Finland

Here's a creative envelope from Finland. This envelope is made our of magazine; the first of its kind I have received so far! I think its a pretty cool idea, though the envelope feels a little flimsy.

The back of the envelope was sealed with a priority sticker.

 This is the postcard in the envelope. It shows two Christmas stamps issued in year 1980. I really like the theme of Christmas and stamps being put together! It just looks so beautiful!

The stamp on the right is designed by renowned postcard artist Kaarina Toivanen. It was released on 7th November 2011, along with another stamp with a Christmas theme.

Punakha Dzong, Punakha, Bhutan

A postcard from Bhutan. Peaceful, serene with it's lush mountains, it just looks like a fantastic getaway destination! Or at least that is my first impression from this wonderful postcard.

This postcard shows Punakha Dzong. It was known in ancient times Druk Pungthang Dechhen Phrodang or “the palace of great happiness”. It is a fortress built in 1638. Pretty historical no? Today, it houses administrative offices and several religious sites.

The stamps used commemorates Teacher's Day 2012 in Bhutan. It was released on 2nd May 2012.

Thank you Tashi for the lovely postcard and stamps!

Iraq

Finally! I thought my postcards from Iraq were never going to arrive, but they came today! Here is the manila envelope.

The postmarks on the envelope bore Arabic characters, which were pretty interesting since I don't see these characters often. The back of the envelope is below.

Bilal and I agreed to swap 5 postcards, so here's the first. This is a view of Mosul, a city in northern Iraq. The city has a large university, the University of Mosul.

The next card shows the Al-Hadba Minaret in Mosul.

This is the Al-Masqa Gate in Neneveh.

The next postcard shows the Relief in the Palace of Ashurnasserpal II. Ashurnasserpal II was king of Assyria from 883 to 859BC. 

The last card shows the entrance to Ashurnasserpal's Palace in the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud.

The stamps are pretty special. The stamp on top is one of two from the series commemorating Matyr day in Iraq. The 2 stamps at the bottom commemorate Iraqi post day.

It has really been my privilege to see a small part of Iraq through these postcards. Thank you Bilal for all the postcards and stamps!

Batumi City, Gerogia

Here's a postcard I thought to be very rare. How often does one get to receive a postcard from Georgia?

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. The capital of Georgia is Tbilisi. Georgia covers a territory of 69,700 km square and its population is almost 4.7 million. This postcard, however, shows Batumi City. According to Anina, who sent me the card, this photo was taken 100 years ago! The postcard has a really nice brownish colour that gives it an aged feel.

 The stamps are from a series depicting Georgian Manuscript monuments.

Here are the rest of the stamps.

Thank you Anina for the beautiful addition to my collection!

Luxembourg

This is one of the less common cards that come along. It features various places in the landlocked country of Luxembourg. I've never had the chance to visit it, but I do hope I can one day!

The stamp here is part of the series commemorating the London Olympic games 2012. It was issued on 15th May 2012 along with another stamp.

Belarus

This is a card that I received from Belarus. The cartoon drawings are quite cute.

The sender used some pretty nice stamps and stickers on the card. 

Thank you Eugene for the card and stamps!

Nicosia, Cyprus

 Here's a rather rare postcard sent on 26th September 2012. It depicts a view of the old City of Nicosia near the Venetian walls in Cyprus. The Venetian walls are the oldest walls built in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Venetians commissioned Italian military engineers in 1567 to design a fortification for Nicosia to protect it from an impending Ottoman invasion.

The stamp on the left was issued on 17th March 2012 in a series of 5 stamps portraying farm animals.

Thank you Anna for the interesting swap! 

World Post Day, Singapore

To celebrate World Post Day 2012, Singpost gave out a free Post-a-Card. The process was pretty simple. First, download the Post-a-Card application on your smartphone. Then select a picture for the front of your postcard. I selected a picture that I took in Venice, Italy. 

