The Xiaoshang Bridge

As I've declared in this blog, over and over again, I love bridges.  So for this week's Postcard Perfect round, I'm sharing the very first bridge postcard I got from Postcrossing.  It was sent by Shiliang of China. 

Bridges have always figured in the history of nations as sites for historic battles.  I am pretty sure you have heard and learned of quite a lot of stories of great battles fought on a bridge.  In military strategy, bridges serve as choke points that allow numerically inferior  armed forces to impede the movement of larger enemy armed contingents.       


The Xiaoshang Bridge, built over 1,400 years ago, certainly has its share of war stories.  Accounts say that it was were Yang Zaixing, a lieutenant of the Song Dynasty general Yue Fei, met his death during the war against the Jin Dynasty invaders.


If the Xiaoshang Bridge served a military strategic function in the wars and battles of the distant past, today the very same bridge serves a cultural strategic purpose.   In fact, it was declared as an important heritage structure by the local government.   


Recognizing the bridge's cultural importance, China's State Postal Bureau included the Xiaoshang Bridge as one of the four featured special historic bridge stamps which were issued in March 2003.


Bridges serve a plethora of purpose.  These structures were used as strategic ambush points and choke points to weaken enemy forces.  They also serve as historical, cultural and architectural timepieces.  Most of all, bridges serve as important structures that connect communities and ensure the continuous flow of progress.



Wishing you happy journeys...

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Brussels in Bloom: The Flower Carpet at the La Grand Place

The La Grand Place featured in this postcard is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The UNESCO website describes this famous square in Brussels, Belgium as:

"a remarkably homogeneous body of public and private buildings, dating mainly from the late 17th century. The architecture provides a vivid illustration of the level of social and cultural life of the period in this important political and commercial center."

The building in the center is known as the Maison du Roi (King's House). It was was built on the site of the first cloth and bread markets, so the building is still also referred to as the Broodhuis (Breadhouse).


I am certain you'd notice the colorful carpet in front of the Maison du Roi. Every other year, in the month of August, an enormous carpet of begonias is set up in Belgium's most famous square. The one on the photo is the flower carpet set up in 2006. (To read more about Belgium's flower carpet, head on to this site.)


The fauna and flora stamps that came with the postcard are simply awesome!

Dankje, Raquel!

Wishing you happy journeys...

Visit Willa Stock's website for more interesting postcards.

Cruising along the Seine River

This panoramic postcard was sent by Thadee.  It showcases a bateaux-mouche (fly boat) cruising along the Seine River, the Notre Dame Cathedral, Pont de l' Archevêché (Archbishop's Bridge), and the buildings of Île de la Cité. 

This card reminded me of my sweet sojourn in Paris a few years ago. I remember biking with my friends along the port dela Tournelle, the wide space along the left side of the river, and stopping just about where the two people on the photo are sitting to marvel at the majestic Notre Dame Cathedral from a different perspective.


Because I miss Paris so much, I decided to rummage my treasure trove of my photos.  Look what I found!

A snapshot I took of the Île de la Cité!  Isn't it amazing?  This is why seeing the postcard felt like deja vu! Oh how I long to come back and explore every nook and cranny of the City of Lights! I could walk for hours and hours (or days)! I could just stare in awe at the marvelous architectural structures for hours. 

These stamps came with the postcard:

I sure am happy to get a stamp featuring the blessed Mother Teresa.

Wishing you happy journeys...

See more interesting postcards at Willa Stock's

Gone Fishing

Britta of Finland sent me this nice postcard of a little boy fishing.

It came with a flower stamp and a cute sticker.

Wishing you happy journeys...

The Wooden Church of Heinävesi

This is my very first postcard from Finland. It was sent by Eeva of Postcrossing.

"The Heinävesi Church is located right in the heart of Heinävesi, Finland. Surrounded by fields, the tall church hill dominates the entire village and the surrounding landscape. The church hill is home to the wooden church, the churchyard surrounded by a stone fence and the old cemetery next to it. In addition, the church hill has the old parish hall and a granary that has been transformed into a museum. There is a road leading from the church to the harbor, which was a major inland waterway center.

The current church, a wooden cruciform building designed by Josef Stenbäck, is Heinävesi’s third church in the same spot. The previous church, which had been drawn by Carl Ludvig Engel and completed in 1840, burnt down in 1887. The current church was built by volunteers from 1890 to 1891 under the direction of construction engineer E. J. Holopainen. The church was designed to hold 2,000 people. It has organs that are from 1906 and 1980." (Source: Museums of Southern Savo)

The postcard came with this round-shaped stamp, which I initially thought was just a decorative sticker. Well, in fact, it's really a sticker. It's a self-adhesive stamp!

I wanted to know more about the stamp so I consulted Mr. Google. I found out that it is one of the two stamps issued in April of the current year featuring the dahlia flower. I also learned that Suomi is the shortened version of "Suomen tasavalta -- Republiken Finland," or the Republic of Finland.


I'm certainly looking forward to receiving another postcard from Finland! Finnish stamps are so cool, don't you think so?

Wishing you happy journeys...

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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

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.

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...

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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