My son's favorites postcards: MICKEY MOUSE & DONALD DUCK

Last Wednesday, i also received two beautiful postcards of disney's most known cartoon characters, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. They were sent by 2 different people.

Okay, let's talk about the cards first.

The Mickey Mouse card was sent by Carole in Canada. It's my first winning lottery postcard. Well, actually it's my second lottery won, but the first one is for a special First Day Cover (FDC). Anyway, this card is very special since it's BIG and is a star-shaped card. Unfortunately due to it's unusual size and shape the card was a little bit bended in every corner when i received it.

The Donald Duck card came from Anja in Macedonia. I personally picked this card for a private swap since I'm a big fan of Donald Duck. I do. He's my favorite cartoon characters, which even influence me to collect Kaj Stenvall cards.

Both cards were sent along with cute and nice stamps. On the left side you can see the Canadian stamps. While on the right side, It is a cute bulldog stamp from Macedonia.

However, the reason i make this post is because these cards have made my son (now is 2,5 year old) really happy that day... well not just happy but extremely thrilled!! He instantly recognized both of the cards as the cartoon characters from one of his favorites DVD and demanded me to play the Mickey Mouse club DVD immediately. He then hold the postcards on the screen whenever Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck appeared. Untill at one point, I even had to hide the postcards from him since I was afraid that he would torn them apart in the excitement.

That's just one from many examples how postcards can make one overjoy. I experienced that a lot but more importantly this time it's not me. It's my son. So, once again thanks a lot for both Carole and Anja who had brought this excitement to my dearest one!!!

Columbus Lighthouse in Santo Domingo, DOMINICAN REP.

Yaaay....last wednesday i just received a postcard from Dominican Republic! It's my first from the lovely country in the Carribean. Sent by Julia from the postcrossing forum, the card has travelled for quite sometime (since end of March 2010).

The postcard shows Columbus Lighthouse or Faro a Colón in Spanish. Located in Santo Domingo Province, it is an international monument with the characteristics of a lighthouse and tributed to the memory of Christopher Columbus. In fact, it is believed to contain the remains of the Great Explorer.

Apart from the postcard, i also received my very first stamp from Dominican Republic with a perfect postmark too. I'm sooo happy ^^

Thanks a lot Julia, and wish you had a lot of fun and joyful memories there!!!

Map of Fiji Islands

Map of Fiji Islands, originally uploaded by naya_hachi.

Wow....I was just sooo surprised this morning to find this postcard on my mail box. It's slightly tinier than a normal size postcard but the picture tells it all. It was the map card of Fiji Islands. i was just sooo thrilled that i was screaming hard....Yaay!!

Actually the card was not sent from Fiji, instead it was sent from the beautiful New Zealand from a really cute cat named Gordon. He said that he had this card from Fiji and thought that i would like it. Promptly i was just thinking that how lucky he was to ever been in Fiji, even probably the most luckiest cat in postcrossing??? :)

Frankly I don't know much about Fiji, but luckily there are some country facts written on the back of the postcard, here say:
"Fiji is, centrally situated in the South-West Pacific and consists of 322 islands scattered between Latitudes 15 and 20 degree South of the Equator with the 180th meridian of Longitude passing through their midst. Fiji is squarely placed on all major sea and air routes through the South Pacific."

So, once again just want to say thanks sooo much for the lovely card Gordon...and mmmeeooow :)

New Zealand Map (Wood Postcard)

New Zealand Map (Wood Postcard), originally uploaded by naya_hachi.

Hi all...long time no see :) i know there should be no excuses but just want to give you some background info, that for the last couple of months i was kinda busy adjusting with my new environment since i just moved to Australia in mid of Feb. But now i already have a manageable routine so i want to keep this blog up and running again *BIG grin*

By the time i moved in to my new place, my postcard sending/receiving activities was halted temporarily for some reasons. However i will give you much more details about it on another post. And now i just want to show you one most favorite postcard arrived here so far.

It is my second collection of wood postcard from my dear cousin, Raisha in New Zealand. It's a very nice surprise since she'd promised me one like almost a year ago, but it finally arrived end of last month. She sent it during her last visit to New Zealand.

When it arrived in my 'new' mailbox i was soooo happy that i grinned all the way to my apartment. It was soooo beautiful and really captivating. The print is so clear and has very unique NZ's traditional motives. It also has some basic info about the country. Simply love it.

