Thursday, October 27, 2016

More From The Disappearing Pile

How's it going today ? It's all good here and now it's time for a few more cards before the pile disappears. My first card today arrived from Malaysia. On the front is an Indian lady who the sender says reflects the Indian culture in Malaysia. With 2.7 million people who self-identify as " Indian " holding Malaysian Nationality, I guess there is a lot of Indian culture in the country.

 I mean no offense, but when I first saw this card , I thought it was a picture of Frida Kalo. It looks so much like her.

Lek Yuen from Kuala Lumpur sent this card and used a beautiful single stamp souvenir sheet from 2015. It pictures a Vulcan Steam Locomotive from Sabah.




This next card is from Thailand and gives us a look at the Grand Palace in Bangkok. The complex of buildings has been the official residence of the Kings of Siam and later Thailand since 1782.



This is another card from Khun Gordon, who is becoming a bit of a regular contributor to this blog. Like Jobbo's cards from Thailand, Gordon's always arrive with great stamps. My Thailand stamp collection is certainly growing. On this card are 5 stamps and we'll look at the odd one out, on the far right, first. It was issued in 2015 to celebrate the World Dental Congress, held in Bangkok on September of that year.  The other 4 stamps are a complete set issued in 2016 marking the Centenary of The Bangkok Railway Station.





Next up is Mont Saint-Michel. This island commune in Normandy, France, has a population of 50 people. It is one of France's most recognizable landmarks, visited by more than 3 million people each year  and has been on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list since 1979. From the card it is easy to see that Mont Saint-Michel is located on the river Couesnon which separates Normandy and Brittany.



Dominique used a recent 2016 stamp of Pierre Messmer, Prime Minister of France from July 1972 until May 1974.



Talk about multi-tasking. Cooking, reading and having your hair done all at the same time. This Nouvelles Images card is from Tanja in France.




Tanja used a recent Marianne stamp. Marianne is the allegoric figure of the French Republic. There have been many Marianne stamp series over the years. A number of French actresses and models have been used as the face of Marianne over the  years. My favourite has always been Laetitia Casta.





Here's the latest Airline/Aircraft postcard for my Aviation Collection. Far Eastern Air Transport. They operate MD-82 , MD-83 and B737 aircraft. The airline has its head office in Taipei, Taiwan. I have a confession to make with regard to this airline. For all of my 28 years in the airline industry and for years after, I honestly thought that Far Eastern was a Russian airline. Guess I should have done a little research  on this one.  Never to old to learn , hey ?



Lisa , a Postcrosser who lives south of Russia near the Don River sent this card along. There's a couple of nice stamps on this one. On the left is 1 of 5 circular stamps , all showing Fruits and issued in 2003. Then on the right, is a large stamp celebrating Whales. It is 1 of 2 issued in 2012.





A night view of The Temple of The Emerald Buddha in Bangkok is featured on this next card. The Temple , known locally as Wat Phra Kaew is regarded as the most sacred Buddhist temple in all Thailand. It is the home of the Emerald Buddha.



Jobbo used 2 examples of stamps featuring Thailand's late King.



Mantenga Cultural Village in the Kingdom of Swaziland is front and center on my next card. The card brings greetings from Ezulwini but was postmarked in Manzini, the Kingdom's second largest center , having a population of just over 78,000.



David used 3 stamps, 1 from 2007 and 2 from 1991.
On the left is 1 of a set of 13 Trees of Swaziland  definitives. The other 2 are from a set of 13 Butterflies definitives. 





Here's another card from David's recent trip to southern Africa. This time it's the Kingdom of Lesotho. The card shows a building in Maseru shaped like a Basotho Hat. The conical shape is seen everywhere in the Kingdom, even on the flag, and is the recognized symbol of the country. 





The stamps on this one are from 1997 and feature Flowers. 




Now it's time for the last card for today. The pile on the desk is just about gone. I think there's only 4 left.  My Lovely Teena picked this card while going through Montreal Airport recently. It's The Big O - no not that one , but the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Opened in July 1976 , it saw its first baseball game in April of 1977. 
Teena wrote on the card of all the good memories that The Big O has for us. That's quite true  ,  as a family , we  saw the Montreal Expos many times in Montreal. Sadly The Expos left Montreal in 2004 and The Big O has never been the same.




On this one we can see another of the 2012 Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee stamps, another stamp on a stamp. 




There it is , another bunch of great cards. Thanks to all for sending them - Lek Yuen, Khun Gordon, Dominique, Tanja, Liza, Jobbo, David and My Lovely Teena. I'll be back again soon and will finish off the pile on the desk.  Take care, leave a comment if so inclined. 

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