrophysics stamps issued in 2017! The stamp on the left shows gravitational waves, while the one on the right shows the GAIA Satelite.

Hvala ti puno Aginice! :* <3

Melaka, Malaysia

Just one more card for today - I don't wanna overwor my rustiness :P

I have been rarely doing swaps for a long while now, partly because I somehow find this whole swap thing has become too demanding and more like a business than something done for pleasure, plus cos of financial reasons too. But sometimes you just spot a card and you know you have to go for it, which was the case with this one.
Sent by Bernard from Malaysia, who says he used to take this train from Ipoh to Singapore, where the journey lasted for almost 8 hours, but now with the new flight services, it takes like an hour. Yep, the planes have ruined it all :D
However, taking the price into consideration too, I'd always prefer a cozy train ride to a flight (trains in Macedonia are exempted from this).

The stamp is from a set of 4, World Post Day stamps issued in 2017. The postcrossing community there even organized a Postcrossing Meeting for the World Post Day.

Thanks a lot to Bernard for this card, and to you all for dropping by.

Till next time ;)

Photobucket sends almost a decade of work to hell...

... and it makes me wonder if I've been the only one stupid enough to actually be hosting images on Photobucket instead elsewhere (at this point I am not quite sure why I actually have avoided uploading images directly from my computer...might have something to do with storage, but I really cant tell)

truth to be told, I did receive some email from Photobucket some days ago, that I completely ignored (just glanced over the subject) and continued with whatever else I was doing... and now today when I was like, yay, lets finally make a proper update... not such a pleasant surprise was there for me in store, making me realize that what Photobucket had wanted to tell me was that it had stopped all sorts of 3rd Party Hosting Services, meaning if you want to share your photos on any other place than Photobucket, then you'd have to pay a very "symbolic" amount of $400 per year... I don't think it takes a lot to guess that I am certainly NOT gonna pay for that.

So now, am in the middle of trying to resolve this issue... the step-by-step approach seems sooo tiresome and kinda impossible, but there is nothing else I can think of. If anyone has a genius idea on how to properly solve this, please let me know.
In the meantime, do NOT enjoy the endless number of "Please update your account... " images...

Back home...

Not a bad pile of mail to come back to after being away for 9 months.....thank you all! :) 

The Ease of sending Postcards in Guangzhou

As i had previously mentioned, finding postcards here has been far from an easy task...they say you can find them in post offices, but from what Ive seen so far it is usually those sold in booklets (and with a terrrible choice) or more like greeting cards...and then I recalled I saw once a shop at the Shamian Island selling cards, so the other day I decided to go there and do my first postcards' spree...which went kinda successful...why kinda? Well ok, the postcards' choice may not be vast but is acceptable (it is still better than nothing), and they are at a quite reasonable price of 2 CNY, which equals something like 30 cents. For starters I got few copies of each of these three...sorry for the not the best images, but no scanner here...

and to my delight the lady working there also asked me if I needed stamps, and I was like, whoo, this solves a big problem, sparing me the trouble of making myself understood at the post office with my non-existent conversing in Chinese...so I ask for 15 stamps, for the 15 postcards I bought, she types numbers into her calculator and gives me a final sum that leaves a perplexed expression on my face....hm, sorry, how much is the postage??? - 8 yuan she replies (1.20 dollars) - I know postage in some countries is high but thanks to the hundreds and hundreds of cards I have received from China, I immediately knew something was fishy here (otherwise I would have probably believed her and fell in her trap - thank God I actually said NO when she previously said she was gonna stick the stamps on the cards for me...very crafty from her side - and the only reason I said NO was because I do want to arrange the layout on my own cards not because I actually suspected she would try to trick me..

Anyways, after I told her 8 CNY is too much and that I would take the cards only, she said - ok 6 yuan, good price! good price! - who the hell is bargaining for a postage rate??? it is either 6 or 8 or whatever other amount it may be but this was just an additional sign she wanted to rip me off (and she was disappointed her plan didnt work out - I wonder how many tourists have fell into this trap at this particular spot)

after this I asked the Chinese community at postcrossing about the postage rate and believe it or not it is either 3 CNY for surface mail or 4.5 CNY for airmail, but of course it is neither 6 nor 8. 

