Keeping the postal service up & running, one stamp at a time. Usually silly, sometimes cranky, occasionally a mix of the two.

Month: August 2016

Time again to let you poke through my mail a little bit! We start with some delicious food.

That large serving of siu mai (or a serving of large siu mai?) is from Shanghai, China, via Postcrossing Forum. This is the same Postcrosser who recently sent me char siu bao, and this time he writes:

“This card shows Shumai also Romanized as siu mai or shaomai. Is a type of traditional Chinese dumpling served as dimsum. I like to eat.”

Yes, siu mai & I are old friends!

More tasty food: that illustrated sorta-how-to on spring rolls. Another Postcrossing Forum incoming, this one from Hong Kong, and the sender writes:

“This is Asia cuisine–spring rolls! Very delicious. I love them. 🙂 Hope you enjoy this card.”

Oh, yes. AND THE STAMPS! Look down below & see the four great stamps from this card: 3 birds & a meal. I especially love the two to the right: the sea eagle & the delicious nasi lemak. That is a Malaysian dish, but as is printed on the bottom of the stamp, it is a China-Malaysia joint issue. Very interesting! I looked it up, and learned this:

As the Chinese saying goes, food is of paramount importance to all of us. By learning more about the food culture of a country, we can gain an appreciation of the customs and traditions of the local people. For Hong Kong’s 13th joint issue with other postal administrations, Hongkong Post and Pos Malaysia are jointly issuing a set of four stamps on local food that can be found in the two places.

These stamps showcase the unique local culinary delights that reflect the distinctive cuisines and food tastes of these two Asian neighbors, including the egg waffle and Poon Choi in Hong Kong and Nasi Lemak and satay in Malaysia.

I’m so excited about these stamps, I might as well show them right now, so we can get on with the rest of the postcards.

Next up is the shark-surrounded kayaker, which came to me from Germany thanks to a swap-bot “ad/free card” trade. The sender tells me,

“I found this ad postcard at our local cinema. It says: ‘no bad surprises.’ Hope you like it!”

A different swap-bot free postcard trade brought me the suitcase, in from Chevy Chase, Maryland. This sender is better at filling out the back of the postcard than most swap-botters I encounter: she actually has a lot to say!

“I’m so glad that summer classes end just last Thursday (man, were those classes hard)! Fitting with one of the main themes of this card, my family and I will get to travel for the part of next month to many places in eastern Canada for various reasons from reuniting with old friends, seeing the place to taking maple syrup extraction classes!”

Disney/Pixar fact about me: I loathe their movie “Cars,” but really enjoy the Disney California Adventure area Cars Land/Radiator Springs! The movie is the point where I semi-retired from Pixar. So much more creativity went into the attraction than the movie franchise. My enjoyment of the California Adventure land caused me to welcome this postcard from Lake Elsinore, California, sent to me in a swap-bot Disney postcard swap. The sender writes:

“We have Disneyland passes and we really enjoy strolling through Cars Land, especially when they turn on all the neon lights in the evening.”

Finally, and still on the topic of vehicles, we have that dolly behind the wheel, sent to me from a friend in Singapore. My friend is a real toy nut, and like me, she photographs her toys in fun situations–and sometimes even makes postcards out of those shots!

Pig-Pen went to Wuhan, Hubei, China, in the Postcrossing Forum China Meets the World tag. The recipient said she’d like to read some good quotes, so I shared a couple of my favorites from Groucho Marx:

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.”

“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.”

Monarch butterflies: the only reason I pull off the freeway in Pismo Beach, California, other than to perhaps pick up a drink at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Pismo has got one of the best monarch groves, and the lucky new owner of that card (being sent out in a swap-bot “California postcard” trade) is in Stockton, California.

Oh, that funky cow! It’s for a swap-bot “Ugly Postcard” trade, and it’s off to Dacula, Georgia, United States. This is one of the worst in an otherwise-mostly-okay selection in a boxed set of animal cards called, accurately enough, “Animal Box.” Not sure about boxed sets. Real crapshoots, I’ve found. Thank goodness for trades like “Ugly Postcard” and “I Hate This Postcard!”

The California scenes are part of a regular Postcrossing draw, and the card is headed to Laval, Quebec, Canada, to a recipient who is originally from Romania. What is notable about her profile is that the great majority of it is dedicated to a section she calls “What I don’t like”:

AD CARDS HOME MADE CARDS vintage cartoons animals cards with a lot of people on them boats, cars, trains, planes, airports, harbors funny or unusual cards famous people TV shows, movies, movie stars paintings, statues flowers art nouveau I ONLY LIKE REAL POSTCARDS, NOT NEWSPAPER CUTOUTS Thanks

PLEASE ! No Christmas cards this year, I have tons of them.

