China-Singapore Philatelic Exhibition in Suzhou (Part 4) ...

Singapore-China Joint Commemorative Pre-paid covers, sent from Singapore to Suzhou, with landing postmark from Suzhou (Part 3) ...

Queen's Baton Relay in Goa ...

Many thanks Elton D'Souza for this splendid cover on Queen's Baton Relay, with cancellation on 7 Sept from Panaji, Goa ;-))) This cover took 13 days to arrive in Singapore!

Delhi 2010 - XIX Commonwealth Games cover ...

Many thanks Shrikant Modh for this nice cover, sent from Palanpur, Gujarat ;-) This cover took only 5 days to reach Singapore.

Delhi 2010 - XIX Commonwealth Games FDC ...

Many thanks S. Swarup Rath for this splendid FDC of Delhi 2010 - XIX Commonwealth Games ;-))) Although the FDC took a lengthy 22 days to reach Singapore, but it is better late than never to receive it.

In this stamp issue, the new symbol for India's rupees was used on stamps.

New symbol for India's rupee ...

Source: Straits Times July 17, 2010

A nice postcard of Beijing Summer Palace ...

Many thanks Xu Wei for this nice postcard of Beijing Summer Palace (颐和园), sent on Oct 16 (or Sept 9 in Lunar Calendar, or The Double Ninth Festival, or Chong Yang Festival "重阳节") ;-)

For information, in December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List and declared the Summer Palace a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design.

The postmark was special as it came with Chinese poem, written by Li Shangyin, a Chinese poet of the late Tang Dynasty. The translation of the poem in English :

With twilight shadows in my heart
I have driven up among the Leyou Tombs
To see the sun, for all his glory,
Buried by the coming night.

向晚意不适，驱车登古原。

夕阳无限好，只是近黄昏。

--- 唐李商隐的《乐游原》

【韵译】：

临近傍晚时分，觉得心情不太舒畅；

驾车登上乐游原，心想把烦恼遣散。

看见夕阳无限美好，一片金光灿烂；

只是将近黄昏，美好时光终究短暂。

【评析】：

这是一首登高望远，即景抒情的诗。首二句写驱车登古原的原因：是“向晚意不适”。后二句写登上古原触景生情，精神上得到一种享受和满足。“夕阳无限好，只是近黄昏”二句，素来人们多解为“晚景虽好，可惜不能久留。”今人周汝昌认为：“只是”二句，“正是诗人的一腔热爱生活，执着人间，坚持理想而心光不灭的一种深情苦志。”这种看法，虽有新意，却不合诗人的身世，也不合诗人当时的情绪。

20 Years of German Unity ...

Many thanks Igor for this nice pre-paid cover of Bilateral Philatelic Exhibition ("Bilaterale Briefmarkenausstellung") between Germany and Poland, held at Frankfurt (Oder), from 24 to 26 Sept ;-)

On cover, there were pre-printed, self-adhesive and gummed stamps that commemorated the 20 years of German Unity ("20 Jahre Deutsche Einheit"), with special cancellation on Oct 3rd, from the German capital of Berlin, in black, red and yellow, with wordings of "20 Jahre Deutsche Einheit".

German Unity Day (German: Tag der Deutschen Einheit) is the national day of Germany, celebrated on 3 October as a public holiday. It commemorates the anniversary of German reunification in 1990.

You may like to check out Igor's blog here.

Italian Air Force: 50 years with "Tricolour Arrows" acrobatic team ...

Many thanks Giovanni again for this nice cover, with first day cancellation from Rivolto (Udine), in Northeastern Italy ;-) The village of Rivolto hosts the Italian Air Force acrobatic flight squadron, the "Frecce Tricolori" (Tricolour Arrows), which was formed in 1961.

150th Anniversary of the Birth of Joe Petrosino ...

Many thanks Giovanni for this nice cover with first day cancellation from Padula, in Southern Italy, where Joe Petrosino was born ;-)

Giuseppe "Joe" Petrosino (August 30, 1860 - March 12, 1909) was a New York City police officer who was a pioneer in the fight against organized crime. The various crime fighting techniques that Petrosino pioneered during his law enforcement career are still practiced by various agencies in the fight against crime.

Southeast Asia on Haze Alert !!!

Postmark 20102010 ...

China-Singapore Joint Commemorative Pre-paid Covers, sent from Suzhou (Part 2) ...

Cover from Myanmar ...

Many thanks Thitar for this nice registered cover, sent on 10 Oct ;-) The cover took 10 days to arrive in Singapore!

Postcard from Myanmar ...

Many thanks Thitar for this nice postcard, sent on 10 Oct ;-) The postcard took 9 days to reach Singapore.

Cover from Malaysia ...

Many thanks KKKhor for this cover ;-)

My first cover from Luxembourg ...

Many thanks Arturo Sparapano for this nice cover, sent from Strassen, Luxembourg ;-) This cover took 8 days to arrive in Singapore.

Euro coins from Luxembourg ...

Today Luxembourg is the only remaining grand duchy in the World.

The Grand Duke of Luxembourg is the sovereign monarch and head of state of Luxembourg. Luxembourg has been a grand duchy since 15 March 1815. The incumbent Grand Duke of Luxembourg is Grand Duke Henri, who became Grand Duke of Luxembourg since 7 Oct 2000 till present. His portrait is featured on the obverse of Luxembourgish Euro coins.

My first cover from Bangladesh ...

Many thanks Subrata Pramanik for this nice cover, sent from Rajshahi ;-) This cover took 10 days to reach Singapore.