I know that with mail from China in the end it may make no difference whether it is airmail or not, but I decided to go with the airmail and see how it goes

so armoured with a dictionary, pieces of paper on which I have written the amount of stamps I need (simply as 15 x 4.5 CNY), i go to a small post office that is right in my street (how convenient) and ask for stamps (thankfully they did speak English in the amount necessary to get the stamps). So I buy 15 stamps, 4.5 CNY each, the lady at the counter types in the numbers on her calculator and shows me the final sum of 135 CNY - I already had a 100 CNY bill in my hands and again give the calculator a confused look (I really start wondering what the calculators have against me). The lady at the counter reluctantly takes my bill and says, but this is too little money...I know she may not be versed enough with the numbers in English, but I thought that maybe some common sense should have told her that 15 stamps of that rate could not possibly cost 135 CNY! So starting to get a bit pissed, since I dont know anymore if someone is trying to rip me off or if it was an unintentional mistake, I open the calculator on my phone and am about to show her the math, when she does her math again on her own calculator, and oh look. this time it showed 67.5...and she cant believe her eyes, she is all surprised..so she does the calculation again - 67.5....and then again, just to make sure - yeah 67.5...so I finally manage to buy stamps at the ACTUAL price  and go back home 

for my 'experimental' postcards' sending from China, I decided to go with the official cards, mainly cos I haven't sent any since I left Macedonia, so I do want to work on it a bit and get it back to shape...so i get the addresses (nothing exciting there) and write my first 5 cards out of the 15 addresses, and just in case add EUROPE after the country's name to the cards going to EUROPE - and the next day excitedly go to the post office (a different one since it was on my way to where I was going...I see a counter with stamps so I ask the lady where could I mail my cards - she takes them, inspects the stamps and if the postage is sufficient - passed the test. And then she says 'but you also need to write the country;s name in Chinese'. Ok..wait, what?????!!!  (honestly, this thing did cross my mind but just crossed it since I remember most of the cards I had received from China, had something in Chinese near or below the name of the country) - I thought it may not be a real need to write them in Chinese but turns out I was wrong - first she couldnt read the names of the countries in English, I had to tell her that one was for Taiwan, and she was kind enough to write it down for me in Chinese, and that the rest were for Europe (which she had to look up on the phone for how to write it in Chinese) - yeah, she was helpful indeed, but I certainly cannot always go to the PO and ask for the people there to write the names in Chinese...so here is my clumsy attempt to do so...I still havent finished nor sent these, but makes me wonder if they are ever gonna reach their real destination - and before you ask me, no I absolutely do not know the names of the countries in Chinese - just relying on google here ....

so that's not really how I expected my first attempt of postcards sending to be :D  let's see what the outcome of this story is going to be...

Anyways, if you like one of these cards let me know and Ill try to mail one to you...if I manage to get your country's name right in Chinese that is :P 

Valentine's Day-hype in China

Walking through the streets of Guangzhou tonight (my initial idea was to go and see some of the Lantern Festivals' performances), I ended up being amused by the hundreds and hundreds of Chinese people celebrating Valentine's Day.
The streets were generally full with people holding boxes full of flowers, trying to sell them to the passers by.
It amuses me that Chinese people go crazy about all these Western holidays but the internet is still greatly censored and it sometimes takes magic to make websites like gmail, facebook, youtube, work properly...

well yeah....been really silent here for months...frankly I didn't expect it that I would be so unable to keep posting here, even if not regularly ...so yeah. life's been busy and tiring, but well, that's the price you have to pay for the experiences :)

in case you havent noticed I had renamed this blog into 'postcards and travels' since obviously for the time being it will be less postcards and more travel pictures + i bought a new camera just before New Year so at least I've been able to take some decent and worth-to-show pictures...so hopefully would be able to share those with you sooner or later...at least with those of you who are not on FB - I've already done my bragging share there :D

Anyways, hope you are all well...and if you are maybe wondering how come you still havent found a Chinese card from me in the mailbox..well cos I still havent sent any..finding postcards here has been a real challenge, and I actually dread going to the post office and asking for stamps with my still non-existent Chinese :D :D :D

Oh well....