I wrote in a larger print on that card than I naturally would, usually.

Another California scene, of the beach town of Cayucos, went to the not-beach town (but not-so-far from the beach town) of Kalaheo, Hawaii.

We end with the entire state of California, that map having gone out in a Postcrossing draw to Navan, Meath, Ireland. The person is from Germany, but she says she moved to Ireland because she got a job there. More about her: she is a LONG-time Postcrosser: over 8 years! She has sent more than 12,700 cards, making her Ireland’s #1 Postcrosser!

The card full of drinking people is part of a “free card” trade, and it went out to someone in St. Cloud, Minnesota. I told him this card is doubly-free, because it’s a free card someone else sent me.

And let me tell you, I never thought I’d have the chance to get rid of it.

The other 3 up there went out in a Disney trade, as you may be able to tell. They are winding their ways toward Summerville, South Carolina; Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada; and Zella-Mehlis, Germany.

One regular Postcrossing draw this time: the funky cat thing at bottom left is going to a cat lover in Kowloon, Hong Kong. She has 3 cats of her own, and just in case she can’t tell that thing is supposed to be a cat, I added 3 more cat-looking cats on the back, in the form of a stamp, a sticker, and an address label.

Lucy & Schroeder are going to Changchun, Jilin, China, part of a Postcrossing Forum “China Meets the World” tag. This Postcrosser writes that she has a “free range” Golden Retriever, meaning it has free reign of her home. That’s good: please don’t have a dog if you are going to cage it.

Snoopy! It’s birthday greetings from a postcard pal in Tokyo, Japan, and she says the card also represents Snoopy’s birthday on August 10:

“The day is famous for Snoopy’s Birthday in Japan. A lot of goodies released on the day.”

I always wonder why Snoopy & Peanuts seem more treasured in Japan than here in their birthplace. Be sure to check out the back of the postcard below–there’s also a Doraemon stamp! Oh, speaking of that, a couple of days later, I got a birthday parcel from my friend, and it had a ton of Doraemon stamps on it. Here they are:

I love Doraemon. I might have actually enjoyed these stamps more than anything inside the package!

Next up, from a Postcrosser in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, come those tasty traditional kue (AKA kuih). I’ve received this same card in the past, but it is no less tasty this time around! The sender tells me, “I have 7 cats and love them so much!” Whoa!

I’m loving that flamingo on the beach. It’s from Tianjin, China, thanks to Postcrossing Forum’s “China Meets the World” tag. I don’t think this scene takes place in China. The sender tells me, “…I am a cabin crew working for Air China. I love postcards and stamps from all over the world.” I love the sturgeon stamp on his card (check it out below).

The emo-looking movie poster card comes from Finland. It’s part of a swap-bot free postcard trade, and the sender writes, “this card advertised a new Finnish movie which tells a story of one of our famous band.”

Last up is another Postcrossing card, this one from Kuřim, Czech Republic. The card depicts Podyjí National Park, and here is what Wikipedia told me about that park:

Podyjí National Park is a national park in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Adjacent to Austria’s Thayatal National Park on the border, together they are referred to as the Inter-National park.

For now, though, let’s start with the tigers. THREE tigers, going out in 3 Postcrossing draws. The first goes to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and I chose this card for her for no particular reason, save perhaps for the fact that she said she’d like to see anything unique from my country.

The next tiger goes to Singapore, and I feel that rant coming on. CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS POSTCROSSER IN SINGAPORE? She has been with the site for more than 8 years. She has sent nearly 6,500 cards. And as for her profile?

N O T H I N G .

SHE HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRITTEN AS A PROFILE.

What is her point in participating in this site? I mean, to the extend she is even participating; I see the lack of a profile of any kind a complete refusal to participate in the project. The only reason I chose one of my favorite postcards to send out is that in the absence of any kind of connection between sender & recipient, this card helps me out by having a back story I can write in the message space. I mean, I hope a message written on the card will not offend this prolific cipher.

/end rant

The tiger heading for Rotenburg, Germany will be going to an interesting home, I think. This Postcrosser had some very specific requests:

PLEASE WRITE ME BABYNAMES WITH LETTER S ON START -Please write the date, temperature, distance, how much postage you pay for the stamp and tell me where do you keep your postcards to?

I don’t even know what that last part means. I fulfilled all of the middle stuff, and ignored the “babynames” bit. She has internet access.

