Cambodia: Wat Ounalom in Phnom Penh

****** Happy New Year! ******

On Saturday I got two postcards: one from Cambodia and one from Belgium.

The card from Cambodia shows Wat Ounalom in Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia and the country's economic and cultural centre. The city was founded in 1372 and was capital for the first time between 1434 and 1497, but after loosing the status it just regained it in 1865 during the French colonial era. Back then it was considered to be one of the loveliest French-built cities in Indochina and was nicknamed Pearl of Asia. Today it is again a popular tourist destination. Wat Ounalom is the most important wat of Phnom Penh and the center of Cambodian Buddhism. It was damaged during the Khmer Rouge period but has since been restored. The main complex houses a stupa that contains what is believed to be an eyebrow hair of Buddha.

Stamp:
55 years Cambodian-Chinese Friendship (from set of two) (issued 14-05-2014)

Thank You very much Jobbo!

Belgium: Manneken Pis

On Saturday I got two postcards: one from Belgium and one from Cambodia.

The card from Belgium shows Manneken Pis. Manneken Pis is the most famous landmark of Brussels. It is a small bronze sculpture depicting a naked little boy urinating into a fountain's basin and was erected in 1619. For various occasions the statue is dressed in costumes.

Stamp:
Geometry in Nature - The Star Shape (from set of five) (issued 16-06-2019)
with a special postmark from Brussels

Thank You very much William!

cover from Italy

On Friday I got a cover from Italy.

Stamp:

Christmas (from set of two) (issued 02-12-2019)

Inside was a prestamped Italian postcard.

The card shows the Flag of Italy. The Flag of Italy, known as il Tricolore, is a tricolour featuring three equally sized vertical pales of green, white and red. As flag of an sovereign Italian state, the Cispadane Republic, it first appeared in 1797. Later the three colours with a coat of arms and a crown became the flag of the unified Italy. Since 1946 il Tricolore is the official flag of the Italian Republic.

With a nice stamp:
90th birthday of Donald Duck (from set of eight) (issued on 30-10-2019)
with First Day Special Postmark

Thank You very much Erika!

Star Wars Covers from the United Kingdom

Last Saturday I got a cover from the United Kingdom.

With great stamps:

Star Wars (two from set of ten) (issued 26-11-2019)

with a special postmark showing the Death Star

On Monday arrived two more Star Wars covers.

With a great stamp:
Queen's Head
Star Wars (from set of ten) (issued 26-11-2019)
with a special postmark showing X-Wings

With a great stamp:
Queen's Head
Star Wars (from set of ten) (issued 26-11-2019)
with a special postmark showing BB-8

Thank You very much Kwanjira!

Germany: Christmas

Last Friday I got a postcard from Germany.

It is a Christmas card. I bought this card some years ago and had prepared it back then to get a special postmark, but I have not sent it out until now. Interestingly the letter postage of back then is now the postage for a postcard. 

With a nice matching stamp:
Snowman (issued 03-11-2014)
with a special postmark about the 180th anniversary of the Advent Wreath

Pippi Longstocking and Heidi

In early December the German Post issued two stamps as the first ones in a new series called Childhood Heroes. The first two characters chosen for the series are Pippi Longstocking and Heidi. For my collection I got both stamps on matching cards. The first two cards with First Day Special Postmarks from Bonn and Berlin arrived on 14th December. A third card with a different Heidi postmark arrived last Thursday.

Pippi Longstocking is a Swedish children's book character. She was created by Astrid Lindgren and her first adventure was published in 1945. Pippi is red-haired, freckled, unconventional, superhumanly strong, playful and unpredictable. Like Peter Pan she does not want to grow up. Her four best friends are her horse and monkey and the neighbours' children Tommy and Annika. As of 2018 her books were translated into 76 languages. 

With a nice matching stamp:
Childhood Heroes (from set of two) (issued 05-12-2019)
with First Day Special Postmark

While Pippi cards are easy to get where I live, Heidi cards were harder to find. Luckily the German Post issued a set of four cards.

Heidi is the main character of two books published by the Swiss author Johanna Spyri in 1881. She is an orphaned young girl living in her paternal grandfather's care in the Swiss Alps. Heidi's books are among the best-selling books ever written and the best-known works of Swiss literature. Very popular is also the Japanese anime Heidi, Girl of the Alps.

The Heidi as seen in the anime is also the one shown on the stamp and the cards. The first card shows Heidi with the goat kid Snowflake and Peter, a goatherd and friend of Heidi.

With a nice matching stamp:
Childhood Heroes (from set of two) (issued 05-12-2019)
with First Day Special Postmark

The second card, which arrived last Thursday, shows Heidi, Peter, the dog Josef and Clara Sesemann, a girl from Frankfurt with paralysed legs who has spent a lonely life in her home until she becomes close with Heidi.

With a nice matching stamp:
Childhood Heroes (from set of two) (issued 05-12-2019)
with a matching special postmark from Gotha

The other two cards from the set show again Heidi, Josef and Peter. Unfortunately missing on all these cards is the Alm-Onji, Heidi's grandfather.

Thailand: Jim Thompson House Museum in Bangkok

Last Thursday I got two postcards: one from Thailand and one from France.

The card from Thailand shows the Jim Thompson House Museum in Bangkok. The Jim Thompson House Museum shows the art collection of American businessman and architect Jim Thompson, who helped revitalise the Thai silk industry in the 1950s and 1960s and who disappeared mysteriously in 1967. It was designed by Jim Thompson himself and was built in 1959 as a complex combination of six traditional Thai-style houses and various old Thai structures that were collected from all parts of Thailand.

