Tearing through ... New York

I bought this card at the Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) on August 29, 2013 during a connection of my return flights from the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) to Las Vegas.  I was in Washington D.C. for the 50th Anniversary of March on Washington.

On the back of the card, it reads "the thriving metropolis of New York City is one of the best places in the world to let loose and go wild! With hundreds of shops, restaurants, night-clubs, shows and sights, there is so much to see and do, it is easy to get as excited as King Kong."

As the Memorial Day weekend marks the beginning of all the summer activities, if you are in New York City, you don't want to miss World Stamp Show-NY 2016, an eight-day, once-a-decade international celebration of stamp collecting in the U.S. at the Javits Center from May 28 to June 4, 2016. It coincides the 28th Fleet Week New York in which United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and United States Coast Guard are honored for their sea services. The stamp show opened with presenting the colors by the U.S. Navy Color Guard and singing the national anthem by MFC Dan Smith of the U.S. Navy. Up to 300,000 visitors are expected to attend the show, which is free and open to the public.

Elsewhere, however, a gorilla related story turned out to be a tragedy: Cincinnati Zoo killed a gorilla to save a boy. It ignited debates on animal welfare, parental responsibility and adequacy of safety measure in the zoo.

Pool Parties Return

While the summer will not officially start until June 20, 2016, it certainly feels like one already when the high temperature hit 95ºF / 35ºC in Las Vegas yesterday. Fortunately, pool parties have returned to cool us off as the blistering heat is coming soon. More concerts, festivals and out-door activities are being announced. It looks like an exciting summer in 2016. Postcard US-3975290 to the United Kingdom shows a photo taken by the pool at Luxor on July 12, 2015.

12 Months in Japan

Postcard JP-621600 from Japan shows each of the 12 months in a year and its associated custom and activity. I also found a web page that explains the names of months in Japan. Japanese people have a custom of sending New Year's Day postcards (年賀状) to update and greet their friends and relatives whom they could not meet with often in the past year. The Japanese Post Office (日本郵便) guarantees the delivery of the New Year's Day postcards on January 1 if they are posted before the deadline. Coincidentally, this card found its way to my mailbox on December 31, 2014.

Feeding Deer in Snow

Postcard UA-1197815 from Ukraine features a child feeding a deer in snow during the Christmas time. However, with the advance of technology, Christmas activities have shifted to other things, such as playing drones ...