Hello from the other side....

sooo, finally a few words from here....from the far-away land of China! (well, that depends where you actually are...it may not be THAT far-away...in fact, China may be nearer than Macedonia to your place :)

anyways, not so long ago I kinda announced that I may be going to China....and that 'maybe' turned into 'i should really use this opportunity' which finally ended into me landing here in Guangzhou exactly one month ago...yep, believe it or not it's been a month since I've been living here. I know I should have made some post earlier, but for the first days I was all jet-lagged, and then there have been many things to do...and then when I have some free time, all I feel like doing is sleep sleep sleep, or just watch a movie....but I believe that I should really kinda commemorate this small anniversary and just say hello and say Im safe and sound and all :)

I could talk about my impressions for hours and hours...frankly, I feel as if I've been here for like a year...Macedonia feels so distant at the moment that it makes me even sad...I don't miss the country or the places there, but I really miss my family and friends, but I guess that's kinda normal...I miss them even when I go on short trips and all. However, this time is really different, and I still don't know for how long this trip of a life time will last, but I hope I won't have to pack my bags next month and go back home :)

I still haven't sent a single card from here, for two reasons - first, financially I am trying to be wise and not spend money on cards and stamps and stuff, and second, I still haven't even seen a place selling cards which is kinda weird since the city is just HUGE!! Yeah, HUGE!! 14 million people give or take, third biggest in China, and yet I still haven't spotted postcards....but I found a philatelic shop though, which may be even more dangerous! :D

But I have this feeling the language barrier will be a problem...you know, I've never felt more miserable in my life for not knowing a particular language, but here, I do..I feel like I've just dropped from outer space and have been randomly thrown here, feeling completely lost when it comes to the language...I mean, geez, it is even impossible to comprehend a single thing, not to mention that the only way I could make most of the people understand me is body language...cos no, they DON'T speak English and no they won't even try (most of the people - but there is this girl working in a supermarket nearby, and she really tries hard to talk to me in English, I really love her for that!

Speaking of mail...there should be mailboxes in the building where I am, but I still haven't seen them...plus I still don't feel comfortable receiving mail here...but my Macedonian address is always valid, so if you send me something there, my parents will take care of it, just that I'm not sure when I will be able to let you know it has arrived =/

Well, I have seen just a few places here, as I said, whenever I have some free time, I feel like sleeping..plus the weather here is sooo terrible (very hot and humid, or hot and with rain/showers) that often you don't even feel like going anywhere :)

But here are a few pics, just so you don't forget me :))

this is the view from my apartment (:

Yeah, I really am in China, in case you thought I was joking :D

If you wanna know whether I like it here or not...I don't know, everything is still interesting and there are so many new things and all...but I think that my adjustment has been going pretty well, and that's kinda really important to me...and thank God there are some other Macedonian expats here, so in the end you don't feel THAT lonely in a city of 14 million people. Of course, everyone is busy and all, but in a way it does feel comforting to know someone from your own country (one is actually a dear colleague of mine from University, so that makes things even better! :))

Funny thing about these two cards is that I received them both as a part of a swap...I don't know why I would swap for two flag cards, or maybe it was within a short period of time...who would remember, but anyways, I love the pictorial postmark on the first one...maybe if I am lucky, I will get something nice like this in that philately shop :)

However, I should do a better job in reading stamps from scans instead actual cards....I promise to do a better job for next time!

as for that next time, I can't tell when it;s gonna happen...you know, apart from the busy life, things like gmail and fb and blogger don't really function here in China unless you use some VPN services, which are not 100% functional, so sometimes you just feel like cut-off from the real world, which from time to time may not be such a bad idea :)

Anyways, big hug to you all, and see you around, sooner or later! :)

León Cathedral, Nicaragua

Hello Hello! Time for another post...which should've happened earlier but you know me and my laziness sometimes....and how this heat affects me in becoming the most-unproductive human being.
Well, after so much hoping for rain and drop of temperatures, we finally had some last night...but you know what they say, be careful what you wish for, since last night's thunderstorm was like one of the scariest I have ever witnessed...not cos of its strength,  but its length...it just went on and on and on....it felt like being part of some horror movie, something so surreal, that it is hard to explain (at least here we are not used to storms of that kind with 20 dead, a number of people missing, and injured, and the amount of material damage is out of the line). Well, I just hope that the storms forecast for the upcoming days won't be as the one last night....here is just a small glimpse of the actual situation last night...

