And the Winners Are....

It's the last day of June and as promised, I'm picking the lucky winners for Rizal's 150th Birthday Postcard Giveaway. Yes, there shall be two winners!

The first winner was chosen through random.org. I assigned a number to each valid entry and let the widget generate the winning number. The lucky poster is:

Congratulations, Mommy Rubz of Postcard Ethusiast! I shall send your postcard ASAP!


I chose the second winner based on the entry which made me remember some of the interesting things about the Philippine national hero which I learned in my P.I. 100 class. Congratulations, Jill! Please send me your mailing details and tell me which stamps you'd like to see on your card.

To the rest of the participants, thank you so much for joining!

Anyway, allow me to add to the information given by Jill regarding Rizal's discovery of several species of animals. During his exile in Dapitan, Rizal and his students collected birds, insects, butterflies, shells, snakes, and plants which were sent for identification to the Anthropological and Ethnographic Museum of Dresden in Germany. In return, Rizal received scientific books and journals, as well as surgical instruments. Four of the species which Rizal sent for identification were named after him: Apogonia Rizali Heller (a beetle); Spatholmes Rizali (a fungus beetle); Rhacophorus Rizalu Boettger (a rare frog); and Draco Rizali (flying dragon).


Wishing you happy journeys...

Letchworth State Park

As I've mentioned in my previous post, I do have an intense interest in bridges.  Now I must also confess that I am also filled with so much wonder and delight at the sight of trains, railroads, and waterfalls.  That is why I'd only be too happy to pay a visit to the Letchworth State Park in Castille, New York where I can marvel at a grand railroad trestle bridge overlooking a scenic waterfall.  I thank Josh for transporting me to that magnificent place through this postcard.  

"Letchworth State Park in Castille, New York covers 14,350 acres of land along the Genesee River.   The park is named after William Pryor Letchworth, who bequeathed the 1,000-acre estate that forms the heart of the park to New York State in 1906.

Standing high above the Genesee River just upstream of the Upper Falls is the Potage Bridge. The present trestle replaced an earlier wooden structure which when built in 1852 was the World’s tallest wooden structure."  (Source:Wikipedia Article)

It would have been a treat to see a train crossing the Postage bridge, but I believe that the same was ordered closed in 2009 due to structural damage.  You may read more about the Postage Bridge and Letchworth Park's interesting history here.

The card came with three stamps, but I shall feature only the third.   The other two stamps, I believe, warrant a separate blog entry because they are much too interesting.  

                                 
The American Clock stamp was issued in 2003 as part of the American Design series.  It was reissued in 2006. The stamp features an artistic rendering of the dial of a clock designed by Simon Willard in 1805.  The clock was also commonly referred to as the banjo clock because of its shape and is considered as one of the most famous designs in American clock making.


Stay tuned for the post that will feature the rest of the stamps. 


Wishing you happy journeys...

This is my share for the Wednesday Postcard Meme

hosted by Willa Stock of  

The Tyne Bridge

Bridges provide connectivity and passage over physical obstacles, be it a body of water, a valley, a canal, or other barriers. In our journey through life, we must seek out these passages that will allow us to overcome difficulties and limitations. Should we end up in a place where a bridge should have been built but wasn't, we can always build one. We can construct it ourselves or better yet, enlist the help of others. It is important not to allow obstacles to hinder us from continuing our meaningful voyage. What's even more important is that we build bridges of friendship, love, and understanding along the way.

I certainly love bridges! I enjoy looking at them, taking snapshots of them, and crossing them (especially the rickety hanging ones).

So happy am I to have received this Tyne Bridge postcard which was stamped in the Netherlands. Arnolda told me that she picked up this stunning postcard of the steel arch bridge during her trip to the United Kingdom.

"The Tyne Bridge was designed by Mott, Hay and Anderson who based their design on the Hell Gate Bridge in New York and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The bridge was completed on 25 February 1928 and opened on 10 October by King George V and Queen Mary, who were the first to use the roadway travelling in their Ascot landau. The bridge is a landmark within Newcastle and currently stands as the tenth tallest structure in the city. The bridge spans 531 feet (162 m) from pier to pier and the total height measures 59 meters above the river level.

