Turkey

Postcard showing Sultan Ahmed Mosque and the Sea of Marmara beyond. It was built between 1609 and 1619 by Sultan Ahmet I, who decided to build a large mosque in Istanbul to reassert Ottoman power following losses in Central Europe and Persia. It incorporates some Byzantine Christian elements of the neighboring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period. Part of the Historic Areas of Istanbul World Heritage site. Many thanks and teşekkürler to my Mum for sending this to me while on holiday.

Stamp on the left is the 1998 definitive of Kemal Atatürk, seen as the founder of modern Turkey (and a first-rate Dracula impersonator, by the looks of it). Stamp on the right is from a 2000 set of four about crocuses, and features the snow crocus, Crocus chrysanthus. It is native to Turkey and the Balkans and flowers very early in the spring, often pushing up through the snow.

Cambodia III

Postcard showing the National Museum in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. The Museum was open in 1920 by the French colonial government and houses the world's largest collection of Khmer art. It was shut and abandoned during the Khmer Rouge period from 1975 to 1979. When it was reopened, the roof had rotted in places and it housed a huge colony of bats which were only able to be completely removed over the course of some 15 years.

Stamp issued in 2001 commemorating the 80th birthday of then King Sihanouk.

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. 

Jordan

Postcard of the famous ruins of Petra in southern Jordan. Petra was established as early as 300 BC and was a prominent city in the region for nearly one thousand years until trade routes shifted during the Roman period and a series of earthquakes crippled the vital water management system. The city was gradually abandoned and forgotten to the West until 1812 when the site was reexplored by Swiss traveller Johann Ludwig Burckhardt.

Many thanks to friend Dan for sending this card while on a semester abroad in the region.

Two preprinted stamps on the right, showing Amman, Jordan's capital, and the black iris, Jordan's national flower. Stamp on the left is part of a set of two issued in 1995 commemorating the Arch of Hadrian in Jerash, erected to honour the visit of Roman Emperor Hadrian to the city in the winter of 129–130.

Palestine

Multiview postcard showing various sites around the Palestinian city of Hebron, an ancient city dating back to the Early Bronze Age. It is also the second largest city in Palestine, after Gaza.

Many thanks and a big shukran to Zahra for helping me scratch Palestine off my list. Nearly collected all of Asia now! :-)

Stamp from a 2013 (though actually released in 2014) set  of four commemorating Palestinian Police Day.

Laos

Postcard from the Town of Luang Prabang World Heritage site showing Wat Xieng Thong (Temple of the Golden City). The temple was built in 1559 and is one of the most important in Laos. It was traditionally the site where Laotian kings were crowned. Many thanks and khawp jai to friend Dani who visited Laos.

Stamp on the left is from a 2005 set of three commemorating Laos' 50th anniversary of  its accession to the United Nations. Stamp on the right is from a 2007 set of three featuring the Boun That Luang festival, a three-day religious festival help at Pha That Luang, the country's most important temple.

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.

Kuwait

Postcard of "Donkey cart with enjoyment of the Children". Surely, one of the fugliest postcards in my collection. Out of all of the things one could photograph in Kuwait, a sickly donkey pulling a mobile child-prison past a death trap-slash-funfair can't possibly be very high on the list. Even just some sand dunes or a traffic intersection would be better.

I am nevertheless very grateful to my friend Jennifer who sent this to me while on a long layover in Kuwait Airport. Shukran!

Stamp from 2003 commemorating the 42nd anniversary of independence from the United Kingdom in 1961. 

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.

Bangladesh

Postcard showing a woman from the Mande minority who live in the hills and forests of eastern Bangladesh. The Mande, or Goro, people speak a Sino-Tibetan language. Many thanks to friends Jennifer and Preetom for sending this to me during their holiday in Bangladesh together! ধন্যবাদ ! 

Stamp on the left, issued in 2003, features an orangefin labeo, Labeo calbasu, a member of the carp family common to freshwater rivers and lakes in South and Southeast Asia. Stamps on the right are from 2004 to commemorate the Bangladeshi Olympic Committee.

China

I was a bit surprised to notice recently that, although I have piles of postcard from China in my collection, I've never gotten around to putting one up here yet! – A situation now rectified with a favourite showing a group of people doing taichi on a famous stretch of Shanghai riverfront known as the Bund. The skyscrapers of Pudong, on the opposite side of river are in the background. When I first visited Shanghai, none of the skyscrapers existed and the view was mostly of farmers' fields and rice paddies. 

Stamp from current definitive series featuring Chinese birds. Pictured is the yellow-bellied tit – a snicker-inducing name if ever there was one – (Periparus venustulus), a common bird in temperate and subtropical forests.

Burma

Card showing Shwedagon Pagoda (ရွှေတိဂုံစေတီတော်) in the Burmese city of Rangoon. The pagoda rises 99 metres and is covered in more than 60 tonnes of gold. It is the most sacred Buddhist pagoda in Burma with four Buddha relics enshrined within.

Stamp on the left from the 1974 (!) definitive set featuring ethnic groups in Burma, pictured here a man and woman in traditional Burmese dress. Stamp in the centre from a groovy pop-art-esque 1992 set on musical instruments. Two stamps on the right from a 2010 commemorative set for the 62nd anniversary of Burmese independence showing the national parliament buildings in Naypyidaw.

Cambodia II

Super cute postcard of kid riding a water buffalo through Cambodia rice paddies. Nice to see a postcard from Cambodia that's not of Angkor Wat for once. – Not that I have anything against Angkor Wat; it's amazing. But it's always nice to see a non-picture-postcard, non-tourist-site side to a country.