Thanks you sooo much Raisha!!!

Indonesia-Iran Joint Issue Stamp

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010!!! May we'll have better times ahead...

I know it's kinda bit late to greet you with that, but still better late than never right :)

How's your year end holiday?? I had so much going on and it's quite an adventure really. But, i'm not going to talk about that.

During my holiday, i received sooooo many postcards and letters and those were really great new year's present for me. One of the letters i received was from POS INDONESIA. They sent me the latest Indonesian stamps issued in the year 2009. It was joint issue stamps between Indonesia and Iran showing two beautiful mosques.

The first one is Al Markaz Mosque in Makassar, Indonesia. According to the stamps printed details, the biggest and grandiose mosque in Southeast Asia, Al Markaz Al Islami Mosque is the pride of Makassar resident. Its beautiful architecture is influenced by Masjidil Haram in Mecca as well as Masjid Nabawi in Medina. Ir. Achmad Nu'man, the designer , also adds architecture elements of Katangka Mosque in Gowa as well as Bugis-Makassar traditional house . Initiated by General M. Jusuf, the building started on 8 May 1994 and finished on 12 January 1996. Located at Mesjid Raya Street Makassar City, this three floors building looks lovely with a green color nuance. Beside its main fnctions as praying place, this mosque serves as an education center of Islam. Al Markaz Mosque is dedicated to become one of centers of Islam study and development in eastern part of Indonesia.

The second stamp shows The Soltanieh Dome in Iran. Known also as the mausoleum of Oljeitu (Sultan Mohammad Khodabandeh) is an outstanding work of Persian and Islamic architecture built between 102 and 1312 BC. Soltanieh Dome, which was the world's tallest building of its time, curently ranks third after Italy's Saint Mary church in Florence and Turkey's Aya Sofia Mosque in Istanbul. Located near Iran's western Zanjan province, this 54 meter tall octagonal base building comprises three parts: mausoleum, dome chamber and vault. The dome camber is decorated with Islamic inscriptions and beautiful muqarnas (a traditional Persian art). The king;s body laid to rest in teh vault and two gards protected the gilded royal tombstones at all times. This historical building designed by Mason Ali Shah Tabrizi was registered in UNESCO's World Heritage list in 2006.

Embroidered and Lenticular stamps, AUSTRIA

Last week, I received another set of great postcards from my dear correspondence friend, Sarah. The postcards were sent from Austria. Sarah has been living in several countries throughout my acquaintance with her but now she's settling down in Austria.

Some of the postcards were from Germany, Ireland, and Spain. None from Austria though, only the stamps were. But those stamps were my most favorite part of all since Sarah used very LOVELY stamps for sending her mail, as usual.

The fist unique stamp is an EMBROIDERED stamp, showing a blue flower of Clusius gentian. Released on 19 September 2008, it is the second embroidered stamp released by Austrian Post. The first one, showing Edelweiss flower, was released in 2005. However, the very first embroidered stamp ever in the world was released by Swiss Post on 21 June 2000 showing St. Gallen embroidery.

The second unique stamp is a LENTICULAR stamp, picturing an advanced car in front of Technische Museum Wien in Austria. Using lenticular printing technique, the stamp allows us to see movement on the drawing as we view it on different angles. Wow….I thought this kind of thing only exist in colorful stickers or in my elementary school plastic ruler.

I guess both stamps are pretty unique since not all post offices have produced those kinds of stamps. I know Indonesia has not either. So, I feel so extremely lucky to receive them STAMPED on an envelope :)

Many thanks Sarah for this gorgeous stamps (and postcards too) !!!

Tango en la noche by Sigfredo Pastor, ARGENTINA

Hola, I proudly present my very first card from ARGENTINA!!! I received this artistic postcard yesterday. It shows a lovely drawing called “Tango en la noche” or “Tango at night” by Sigfredo Pastor.

Sigfredo Pastor is an Argentinean painter who dedicated himself to draw a pictorial theme of deep tango root. There are plenty of his works that show people dancing tango complete with its unique elements.

Tango is a traditional dance forms that originated from Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay. In September 2009, UNESCO has granted both countries’ wishes to list Tango as part of the world's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. There are many variety styles of tango that developed in different regions. However, Tango is essentially walking with a partner and the music. That’s why people always say “It takes two to tango” :)

Thanks Melina for this gorgeous card!