Tram lines were initially built into the bridge structure, but were subsequently removed. Some vestiges of these remain, such as redundant fixings for overhead power lines. Tram car No. 289 was the last Newcastle tram to run into Gateshead over the Tyne Bridge on Sunday, 5 March 1950." (Source: Wikipedia.org)

These three awesome stamps were pasted on the back of the card.

The stamp on the left was issued in 1989 to commemorate the 40 years of the founding of the North American Treaty Organization (NAT0). It features the flags of the NATO-member countries. Can you help me with the other two?

Wishing you happy journeys...

This is my share for the Postcard Friendship Friday Meme

hosted at The Best Hearts Are Crunchy

Capela de S. Sebastião

This postcard was sent by José. It features the Chapel of San Sebastian in the rural village of Sousel, Alentejo, Portugal.

This card traveled approximately 12,182 km or 7,570 miles for 12 days. I tried consulting Mr. Google for specific details about this chapel, but my research didn't yield much information. It also turned out that Alentejo has a lot of chapels named San Sebastian.

Here's the information that I gathered. Please note that I enlisted the help of an online translator because the write up is in Portuguese.

"Legend has it that in the ancient time, a major epidemic struck the county of Sousel. In that time of great distress and anguish, the people prayered to St. Sebastian to save them. The townsfolk were deeply grateful that their prayers were answered so they built a chapel in honor of Saint Sebastian. The City Council also adopted a heraldic seal with the image of the martyr. Although it is not possible to ascertain the veracity of the aforesaid events, what is certain is that the image of St. Sebastian appears in ancient documents of the Sousel. The Session Room of City Hall also displays a beautiful embossed image of the martyr. The City of Sousel also organized, at least until the mid-nineteenth century, the Feast of St. Sebastian." - lifted from terrasdeportugal.wikidot.com/sousel and translated using Google translate.

I adore the stamp that came along with the card. Isn't it charming?

Wishing you happy journeys...

This is my entry to this week's Wednesday Postcard Meme

hosted by Willa Stock of

Rizal's 150th Birthday Postcard Giveaway!

Jose P. Rizal: June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896

I'm posting this card in celebration of Dr. Jose Rizal's 150th birthday. Rizal, the Philippines' national hero, was the most prominent advocate for reform in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. His prolific writings, which exposed the abuses of the Spanish government, were one of those important works that awakened political consciousness and fanned the flames of nationalism resulting in the Philippine Revolution of 1896.


If you'd like to win this postcard, just leave a comment and tell me what you know about Jose Rizal. I'd choose the winner by the end of the month!


I'd be sending this Rizal Monument postcard using two of the four commemorative stamps below. Please choose the stamps you'd like to go with the postcard.

Find out who the winners are in this entry!


Wishing you happy journeys...

The Death Railway

Who would ever think that beneath this lovely scene lie the harrowing stories of the brutalities of war, of shattered dreams, and of thousands of lives lost?

This postcard features the Kanchanaburi portion of the infamous Death Railway which was constructed during the Second World War. Thousands of prisoners of war (POWs) were forced to work on a railway that was used to transport the supplies of the Japanese Imperial Army.

"The notorious Burma-Siam railway, built by Commonwealth, Dutch and American prisoners of war, was a Japanese project driven by the need for improved communications to support the large Japanese army in Burma. During its construction, approximately 13,000 prisoners of war died and were buried along the railway. An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 civilians also died in the course of the project, chiefly forced labour brought from Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, or conscripted in Siam (Thailand) and Burma (Myanmar). Two labour forces, one based in Siam and the other in Burma worked from opposite ends of the line towards the centre." - Commonwealth War Graves Commission: Kanchanaburi War Cemetery

About 130 kilometers of the original 415-km line, which used to connect Ban Pong, Thailand to Thanbuyuzayat, Burma, are still operational today. Parts of abandoned route have been converted into walking trails. Proposals to rebuild the complete railway have been made, but not one of the plans has been realized due to the immense work and large amount of money the reconstruction project entails.


