My Postcard to Indonesia (2015 Jul)

I sent a postcard showing the flower market in Hong Kong to Shinta, an Indonesia girl who collects postcards of markets, in July 2015.

This is a vintage reprint postcard; to be actual, a photograph-made postcard.
Wyndham Street, looking from Queen's Road. Probably around the early 20th century.

The vicinity of Wyndham Street was the "high-class" brothel area, where one could find only European but no Chinese girls. Visitors used to bring along with a bunch of flower; therefore, there was a flower market there.

Not far from Wyndham Street is Lyndhurst Terrace; its Chinese name, 擺花街 or "flower arranging street", also tells the presence of a flower market in the past.

Wyndham Street, c.1930-1940, still a flower market.

Today's Wyndham Street. 

Visit Shinta's website for her enormous collection of market postcards.

我的明信片：台灣

很喜歡買明信片當手信，便宜易攜。

有時直接寄回家，有時帶著上飛機。

這是2012 年12月在高雄寄給自己的，那是我第二次去高雄。
在高雄只留了兩天，之後就去台東玩了:)

還記得第一次去高雄，凌晨12:00從台北出發，4時半就到高雄。
拖著超大的行李箱去車站前的麥當勞呆坐，等到有捷運就去 check-in了。民宿的劉姐超好人，聽到我老早過到來，給我早點 check-in，然後就睡了下午才去玩了:D

第二去再去高雄，反而沒在高雄逗留很久，主要是經高雄去台東玩。
至於為什麼選這張明信片……話說第一次去高雄，因為旅費已經用得七七八八，所以平日都走路，不坐車。那天想說從車站走路去巨蛋，車站職員說要從北出口那邊出發，不過我在南出口的話，要補票進站。不想補票的話就繞路沿愛河走吧。

結果走了兩小時，超笨，不過散步在愛河還是很有趣很深刻的經歷啦。

這張去台南買的，2010年8月。很喜歡台南，超好吃的度小月擔仔麵、花園夜市的各種美食…

還有一邊看《鹿鼎記》，一邊在台南參觀也是很有趣的 :) 

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朋友去旅行也會寄明信片給我，這是維維2012年去台灣寄的：

維維還去總統府跟總統握手了! (死亡之握……)

這是嘉璐去幾次去台灣寄/送給我的：

台南隨處可見的風獅爺

看完《星空》後很想去坐阿里山森林小火車

My Postcard to Romania - 2014 OCT

I sent a postcard showing the fat cat Brother Cream (忌廉哥) to Victor from Romania in October 2014. Victor was collecting cat postcard at that time.

Brother Cream lives in a grocery in east Tsim Sha Tsui, next to the Jockey Club betting branch. While I was still working in Tsim Sha Tsui, I visited Brother Cream with my colleague somestimes after lunch. He is much fatter than what you could see on the postcard.

One more funny thing about Brother Cream - a Finnish girl approached me after I started postcrossing for a while. She asked if I could send her postcards and products of Brother Cream. I didn't know the cat's English name and I did not expect that he is so internationally well-known, so the first thing came to my mind is that "Brother Cream" is a local band. (._.)

Visit Victor's Blog for more information.

My Postcard to Bahrain - 2014 DEC

I sent a postcard to Edwin of Inner Shrine of Ise Shrine, Japan in December 2014.
Edwin studied architecture and he is interested in collecting postcards showing typical buildings.

Shrines in Japan are divided into different classes according to the holiness of the patron. Ise Shrine, which worships Amaterasu - the Goddess of Sun and also the highest deity - is of the highest class.

The Shrine is divided into two parts: the inner and the outer. Apart from Amaterasu, there are a few more deities being worshiped in it.

While I was visiting Ise Shrine, I spotted people walking around the shrine with a bag of coins. To pray, one must throw a coin to the "God's area," so that was why people preparing coins for praying.

Visit Edwin's blog for more explanation of Japanese architecture.