Where is Waldo? :O

My first “Where is Waldo” postcard received in early August 2013 via Postcrossing private swap. Thanks Annie! :)

I picked this card because of the books. xD

 

I think I did find him! :P

 

Lovely US stamps:

 

Choose to walk! :)

Map of the United States :)

My first map card of the US! :) Received in early August 2013 via Postcrossing private swap. Thanks Annie! :)

There are 50 states in the US and I hope to collect all the US map cards someday! :D

1. AL : Alabama
2. AK : Alaska
3. AZ : Arizona
4. AR : Arkansas
5. CA : California
6. CO : Colorado
7. CT : Connecticut
8. DE Delaware
9. FL : Florida
10. GA : Georgia
11. HI : Hawaii
12. ID : Idaho
13. IL : Illinois
14. IN : Indiana
15. IA : Iowa
16. KS : Kansas
17. KY : Kentucky
18. LA : Louisiana
19. ME : Maine
20. MD : Maryland
21. MA : Massachusetts
22. MI : Michigan
23. MN : Minnesota
24. MS : Mississippi
25. MO : Missouri
26. MT : Montana
27. NE : Nebraska
28. NV : Nevada
29. NH : New Hampshire
30. NJ : New Jersey
31. NM : New Mexico
32. NY : New York
33. NC : North Carolina
34. ND : North Dakota
35. OH : Ohio
36. OK : Oklahoma
37. OR : Oregon
38. PA : Pennsylvania
39. RI : Rhode Island
40. SC : South Carolina
41. SD : South Dakota
42. TN : Tennessee
43. TX : Texas
44. UT : Utah
45. VT : Vermont
46. VA : Virginia
47. WA : Washington
48. WV : West Virginia
49. WI : Wisconsin
50. WY : Wyoming

 

Lovely US stamps on the card:

Year of the Rabbit 2011 (Canada) :D

Received in early August 2013 via Postcrossing private swap. Thanks Pen! :D

Yay! It’s a postage prepaid card of the Year of the Rabbit from Canada! :D

 

The rabbit “stamp”:

A lovely addition to my still small collection! :D Thanks again Pen!!

 

(49) Sukran from Turkey :D

My 2nd 愛 from Turkey. Thanks a lot Sukran! :D

Received in early August 2013 via Postcrossing official swap. :)

 

愛 from Turkey! ^^

 

If you’re wondering what the Turkish sentence on the postcard means, here it is:

 

Thanks again Sukran! :)

 

Phare de Goulphar, France

Received in early August 2013 via Postcrossing official swap. Thanks Kai!

(NOT sent from country of origin)

The Goulphar lighthouse (Phare de Goulphar or Grand Phare de Kervilahouen) is a lighthouse on Belle-Île-en-Mer in France. It is a granite tower combining the technical buildings and the keepers’ lodgings, designed by Augustin Fresnel.

Goulphar was listed as Monument historique in 1995.

(Thanks Wikipedia!)

 

German stamp:

 

I like the postmark. :)

 

Blue Mountains in Australia :)

Received in early August 2013 via Postcrossing official swap. Thanks Don! :)

 

About Blue Mountains:

The Blue Mountains is a mountainous region in New South Wales, Australia. It borders on Sydney’s metropolitan area, its foothills starting about 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of the state capital.

Officially the Blue Mountains is bounded by the Nepean and Hawkesbury Rivers in the east, the Coxs River and Lake Burragorang to the west and south, and the Wolgan and Colo Rivers to the north. Geologically, it is situated in the central parts of the Sydney Basin.

The Blue Mountains are a dissected plateau carved in sandstone bedrock. They are now a series of ridge lines separated by gorges up to 760 metres (2,490 ft) deep. The highest point in the Blue Mountains, as it is now defined, is an unnamed point with an elevation of 1,189 m (3,901 ft) seven kilometres north-east of Lithgow. However, the highest point in the broader region once considered to be the Blue Mountains is Mount Bindo, elevation 1,362 m (4,469 ft).

A large part of the Blue Mountains is incorporated into the Greater Blue Mountains Area World Heritage Site, consisting of seven national park areas and a conservation reserve.

(Thanks Wikipedia!)

 

Stamps with a matching theme:

廣州白雲山 Baiyun Mountain (Guangzhou, China)

Received in late July 2013 via Postcrossing private swap. Thanks Yachne! :)

白雲山 Baiyun Shan, Baiyun Mountain, or Mount Baiyun is a mountain near Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province in China officially part of the Baiyunshan Resort along with Luhu Park, Yuntai Garden, Mingchungu Scenic Area, Monxinling Scenic Area, Mingzhulou Scenic Area, Yunxi Ecological Park, and Baiyun Sculpture Park.

The name of the mountain derives from the view of peaks shrouded by white clouds in late Spring or when the sky clears after rain. Baiyun Mountain has been a scenic spot since ancient times.

