South Korea

Postcard of the Gyeonghoeru Pavilion (경회루) in the Gyeongbokgung Palace (경복궁), one of the former royal palaces of the Joseon dynasty. Originally built in 1395 and reconstructed at various times, in the early twentieth century, much of the palace was systematically destroyed by Imperial Japan. The Gyeonghoeru Pavilion is one of just a handful of buildings to have survived, although there is now a large-scale restoration project to restore the Palace to its original form.

Had a bit of trouble finding info about these stamps, but the one on the left features the poplar admiral, Limenitis populi, a large butterfly found across Europe and Asia, and the stamp on the right features rose of Sharon, Hibiscus syriacus, a flowering shrub originally from East Asia. 

Japan II

Postcard of Tokyo's Haneda Airport with Mount Fuji in the background. Tokyo has two airports; Haneda, Tokyo's original airport a short train-ride from the city centre, and Narita, built two hours away in the middle of nowhere when Haneda became too crowded after the growth of air travel in the 1970s. When I lived in Japan, Haneda was the domestic airport and Narita the international one; not a terribly convenient situation if you needed to transfer from one to the other. A new runway and terminal building were added to Haneda in 2010 and international services returned. I flew home to Singapore through Haneda last Christmas and preferred it immensely to somewhat dreary and utilitarian Narita airport. I look forward to using it again in the future.

Stamp from 1997 definitive series, still going strong! The series features Japanese fauna, and pictured here is the Japanese tit, Parus minor, a common songbird found throughout Japan and East Asia.

China II

Another China postcard from the archives, this time showing the Hall of Supreme Harmony (太和殿) in the Forbidden City in Beijing, part of the Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang UNESCO World Heritage site. The Hall was the site of public ceremonies such as enthronements and weddings. It is the largest wooden building in China and was originally built in 1406, although rebuilt following fires several times thereafter.

Stamp on the left is from a 1994 set of six featuring famous scenic places in China. Pictured here is Goddess Peak (神女峰), which is where the goddess Yao Ji is believed to be immortalized in stone, watching over the Yangtze River below. Stamp on the right is from the 1989 definitive series featuring folk architecture. Pictured here are traditional houses from Jiangsu Province in eastern China.

Finland II

A card showing the lightship Helsinki in the foreground, which celebrated its 100th anniversary last year. A "lightship" is a ship whose function was to serve as a lighthouse in places were it would be impractical to build a conventional lighthouse, in this case outside Helsinki Harbour. It was in active service until 1959 when modern technology made it obsolete. Having survived a German attack in World War Two, it now serves as a maritime museum. In the background is the Finnish Presidential Palace, which was previously the Imperial Palace of the Tsar, back when Finland was a grand duchy of the Russian Empire. 

This card is something of a rarity: a non-Postcrossing card from Finland! ;-) Many thanks and merci to my friend, Étienne, who was on holiday in Helsinki.

Stamp from a set of three issued this year featuring popular Finnish berries, in this case redcurrants, Ribes rubrum.

Soviet Union

Another card from the archives. When I was young, my dad went on a business trip to several Eastern Bloc countries, sending me postcards as he went. Back in the old days, anything from behind the Iron Curtain seemed terrifically exotic, and these onion-domed spires seemed more fairytale than real. To hold a piece of something so faraway was magical to young me. It prompted me to declare that I would collect a postcard from every country in the world, not realising how many countries there were (and today there are even more!). Now, more than twenty years on, I'm still at it and, at last count with 114 countries and postal entities left to go, still rather a ways from reaching the goal. But, as they say, getting there is certainly half the fun!:-)

A very special thanks to my Dad for launching me into this amazing quest.

Stamp on the left from the 1988 definitive series features a statue of Mercury in promotion of international trade cooperation. Four kopek stamp from the same series printed as a postage paid part of the postcard shows Spassky Tower and Lenin's tomb in Red Square, Moscow.

Canada – Alberta III

With the start of the Olympics this week, a card courtesy of Glenn from another Olympic city, Calgary, which hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics, having previously bid for the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Winter Olympics, losing out to Innsbruck, Grenoble and Sapporo, respectively. Perseverance pays off in the end! In that honour, I'm introducing an Olympic Cities label to commemorate all the places that have hosted that great event.

