The Taj Mahal, India

 My good Australian friend, Erin, sent me this postcard when she was touring India with her mom.

The Taj Mahal (meaning Crown Palace) was built in 22 years (1631-1653) with the orders of Muslim emperor Shah Jahan.  It is a white marble mausoleum that houses the grave of former Queen Mumtaz Mahal, wife of the emperor.

The mausoleum is part of a vast complex, which includes a main gateway, an elaborate garden, a mosque, a guesthouse, and several other palatial buildings.  The Taj is at the farthest end of this complex with the Jamuna River behind it.

It is said that Shah Jahan had the hands of his sculptors and architects cut off so that they would not be able to build anything as magnificent and beautiful as the Taj Mahal, and even got their eyes pulled out so that they would not be able to see anything bigger and more beautiful than the monument they built.

Scanner got weird scanning the Taj Mahal

The postcard came with these 2 stamps:

Chandrashekhara Venkata Raman won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1990 and Indira Gandhi became India's Prime Minister for 3 consecutive terms (1966-1977) and a fourth term (1980-1984)

Read more about the Taj Mahal here:
http://www.tajmahal.com/
http://www.islamicity.com/culture/taj/default.htm

Aukštaitija National Park, Latvia

This was from a direct swap with Gintare.  It was summertime there when she sent this (05/24/2011) and I was still away from the country then.

The beauty of the Aukštaitija National Park cannot be captured even by the greatest of writers.  One has to see and experience the deep, whispering forests and the bewitching blue lakes firsthand to enjoy one of Latvia's best-kept secrets.  But then again this national park is open to the public.  70% of the area is covered with forests, home to over 50 different bird species, 663 kinds of mushrooms, and other awesome stuff like an 800-year old Tranaiškis Oak tree.

126 lakes flow through the Aukštaitija National Park

The postcard came with this stamp:

The Great Snipe migrates to Africa in the winter

St. Petersburg, Russia

I was surprised to receive this card from Laura of Finland through the Mystery RR Group 11.

This postcard shows the Palace Bridge and the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg.

Between 1901 and 1911, over 50 proposed designs for a bridge to cross the Neva River were rejected.  In 1912, Andrey Pshenitsky's designs were used to start the construction of the Palace Bridge, but because of WWI, the work was delayed.  The bridge was open to the public in 1916, but was fully completed 23 years later, in 1939, when the last decorative elements (such as iron-cast railings and street lamps) were installed.

And behind the bridge is the Winter Palace, home to Russian royalty since the 1760s.  Anyway this palace deserves its own blog entry so I'll write about it next time.

A year after its inauguration, it was called the "Republican Bridge", and restored to "Palace Bridge" in 1944

Like I said, this postcard came from Finland.  Here's the stamp to prove it:

The Rose Blossom stamp issued in 2009

A Monkey in Malaysia

This postcard was from Khor from Ipoh, Malaysia.  This photo was probably taken in one of the zoos in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city.  Not much was written on the postcard and by the sender.

A monkey sipping coconut juice leftover from a tourist 

The postcard came with these 4 stamps from 4 out of the 16 regions in Malaysia:

(L-R, T-B) Pulau Pinang, Sarawak, Johor, and Kelantan

Aveiro, Portugal

I got this postcard from Maria through the NDC RR Group 120 (symbols on your country's flag).  She writes that this card shows some views from Aveiro, called the Portuguese Venice because of several canals crossing the city.

Aveiro was originally known as "Aviarium" meaning a preserve for birds

This beautiful multiview card came with this multi-cultural stamp:

The Postal Union of the Americas, Spain, and Portugal (UPAEP) was founded in 1911

Barbecue in Finland

Hilkka sent me this delicious-looking postcard of a typical Finnish summer food, barbecue.  Looks good, especially now that I'm missing authentic yakitori from Japan. 

Barbecue: grilled skewered meat

The card came in with a mysterious stamp so I had to do an image search on Google.  Totally amazing.  Mind was blown.  Anyway the stamp was part of 8 postage stamps issued in 2007 under the 5 themes: raspberries, butterflies, the Finnish Olympic Committee, architecture, and design.

I'm guessing this is a chair

[RTS] Sat on MRT Floor

April 30, 2010.  It was a Friday night.  We just got paid.  Aly and Chica, my co-interns, had waffles for dinner at Flapjacks in Glorietta.  Throw in a couple of margaritas and say we had an awesome Friday night out.  We decided to call it a night around 9 PM so we could still get home using the train.

