Honolulu, HI

I got this postcard from my godmother living in the States.  She and her family took a trip to Hawaii a few months back.

The postcard features a beautiful rainbow arcing over the skyline of downtown Honolulu in the O'ahu island.  In the Hawaiian language, Honolulu means "sheltered bay."  Since 1845, Honolulu has been the capital city of the Hawaiian islands.  Barack Obama, the current president of the US, was born here.

Honolulu is the most populous city in Hawaii

It would be awesome to have a postcard from all 50 States.  The only thing more awesome than that is actually getting to personally visit all 50.

Montevideo, Uruguay

I got my first South American postcard from Daniel of Uruguay.

The text on the postcard reads, "The Port Market was projected by the engineer R. V. Mesures in England and it was inaugurated on October 10th, 1868."

And Daniel writes that in Montevideo, one can eat the best asado and drink tannat red wine.

The largest city, capital, and chief port of Uruguay is Montevideo

The postcard came with the following stamps:

The Socialist Party of Uruguay is a political party formed in 1910

The Turkish seller of trinkets

Wulai Waterfalls, Taiwan

Last August, I received this postcard from Lapi, a fresh college graduate like me.

The text in front of the postcard reads, "Wulai, a famous mountain resort, is 28 [km] south of Taipei.  Among the pleasant features of the resort is the waterfall, which 82 [m] long and 10 [m] wide."

'Wulai' should not be confused with 'Xiao Wulai' though they are both famous for waterfalls

It came with this stamp:

Clematis montana is usually used to cover walls and sheds.

From what I've read, Wulai is home to many tourists all days of the week.  In spite of my crowd aversion, I'd like to visit and see the waterfalls and learn more about the history and culture of an indigenous group in Taiwan.

Minsk, Belarus

I received this postcard from Dima in Belarus.  The card contains 2 images: the Island of Tears on the left and Trinity Suburb on the right.

The Island of Tears was erected in 1996 as a monument to the 771 Belarusian soldiers who lost their lives in the Afghan War.  The monument depicts the mourning mothers of the soldiers who never came back.  The women are holding various icons such as photos of their sons and lamps, which symbolize the hope that their children might return someday.

Troitskoe predmestie, or Trinity Suburb, gets its name from the Roman Catholic Trinity Church that once stood in that area.  It's a small, quiet town with bars, restaurants, and small shops strewn on the streets.

Minsk, the capital of Belarus, is a the best example of Soviet planning

The card came with the following stamps:

The hare stamp was part of the Wild Animals stamps released in 2008.

I always associate Minsk with that Friends episode where Phoebe finds out that David will go to Minsk to do research.  Max says Minsk is in Russia, but we all know that it's not.  Well, Belarus was once part of the Soviet Union.  But come on.  That Friends episode was aired in 1994.

Feng Huang Cheng, China

Last May, I received a postcard from a Chinese person who used the alias "yxw0614."  He or she expressed his or her gladness to be in the same round robin (Water RR 189) as I was, wished me a nice day, but didn't write anything about the place shown on the postcard.  Great.

I would never have guessed where in the world this postcard was from had not it been for Google Translate's automatic page translation feature.  There was a website written on the bottom right of the postcard and I decided to check it out.

Feng Huang Cheng, or Phoenix Town, is an ancient city located in the southwest of the Hunan Province.  Situated at the foot of the mountains and near waters, Feng Huang Cheng is a well-preserved historical site as it continues to show the world the beauty of ancient villages prior to modernization.

Legend has it, 2 phoenixes flew over the town, found it so beautiful that they hovered there, reluctant to leave

The postcard came with this stamp:

Chlamys farreri is more commonly known as the Chinese Scallop

This postcard and short entry don't do justice to the splendor of Feng Huang.  I would have gladly written more about the town, but all the sites I visited talked about its place in Chinese history.  I'm not good with (Chinese) names so I won't even try to act as if I know what they're talking about. On the other hand, I found out that Feng Huang is on China's tentative list to the UNESCO World Heritage thingie.  Cool.

Read more here:
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/hunan/zhangjiajie/fenghuangcheng.htm

The Pashkov House in Moscow, Russia

This white palace, standing on Pskov Hill, is one of the most beautiful buildings in Moscow.  It was built in the 18th century by the renowned architect, Vasily Bazhenov, for the rich landowner, Peter Yegorovich Pashkov.

Today the building is currently owned by the Russian State Library, the biggest library in Europe (second in the world, after the US Library of Congress).

The Pashkov House is one of the places in Russia with a permanent rat problem

I got this from Marina through the Other Languages RR 195.  She shared a Russian saying, "Не имей сто рублей, а имей сто друзей" (Don't have 100 roubles, but have 100 friends).