Astro Boy! He’s off to Mangalore, India in a Postcrossing Forum Anime/Manga tag. This Postcrosser writes in his profile, “through Postcrossing I can see your side of the world :-)”

The postcard hewn from a package of pani puri went to Falls Church, Virginia in a food package postcard trade. That product may not have been the perfect solution for pani puri lovers, but it was definitely fun, and it makes for really great postcards, I think!

The rather boring “Fremont” card is off in a Postcrossing Forum “China Meets the World” trade to Hangzhou, China, to an engineer who said he would like postcards depicting the sender’s city. I told him I didn’t think these are very good representations. I would certainly snap up postcards featuring the Mission Peak photo on Fremont’s Wikipedia page. It also shows a small corner of the city’s Central Park, which itself would offer several postcard-worthy scenes.

The last two cards are from the boxed set, “The Art of Disney: The Renaissance and Beyond (1989-2014).” The Beauty & the Beast card–well, let’s just say I need a postcard secretary. I scanned the front of the card, but have no record of the other side. Doing some looking around, the scan date seems to coincide with a swap-bot Disney postcard trade, so that makes sense, yeah. Apparently I mailed this off to Hollywood, England.

Finally, the Lion King card is off to Xi’an, China, in a Postcrossing Forum Cartoon/Comic Strips/Anime tag. The recipient is an 18-year-old who likes giraffes, and Disney, and many other things. She asked that people not write in cursive, because she couldn’t read it. BOY, have I received postcards I could not decipher! I do print my cards, though perhaps not always as neatly as I ought.

This sender apparently has a problem with stamp adhesion; we’re doing a little better this time, as one of the two stamps she affixed did make it all the way into my mailbox. I knew one was missing, because in her message, she wrote about the stamps:

“The right side stamp is Taiwan fruit Shakya. The left side stamp is a scene in the novel which is called ‘The Story of the Stone,’ also called ‘Dream of the Red Chamber.’ It is one of China’s Four Great Classical Novels.”

If you look at the stamp image below, you’ll be able to see that second stamp. It’s at the very bottom, within the sticker Snoopy’s line of vision. I looked up that book; at least in the English translation, it encompasses 5 volumes! Whoa!

Cool ostrich shot! That’s from a Postcrosser near Sonsbeck, Germany. She’s 14, she says she’s glad she can write to the U.S.A., and she wishes me a happy birthday.

Cindi went to Maui, and sent me this Pa’iloa Bay card! I do love a coastal scene with no people in evidence–that’s what I cross my fingers for when I look for a beach to walk in my general region. A couple of weeks back, when I was in Central California, I ended up in a couple of touristy areas where there was not even any room in the parking lots next to the beaches, so I just kept on going. No peace to be found there.

Then there is that very cheesy card. It came to me from Dallas, Texas, thanks to a swap-bot food postcard trade, and the sender writes:

“I spent this morning canning Bread & Butter pickles. It’s the first time I have used a recipe with Splenda so I’m wondering how/if they will turn out. Two days ago I canned Kosher Dill Pickles and I have plans for Pickled Squash. I love food and I enjoy eating cheese. The different flavors and textures are amazing.”

Okay, now we have the girl walking some paper boats. It’s from Odessa, Ukraine, and it’s my 300th Postcrossing Card Received! Also, a few days ago, Postcrossing emailed me to congratulate me on 2 Years with the Site. I haven’t seen a card in the mail from them, yet.

The insects come from a Postcrosser in Blatná, Czech Republic. She tells me,

“We have got amazing water castle. Around this castle is big park with fallow deer.”

I looked up “water castle.” That means, basically, it has a moat. I want to have a water home!

Stamps, postmarks, stickers, & washi tape– my favorite stamp this time would have to be that beautiful fish!

The mail carrier handed me all five of these cards at once yesterday–and look at these awesome top two!

The bao come from Shanghai, China, thanks to a Postcrossing Forum trade. The sender writes:

“Greetings from China. This card shows char siu buns (dumpling with marinated pork). It is also Cantonese cuisine.”

Love me some Cantonese cuisine! I have made bao several times. Hint for people on the go: they freeze well (bao, not people on the go).

I’ve had a lifelong love of the Kliban Cats, and in swoops Avery in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to enable me a little more! Hey is that a juice box? Oooh, pineapple juice…

I also like all those little figures on the “impressure BEIJIN” card. Another Postcrossing Forum trade, it was sent to me from someone in Harbin, China, who tells me:

“Our city is famous for ice and snow. The winter here is beautiful.”

Nope.

Then comes a bit of recycling from Kiel, Germany, another result of a swap-bot Upcycled Cardboard trade. Those truffles sure look good. The sender writes that he works as a teacher, and that he’s on summer break. Do you know some schools here in the U.S., right now in August’s infancy, have already started back up? Saddest thing ever.

