Travel through Philately - Romantic Bounty of Pitcairn Island

Much was shared about Pitcairn Islands in the last article, but the archipelago was tightly bound to the infamous mutiny aboard HMS Bounty, so it makes no sense to share the location without at least highlighting the ship behind that event. And that became my reason for sharing this FDC.

The Bounty was not initially named so. Originally a collier built in 1784 and christened Bethia, it was purchased by the Royal Navy and refitted to be the famed ship in history. Its mission: to gather breadfruit plants from Tahiti to the West Indies in an attempt to grow them there as a cheap food source for the slave labor. William Bligh was recommended as the captain for the newly christened ship, and set sail in 1787 for the journey which never saw the vessel's return.

The beauty of the Bounty was romantically captured in this set of stamps, showing her sailing amidst various backdrops.

Travel through Philately - Pitcairn Islands Definitives

I never knew about the existence of Pitcairn Islands until I chance upon this geographically remote island while researching the postage history of South Pacific islands. Such a remote and unknown location would have remained so were it not for the story of 'Mutiny on H.M.S. Bounty'. The name is not unfamiliar to me, but I never knew that the mutineers inhabited an island after their fiasco (instead of going back to England) and their descendants still do until this day.

FDC portraying the first 4 stamps from a definitive set of 12.

Travel through Philately - Singapore's Historical Railway Stations

Since we are on the track of railway system history, let's get this piece out - SingPost's offer to commemorate the historical railway stations which tirelessly served the nation and her citizens for the past century.

FDC released on 28 February 2013 to commemorate the historical railway stations - Bukit Timah and Tanjong Pagar railway stations.

Travel through Philately - Singapore Mass Rapid Transit System

The sharing of London Underground inevitably led me to recall Singapore's own impressive system of mass rapid transit. Singapore's main reason to build such a system mirrored that of London's albeit the former has a much more urgent need for it. In land scarce Singapore, a projected rise in the number of population will follow with a rise in transportation needs, which buses could not provide adequately.

The FDC from the day when Singapore's MRT commence operation on 12th Mar 1988. Notice that the MRT map depicted in the 10 cents stamp differs a lot from the one that is familiar with us in 2013.

Travel through Philately - London Underground

Visiting London doesn't necessarily means visiting the royal palace of Buckingham or gawking at the Big Ben and the parliament along the Thames. The historically captivating lies not only above ground, but also dwells underground. Meet the London Underground.

FDCs with London Underground stamp set (above) and miniature sheet (below). The former features the historical milestone and landmarks of London Underground, while the latter showcases the posters used to publicized the use of the railway.

Singapore Food Blog - Mad for Garlic @ Clarke Quay

Location: Clarke Quay, Central Business District (CBD), Singapore

Updated 29-Nov-2015: This outlet in Clarke Quay is permanently closed. Outlets of Mad for Garlic can still be located in other locations through here: outlet locations.

The name itself is warning enough for the vampiric and alliumphobic (that's fear of garlic) alike. If you fall into either category, you should not venture into this restaurant. Consider yourself warned. Or that is what the restaurant is supposed to be about.

Packed into a corner of the outlandish exotic restaurant area in Clarke Quay, Mad for Garlic is in itself an exotic. The wreaths of garlic hanging on the wall outside as well as randomly in the restaurant are testaments to that. The mainly Italian dishes incorporated garlic as its ingredient, be it a dipping sauce or being ground unto the main course. The establishment identified itself as a bistro and restaurant (its website claimed itself to be an 'Italian Wine Bistro' as well as 'The Original Wine and Garlic Restaurant') - with a long bar and dark environment, it seemed more former than latter.

This is the Dracula Killer. Want to know more? Read on!

Travel through Philately - Centenary of the Death of Karl Marx 马克思逝世一百周年

A cry resounded in the German city of Trier, a city residing in then Prussian Rhineland, on 5 May 1818. And so was born Karl Heinrich Marx, a person whose famous philosophical ideas of Marxism led to the rise of socialism and communism, inevitably leading to the murder of the last Russian tsar and the Cold War.

Stamps from China Post commemorating the centenary of Karl Marx's death, as well as his contribution to modern social theory. The 8 cents stamp depicts his famous portrait while the 20 cents stamp shows an image of Marx in a rally.

Travel through Philately - Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3

Continuing with the introduction of a First Day Cover introducing Singapore's Changi Airport from 1981, here is another FDC on the same topic. Unveiled 27 years after Terminal 1 began its operation, Terminal 3 is the youngest terminal to date and yet it houses the largest aircraft - the A380.

This FDC which featured Terminal 3 was launched together with the first day the terminal became operational. The first historic arrival was flight SQ001 arriving from San Francisco via Hong Kong.

Travel through Philately - Singapore Changi Airport

Most frequent flyers into and around the South-East Asia region will be quite familiar with Singapore's Changi Airport. Being a pride of the island republic, this jewel of an airport won numerous awards since its operation and is recently immortalized in the latest Singapore 20 cents coin as was shared in my article The New Singapore Coins.

Featured on this FDC are the control tower, an icon of most airports, and Terminal 1. The logos of the most involved departments are featured in the background of each stamps. They are, according to the arrangement of denominated value, the Parks and Recreation Department, Public Works Department, Telecommunications Authority of Singapore, Port of Singapore Authority, and Department of Civil Aviation.

NATAS 2013 (2nd Round) @ Singapore EXPO (again)

The 2nd half of the year welcomes the return of NATAS for its latest available offers. This time, holiday makers planning for the year end's Christmas travel will be able to look for mouth-watering packages in Singapore EXPO. Again. Be sure to be there early to fight for the travel to your dream destinations!

Date:             16th (Fri) - 18th Aug (Sun) 2013

Admission:    10:00 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Entry fee:      SGD4 (free admission of children under 12)

Location:       Singapore EXPO, Halls 3, 4 and 5A
Website:        Main website and Facebook page