The postcard came with the following stamps:

Part of the Mint Never Hinged Lighthouse set released in 2006 

Death-cup and meadow mushrooms, inedible mushrooms

The badger stamp on the left came from a joint issue with Belarus in 2005.  The Amur (Siberian) Tiger (scientific name: Panthera tigris altaica) is listed as an endangered species

Read more:
http://www.masterandmargarita.eu/en/04mappen/pasjkov.html
http://russia.rin.ru/guide_e/5/2.html

The Wells Cathedral in Somerset, UK

Wells was the first English cathedral to be built in the new Gothic style imported from France.  The first building phase took about 80 years to complete, building from east to west, culminating in the magnificent West Front shown on the postcard below.  About 300 of its medieval statues remain, including a theatrical stone backdrop used for feast day processions.  Read more about the Wells Cathedral here on its homepage.  

This beautiful cathedral can be found in the Southwest England

I received this postcard from Claire through the Just Postcards Round Robin 73.  This came with a stamp of the current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.

Almost all British stamps come with the image of the Queen

Wow.  Blogging about the postcards I received is really turning into a real learning experience.  Lots more postcards to scan in the days to come.  Awesome.

The Maori Haka

I finally decided to post my postcards online.  Here's one of the first official Postcrossing cards that arrived while I was in Japan.  It's from Katherine in NZ.

The traditional Maori challenge, the Haka

It came with this awesome hei matau stamp:

Hei matau are fishhook bone carvings that symbolize strength

Together with Katherine's handwritten message is a computerized text which writes, "Here a Maori g[r]oup greets strangers as they would welcome them to a village - aggressively! Everyone joins in, wearing traditional dress.  The red skin is from beating chest and thighs.  The aggressive display/challenge, called "Haka", was done by the men to prepare mind and body for combat but was also used as a welcome or greeting (this is what we can do - so you'd better not try anything!) and once respect was gained, everyone was friendly.  The Haka is often now used as a display by New Zealand sports teams, perhaps with an intimidating effect.

This reminds me of the Haka my male classmates did for our Philippine History class last year for the inter-class Battle of Bel Field.  More on that maybe next time.  Here's a video for your viewing pleasure:

Kumamoto, Japan

I've had a thing for bears since 6th grade, when I got the slightly secret nickname, "Kuma" which means bear in Japanese.  And when I heard that there was a place in Japan called "Kumamoto" I knew I just had to go there.  And go there I did.

It was a little bit more than 2 hours away by bus from Fukuoka, the place that me and my roommate lived.  I was leaving in 2 days and I had an afternoon meeting to attend, so we were only in Kumamoto for a very short time.  Anyway, I've read a few travel website and there was this one person who said that Kumamoto is a nice place to visit if you have an hour to spare.  It was true.

Kumamoto is a small town with not much tourists.  As long as you're a blonde Caucasian, one or two people will try to engage you in conversation in the trams.  And these people will gladly help you find the place you're looking to visit in case you don't speak much Japanese.  Finding a decent Kumamoto brochure in English was next to impossible.  There were none.  Good thing I already got some brochures from Rainbow Plaza in Fukuoka.

Find peace and beauty in Suijenji Park

So after purchasing the elusive one-day tram passes, my roommate and I visited Suijenji Koen.  It was an amazing garden where the lush green color of La Salle brushes against the perfect Ateneo blue sky.  One would be a fool not to stay and wander around for at least an hour.

Walk for hours on end at the Shimotori Arcade

As planned, my roommate and I had lunch at a restaurant in the Shimotori Arcade.  The place looked like a familiar Tenjin shopping arcade, but with more room and less people.  We were on a fixed schedule and we didn't have time to find a cheap restaurant offering the famous Kumamoto raw horse meat, so we settled for sweet and sour pork at a Chinese restaurant.

More Japanese than Chinese food

And don't say I didn't warn you, but please do not have Chinese food in Japan.  It was my 2nd time to dine in a Chinese restaurant in Japan and the food tasted like Japanese cuisine with just a hint of Chinese.  Trust me, it's not a good mix.  The Japanese version of sweet and sour pork is more sour than sweet.  Not a perfect balance.  You would be better off eating Chowking's Chao Fan rice, spring rolls, and Chicharap rather than not get your money's worth for Chinese food in Japan..

Kumamoto Castle, Sr. as seen inside Kumamoto Castle, Jr.

Right after that unsatisfying lunch, we visited the most famous landmark in the area, Kumamoto Castle.  We walked up an endless flight of outdoor stone stairs to get to the castle entrance.  Note to future Kumamoto visitors, there is another entrance which doesn't require you to climb the endless flight of outdoor stone stairs.  It was a pity that we were only there for 30 minutes.  We entered Kumamoto Castle, Jr., which was across Kumamoto Castle, Sr.  My roommate and I were so tired from the grueling climb, so I didn't realize that all the pictures I've been taking were crappy.  But of course, I just made up the suffixes for the different parts of the Kumamoto Castle complex.  I don't really speak Japanese so I didn't bother to learn the names of stuff which I know I will just forget after 3 seconds.

From the Castle, we walked back to the bus station and were just in time for the bus that was bound for Fukuoka.  Awesome.  Would love to go back to Kumamoto for the raw horse meat, better pictures, and the other sights to see.  But maybe after 5 years' time.