Hong Kong

I can say without any hesitation that HK will always be my favourite destination for a short or even a long holiday. I had thoroughly enjoyed my stay there in the years 2002 and 2007. The last time I went to HK the skyscraper in the picture to the top right was the tallest building in Hong Kong. However, another building on the other side of the bay, namely, in Kowloon is now I believe the tallest building there.

Hong Kong alternatively known by its initials H.K., is one of the two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China, the other being Macau. It is situated on China's south coast and, enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is known for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour. With a land mass of 1,104 km² (426 sq mi) and a population of seven million people, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Hong Kong's population is 93.6% ethnic Chinese and 6.4% from other groups. Hong Kong's Cantonese-speaking majority originate mainly from the neighbouring Canton (now Guangdong) province from which many of them fled to escape wars and Communist rule in China from the 1930s to the 1960s.

Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the First Opium War (1839–42). The Hong Kong Island was first ceded to the UK in perpetuity, followed by Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 and then the New Territories was put under lease in 1898. It was occupied by Japan during the Pacific War (1941–45), after which the British resumed control until 1997, when China resumed sovereignty. The region espoused minimum government intervention under the ethos of positive non-interventionism during the colonial era. The time period greatly influenced the current culture of Hong Kong, often described as "East meets West", and the educational system, which used to loosely follow the system in England until reforms implemented in 2009.

Under the principle of "one country, two systems", Hong Kong has a different political system from mainland China. Hong Kong's independent judiciary functions under the common law framework. Hong Kong Basic Law, its constitutional document, which stipulates that Hong Kong shall have a "high degree of autonomy" in all matters except foreign relations and military defence, governs its political system. Although it has a burgeoning multi-party system, a small-circle electorate controls half of its legislature. The head of the government, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, is chosen by an Election Committee of 400 to 1,200 members, a situation that will be in effect during the first 20 years of Chinese rule.

Hong Kong is a world city. It is one of the Al­pha+ cities and it is usually considered as the fifth most important city in the world, after New York City, London, Paris and Tokyo. Also, a Time Magazine article in 2008 coined the phrase "Nylonkong", which referred to New York City, London and Hong Kong, that these three cities form a global network that facilitates the global economy. As one of the world's leading international financial centres, Hong Kong has a major capitalist service economy characterised by low taxation and free trade, and the currency, Hong Kong dollar, is the eighth most traded currency in the world. The lack of space caused demand for denser constructions, which developed the city to a centre for modern architecture and the world's most vertical city. Hong Kong has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. The dense space also led to a highly developed transportation network with the public transport travelling rate exceeding 90 percent, the highest in the world. Hong Kong has numerous high international rankings in various aspects. For instance, its economic freedom, financial and economic competitiveness, quality of life, corruption perception, Human Development Index are all ranked highly. According to estimates from both UN and WHO, Hong Kong had the longest life expectancy of any region in the world in 2012. Hong Kong also has the highest average IQ score in 81 countries around the world.

Thank you Cadence Chan Sin Ting from Hong Kong for this lovely card.

Turku

Turku is a city on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper. Turku, as a town, was settled during the 13th century and founded most likely at the end of the 13th century, making it the oldest city in Finland. It quickly became the most important city in Finland, a status it retained for hundreds of years. After Finland became part of the Russian Empire (1809), and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland was moved to Helsinki (1812), Turku continued to be the most populous city in Finland, until the end of the 1840s. Today it remains a regional capital and an important business and cultural center.

Because of its long history it has been the site of many important events and has extensively influenced Finnish history. Along with Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia, Turku was designated the European Capital of Culture for 2011. In 1996 it was declared the official Christmas City of Finland.

Due to its location, Turku is a notable commercial and passenger seaport with over three million passengers travelling through the Port of Turku each year to Stockholm and Mariehamn.

As of 31 August 2013, Turku’s population was 181,569, making it the sixth largest city in Finland.  As of 31 August 2008 there were 303,492 inhabitants living in the Turku sub-region, ranking it as the third largest urban area in Finland after the Greater Helsinki area and Tampere sub-region. The city is officially bilingual as 5.2 percent of its population identify Swedish as a mother-tongue.

Thank you Johanna for this nice card.

Tampere

Tampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of 217,767, growing to 313 058 people in the urban area and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is second-largest urban area and third most-populous municipality in Finland, after the Greater Helsinki municipalities of Helsinki and Espoo. In 2007, the entire Pirkanmaa region had around 470,000 residents, of which 230,000 were employed, and a turnover of 25 billion euros.

Tampere is located between two lakes, Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi. Since the two lakes differ in level by 18 metres (59 ft), the rapids linking them, Tammerkoski, have been an important power source throughout history, most recently for generating electricity. Tampere is dubbed the "Manchester of Finland" for its industrial past as the former centre of Finnish industry, and this has given rise to its Finnish nickname "Manse" and terms such as "Manserock".

The card shows the The Tampere City Hall is a neo-renaissance building in Tampere, Finland, situated at the edge of the Tampere Central Square. The current city hall was built in 1890 and was designed by Georg Schreck. The palatial building has many halls and the city of Tampere holds many events there. During the Great Strike in 1905, the so-called "Red Manifest" was read from the balcony of the Tampere City Hall.

Thank you IIris for this nice card.

Winter's scene in South Korea

This card depicting a Winter's scene in South Korea was sent to me by JeongJu. 
But, I have not been able to figure out who those characters on the path are, or what they signify. If someone can unravel this mystery it will be nice. 