Next, fill in details on the back of the card: a message to the addressee, the address that the postcard should be sent to, your own address, and wallah! Singpost would print the postcard and send it to your recepient without charge! The offer only lasts from 9th to 15th October 2012. This is how the back of the card looks like:

Singpost used this stamp for my card:

The stamp is part of a series of stamps issued on 14th September 2011. Here is the rest of the stamps:

More about these stamps can be found on these websites:

1. The Restaurant 
2. Lets Talk Stamps

Sydney, Australia

This postcard is from Sydney, Australia. I've been to Australia a few times: to Brisbane and Melbourne. But I've never been to Sydney. In the foreground is the Sydney Opera House on Benelong Point. The Government House, The Royal Botanic Gardens and part of the city skyline lie in the background.

I really liked the stamp that came along with the card. It shows the fairy penguins on Phillip Island, and I had visited that beautiful island when I went to Melbourne.

The stamp is from a series issued on 18th September 2012 based on the theme Road Trip. Here are the rest of the stamps.

Thank you Deborah for the lovely card!

Chacraraju, Ancash, Peru

A few days ago, I had a wonderful surprise when my postcard from Peru finally arrived. The postcard came in a yellow envoelope. I really like the red postmark because it was really special. A pity real stamps weren't used on this evelope.

This postcard is a scenic view of Chacraraju mountain, part of the Cordillera Blanca, in the Peruvian Andes. It consists of 2 peaks. The higher, Chacraraju West is 6108 meters above sea level. Chacraraju East is 6001 meters above sea level. This is my first postcard from Peru and I really love the mountain view!

Thank you for the wonderful postcard Marcos!

Unicorn and Dragon, Japan

This postcard is from Japan. It depicts a Unicorn confronting a Dragon. These are some of the mythical creatures that I am really fascinated with. The illustration on the postcard is from the book UNICORNIS: On the History and Truth of the Unicorn by Michael Green.

A small paragraph at the back of the postcard reads: Now, the Unicorn oversees all dominions of this world, and so in shadows he finally must confront the Worm. No creature exceeds the Unicorn in quickness or in courage, but vast and subtle is the knowledge of the Dragon. 

Here are the lovely Japanese stamps: 

Thank you Mitsuyo for the wonderful postcard!

Groenplaats and Cathedral, Antwerpen, Belgium

I received this lovely night view of the Groenplaats and Cathedral in Antwerpen, Belgium. It was built between 1420 and 1521 and the tower is 123 meters high. I really like this night view.

日月潭，南投，台湾 (Taiwan)

I will be using Chinese texts for this blog post, so viewers might want to use google translate if you cannot understand. This is the most beautiful postcard from Taiwan I have received so far.

This is a postcard of 日月潭. Instead of scanning it, I have decided to take a picture so as to better portray the effect of the translucent picture in the center. The stamp is also beautiful:

Thank you Estela from Taiwan!

Hrad Bezděz, Czech Republic

Another card that I received today came from the Czech Republic.

The postcard features Bezděz Castle, a gothic castle which was constructed between 1260 to 1280.

The card was posted along with these beautiful stamps.

Finally, the sender was so kind to include some used stamps in the evelope. This is one beautiful miniature sheet that I found inside.

Thank you Alex for the wonderful card and the beautiful stamps!

RMS Titanic, Ireland

I opened my mailbox today to quite a number of letters and postcards, and some of them happened to be really beautiful! Here is one from Ireland:

It came in a brown envelope. I opened it to find this Titanic postcard, which is one of my favourite cards to date. The Titanic was a British passenger liner that was one of the most luxurious ships ever built. It set off for its first and its last voyage on 10 April 1912. The Titanic met its tragic end when it hit an iceberg and sank.

This year marks the 100th year since the Titanic sank, and the Irish post has commemorated this incident by issuing some stamps. Here is a matching stamp that came along with the postcard:

Yup! So that's all from the Emerald Isle! Thank you Nora for the beautiful card and stamp!