So anyways, lets get down to some cards... I'm sure you are here for that, not for my whining and complaining :)

And the first one for today comes from Sissel and her trip to Nicaragua back in 2011...

The card shows the León Cathedral, also known as the "Real and Renowned Basilica Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary" (ok, is there a point in giving such complex names??!), which was awarded World Heritage Site status with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The site's nomination is Nicaragua's third cultural landmark, following the ruins of León Viejo and El Güegüense .

The Cathedral's construction lasted between 1747 and 1814 and was consecrated by Pope Pius IX in 1860. Cathedral has maintained the status of being the largest cathedral in Central America and one of the best known in the Americas due to its distinct architecture and special cultural importance.

And a set of lovely butterflies' stamps, which actually have been cancelled, but that cancellation somewhat got smudged.
In the year of 2000, Nicaragua had issued a few sets of butterfly stamps and these come from one of those (the set has six in total, and I have the mini sheet in mint condition, thanks again to Sissel of course :D)

These three here show the, from left to right, Actinote thalia anteas, the Doxocopa laurentia cherubina, and the Napeopgenes tolosa mombachoensis - well, names meaningful to people like lepidopterists for example :)

Thank you Sissel for the great card and lovely stamps!!

New Zealand

Moving on to the next card - one that was in my favourites for a long time, and dear Heather decided to surprise my mailbox with it!

it shows two people from the Tamaki Maori Village in Rotoroua, doing the hongi, which is a traditional Maori greeting, where people touch their noses briefly once or twice as a way of saying 'hello'
Isn't that just lovely?? And I thought only the Eskimos had this nose-thing (though for them it is an act of kissing....)

The two lovely stamps are from a set of 6 issued in 2013, under the name Matariki - Koru. At first the name means nothing to me, but it turns out that when the star cluster known as Matariki appears in the night sky it signals the Maori New Year and a time of new beginnings. The Matariki 2013 stamp issue celebrates the koru - a pattern symbolising new life and regeneration.

Matariki is a significant event for Māori, and is widely acknowledged to signal a change of seasons. In traditional Māori society, Matariki was believed to foretell whether the year ahead would be plentiful. It was also a time of festivity, when communities would come together to reflect on the past and look ahead to new beginnings. The message of new beginnings is represented in the koru pattern, which is derived from an unfurling silver fern frond. Each of the six self-adhesive stamps in this issue incorporates the koru pattern along with aspects of traditional Māori culture that have particular significance during the time of Matariki.

Thank you very very much Heather!

New York, USA

Another surprise card, this time from dear Agi and her last year's trip to the US....when I do the math, feels like she's seen half the world so far...I wonder when or IF i will ever achieve that (well whichever way you turn it, she will always be ahead of me anyways :)

The card shows a scene from the Central Park in NY, a place which I don't know, is inevitably mentioned in every single movie set in NY....or at least that's my impression of it :)

It is said to be the most visited park in the entire USA, with 40 million visitors in 2013.  With 341 ha in size, it definitely seems like there is plenty to do and see here.

the stamp is the 2014 Christmas one, showing the Evergreen Wreath.

Hvala ti puno Aginice! :*

Westport, Ireland

A card showing the Irish town of Westport, in the Mayo County. It arrived as a surprise from Lynda, for the FB Surprise Group.

With its urban population is around 5500 people, Westport is also a popular tourist destination and scores highly for Quality of Life.  It has won the Irish Tidy Towns Competition ( never knew competitions like this existed...we would score pretty low on it) three times in 2001, 2006 and 2008; in 2012 it also won the Best Place to Live in Ireland competition run by The Irish Times.

