Girl-on-a-Swing

Lady-on-a-Hammock

My birthday, sometime ago ...

* This card was sent by fellow postcrosser from the Netherlands. "Gefeliciteerd je bent jarig" means "Congratulations on your birthday".




















* This card was sent by fellow postcrosser from Finland. "Syntymapaivahymy sinulle" means "Birthday smiles for u".

A cover from Shanghai Expo ...

Thanks Wangjiayi for this awesome cover sent from World Expo 2010 Shanghai during his visit there. The datestamp indicates "世博" (i.e World Expo) and there is also a CSSC Pavilion stamp on cover.

Know 10 Trees

To find out more about "Know 10 Trees", please visit National Park Singapore website here.

* Tanglin Post Office

A postcard from Føroyar ...

My first postcard from Faroe Islands ("Føroyar" in Faroese) was sent from a place called Sandur, in Faroe Islands, on 10 May. This postcard took 7 days to reach Singapore. Thank you very much Igor for this pleasant surprise! ;-)



























Where are the Faroe Islands and Sandur?
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland. Sandur (meaning sandy beach) is a village on the south coast of the island of Sandoy in the Faroe Islands.






























This beautiful postcard was franked with 2010 Europa stamp (Children's books). Issued on 24 Apr, this stamp is from a set of 2 stamps, featuring two recent Faroese children's books "A dog, a cat and a mouse" (on 10Kr stamp) and "Moss Mollis' Journey" (on 12Kr stamp).

In actual fact, this postcard was sent by Igor during the 20th International Stamp Fair in Messe Essen. He did not travel to Faroe Islands. However, the stamp fair was held from 6-8 May whereas the stamp was cancelled with datestamp from Sandur on 10 May ??? This may easily make one believes that Igor sent the cover from Faroe Islands. Looks like the postal administration of Faroe Islands brought the cover back to Faroe Islands and applied postmark from different places (in this case, Sandur) before sending out .... my guess !

ATM covers from Taiwan

Thanks George Wu & Paul Choong for the nice ATM covers, sent from Hualien City (machine 105) and Pingtung City (machine 104) respectively :-)

These ATM covers featured the beautiful tung blossom (油桐花).

It seems that there is no special postmark for this ATM issue. However, the normal datestamps were good enough.

PAM cover from Malaysia

Thanks KKKhor for the PAM (i.e Pos-Automated-Machine) cover from machine 002, located in GPO Kuantan, Pahang.

PAM 001 - in GPO KL, first day of operation on 3 Nov 2009.

PAM 002 - in GPO Kuantan, first day of operation on 12 March 2010.

Cover from Brunei Darussalam

Thanks Susan for the nice cover above :-)
The cover was sent on 14 May and took 5 days to reach Singapore.
The cancellation from Brunei is nice and clear, with the words "MPC" (i.e Mail Processing Centre) & country name.
The cover was franked with 3 stamps. The 2 stamps on the right were issued on 1 Feb 2000, entitled "Economic Development into the New Millennium" from a set of 6 stamps whereas the stamp on the left was to commemorate the 25th anniversary (or Silver Jubilee, 1967-1992) of Sultan's Accession to throne, from a set of 5 stamps (as shown below).

2010 London Exhibition Miniature Sheet

Singpost issued the above miniature sheet in conjunction with participation in the London 2010 International Stamp Exhibition (8-15 May 2010) : an event that only comes to Britain every ten years.

The Exhibition itself is the centrepiece of the London 2010 Festival of Stamps, an exciting year-long programme of exhibitions, activities and events which have "Accession of George V – The Philatelist King" as its central theme.

6 May 2010 marked the centenary of the King's accession, as well as the 170th anniversary of the first Penny Black.

The miniature sheet above was cancelled on the first day of exhibition (8 May) with postmark featuring Business Design Centre in Islington, London where London 2010 International Stamp Exhibition was held. Also, show below the exterior of Business Design Centre.

Centenary of the accession of King George V

This year marks the centenary of the accession to the throne of King George V, the philatelic King.

George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 1910 through World War I (1914–1918) until his death in 1936. He was the first British monarch of the House of Windsor, which he created from the British branch of the German House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

From the age of twelve George served in the Royal Navy, but upon the unexpected death of his elder brother, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, he became heir to the throne and married his brother's fiancée, Mary of Teck (known as "May" to her family after her birth month). Although they occasionally toured the British Empire, George preferred to stay at home with his stamp collection and lived what later biographers would consider a dull life because of its conventionality. George became King-Emperor in 1910 on the death of his father, King Edward VII.

