Request

To my cover-exchanging friends, please try as much as possible to
(1) WRITE THE ADDRESSES USING YOUR OWN HANDWRITING
as these give a more personal touch to the cover
(2) PLEASE DO NOT USE TAPE OR STICKERS ON THE REVERSE;
the Philippine postal service damages the cover with scribbling that highly devalues the aesthetic value of the cover, which is what I am after
(3) PLEASE TRY TO USE COMPLETE SETS
or at least same themes when sending covers, but it is okay if this is not possible or if this would be expensive, and
(4) PLEASE USE SMALL ENVELOPES,
not too small, but maybe around 4"x6" or something like that; big envelopes are not very attractive unless they have many stamps.
Thank you!

31.5.09

Việt Nam - France Joint Issue

For my first post of the month, I'd like to share the other half of my 21 March post on the VN-FR joint issue showing Halong Bay and the Strait of Bonifacio.



Many thanks to Eric Contesse from Lyon for this wonderful cover, which adds the missing half of this joint issue to my collection.

Nice postmark

Just felt like sharing this nice postmark - at least nice in my opinion. I like the way the traditional hand cancel is juxtaposed with the modern, computerized cancellation. And, on top of that, it's not very common to receive mail from Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

30.5.09

LONG TIME NO UPDATE!

Hello again!

Wow! It has been weeks since my last update. Been so busy lately, but, then again, that always seems to be the case. I'm 3 months behind in posting covers! Which means I have a lot of catching up to do. And, mind you, I'll have to be up to date by mid-July as I will be leaving for Macau by then....

Well, anyway, for my comeback post, here are some covers from Malaysia.



This issue, released 20.02.09 celebrates the golden jubilee of Institute of Engineers Malaysia and showcases engineering feats that have helped foster national development. The three setenant pairs, from left to right, top first, have the themes (1) Telecommunication and Power, (2) Roads, Bridges, and Dams, and (3) Transportation and Ports, and show the development of infrastructure through the juxtaposition of pictures from past and present.

More info here.



This second cover shows the 3v set entitled the FEI 5 Star KL Grand Prix 2007, which was issued 13 Dec 2007.

First conceptualized in 1998 to bring the very first top international equestrian event to Asia, the FEI 5 Star KL Grand Prix made its debut as an annual event in 2003 at Putra Stadium, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The only five-star international show jumping event in the Asia-Pacific region, the KL Grand Prix has carved an important milestone in the history of world equestrian sports. 5 Star is the highest possible rating for an equestrian event.

The KL Grand Prix brings together each year the world's top-ranked riders including Olympic gold medalists, World Cup Champions and World Champions and their prized horses to Kuala Lumpur where they vie for the coveted title and one of the world's richest purses.

There are perhaps as many as 160 breeds and types of horses throughout the world today, each with different abilities, characteristics and temperament. The horses depicted in the three stamps here are Warmbloods, which have gained enormous popularity in the past years as sport horses.

More info here.



Above is an FDC for the issue. On a personal note, this FDC brings back some memories as it is one of the first FDC's that I have ever received posted to my address.



Next up is an FDC for the 9 Apr 09 issue showing the four heritage sites in Malaysia included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites, namely
  1. the historic towns of Georgetown and Melaka (collectively known as the Historic Cities of the Sraits of Malacc; listed in 2008),
  2. Taman Negara Gunung Mulu near Miri, Sarawak (which encompasses incredible caves and karst formations in a mountainous equatorial rainforest setting; listed in 2000), and
  3. Taman Negara Kinabalu (established as a national park in 1964 and Malaysia's first UNESCO world heritage site; listed in 2000).
The issue also includes a souvenir sheet, shown below:



In fact, I will be visiting the historic city of Georgetown in November of this year. I must admit that this issue was one of the factors that convinced me to go. In fact, I have plans of going to all four sites as they look very beautiful. If this was a marketing strategy of the Malaysian Tourism Board, I must say that it worked pretty well on me!



Last we have an FDC for the 1 Dec 08 issue on the Malaysian cartoon series called "The Kampong Boy."

The younger generation of Malaysian youth will know Lat as the creator of the animation series, Kampung Boy that is shown on Astro Network. The 26-episode animation series from the cartoon book Kampung Boy that was published in 1979 is very popular ever since it was shown in 1998. This animation series is also shown on television in Canada and Germany, and has won the Best Animation Award at the Annecy Animation Festival, France, in 1999.

On the other hand, the older generation knows Lat from the 1960s, when he became the cartoonist for Berita Minggu newspaper. Since 1974 until today, Lat has been drawing his cartoons for the New Straits Times Newspaper.

The Kampung Boy, a cartoon book published in the 1970s, is based on the life of it's creator, Malaysia's renowned cartoonist Dato' Mohd Nor Khalid also famously known as Lat. It tells the life story of a child born and raised in a typical Malaysian village in the 1950s and 1960s, according to the traditional Malay life, living in harmony with nature. The cartoon portray the lighter side of family life, school, and home-made games in a rural environment.