merlion

Every city should have an official mascot.

 Singapore has this mythical creature sculpted by Ling Nam Seng in 1972.  It's fish-like body symbolizes Singapore's origins as a fishing village, it's head represents the orginal name of Singapura, which is Sanskrit for lion city.

An Asian city for Thursday Postcard Hunt

blue sea

 

stamp from the Singapore World Stamp Exhibition

... featuring the deep blue sea

Starting in August, I thought we'd go back to the alphabet theme.  Any stamp, any theme or country, that is related to the letter of the week.  It may be the words on the stamp, or a description in any language. It's been a few years since we last did this, but I'm feeling like I'm repeating themes too frequently lately so this opens up the options.

sentosa

Sentosa is an island resort off the southern coast of Singapore.  It was formerly a British military base, then a Japanese prisoner of war camp.  In the 1970s it became a luxury resort destination.  Today, Singapore is rushing to clean up an oil spill that has closed the beaches and blackened the water.  400 metric tonnes of oil.

In Malay, Sentosa means peace and tranquility

10 minutes

This is a 'cable car', though not quite what I was thinking of, but it still fits the theme.

I was thinking more along the lines of this, the Singapore Cable Car Sky Network ride from Singapore to the island of Sentosa.  It was the first ropeway system to span a harbour.  It is $3 (sgd) for locals and $15 (sgd) for tourists for the almost 15 minute ride, though I gather the cars look a little more modern than these 1960s ones.

One cable car that doesn't look any different from the original - in fact it is the original - is this 110 year old aero car that takes you on a 10 minute ride over the Niagara Gorge and the Whirlpool Rapids. There's no disembarking.  You get the thrill of the views, riding on an antique cable car, and because of the flow of the Niagara River you cross the international boundary four times.  All for $19.00 (cad)

Or, how about this aerial tramway.  It is in fact, the world's largest rotating tram car according to their website.  During your 10 minutes of travel, the cars rotate slowly, "offering picturesque and spectacular vistas of the valley floor below".  All for $30.95 (usd)

Sometime though, these things are called a 'gondola', as is this one in Banff with views of the Rockies that takes you up to the summit of Sulphur Mountain.  This ride is slightly less than the others, at 8 minutes.  It is also the most expensive, at $60 (cad)

Cable Cars, Gondolas, Aero Cars, Aerial Tramways

plus this one, posted earlier

upside down

 

At a little under 5" in length, this green parrot with a red throat is endemic to Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Burma. They mimic leaves by hanging upside down when sleeping.

cuteness overload

The giant panda is the rarest of the bears and among the most threatened. Being such a picky eater probably doesn't help. They are super adorable, though, and are a favourite of zoo visitors where they are loaned out for conservation and breeding purposes.

Another picky eater is the Koala. They were listed as endangered for the first time in 2022 when it was thought there were fewer than 100,000 left. The 2019-20 bushfires decimated many of Australia's animals. But, as with the panda, the loss of habitat is also a major contributing factor.

Both the panda and koala have been the 'face' of their respective home countries for many years.

two endangered species for Sunday Stamps

lush

 Garajonay National Park in the Canary Islands is 40 sq. km. This stamp shows some of the large rock formations which are former volcanoes carved by erosion and a small hint that it is also a lush forest. It has been a World Heritage Site since 1986.

From Spain

 to Singapore

and the Singapore Botanic Gardens which only became a World Heritage Site in 2015 (and Singapore's first UNESCO site and the first and only tropical garden on the heritage list) but it was created in 1859. The stamps feature the gazebo at the Bandstand, Burkill Hall (the original residence of the superintendent) and Tanglin Gate (the main entrance)

For Sunday Stamps - World Heritage Sites

merlion

spouting water

architecture

No one is travelling by train these days. And you would be nine years too late to travel to this station anyway as it was decommissioned in 2011 when the railway line closed. It was built in 1932 in the traditional style of small railway stations seen in Britain and is now the only suburban station left in Singapore. The station and railway tracks are near the nature reserve and were conserved over concerns that the dismantling of the building and the tracks might damage the natural environment of the reserve.

This 2013 stamp was one of four issued commemorating heritage railway stations.

for Sunday Stamps - architecture

orchard

The Orchard Road district — one of Asia's most popular shopping areas.

It is a 2.2 km long full of high end retail, upmarket restaurants, hotels, with the president's residence at the eastern end and the Botanic Gardens on the western edge.

The name comes from the nutmeg and pepper plantations that the road once led towards.

Raffles

A colonial style luxury hotel  that is now a National Monument of Singapore

Sunday Stamps - D

1968, Singapore, Sword  Dance

Singapore is an island city state which gained independence from Britain in 1963 by joining Malaysia but later, in 1965, separated and formed its own state. For the first few years of independence, stamps in Singapore were interchangeable with Malaya. This sword dance stamp was in the first set of definitives issued in 1968. They were hand painted in photogravure and portrayed traditional dances of the three main ethnic groups.

D for Dance

Sunday Stamps - S

1985, Singapore definitive insects

We always need honeybees - though maybe not such a supersized looking one?! The apis cerana javana is one of four bees found in Singapore and is not even the giant honey bee (apis dorsata). This is an Asian honey bee, and there is also a dwarf honey bee as well as a stingless bee.

for the letter S - Singapore

Sunday Stamps II - 75

2010, FDC Singapore Butterflies
Illustrator: Nicodemus Loh

These four stamps show the butterfly and caterpillar in similar backgrounds with the name highlighted in the butterfly's dominant colour. From top left, the Common Birdwing is a highly sought after collectable butterfly of the swallowtail family that is found in the jungle. The Blue Glassy Tiger can be found in coastal mangrove areas. The Tailed Jay is often found in gardens and urban areas. And the Common Posy is a common forest butterfly that is found near jungle paths in sunlit spots.

for Butterflies or Moths