To honor the suffering and death of thousands of prisoners and laborers in the construction of the Death Railway, several memorials have been built along the route from Kanchanaburi, Thailand.

I thank Kulnita for sending me this postcard. It urged me to revisit history and draw parallelism to the experiences of the Philippines and Thailand during the World War II. We both have sad stories to tell, but they are the tales worth telling over and over again. LEST WE FORGET.

Morris Island Lighthouse

"Quintessential symbols of the romance of the sea, solitary guardians of our coasts, towers standing firm against salt-bearing winds -- lighthouses have always captured our imagination. Whether depicted in popular art or in written accounts of tragic shipwrecks and heroic battles against cruel seas, lighthouses are objects of curiosity and fascination." A line from the video Safe Passage: Aids to Navigation on the St. Lawrence.

I am fascinated by lighthouses. I am intrigued by them. There is something about these solitary guardians of the seas that stirs my emotion.

For me these beacons perfectly illustrate what is meant by sacrifice and selflessness. Isolated. Exposed to extreme weather conditions. Often neglected and forgotten. In the midst of darkness, their lights shine, guiding seafarers safely past dangers and treacherous waters.

Venezia's Church of Gold

Photography is prohibited inside Basilica di San Marco so I bought this postcard to remind me of how amazingly beautiful the interior of this Byzantine church looks like. I didn't want to trust my memory with all the artistic and architectural details I saw inside. I craned, strained, and stretched my neck to marvel at the opulent ceilings, vaults, and walls of this place of worship. You can bet that I had a very stiff neck afterwards.

Basilica di San Marco is also referred to as Chiesa d'Oro (Church of Gold) because of its gilded mosaics which covers about 8,000 square meters of its walls, vaults, and cupolas. 

"The mosaic decorations were developed through some 8 centuries of the Basilica's history. They represent stories from the Bible (Old and New Testaments), allegorical figures, events in the lives of Christ, the Virgin Mary, Saint Mark and other saints. The mosaics, with their warm colors, particularly gold, decorate the ample spaces of the Basilica, from 28 metres wide up to 21 metres high. As in Middle-Eastern churches, the interaction of the decoration with a dim, but ever changing light, according to the time of day, creates a range of evocative and intense effects."  (Official website of St. Mark's Basilica)

"The intricately-patterned floor is a 12th-century mixture of mosaic and marble in geometric patterns and animal designs. A red medallion in the floor of the porch inside the main door marks the spot where, in 1177, Doge Sebastiano Ziani orchestrated the reconciliation between Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor, and Pope Alexander III.

Over the high altar is a baldacchino on columns decorated with 11th-century reliefs. The altarpiece is the famous Pala d'Oro (Golden Pall), a panel of gold embedded with gems. It was commissioned from Byzantine goldsmiths in 976 and further embellished over the centuries. Napoleon stole some of the precious stones in 1797, but there are still plenty left, gleaming behind protective glass.

The choir stalls are embellished with inlaying by Fra Sebastiano Schiavone, and above them on both sides are three reliefs by Sansovino. On the two marble pulpits of the ambo are statuettes by the Massegne brothers (1394). Also in the choir are Sansovino's bronze statues of the Evangelists and Caliari's of the Four Doctors." (www.sacred-destinations.com)

Words, no matter how creatively stringed together, and photos, no matter how expertly captured, cannot adequately convey and bring to life the resplendence of the architectural masterpiece that is Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco.  One has to see and experience its grandeur.


Indeed, the Basilica of St. Mark in Venice is one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen.  I long to gaze at its beauty again.

Wishing you happy journeys...

This is my response to the Wednesday Postcard Meme of Willa of

Greetings from Canada

This self-designed postcard traveled 6,746 miles for 21 days.

I like how Soap put a map and a whole bunch of interesting information about
Canada at the back of the card.