The Vespa

The Vespa was my favourite ride in my salad days. From their inception, Vespa scooters have been known for their painted, pressed steel unibody which combines a complete cowling for the engine (enclosing the engine mechanism and concealing dirt or grease), a flat floorboard (providing foot protection), and a prominent front fairing (providing wind protection) into a structural unit.

Post World War II Italy, in light of its agreement to cessation of war activities with the Allies, had its aircraft industry severely restricted in both capability and capacity.

Piaggio emerged from the conflict with its Pontedera fighter plane plant demolished by bombing. Italy's crippled economy and the disastrous state of the roads did not assist in the re-development of the automobile markets. Enrico Piaggio, the son of Piaggio's founder Rinaldo Piaggio, decided to leave the aeronautical field in order to address Italy's urgent need for a modern and affordable mode of transportation for the masses.

The inspiration for the design of the Vespa dates back to Pre-World War II Cushman scooters made in Nebraska, USA. These olive green scooters were in Italy in large numbers, ordered originally by Washington as field transport for the Paratroops and Marines. The US military had used them to get around Nazi defense tactics of destroying roads and bridges in the Dolomites (a section of the Alps) and the Austrian border areas.

Thank you Cadence from Malaysia for this lovely card.

The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour

The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour is a cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on the northern bank of the Moskva River, a few blocks southwest of the Kremlin. With an overall height of 103 metres (338 ft), it is the tallest Orthodox Christian church in the world.

When Napoleon Bonaparte retreated from Moscow, Emperor Alexander I signed a manifest, 25 December 1812, declaring his intention to build a cathedral in honor of Christ the Saviour "to signify Our gratitude to Divine Providence for saving Russia from the doom that overshadowed Her" and as a memorial to the sacrifices of the Russian people.

It took some time for actual work on the projected cathedral to get started. The first finished architectural project, by Aleksandr Lavrentyevich Vitberg, was endorsed by Alexander I in 1817. It was a flamboyant Neoclassical design full of Freemasonic symbolism. Construction work was begun on the Sparrow Hills, the highest point in Moscow, but the site proved insecure.

 This Church was built and then destroyed by the Communists under Stalin, and then , finally rebuilt. In February 1990, the Russian Orthodox Church received permission from the Soviet Government to rebuild the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. A temporary cornerstone was laid by the end of the year. The restorer Aleksey Denisov was called upon to design a replica of extraordinary accuracy.

The first Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who died of heart failure on 23 April 2007, lay in state in the cathedral prior to his burial in Novodevichy Cemetery.

Mabul Island

Mabul is a small island off the south-eastern coast of Sabah in Malaysia. The island has been a fishing village since 1970s. Then in 1990s, it first became popular to divers due to its proximity to Sipadan island.

Located 15 km from Sipadan, this 20-hectare piece of land surfaces 2–3 meters above sea level, consists mostly flat grounds and aerial view is oval-shaped. Surrounding it are sandy beaches, perched on the northwest corner of a larger two square kilometer reef. Mabul island is administered by Semporna, Tawau district.

There are 2 main villages on the island i.e. "Kampung Mabul" and "Kampung Musu". From 1999 census, it was recorded that there are approximately 2000 villagers living in Mabul, half of them children below 14 years old. The majority are immigrants from relatively nearby clusters of islands of the southern Philippines. They are mainly Bajau Laut and Suluk Muslims who live a nomadic lifestyle.

Basic amenities include a mosque, schools, community and fishermen hall. The main transportation mode from one point to another is by boat.

Mainly fishermen, the village source of income depends on sea products such as squids and fish. Traditional fishing methods are called "Payau" and "Sangkaliya". Mabul fishermen prefers catches close to the Malaysia-Philippines borders, perhaps due to its abundance. An average fishing trip will take 3–5 days out in the sea. When the men return, their catches are being sold in the mainland, Semporna.

It was said that Mabul was owned by a man from Menampilik island. Back in 1970s, he and the villagers then used to plant coconuts on the island, apart from fishing. Later in 1992, Sipadan Mabul Resort (SMART) purchased a part of land on the east of Mabul intended for tourism.

It is more correctly recognised now that the reason for the quality of the MUCK Diving is simply a result of overfishing uses of cyanide and dynamite by the local people of this area.

The reef is on the edge of the continental shelf and the seabed surrounding the reef slopes out to 25 to 30 m deep. There are several dive resorts operating on Mabul island.

Mabul is arguably one of the richest single destinations for exotic small marine life anywhere in the world. Flamboyant cuttlefish, blue-ringed octopus, mimic octopus and bobtail squids are just a few of the numerous types of cephalopods to be found on Mabul's reef.

Many types of gobies can be found including the spike-fin goby, black sail-fin goby and metallic shrimp goby. Frogfish are everywhere -giant, painted and clown frogfish are regularly seen along with almost the whole scorpion fish family.^[1]

There are six resorts here, which provides accommodation for scuba divers - most located on the island or on stilts over the water, while one is on a converted oil platform about 500 meters from the beach. There are also several homestay & backpacker accommodations which also arrange diving. All of the resorts/homestays can arrange a day trip to the nearby island of Pulau Sipadan. Be warned that there is a permit system for Sipadan and all permits may be booked months in advance. Diving is good around Mabul itself there is a good wall at Panglima and the best muck diving sites are called Paradise. There is good diving at Kapalai especially the house reef.

Thank you ShereenTan for this pretty card.