Ayala MRT station.  Past 9 o'clock.  The crowds have gone home and we didn't have to wait for 600 trains to arrive before we could board.  We were far from bored.  Just a little bit tired from work, I guess.  We got in the first train compartment that arrived in the station.  Most seats were already occupied, but the compartment wasn't as crowded as it was a few hours ago.  In fact, it wasn't crowded at all.  And we took advantage of that when we decided to sit down on the floor.  But we got up after 4 stations when the compartment started accumulating more people.

My friends and I on the train floor

It was a great experience overall.  You don't get to sit on the seats of the MRT as often as you should, but when you do, you're usually alone.  It's hard to find space to accommodate more than 1 person.  But we did the impossible, my friends and I.  The 3 of us were able to sit on the MRT.  Just not on the chairs.

Manavgat Waterfalls, Turkey

My first postcard from Turkey was from Seda.  We were both in the Water RR Group 189, so she sent me a card of one of the most popular waterfalls in Turkey.  

3 kilometers from the village of Manavgat, one will find a beautiful body of water 2 meters high and 40 meters wide.  Yes, the Manavgat Waterfalls may not be high, but the powerful current causes the white foamy water to rush down the rocks and flow into the river and the trout-filled streams.

From 1968-1983, the image of the Managat Waterfalls adorned the reverse side of the 5 lira banknote

The postcard came with these stamps:

Mimar Sinan was the architect of over 360 Ottoman structures; the other stamp shows ancient Turkish art dated back to the Hittite period

Moscow, Russia

I got this multiview through a direct swap with Svietlana in May.

The top image features The Kremlin at night.  In the Russian language, кремль means fortress.  Though there are many other kremlins in Russia, the word is usually used when referring to the most popular one found in Moscow.

The administration of the Russian President (currently Dmitry Medvedev, but I'm pretty sure is once again going to be Vladimir Putin next year) is located in the Moscow Kremlin.

In the bottom image, we can see the Cathedral of the Assumption, the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great, and once again, the Moscow Kremlin.

The Cathedral of the Assumption is the oldest and the most important church in the Kremlin.  In 1326, the seat of the Russian Orthodox Church was transferred from Vladimir to here, making it the center of the state of Muscovy, the most powerful of the Russian principalities.  Here, tsars, Grand Dukes, and more importantly, emperors, were crowned.  Patriarchs, metropolitans, and bishops were also consecrated here.  Read more about the Cathedral's history here.

The Bell Tower of Ivan the Great, standing at 81 meters, was the tallest building in Russia for almost 400 years.  There are 21 bells in the tower and the belfry.  The largest is the Assumption Bell weighing 70 tons, and is the first bell to ring during church holidays.  Read more about the Bell Tower here.

Moscow is Russia's capital city

And what better way to send this postcard than together with a stamp of a kremlin?

The Ryazan Kremlin was founded in the year 800

National Palace Museum, Taiwan

Here's a postcard I got from my good friend Berns, who started Postcrossing just about the same time that I did.  She had an internship in Taiwan last year and so she has a lot of postcards from there.  She sent me this one for my birthday while I was in Japan a few months back.

The National Palace Museum (NPM) inaugurated on 10 October 1921, is an art museum located inside the Forbidden City.  The NPM shares the same roots with the Palace Musuem, but split as a result of the Chinese Civil War.

The NPM has a permanent collection of over 600,000 ancient Chinese artifacts and artwork from over 8000 years of Chinese history from the Neolithic Age to the Qing Dynasty.

The main gate of the National Palace Museum

Verzasca River, Switzerland

I keep forgetting that this postcard is from Switzerland.  Without googling any of the place names on the postcard, only a gray square containing a white cross would suggest that it came from Switzerland.  Of course, I didn't notice the Swiss flag in its grayscale mode so I had to google Ticino.

I received this postcard from Andy through the Water RR Group 189.  He says that the Verzasca River is quite "wild" but there are some parts (like the one shown on this postcard) that are calm.  Some people go bathing here in the summer despite the danger.

Italian is the sole language in Ticino, the southernmost canton in Switzerland

The postcard came with this stamp:

The Red Kite is a rare species endemic to the Western Palearctic region in Europe

San Marino

One of the first private swaps I've made through Facebook was with Luca from Italy.  On the Postcrossing Facebook Page, he posted that he was going to San Marino for a holiday and was open for swaps.  I checked his wishlist and the cards he wanted from the Philippines were so hard to find (e.g. the Tabon Cave Complex, Mt. Matutum, and other WTFNBSdoesnothavethis locations).  He already had a lot of postcards from the country and the places he listed on his blog seemed to be nonexistent in postcard form.  Weeks later, I chanced upon the last (therefore crappy) Panglao Island postcard.  I remember the card being on his list so the trade was on.

