F Line Streetcar in San Francisco

Postcard US-4010006 to Germany shows the F Market & Wharves line, one of several light rail lines in San Francisco, California, that runs as a heritage streetcar service. Distinctive from most other lines in the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) system, the F line's operation uses exclusively historic equipment both from San Francisco's retired fleet as well as from cities around the world. Market Street Railway, a nonprofit organization of streetcar enthusiasts, provides a support role by raising funds and helps to restore vintage streetcars.

No New Flag For New Zealand

The national flag of New Zealand, shown on the lower left corner of postcard NZ-96168 of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, is a defaced British Blue Ensign with the Union Flag in the canton, and four red stars with white borders to the right whose pattern represents the asterism within the constellation of Crux, the Southern Cross.

However, there has been on-going debates about changing the national flag for several decades, mainly because:

1. it is very similar to the national flag of Australia, causing frequent confusions;
2. as a derivative of the Blue Ensign, it acknowledges to the heritage of being a settler colony of the United Kingdom more than represents New Zealand's current status as an independent, sovereign nation;
3. it lacks representation of New Zealand's Māori culture and other ethnic groups.

The most recent effort, led by Prime Minister John Key, resulted in a two-stage binding referendum on a flag change in 2015 and 2016. When voting on the second final stage closed on March 24, 2016, voters chose to retain the current flag by 56.6% to 43.2%. John Key has to defend his position as critics accuse him of wasting 26 million New Zealand dollars and dividing country.

Monuments Go Green

Postcard US-1770581 to Belarus shows the iconic "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign with other famous Las Vegas landmarks. In honor of Irish heritage, the famous sign had gone green from March 13 to March 18 as the Las Vegas Convention Center and Visitors Authority, teaming up with Tourism Ireland for its annual "Global Greening" initiative, changed the sign's yellow bulbs to green.

Other landmarks that went green include the Castle at Disneyland, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the Sydney Opera House.

High Roller Ferris Wheel at LINQ on March 17, 2014

The Heritage in Negeri Sembilan

Postcard from Malaysia shows "the Heritage in Negeri Sembilan." Negeri Sembilan, one of Malaysia's thirteen states, is located on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia just south of Kuala Lumpur. Its heritage is believed to be heavily influenced by the Minangkabau people who were originally from West Sumatra in present-day Indonesia. Minangkabau features are visible on the card in traditional architecture and local artifacts.

On an unrelated note, news related to Malaysia has focused on the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, missing since March 8, 2014. DigitalGlobe, an earth-imagery company, deployed its FirstLook service and directed two of its five satellites to obtained photos of more than 1,200 square miles of suspected crash area, and opened  its crowdsourcing platform, Tomnod, to the public for help in identifying any visible evidence that could help locate the missing Boeing 777 aircraft.

I was assigned this map, did you see anything? However, CNN recently reports that Malaysian plane may have flown long after last contact, which would place the plane outside the initial search area.

Le Mastrou

Postcard FR-368709 from France shows "Le Mastrou", or Train de l'Ardèche. It is a tourist railway in the Ardèche region of the South of France. The network of railways in the area originally opened on July 12 1891, and closed on October 31, 1968. A portion of lines was reopened as a heritage railway in the following year. In 2008, the heritage services were suspended due to lack of funds for repair and maintenance. The services were resumed in 2013.

Portugal Day

Portugal Day is Portugal's National Day celebrated every year on June 10. My received postcard PT-274057 can be a good example to showcase the diversity that Portugal may offer.  Piódão is a tiny village preserved in the mountains with 178 inhabitants counted in 2011. Located on a hillside of the Serra do Goshawk, the houses have traditional schist walls, tiled roofs, wooden doors, with windows painted blue which give a hue of artificial blue at night, Piódão has received a "Historic Village" recognition as national heritage due to its unique pattern of the houses. It has been experiencing the similar emigration trend elsewhere where younger generations migrate overseas or to the coastal areas in search of better opportunities. However, they do return, especially during the festival seasons, to reunite with family members, to relive the past and to search their roots. .