With nice stamps:
King Prajadhipok Day (issued 30-05-2003)
Ships and Navigation (from set of four) (issued 01-09-2004)
Water Birds (from set of four) (issued 15-05-1997)
Heritage Conservation Day (from set of four) (issued 02-04-1996)

Thank You very much Jobbo!

France: Le Touquet-Paris-Plage

Last Thursday I got two postcards: one from France and one from Thailand.

The card from France shows various views of Le Touquet-Paris-Plage. Le Touquet-Paris-Plage is a commune in northern France. It is said to be the most elegant holiday resort of northern France and is a popular destination for rich Parisians.

Stamp:
Bicentenary of the École Supérieure de Commerce (issued 14-10-2019)
with a special postmark from the philatelic shop in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage

Thank You very much William!

Signed Year of the Rat FDC from Vietnam

Last Wednesday I got two covers including one from Vietnam.

With nice stamps:

Year of the Rat (whole set) (issued 08-12-2019)

The cover was signed by the designer of the stamps.

Inside were some mint Vietnamese stamps including the rat stamps in mint condition. You can see the other stamps here.

Thank You very much Phan!

cover from Russia

Last Wednesday I got two covers including one from Russia.

Stamps:

Christmas (issued 05-12-2019)

with two different matching special postmarks

Thank You very much Elena!

Japan: Kasama Inari Shrine

Last Tuesday I got a postcard from Japan.

It shows the Kasama Inari Shrine in the Ibaraki Prefecture. The Kasama Inari Shrine is one of the three largest Inari Okami shrines in Japan. According to the legend it was founded in 651. Today it is visited by 3.5million pilgrims every year.

With a great stamp:
The Little Prince (from set of fifteen) (issued 11-12-2019)
with First Day Special Postmark

Thank You very much Keiko!

cover from Italy and Donald Duck Maxicards

Last Tuesday I got not only a postcard but also a cover from Italy.

Stamp:

90 years Lateran Treaties (issued 11-02-2019)

It is a joint issue with the Vatican. 

Inside were two maxicards about the 90th birthday of Donald Duck. The stamps are from a set of eight and were issued on 30th October 2019.

Thank You very much Lishi!

Japan: Art

On 14th December I got a postcard from Japan.

It shows some type of artwork.

Stamp:
Musical Instruments (from set of fifteen) (issued 06-12-2019)
with First Day Special Postmark

Thank You very much Keiko!

Belgium: Christmas

Merry Christmas to Everyone!

On 13th December I got a cover from Belgium.

Stamp:

Christmas (from set of two) (issued 19-10-2019)

Inside was a written and stamped Christmas card.

With a matching stamp:
Christmas (from set of two) (issued 19-10-2019)
with First Day Special Postmark

Thank You very much Gerda and Merry Christmas to You!

Germany: Kranhäuser in Cologne

On 12th December I got a postcard from Germany.

It shows two of the three Kranhäuser in Cologne. The Kranhäuser were built between 2006 and 2010. Their shape, an upside-down "L", is reminiscent of the harbor cranes that were used to load cargo from and onto ships. Two of the houses are used as office buildings, while the last one contains apartments. 

Stamp:
Stained Glass Window by Marc Chagall (issued 02-11-2018)

Thank You very much Marcel!

cover from Jersey

On 12th December I got not only a postcard but also a cover from Jersey.

Stamps:

Definitives (four from set of eleven) (issued 18-02-2015)

Dragons (from set of six) (issued 06-01-2015)

with a special postmark from the 73th Salon Philatélique d'Automne in Paris

Thank You very much William!

India: Victoria Memorial in Kolkata

On 11th December I got a postcard from India.

It shows the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata. The Victoria Memorial was built between 1906 and 1921. Kolkata was until 1911 the capital of the British Raj. It is dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria and is now a museum and tourist destination. The design is in the Indo-Saracenic revivalist style which uses a mixture of British and Mughal elements with Venetian, Egyptian, Deccani and Islamic architectural influences.

The stamp got lost during the journey.

Thank You very much Dhairya!

South Korea: Year of the Rat

On 10th December I got two postcards: one from South Korea and one from Germany.

The card from South Korea was printed for the Year of the Rat.

With great matching stamps:
Year of the Rat (whole set) (issued 03-12-2019)
The stamps are shimmering, embossed and partly varnished.
with First Day Special Postmark

Thank You very much Jeeyeon!

Germany: St. Nikolaus

On 10th December I got two postcards: one from Germany and one from South Korea.

The card from Germany is a Christmas card.

I bought this card in my home town and used it to get a special postmark.

With a matching stamp:
Christmas Friends (issued 02-11-2019)
with a special postmark from the Christmas Post Office in St. Nikolaus

cover from Germany

On 6th December I got a cover from Germany.

Stamp:

Nasturtium (issued 01-07-2019)

with a special postmark about the 150th anniversary of the Train Station in Ehrenbreitstein

Austria: Christmas Post Office in Christkindl

On 4th December I got a postcard from Austria.

It shows the Christmas Post Office in Christkindl. The Christmas Post Office in Christkindl, a village in the Austrian State of Upper Austria, answers the letters of children since 1950. Every year it processes nearly 2million letters. 

With a matching stamp:
70 years Christmas Post Office in Christkindl (from set of two) (issued 15-11-2019)
with First Day Special Postmark
Austrian Heraldy (from set of fourteen) (issued 01-07-2018)

Thank You very much Anita!