A couple of older stamps on this card. On the left, stamp from 1999 set of seven on birds, featuring the European greenfinch, Carduelis chloris. Two stamps on right from 1997 set of four on the Asian elephant, Elephas maximus.

Oman

Apologies to all for my overly extended hiatus from the bloggosphere. I was busy with work and then moved house right before leaving for Christmas holidays. Am only now starting to get back to the normal order of things. Starting off the New Year on the right foot, however, with a new country for the collection: OMAN! Woots are in order, as are many thanks to friend Ceri who was in Oman on holiday (and reports loving it immensely).

Card shows the Omani traditional dagger, called the khanjar (خنجر‎). It is a symbolic weapon, worn by men after puberty and carried in an ornamental, filigree silver scabbard. It's of such importance to the national culture that it even appears on the flag and in the national emblem.

Definitive stamps from the set issued in 2001, again featuring the khanjar.

Kyrgyzstan II

Postcard from Kyrgyzstani capital of Bishkek showing the State Philharmonic Hall and a statue of Kyrgyz national hero Manas riding his faithful horse Akkula. The deeds of Manas are recounted in a traditional epic poem that is both very old and very long. With over 500,000 lines, it is considered by some to be the longest epic poem in the world and is recited by specially trained orators called manaschi who spend years learning all the verses. The epic is traditionally said to be over a thousand years old, although it is impossible to date precisely as it was handed down through oral tradition and only first recorded in the eighteenth century.

Many thanks to friend Selina who went on holiday in Central Asia with her family. 

A commemorative stamp issued this year in honour of 125th anniversary of Kozhomkul, another Kyrgyzstani national hero who was renowned for his feats of strength, which included lifting his horse, and his leadership abilities.

Qatar II

Card from Doha, the capital city of Qatar. On the left, the cucumber lookalike Doha Tower, designed by my least-favourite "starchitect" Jean Nouvel and completed in 2012. In the centre, the Zigzag Towers, a residential development. On the left, the Aspire Tower, which, at 36 floors, is currently the tallest building in Qatar.

Many thanks and shukran to Salah for sending it.

Stamp on the left is from a 2009 set of 13 on the birds of Qatar. It features the lesser grey shrike, Lanius minor, a common bird in South and Central Europe and western Asia that migrates to southern Africa in the early autumn. Stamp on the right is from a 1998 set of 20 about insects; featured here is the epaulet skimmer, Orthetrum chrysostigma, a common dragonfly found in Africa.

Turkmenistan

WOOT! My first card from Turkmenistan, showing various building from the capital, Ashgabat, including the Independence Monument on the far right, and the "Monument of Neutrality" in the centre. The three-legged arch, which became known locally as "The Tripod", was built in 1998 on the orders of Turkmenistan's President Saparmurat Niyazov. It was topped by a 12-metre gold-plated statue of Niyazov which rotated to always face the sun. Niyazov's successor ordered the monument moved to the outskirts of the city in an attempt to downplay this cult of personality.

Many thanks to friend Selina who was on holiday in Turkmenistan with her family.

Stamp from a set of 24 issued this year featuring Turkmenistani architectural monuments, in this case the ruins of Uly Gyz Gala fortress near the city of Merv.

Bhutan

Woohoo! New country: Bhutan!

Rather spectacular card showing the Paro Taktsang Monastary, also known as the Tiger's Nest Monastary, a prominent Himalayan Buddhist sacred site and temple complex, located on a cliffside in the upper Paro valley, Bhutan. The temple complex was first built in 1692, on the site where a Buddhist sage is said to have meditated for three years, three months, three weeks, three days and three hours in the eighth century, and thus introduced Buddhism to Bhutan. Part of the "Sacred Sites associated with Phajo Drugom Zhigpo and his descendants" site on Bhutan's Tentative List for World Heritage.

Many thanks to friend Ed for helping me strike Bhutan from my list, after years and years of waiting for an opportunity to present itself!

Couldn't really find much info about this stamp commemorating, presumably, the years of the Chinese Zodiac, in this case "Male Water Dragon Year 2012".

Sri Lanka

Postcard of Asian elephant in Yala National Park in southeastern Sri Lanka. Established in 1900, it is the second-largest protected area in Sri Lanka and is an important wildlife habitat for the Sri Lankan subspecies of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus maximus), as well as large numbers of leopards and wetland birds.

Although I lived in Sri Lanka when I was young, I only have one other, rather unlovely, Sri Lanka card in the archives of my collection. Many thank to friend Lindsey, who was on holiday in Sri Lanka, for adding to the mix!

Stamp from the 2007 definitive series on constellations of the Zodiac. Depicted is Pisces (♓), the twelfth astrological sign in the Zodiac. Pisceans are thought to be reasonable, artistic, and quiet.

Taiwan II

Postcard of the Taipei 101 Tower (台北101), the tallest building in the world from 2004 to 2010, when it was surpassed by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The tower's 101 floors gave rise to it's name, and it's design is  meant to resemble the jointed segments of a bamboo plant. Bamboo is extremely sturdy, serving as an inspiration to the designers who needed a building able to withstand Taiwan's frequent earthquakes and typhoons.

Many thanks to flatmate Paul, who was in Taipei on holiday. 

Stamp from a 2012 set of four on local berries. Pictured here is glossy nightshade, Solanum americanum, a common plant across the tropical Pacific whose berries are often used in traditional medicine.