Penny Black

Penny Black - world's first postage stamp was issued on 1st May 1840 in the UK, with the portrait of Queen Victoria. The idea of postage stamp was part of Sir Rowland Hill's 1837 proposals to reform the British postal system.

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of first postage stamp, Royal Mail had issued, during "Stamp World London 90" (International Stamp Exhibition in London, in 1990), a beautiful miniature sheet. The miniature sheet FDC is as shown above.

On the miniature sheet, also features Britannia riding the waves in triumph, in a chariot pulled by powerful horses, and holding a Union flag shield. The "Seahorse" design was based on several classical allusions, including Apollo and his sun chariot and imagery of Britannia from Roman and later British coinage.

I'm however not so sure what those letters "S" & "W" at the bottom left and right of the Penny Black mean ... ???

Queen Victoria (1819-1901)

1. Reign : 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901 (63 years & 7 months)

2. Last British Monarch from House of Hanover

3. World's first postage stamp - Penny Black, was issued in the UK on 1st May 1840, with the portrait of Queen Victoria.

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Dynasties:

Saxon
Viking
Normandy (1066-1141)
Plantagenet (1154-1485)
Tudor (1485-1603)
Stuart (1603-1714)
Hanover (1714-1901)
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1901-1917)
Windsor (1917-now)

Serie: "Für den Sport"

Covers with 2 stamps above and 2 stamps below were sent to me by Igor Adolph. Danke schön, Igor! These stamps are from the series of "Für den Sport" (or "For the Sports").

The 2 charity stamps above were issued on 8 April 2010 to commemorate
- 55+25 cents: FIFA World Cup in South Africa (11 Jun-11 Jul 2010)
- 145+55 cents: Ice hockey World Championship in Germany (7-23 May 2010)






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The 2 charity stamps above were issued on 11 Feb 2010 to commemorate
- 45+20 cents: Winter-Paralympics in Vancouver (12-21 Mar 2010)
- 55+25 cents: Winter-Olympics in Vancouver (12-28 Feb 2010)

Other related blog: covercity

Expo 2010 Shanghai (Part II)

A pleasant surprise today to receive a registered cover of Expo 2010 Shanghai. Thank you very much Zhoufan for remembering me ;-)

This single stamp in complete set was issued on May 1st in conjunction with the opening ceremony of Expo 2010 in Shanghai. The cover was sent from Zhouning, in Fujian province, Zhoufan's hometown.

Cover from the States

The above cover was sent by member from Cover Collectors Circuit Club (CCCC). Thanks, Richard L. Beecher from Blaine, State of Washington :-)

The 2 stamps on the right, with face value 29 cents each was issued in 1993 (on Circus) in a set of 4 stamps, as shown below whereas the other 40 cents stamp was issued 1999 (on Rio Grande) with single stamp in a set.

The Rio Grande (known as Río Bravo del Norte or Río Bravo, in Mexico) is a river that forms part of the border between the United States and Mexico. At 1,885 miles (3,034 km) long, it serves as a natural boundary along the border between the American state of Texas and Mexico.

Richard had also attached the cover of newsletters as shown below, with New Year Greeting from Renate Thompson (Managing & Membership Director of CCCC, Email: bandart@bellsouth.net) and write-up on Antverpia 2010 by Holger. For those of you who are keen on becoming CCCC member, you may like to contact Renate.

Cover from Venezuela

I'm thrilled to receive the above cover today, being my first cover from Venezuela. It is rare for me to receive covers from South America, Central America or Africa continents. So all covers from countries of these continents are welcomed :-)

This cover was sent from Valencia, Venezuela on 15 Mar 2010, and it took almost 2 months to arrive here. Thank God that it arrived. It is better late than never to receive it. Muchas gracias, Eduardo :-)

There are 2 stamps on the cover. I did not get much info about the stamp on the right, only knew that it was issued in 1983, from the stamp itself. The stamp on the left was issued in 2006, from Children's painting on Francisco de Miranda - a Venezuelan revolutionary who successfully liberated a vast portion of South America during the Spanish American wars of independence. The complete set of 10 stamps is shown on the stamp sheet below.

Kelip-Kelip of Malaysia