The fame of the mountain dates back before the city of Guangzhou was established, when it was occasionally visited by celebrities of as early as the Warring States period (476 BC–221 BC). It had become known for its beauty in Jin Dynasty (265–420) and reputed as a tourist attraction in Tang Dynasty (618–897).

Numerous scenes on Baiyun Mountain have been named in the Eight Sights of Guangzhou (Chinese: 羊城八景) of various eras since the Song Dynasty (960–1279).  Historically, Baiyun Mountain had an abundance of scenic spots and historical sites, but few of them have survived till modern days.

Over the course of history, Baiyun Mountain have earned the titles of “Top Beauty of Guangzhou” (Chinese: 羊城第一秀) and “First Mountain of Lingnan” (Chinese: 嶺南第一名山).

(Thanks Wikipedia!)

 

A lovely stamp of 雪豹 Snow leopard!

 

1. The snow leopard (Panthera uncia or Uncia uncia) is a moderately large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central Asia.

2. The snow leopard is listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as globally Endangered (EN).

3. Snow leopards occupy alpine and subalpine areas generally 3,350 to 6,700 metres (10,990 to 22,000 ft) above sea level in Central Asia. 

 

4. The global snow leopard effective population size (those likely to reproduce) is suspected to be fewer than 2,500 (50% of the total population, or 2,040–3,295).

They look so cool! >_<

Snow leopards are slightly smaller than the other big cats but, like them, exhibit a range of sizes, generally weighing between 27 and 55 kg (60 and 120 lb), with an occasional large male reaching 75 kg (170 lb) and small female of under 25 kg (55 lb).

They have a relatively short body, measuring in length from the head to the base of the tail 75 to 130 cm (30 to 50 in). However, the tail is quite long, at 80 to 100 cm (31 to 39 in), with only the domestic-cat-sized marbled cat being relatively longer-tailed. They are stocky and short-legged big cats, standing about 60 cm (24 in) at the shoulder.

Snow leopards have long, thick fur, and their base colour varies from smoky gray to yellowish tan, with whitish underparts. They have dark grey to black open rosettes on their bodies, with small spots of the same color on their heads and larger spots on their legs and tails. Unusually among cats, their eyes are pale green or grey in colour.

Snow leopards show several adaptations for living in a cold, mountainous environment. Their bodies are stocky, their fur is thick, and their ears are small and rounded, all of which help to minimize heat loss. Their paws are wide, which distributes their weight better for walking on snow, and have fur on their undersides to increase their grip on steep and unstable surfaces; it also helps to minimize heat loss. Snow leopards’ tails are long and flexible, helping them to maintain their balance, which is very important in the rocky terrain they inhabit. Their tails are also very thick due to storage of fat and are very thickly covered with fur which allows them to be used like a blanket to protect their faces when asleep.

The snow leopard has a short muzzle and domed forehead, containing unusually large nasal cavities that help the animal breathe the thin, cold air of their mountainous environment.

The snow leopard cannot roar, despite possessing partial ossification of the hyoid bone. This partial ossification was previously thought to be essential for allowing the big cats to roar, but new studies show the ability to roar is due to other morphological features, especially of the larynx, which are absent in the snow leopard. Snow leopard vocalizations include hisses, chuffing, mews, growls, and wailing.

(Thanks Wikipedia!)

 

Humpty Dumpty and Alice :D

Received in late July 2013 via Postcrossing private swap. Thanks Annie! :)

Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world. Though not explicitly described, he is typically portrayed as an anthropomorphic egg. The first recorded versions of the rhyme date from late eighteenth century England and the tune from 1870 in James William Elliott’s National Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Songs. Its origins are obscure and several theories have been advanced to suggest original meanings.

The character of Humpty Dumpty was popularised in the United States by actor George L. Fox (1825–77). As a character and literary allusion he has appeared in, or been referred to in a large number of works of literature and popular culture, particularly in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass (1872). The rhyme is listed in the Roud Folk Song Index as No. 13026.

The rhyme is one of the best known and most popular in the English language. The most common modern text is:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the king’s horses and all the king’s men

Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

It is a single quatrain, with external rhymes that follow the pattern of AABB and with a trochaic metre, which is common in nursery rhymes.

The earliest known version was published in Samuel Arnold’s Juvenile Amusements in 1797, with the lyrics:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

Four-score Men and Four-score more,

Could not make Humpty Dumpty where he was before.

Humpty appears in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass (1872), where he discusses semantics and pragmatics with Alice.

    “I don’t know what you mean by ‘glory,’ ” Alice said.

    Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. “Of course you don’t—till I tell you. I meant ‘there’s a nice knock-down argument for you!’ ”

    “But ‘glory’ doesn’t mean ‘a nice knock-down argument’,” Alice objected.

    “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”

    “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”

    “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master—that’s all.”

    Alice was too much puzzled to say anything, so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again. “They’ve a temper, some of them—particularly verbs, they’re the proudest—adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs—however, I can manage the whole lot! Impenetrability! That’s what I say!”

(Thanks Wikipedia!)