The polar bear stamp that came along with the postcard is just too adorable, don't you think so?

Merci, Soapykins!

Wishing you happy journeys...

A Chinese Winter Interlude

Shuyang, a university student taking up Journalism, said she chose to send me this card because she read that the Philippines has no winter. She'd like for me to see the lovely snow-covered pine trees of Mt. Huang (Huangshan).

Huangshan, which literally translates to yellow mountain, is a UNESCO world heritage site located in the Anhui Province in eastern China. Due to its enchanting beauty, the mountain has become a frequent subject of traditional Chinese artwork, paintings, and literature. The great Tang dynasty poet, Li Bai, was so mesmerized by its alluring charm that he was naturally prompted to write a poem about his magical experience in the mountains.


Oh, how I'd love to see and experience the magic of the China's famous yellow mountain one day! Perhaps I, too, shall be inspired to write a lovely poem about Mt. Huang.


Xie xie, Shuyang! Congratulations on your upcoming graduation!


Wishing you happy journeys...

A Russian Foliage

I got this interesting Russian foliage card through Postcrossing. It traveled the

distance of approximately 5,123 miles from Russia to the Philippines.

It came with these four colorful stamps which I completely, absolutely adore!

These are from the 6th definitives series featuring Russian kremlins which were

issued in 2009.

Left: Zaraisk Kremlin Right: Nizhniy Novgorod Kremlin

Top: Moscow Kremlin Bottom: Novgorod Kremlin

Спасибо Elena! На здоровье!

Wishing you happy journeys...

Sunset Card from Germany

This stunning tropical sunset postcard of Seychellin was postmarked in Germany.
It traveled the distance of more or less 10,287 kilometers from Europe to the Philippines.

At the back of the card, the sender, who is originally from Poland, wrote: "Serdecznie Cię pozdrawiam!" It means, I send you greetings from my heart.

Apart from the sweet and encouraging messages, she choose this nice stamp of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Altsadt Regensburg to come with the postcard, too!

Dziekuje, Magdalena!


Wishing you happy journeys...

Cheaha State Park in Winter

Jamie sent me this postcard of a park near her home. It features the snow-covered
Bald Rock Trail of Cheaha State Park in Alabama.

The card came with these three Liberty Bell forever stamps. The stamps can be used to mail First-Class Mail letter at any time in the future without additional postage, regardless of when the stamps are purchased or used and no matter how prices may change.

Thanks so much, Jamie!

Wishing you happy journeys...

A Card from Genoa

This card is special not only because it is one of the very first postcards I received since I joined Postcrossing, but also because it reminds me of the grand cathedrals I've seen during my trip to Italy a few years back. Mi manca l'Italia! (I seriously hope my Italian is correct.)

The postcard features Genoa's black-and-white stripped St. Lawrence Cathedral, the seat of the Archbishop of Genoa. The cathedral houses the urn of what is believed to be the ashes of St. John the Baptist which were reported stolen during the time of the Crusades. The urn is taken out and paraded throughout the city every 24th of June in observance of the feast day of the Saint.

It is interesting to note that Cattedrale di San Lorenzo had narrowly escaped complete destruction in 1941 when the entire city was being bombed by the British as part of Operation Grog during the Second World War. It is said that due to crew error, the British battleship HMS Malaya mistakenly directed an armour piercing shell into the cathedral, but the bomb miraculously failed to detonate. The said bomb shell is currently placed on display at the church's nave.

This card travelled approximately 6,551 miles for 17 days. One of the stamps used features Leonardo Sciascia, an influential Italian writer, novelist, essayist, playwright, and politician.

Grazie, Davide! I hope I'd be able to personally marvel at the beauty of Cattedrale di San Lorenzo one day.

Credit: Interesting facts were lifted from a Wikipedia article on Cattedrale di San Lorenzo.


Wishing you happy journeys...

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Welcome to Postcard Journeys

Lets travel and explore the world
through postcards. 

Wishing you happy journeys...