The card, as you can see, has nothing to do with the Calgary Olympics, of course, but rather features a chuck wagon race at the Calgary Stampede, an annual rodeo and festival that celebrates its hundredth birthday this year. My thanks to Glenn for the card.

Three stamps from a set of four featuring Canadian "Difference Makers". Rick Hansen is a celebrated Canadian Paralympian who circled the world in his wheelchair to raise awareness and funds for spinal cord research. He's also from my dad's small hometown! Louise Arbour is a war crimes prosecutor who later served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Michael J. Fox is an actor who was diagnosed with young onset Parkinson's disease and has since dedicated himself to increasing research into the disease. 

Sweden

Although Sweden certainly doesn't seem like a faraway or unusual country, this is only the second card from Sweden in my collection! The first card being rather unlovely, I was quite happy to receive this one. It shows the Södermalm district of central Stockholm.

Both stamps are permanent rate, first class mail stamps. The one on the left features an acorn (could not find more info), and the one on the right features King Carl Gustaf XVI, who is a familiar face from Nobel Prize ceremonies, where he personally hands out the awards.

Russian Federation

Postcard of the insanely large Tsar Cannon (Царь-пушка) on the grounds of the Moscow Kremlin. The barrel diameter is 1.2 metres, making it the largest cannon-type weapon ever. It was cast in 1586 and was never actually used in warfare. Part of the Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow World Heritage site.

A number of stamps including two, the fox and the rabbit, from a 2008 definitive series on animals of Russia. The centre stamp features the Zhivopisny Bridge in Moscow, the highest cable-stayed bridge in Europe. The stamp on the right commemorates the 100th anniversary of the birth of Marina Raskova, a celebrated Soviet aviatrix who broke several flying records in the 1930s and went on to found three female air regiments during the Second World War.

Greece

View of the famous Acropolis of Athens, a World Heritage site atop a rocky outcrop overlooking the modern city of Athens. Construction of its famous Parthenon, a temple dedicated to the city's namesake goddess, Athena, began in 447 BC. It was severely damaged during fighting between the Venetians and Ottomans in 1687. At that time, the British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin removed some of the sculptures that survived the fighting, with the Ottoman Turks' permission, which lead to the modern-day dispute over the return of the Elgin Marbles, now held in the British Museum.

Permanent rate stamp from 2010 featuring traditional Greek architecture. 

Thanks so much to Molly who sent this card while she was on holiday there!

France II

Eiffel Tower seen from the Seine River, part of the "Paris, Banks of the Seine" World Heritage site. Built for the 1889 World's Fair, the Eiffel Tower doesn't really need much of an introduction. Interestingly, however,  it caused widespread outcry at the time of its construction, with many people calling it an eyesore. Although hard to believe nowadays, when I learned that it was originally painted yellow and sported ads for Michelin tires, I can understand why people might not have been that keen on it at the time.

Definitive rate stamp featuring France's national symbol, Mariane, with the stars of the European Union, and a commemorative stamp featuring the city of Colmar in Alsace. It is considered the capital of Alsatian wine and is also the hometown of Frédéric Bartholdi, designer of the Statue of Liberty.

And a special congratulations to collector SL who just received a card from Sierra Leone, surely one of the most difficult countries from which to receive a card. Way to go!

Canada – British Colombia II

Postcard featuring Science World in Vancouver, which started life as the Expo Centre for Expo 86. Expo 86 was a World's Fair held in Vancouver with the theme "Transportation and Communication: World in Motion – World in Touch", which coincided with Vancouver's centennial. It was the second time that Canada held a World's Fair, the first being Expo 67 in Montreal during the Canadian Centennial. It was quite a popular fair with over 20 million visitors, one of whom was a wide-eyed 7 year-old me who was very over-awed with all the different countries and peoples who were represented there.

A set of two permanent domestic rate stamps commemorating the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

Australia

Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House. The Opera House was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 2007.










Russell Falls, Tasmania

Canada – British Colombia

Coal Harbour viewed from Stanely Park with Canada Place and the new Convention Centre.

Self-adhesive stamp showing Quatchi, mascot for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.