Here’s Humpty Dumpty as illustrated by W.W. Denslow in 1904:

A US stamp of Lydia Mendoza:

Lydia Mendoza (May 21, 1916 – December 20, 2007) was an American guitarist and singer of Tejano, conjunto, and traditional Mexican-American music. She is known as “La Alondra de la Frontera” (or “The Lark of the Border” in English).

Mendoza was born on May 21, 1916, in Houston, Texas. She learned to sing and play stringed instruments from her mother and grandmother. In 1928, as part of the family group, Cuarteto Carta Blanca, she made her first recordings for the Okeh Records label in San Antonio, Texas.

(Thanks Wikipedia!)

Keep calm & drink tea :D

My 4th Keep Calm postcard – received via Postcrossing private swap in late July 2013. Thanks Dominique! ^^

 

Lovely Belgian stamps with Chinese characters! :)

 

Nice rubber stamp:

 

Winter is here; do you fancy a cuppa? :)

 

張弼士古宅（藍屋）(Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion), Malaysia :)

Received in late July 2013 via Postcrossing private swap. Thanks SL! :)

The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, also called the Blue Mansion, is a Unesco site in Penang, Malaysia.

About Cheong Fatt Tze (張弼士):

Cheong Fatt Tze (Chinese: 張弼士; pinyin: Zhāng Bìshì) (1840–1916) was a Chinese businessman and politician born in 1840 in Dabu, Guangdong Province in South China. He was a powerful Nanyang industrialist and a first-class Mandarin in the Manchu government; he was made Consul-General in Singapore and economic advisor to the Empress Dowager.

He had eight wives and owned many residences throughout his trading empire (mostly Southeast Asia) but made Penang his base, where he raised his six sons.

(Thanks Wikipedia! )

About the Blue Mansion:

Memoir Of A Mansion In Its Prime

Undoubtedly the prototype of the land-hopping ‘jet-setter’, Cheong Fatt Tze maintained mansions in Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong and China, besides the one in Penang. But although each of his far flung homes amply reflected his high station in life in terms of scale and luxuriousness, it would appear from all accounts, that the Leith Street home was the favoured one. The Blue Mansion was certainly his most elaborate and lavish – its detailing and artisan works more refined than even those in his native home in Tai’pu; and it was reputedly one of only two such buildings of its size outside China.

Blue’s Blueprint

The Mansion’s construction began before the end of the 19th Century, and it was said that Cheong Fatt Tze had hoped to house nine generations of his descendants there. The plot of land was chosen after heavy consultation with the era’s preeminent feng shui masters, and while all his Hakka friends and relatives chose to build very modern, Anglo-Indian houses in and around the area, Cheong Fatt Tze gave the go-ahead for the construction of a traditional Chinese home. Artisans were shipped in from Southern China expressly for the project, and building materials were imported from as far away as Scotland.

The paradigm two-storey courtyard house, incidentally, was built in stages – the centre bay was constructed first, while the wings were added at a later stage (clear indications of after-thought are found in the corridors that lead nowhere and originally external windows opening out into covered verandah ways).

Mansion’s Functions

Towards Cheong Fatt Tze’s later life, No. 14 served as both an office and a home. It acted as the base for his commercial enterprises and housed the Chinese Vice-Consulate – not to mention his favoured 7th wife.

All significant activities were concentrated in the centre of the mansion, with front halls allocated for business meetings, the administration of the Vice-Consul Generalship and formal greeting of guests. The rear halls were for ancestral prayers, dining and family; while areas on the first floor housed rooms for significant family members. It was understood that preferred family members were housed in the Centre Bay, while those who had lost favour, as well as lesser relatives, were moved to the wings.

Stables were sited at the back of the Mansion, together with a row of outhouses and bathrooms, the main house itself having no indoor plumbing. Residents depended on chamber pots and the willingness of many retainers to empty them. A low building by the main gate was used as staff quarters together with a raised viewing pavilion that was badly damaged by bombing during the Second World War.

(Source: The official website of the Blue Mansion)

In Chinese:

張弼士古宅(Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion)是檳城首府喬治市最美的建築，現在已經被列為聯合國教科文組織的社會文化遺產之一。

建造這棟豪宅的原屋主張弼士(1840~1916)，是清朝末期著名的商人，他被稱為「中國第一位資本家」，紐約時報也曾譽他為「東方的洛克菲勒」。 

張弼士古宅(Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion)共有38個房間、5個庭院、7座樓梯、和220扇窗戶。既有中式的精緻木雕與清瓷剪黏，又有西式的庭閣樓宇，中西風格完美結合，高雅而不華俗。

這棟故居平時開放限定導覽，並提供16間客房住宿，房內保有傳統的中式裝潢，和現代化的冷氣與衛浴設備。此外，此處也是檳城熱門的宴會場所，故居提供舉辦婚宴或是派對的全套佈置和餐點。

(Source: http://www.promotemalaysia.com)

I love the Year of the Rabbit stamp put on the postcard! :D Thanks SL!