Finally, another swap-bot trade, this time the “I HATE this postcard,” comes to me from Austin, Texas. The sender writes:

“This is one of those cards I’ve had for years and can’t seem to get rid of. It’s almost vintage! Hope it brings you some joy. 🙂 “

I don’t mind the postcard, but I had to admit to the sender that I DO HATE the stamp:

DONALD DUCK! Shiny! The card comes to me thanks to the Postcrossing Forum “Far East to America” tag, and is from a nice sender with whom I’ve exchanged cards before. She’s in Hamamatsu, Japan. She writes:

“I work as a cooking teacher. I selected this card for you, because I could find the many Donald Duck cards in your favorite! We have the rainy season in June and July. I sometime feel uncomfortable with high humidity.”

I love that “Hawaiian Rain Forest” postcard–heck, I remember those U.S. stamps! Now, it was sent to me in a swap-bot “I HATE This Postcard” trade, but the sender (in Hamden, Connecticut) writes:

“I don’t really hate this PC! I love mail in general, but this card–is in the way it doesn’t fit like the rest! And you like Hawaii, so here you go another sign that you must get there one day. P.S. All mail needs a P.S. too right?”

Okay, I don’t understand what she is writing, but I do like the card. And two of the three stamps. I do HATE the third stamp, though! You can check out the stamp photo below & decide for yourself which of the three stamps is the hated third.

We have a double serving of chocolate this time around. The fancy ones with the cinnamon sticks & coffee beans come from a Postcrosser near Nizhny, Russia, and the card’s back bears a stamp collection–5 great-big ones! I love the mammal, which turns out to be a wolverine!

The other choco serving is a food package postcard (thanks to Postcrossing Forum) from a sender in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, who writes:

“Let me share a ‘phrase’ with you: ‘busy is a choice, stress is a choice, joy is a choice.’ choose well.”

The photo postcard of the trees is from a 15-year-old Postcrosser in Farroupilha, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, who writes in his profile that his hobbies are “jiu jitsu and run in the street.” He writes:

“This postcard is about an important place in my city there you can run and relax with your family! Bye!”

Finally, the illustrated food card–“from RUSSIA with love”–is from a Postcrosser in Ekaterinburg, Russia, and she writes:

“I live in this big city and work as a doctor. I like travelling very much and making photos. My husband calls himself a gastronomic tourist, we love going to restaurants in different countries and try local food. I’ve never been to USA, but my husband was in California.”

I happened to click on the Postcrossing Blog–something I don’t often do–and I was sure glad I did: I learned that the Singapore Philatelic Museum is ready to send more postcards to snail mailers around the world! They’ve got a Harry Potter exhibition coming up this fall, and are soliciting postcards from fans. Send them a Potter-related card, and they will reciprocate (though not with a Potter card; licensing issues, you know).

When the museum had a Peanuts exhibition some time ago, I sent in a card, and received a nice one in return. I don’t have any Harry Potter cards, but I chose one of my stamp collages I rescued from the Disappointassortment:

I thought the museum folks would appreciate that. On the back, I Potterized things with a quick drawing & recollection.

You can see some smearing in the address field; that’s another issue with the Disappointassortment: in addition to the cards’ other ills, many of them feature a glossy coating on the back. Luckily, I didn’t smear the ink as much as I could have.

Looking forward to seeing what the museum sends me in return! Last time, it was a very fast turnaround, so I should have an answer before long.

Two cards yesterday–and I love them both! An especially nice sight to see, opening the mailbox on my b-day.

Just looka that cool retro retro cool PEZ postcard! Sent to me from a loved one in Massachusetts, it was purchased at THE PEZ factory in Connecticut. Did you know that the U.S. has one PEZ (yeah, you gotta capitalize that, like SPAM) (the difference between PEZ and SPAM being that I will actually willingly eat the latter) factory, it is in Orange, Connecticut, and you can visit it? Now, there is a PEZ Museum close to me, in Burlingame, California but it’s a rather small affair, and–no relation.

The squirrel came to me from Kemi, Finland, in a regular Postcrossing send. I love it! Squirrels do it for me every time. There’s another rodent on the backside: a cute li’l bunny. Instead of getting off my rear to take another photo in decent light, I looked up the stamp online, so that I could share the image below. I see Finland has had a LOT of rabbit stamps over the years. The stamp on my card immediately makes me think of the brand-new USPS animal photo stamps. Also reminds me: I took a little road trip to the San Luis Obispo area last week, and while I was walking through their botanical gardens, I was lucky enough to see a few rabbits hopping around, feeding. Sure, it’s not deer, but I enjoyed quietly hanging back, watching.