In this multiview card from Luca, we have an aerial view of San Marino City, the capital; Monte Titano, the highest peak in the country; and a night view of Palazzo del Governo, built in 1894.

Since San Marino is an enclave in Italy, it is not surprising to learn that the official language of the Republic is Italian.  With one of the lowest unemployment rates in the region and no national debt to boot, San Marino is considered to have a high stable economy.

The Republic of San Marino is one of the smallest states in the world and the oldest European Republic

The economy of San Marino relies on tourist activity and the production of postage stamps.  Since 1877, the Republic has been issuing its own stamps (i.e. not from Italy anymore) after signing an agreement with the surrounding Kingdom.  Here's a stamp that definitely helped support the San Marino economy:

Barcampertrenobus: Europeo per un turismo integrale

I can't really read Italian, but I think this stamp is a mobile bar, a cross between a train and a bus, filled with campers.  And the motto translates to: "Europeans for an integral tourism."

Yellowstone Park, USA

I got this postcard from Yvonne from Florida.  The text behind reads: "No matter where one roams through Yellowstone National Park, the delight, beauty, and awesome wonders of nature are inescapable.  People here are enjoying one of Yellowstone's spectacular hot springs, with the park's largest lake in the background.  This area of the park is known as "West Thumb."  It was given that name in 1870 when the Washburn party noted that the lake was shaped like a human hand, the fingers extended and spread apart as much as possible, with the large west bay representing a thumb."

Yvonne adds that she finds it unusual that the hot spring is so close to the lake, but remains a separate body of water.

Yellowstone National Park is primarily located in Wyoming, but extends to Idaho and Montana

The card came with the following stamps:

The Great Smoky Mountains are located along the Tennessee-North Carolina border

George Washington was the first president of the USA

Chicago, IL

I received this postcard from Sunny through the New Different Countries RR 120.  She writes that Chicago, or the "Windy City" is the 3rd largest city in the US.  The text on the postcard reads: "From shopping 'The Magnificent Mile' to a quiet stroll along the lake front, Chicago has something to offer everyone.

Chicago is home to the largest population of Poles outside of Warsaw

Ohio Amish Country, OH

The text from Tanya's postcard reads: "A picturesque farm in northeastern Ohio's Amish country.  The Amish, in tradition of their forefathers depend mainly on horse-drawn buggies as their means of transportation."  And in her own handwriting, she adds that the Amish are very traditional people; many do not use electricity or drive cars.

Some of the best cheese in the US is made here.  Discover more facts about this wonderful farmland on this website.

Approximately 40,000 Amish live and work here

The postcard came with these stamps:

The American Clock stamp represents the Banjo clock, first made in 1805 by Simon Willard in MA

2 of the 16 Go Green (Forever) Stamps issued in 2011

Florida, USA

I received my first map card from Aimee, who's actually a Fil-Am herself.  Her family lives in the capital Manila and the province Batangas.

Florida is known as the Sunshine State.  This was adopted as the State Nickname by the 1970 Legislature.  The Sunshine State is home to many theme parks such as Disney World, SeaWorld, Universal Studios (where the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is at), and soon to open in October 15, 2011, LEGOLAND.

In 1553, Juan Ponce de Leon named the state La Florida (Flowery Land) upon landing there during the Easter season, Pascua Florida.

The map card came with this stamp:

Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming

Chicago River, IL

Again, another postcard I received from my godmother in the States.

On most days, one would see this river to be murky green in color, but once a year, the Chicago River is dyed the perfect shade of Irish green during St. Patrick's Day.  The river dyes the Illinois, which in turn dyes the Mississippi, continuing to the Gulf of Mexico, running upstream across the North Atlantic, and finally the sea of green gets to greet the Irishmen of the Emerald Isle in the Irish Sea.  This has been a tradition since 1962.  You can read more about the history on this website.

The river has played a central role in the history of Chicago 

During the 19th century, the Chicago River was crucial to the city's development as a major center of the lumber and meatpacking industries.  Cool, but of course, the dying the whole river green is cooler.

John Hancock Center, Chicago, IL

I got this postcard from my godmother in the States.  After going to Hawaii, she and her family visited Illinois.  

The text on the postcard reads, "The sleek black lines on the John Hancock Center dominates Michigan Ave. and the Chicago skyline."

Completed in 1970, the John Hancock Center is home to large spiders and the observatory with the only open-air viewing deck in Chicago.  Read more about the building in its website here.

The building has 1632 steps from the lobby to the observatory in the 94th floor

My godmother sent this postcard when they got home to California.  It came with this stamp:

America's icon for freedom and independence, the Liberty Bell, is on America's first Forever stamp