In the back, you can see the Croagh Patrick Mountain, which is a famous pilgrimage mountain.

Westport's name in Irish, "Cathair na Mart", has the meaning of "stone fort of the beeves".

An adorable stamp!! (quite expensive postage that is...)
It shows a very cute otter from a set of 4 definitives issued in 2015.

Thanks a lot Lynda! :)

India

One more card for today, this time showing a really lovely girl from India.

The people from the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan are skilled craftsmen, where one village is an expert in one, while the next village in another craft.
Most of the crafts origin from there, especially certain apparels, jewelry, accessories, and they are quite cheap.
People who know me know that I have a really soft spot on such jewelry (no gold or silver but unusual, colourful, or funny ones) so probably these places would be my heaven.
I love the way this girl is dressed - so lovely and colourful, and I esp love her bunch of colourful bracelets - I'd definitely wear those, in the same quantity as well :)

We have quite a lot of stamps here, let's see how I manage this...
The two bigger colourful stamps are from 2013 (not from the same set though). The one on the very left is part of 2 stamps showing Heritage Buildings - this I believe is the Head Post Office in Agra.
The other big stamp is also from a set of two, showing the Wild Ass of Ladakh & Kutch.

Now, on the small stamps you can see Gandhi - from a set of 6 personalities' stamps issued in 2009. Below it is another stamp from 2009, also from a set of 3 personalities' stamps, showing E.V. Ramasami.
The last one, which you can see twice, is a definitive from 2008.

So, that would be all for today. Enjoy whatever's left of your weekend! Till next time!

Absolut Birthday

And no it is not this blog's birthday (I kinda overlooked that one) but it is its owner's one who got older today...well we get older throughout the year but it is on this day that it looks more real, esp now with FB and everybody wishing you Happy Birthday there...so yeah, a kinda egotistical post this is :D

I am not into horoscopes and stuff (Astronomy is my thing, not Astrology) but then how can I ignore this absolutely cool Absolut Vodka card...cos Leos do rule after all and are the best :D

And well, a Leo is a summer month (again of course the best one). If you actually read about it, you will indeed see that when it comes to Leos, they always have the highest opinion about themselves so I have to do something here not to distort that image :))

Ok, back to seriousness.... I have never really been fond of my birthday, but esp. as I've grown older, the day has started making me really anxious and I've always tried to escape town/country so that it feels painless. Unfortunately both last and this year I haven't been able to do that so I just have to deal with it....and arghh, are birthdays really supposed to make you this nervous?!!

So, Happy Birthday Ana! Be a better person in the next 365 days, and enjoy life!

Ok, signing off. I used my opportunity for being a bit self-centered. Hugs to you all dear people!

Cambodia

The joys of the chilly weather were unfortunately very short-lasting and here we are, back to the terrible summer heat - more unbearable here in the concrete-jungle of the city... I have had my days of such high-temperatures while being by the lake or the sea, and everything just feels so different...but except for a lousy river, not much else can save us here....

So let's see what have we got for today...

First we go to Cambodia....I know it is one of those really rare countries, but I have received quite a few from there...but I don't know why I haven't posted any since 2010...I really make some poor choices sometimes (and regarding postcards, another one will follow somewhere below...)

This super-super cool card arrived from my amiga Zarah showing a Khmer family of 5, riding a moto through the jungle...
Ok, this doesn't really look like a jungle to me, but then on the other hand, I've never been to one, so who am I to be playing an expert here :)

The moto is the most common mode of transport in Cambodia, and if 5 people seems like over the limit, Zarah says she has seen 8....I am trying to imagine how they have been all positioned...but I can't :)

the stamp is from a set of 5 issued in 2009, commemorating the 1st Anniversary of the Establishment of the Temple of Preah Vihear on the UNESCO World Heritage.

Hmm, ok, something to put on my to-visit list when one day I visit Cambodia :D

btw, note the cool 12.12.12 cancellation ;-)

muchas gracias amiga!! I know you've been busy, but hope you are doing fine! :)