Tag Archives: 2009

München – Munich

By ilyani | Published 18 June, 2009

Munich is the second batch of Germany postcards I featured here according to city after Berlin, I guess. Or I might have lost count either, so nevermind. Munich was believed to be founded by the monks of the Benedictine, and “Mönche” is Old German for Monks, hence the name.

Sent by AKS

Sent by AKS

“Weltstadt mit Herz” or the metropolitan city with heart, is the Munich city’s motto. This view shows the New Town Hall and Marienplatz, a large open square. If you look closer at the tower there’s the Rathaus-Glockenspiel dates from 1908. Glockenspiels are exciting features in Germany, they are kind of the equivalent of huge music boxes built into the buildings and town squares, but with real bells and ancient mannequin dancers. And this particular Glockenspiel has 43 bells and 32 dancers, and it chimes everyday at 11am. I really want to see (and listen) this Glockenspiel live! :D

Sent by Miriam

Sent by Miriam

Here is the pedestrian street in the old part of Munich, the arch in the middle dates from 1315 and was part of the surrounding wall. Hmm, I have come across many old cities in Europe are walled, which is interesting. And see the tulips! :) They actually change the flowers here according to seasons, and you can see tulips in Spring.

Sent by empty_mailbox

Sent by empty_mailbox

Some views of the grocery market in Munich, though I am so curious if the existance of these statutes have anything to do with the place being a market. And it does look like an exotic market!

Posted in Germany | Also tagged , , , 1 Comment

Kazakhstan

By ilyani | Published 17 June, 2009

Kazakhstan! :D It’s really interesting, coz in Postcrossing the definition of exotic and rare countries is totally about how many users (who actively send postcards) from a country. Malaysia = not exotic. Kazakhstan = exotic. And the lack of a card from somewhere exotic and not familiar always make me wonder if there actually exist people in the country at all? And what kind of activity they’re doing that they’re not really exposed to internet and other people? Though actually, I have met a number of Kazakh people in KSA last time, and even took some pics of them :P and believe me, they are normal people like us! But how come they are not in Postcrossing?

Still I did not have a Kazakhstan postcard at that time -_____-  So how do you expect I would ever get a card from there, if it wasn’t our Jo Russianruby the traveler went to live in Kazakhstan for a while recently. And she sent me a card! Or in fact, two! But the one she sent from the country didn’t seem to reach me -____- and after months, who would have thought, Jo was in Kuala Lumpur for a few days before heading Cambodia, and she mailed again a card from KL in envelope! So I received a Kazakhstan postcard from Malaysia :P Nevermind! Here’s the finally arriving card!

Something nature and archaeological here. These images belong to the Charyn Canyon National Park and the Tamgaly Tas Nature Reserve, which is one of the 3 UNESCO heritage sites in Kazakhstan. It’s now an open air museum which is home to over 4000 cave paintings date from the 14th to 16th century BC. Those unique petrogliphs show images of ancient inhabitants of Kazakhstan, their culture, home and way of life. And there’s also the Valley of King Burial Mounds, which are the tallest in Semirechye region and still have a lot of mysteries.

Posted in Kazakhstan | Also tagged , , , 1 Comment

Coca-cola trade cards

By ilyani | Published 13 June, 2009

I love vanilla Coke! :) Though I am not sure if that had anything to do with me suddenly received two Coca-cola related cards recently. And these are very cool cards indeed!

This is an image reproduction from 1930. Well, I love to share some fun facts I found about Coca-cola here:

  • Coca Cola was first invented by a pharmacist name John Pemberton in 1885 as a medicine to cure headaches.
  • Coca-Cola is called “Coca-Cola” because of the original ingredients used in the medicine, Coca leaves and Kola seeds. Wine was also added in place of sugar similar to the coke we drink today.
  • When Mentos is added to Coca-Cola, the carbon dioxide in the coke will be rapidly released, causing the coke in the bottle to burst out. Diet coke works the best.
  • Coca-Cola can be used to help cure jellyfish stings.
  • Coca-Cola can also be used as a cleaning solution, cleaning anything from rusty pans to dirty toilets. It can also be used to remove odor.
  • If you accidentally got gum in your hair, rinse it in coca-cola and the gum will come of very easily (!)
  • Coca-Cola usually have the phrase “Original Formula” near the bottom of their cans/bottles, but it is not actually “original”, since in 1985, a portion of the sugar in Coca-Cola was removed and replaced by high fructose corn syrup, causing an altered taste as well as causing the coke to become unhealthy.

And another is an official, US-367399 from Bast. LOL I love this card! It’s a reprint of Coca-cola trade card from 1910.

    Oh yeah??

    Posted in USA | Also tagged 5 Comments