Urban Sunday Stamps - Singapore, Sweden,Switzerland

 After much searching I decided to use some buildings for this Urban theme.

A tourism series in 1990 from Singapore included a building with a famous name - Raffles Hotel.

Singapore - 4 July 1990

A notable building from Sweden has a Chinese look.

Sweden - 28 August 1976

 This shows the facade of the Chinese Pavilion in the grounds of Drottningholm Palace in Stockholm.

In contrast the railway station of Bellinzona in Switzerland is much more mundane.

Switzerland - 8 September 2016

Perhaps that is a good place to start your journey to more urban environments at Sunday Stamps

Sunday Stamps V3 - Rwanda, Sweden, Singapore

The Stampworld catalogue heads this stamp 'Waterfalls and Volcanoes.'

Rwanda - 24 June 1966

The Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda borders National Parks in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. It is the home of mountain gorillas and golden monkeys and was a base for Dian Fossey. The five volcanoes in the park are five of the eight in the Virunga range - Karisimbi, Bisoke, Muhabura, Gahinga, Subyinyo - but I don't know which one is depicted on the stamp.

Sweden - 26 April 1973

I'm sure you will all recognise the Viking ship. One from Norway stands on our mantle piece.

Although we get cats in our garden, none match this - 

Singapore - 6 June 2007

If you look closely you can see its Latin name is Viverra zibertha.

For 'V' related stamps take a look at the links on Sunday-stamps-v.

Green - Sunday Stamps II

I could not resist posting the green trees that appeared on the postcard Maria sent to me.

Singapore - 26 May 2010

Adenanthera pavonia ( Red-bead tree) on the left;  Pterocarpus indicus, the national tree of the Philippines, (also known as Amboyna Wood, Burmese Rosewood and Red Sandal Wood) on the right,

For other green stamps check out the links at Sunday-Stamps-II 121

A-Z Challenge - Butterflies 'L'

L - Leopard Lacewing (Centhosia cyane)

This heleconline (long wing) butterfly is to be found in India, Southern China and Indochina.

Leopard Lacewing - male

The upperside is tawny, with its black forewing crossed by a broad white bar. A row of black dots, part of its defence mechanism, line the rear of the hind wing. The thorax is tawny brown.

Female Leopard Lacewing

The female has similar markings but the tawny colour of the male is replaced by pale greenish white and somewhat brownish on the upper fore wing.

The underside of this butterfly looks even more spectacular to me with its body white underneath,

Leopard Lacewing

Your guess is as good as mine as to whether it is male or female in this shot at the Butterfly Lodge at Oh Chin Huat farm in Singapore.

The Butterfly World at Preston Park in Eaglescliffe near my home has recently reopened after the winter. I shall have to check out whether they have a lacewing there.

Love is like a butterfly
As soft and gentle as a sigh
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing

I feel it when you're with me
It happens when you kiss me
That rare and gentle feeling that I feel inside
Your touch is soft and gentle
Your kiss is warm and tender
Whenever I am with you I think of butterflies

Photo attributions:

• Leopard Lacewing male: by Greg Hume - CC BY-SA 3.0
• Leopard Lacewing female: by David Momaya, August 2006 at Jairampur, Arunchal Pradesh, India; upload 26 June 2007 - CC BY 2.5
• Leopard Lacewing (underside): at Oh Chin Huat farm, 1 August 2012; upload by russavia; by Erwin Soo from Singapore - CC BY SA 2.0

Buses and Public Transport - Sunday Stamps

It's rather ironic that this week's theme is 'Buses and Public Transport.' 

Yesterday our bus services were withdrawn and now the village where I live has no public transport at all, despite the railway track crossing a bridge over the lane where our house is located.

That's why I am going by bus on a world tour with my stamps.

Hungary

Romania

In Singapore we'll go for a ride on a trolley bus.

Singapore

And finish up on a double-decker.

Singapore

Don't you just hate it when two buses come along together, not that there's much chance of that happening where I live unless I have walked 3 miles first!

Perhaps others at Viridian's Sunday-stamps-164 have had better luck.

Birds from Singapore - Sunday Stamps

While in transit at Schipol, Amsterdam om Tuesday I came across a packet of 25 bird stamps. However I have yet to break into it and will show stamps from Singapore instead.

 

From the top they are:

• Crimson Sunbird
• Yellow-rumped Flycatcher
• Blue-crested Hanging Bird
• Stork-billed Kingfisher
• Jambu Fruit Dove

I find it difficult to pick my favourite; there are others for you to chose from at Viridian's Sunday-stamps-140.

South East Asia - Sunday Stamps

I thought I would work south this week down towards Australia ready for  next week's theme at Viridian's Sunday Stamps.

First a collection of stamps from a country we all know.

Japan

 

Then a stamp from a country that became a Crown Colony in 1946..

North Borneo

North Borneo changed its name to Sabah in 1964 and is now part of Malaysia.

My final stamps are from an island at the south of the Malayan peninsula, formerly part of the Straits Settlements.

Singapore

Singapore was part of the Malaysian Federation from 1963-1965. It's now an independent republic within the British Commonwealth.

For an insight into other stamps from the area please visit Sunday Stamps 41

England to Australia - Sunday Stamps

The ocean theme this week had me discovering far more stamps than I could show so I decided to take a fishy trip from England to Australia.

Where to begin? There could only be one place:

Start Point

The fish did not cooperate as many were from landlocked countries- those I ignored so my first stop was here with some colourful types:

Yemen

Moving onwards my next stop was in the east of the Indian continent.

Bangladesh

My last stop before landfall was at a Commonwealth island.

Singapore

 

Finally I reached Australia's shores at

Broken Bay - Australia.

 For other ocean views you must visit Viridian at Sunday Stamps 34