Postcrossing Blog

Earlier this year, the Little Mail Carrier’s cousin was invited to attend some Postcrossing meetings in Indonesia. He begged us to go, so we packed him on a comfy envelope and off he went, towards the Java sea! Yanita (aka YanitaDC) kindly hosted the little man and showed him around her home country. Here’s his report of the trip:

Halo, Apa Kabar?

I just visited Indonesia, the biggest archipelago country in the Equator. I came here to attend the Postcrossing meetup In Jakarta, capital city of Indonesia… and stayed a bit longer with my host Yanita, to see the sights.

But first things first! The meetup was held in early March in Jakarta, at the Kantor Filateli Jakarta (Jakarta Philatelic Office), where a postcard exhibition of member’s collections was also taking place.

People came from all over Indonesia for this meeting, so I got to meet lots of new friends… I felt like a movie star having a fans meeting! They thought of everything and even made special postcards for everyone to sign!

That was really exciting! Can you believe how many people were there? There was even a news report made about the Indonesian Postcrossing community at this meetup, which was later played on the bigger post offices of Indonesia for a month! Have a look:

In a word… awesome! :D

Next on my tour of Indonesia, I visited Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (which means 'Beautiful Indonesia Miniature Park’). It was brilliant! I could see as much of Indonesia as I wanted… all in one place!

Aaaah, so many things to see… Indonesia is huge! After so much sightseeing, I was feeling a bit hungry, so Yanita gave me some kerak telor. It’s a sort of spicy omelet with sticky rice inside, topped with fried shredded coconut, fried shallots and dried shrimp. That was amazing and really hit the spot!

While I was in Jakarta, another meetup was being planned, this time in Yogyakarta, about 500km west from Indonesia’s capital. The organizing committee kindly invited me to join them, so I eagerly hopped on my envelope and took the plane over!

Stay tuned for my next update – there’s a lot more I want to show you from this lovely country scattered in the sea! :)

At least once a year, postcrossers from Mumbai in India get together to celebrate their hobby and send some postcards. Last year, the Little Mail Carriers’ cousin was invited by Amit Surana (aka indianfriendszone) to tag along and discover his beautiful country. Here’s his report of the trip:

Hi everyone! It’s been a while… I hope you’re doing well!

Man… it sure feels good to get out of that envelope! :) Ooooh… and what do we have here?

Well hello ladies! Nice to meet you! Are you all coming to the Postcrossing meetup as well?

The local postcrossers are celebrating a special quirky date: 11/12/13! This sequential date only happens once every 100 years – how cool is that?

We met at Starbucks, and then moved to the General Post Office, who made a room available for us to share and write our postcards in a quiet environment. That was very nice of them!

A great crowd turned up, and it was really nice to meet everyone in person! And the postcards were really nice too – some where even especially designed for this event:

By the way, the building of the Mumbai General Post Office is stunning – one of the largest post office buildings in the world with 101 counters and 11,000 square meters of area. As you can imagine, it handles massive quantities of mail everyday! Do pay it a visit if you’re around…

… you might even get to meet a friendly postman, like I did!

After the meeting, I stayed in Mumbai for some time, and got to do some sightseeing with Amit, and learn a bit more about the biggest city in India. Mumbai is amazing: everywhere you look, there’s a piece of history waiting to be discovered.

We stopped at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (also known as Victoria Terminus), built in 1887 to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. It’s made in the Victorian Gothic Revival style blended with traditional Indian architecture – and so remarkable that it earned UNESCO recognition.

Mumbai is also known for the Bollywood industry, which is based here in the city. We went to see one of these movies, and the songs were stuck in my head for hours afterwards… I even learned a dance move or two! I didn’t understand much of the story since everyone spoke Hindi… except now and then, when the characters would speak in English for a sentence or two! Amit explained that this is called Hinglish and it’s a mixture of the two languages.

I also got a chance to see the magnificent Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and the Leopold Café nearby. This was a solemn moment in my trip, as I remembered the many people who died or were wounded here during the November 2008 terrorist attack.

After that I was feeling contemplative… Since Mumbai lays by the sea, this was the perfect occasion to take a stroll on the beach, and dip my feet in the Arabian Sea while watching the sunset. Chowpatty beach is one of the most famous in Mumbai. It’s here that people come to try the local delicacies or just relax at the end of a long day. There were monkeys dancing, snake-charmers and even fortune tellers!

A short walk from the beach was Kamala Nehru Park, which features…

… a boot house! Isn’t that amazing? Who wouldn’t want to live in a boot? It’s inspired in the nursery rhyme There was an old woman who lived in a shoe – though I didn’t find any old women there, only happy children!

On my last days in town, there was another Postcrossing meeting, where we visited the Elephanta caves, a famous UNESCO heritage site on an island 10km from the coast of Mumbai. The caves have a series of sculptures, from the 5th and 6th centuries, depicting the cult of Shiva. They’re amazing! I felt even smaller than usual next to them…

Glad I wasn’t alone! There were a lot of friendly postcrossers there with me :)

I had an wonderful time in India with Amit and all the postcrossers, but now it’s time to go! Into the mailbox I go… who knows where I’ll pop out! :)

Thank you Amit, that was lovely! Keep an eye on the blog, we have a feeling we’ll be hearing from the Little Mail Carrier’s soon…

While the Little Mail Carrier’s jet set around at undisclosed locations, their cousin has been busy attending meetups and getting to know postcrossers from all over the world! :) Here’s a brief recap of the last few months on his tour:

Hello everyone! This past August, I was in sunny Helsinki, meeting lots of nice European postcrossers! We did a fun scavenger hunt around the city, found lots of Moomins and Angry Birds, tried some Finnish delicacies and hopped on a ferry to beautiful Suommelinna island. I really wanted to see the inside of a Posti postbox, and managed to get myself stuck in the process… children, please don’t try this at home!

I then jumped on a plane and landed in Baltimore, which was super exciting! We’re all big fans of The Wire and Hairspray at the Postcrossing HQ – so I felt right at home :) Cspt organised a wonderful meetup at Stone Mill Bakery Café. It was a lot of fun to meet new postcrossers from the other side of the pond… and the cookies were delicious! :D

After that, I took the boat back home, as it was time for another Bielefeld meetup! I knew a lot of the people there already, from past meetups, so it was nice to see them all again! As usual, I’ve dived into pools of candy, signed lots of postcards, and marvelled at the beauty of Autumn in North-Rhine Westphalia… but this year I also got to greet the postman, greeted the animals at the delightful Olderdissen Animal Park and visited Modern Times, a local postcard distributor who gave a special tour just for postcrossers!

It’s been a blast! :)

Meetups are lots of fun, and completely organised by the members themselves! Curious to meet other postcrossers near you? Check out the list of upcoming events, or create your own! :)

Remember last year, when we announced a group of Taiwan members were preparing a special Postcrossing cancellation mark? They’re doing it again this year, for their fifth annual Postcrossing meetup! :)

This time, the meetup will take place in Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan. This Friday (June 7th), there will be a postcard exhibition at the National Taiwan University 1st Student Activity Centre, and then on Saturday, the meetup itself will take place.

Weital has once again designed a fantastic cancellation stamp for the occasion:

Isn’t it special?

Dodd, the meeting organiser, and all the other attendants are happy to share this special Postcrossing cancellation with other postcrossers and are therefore offering to send a postcard to the 50 members who first leave a comment below!* – All postcards have now been given away, thanks everyone!

For more information on this event, please check the meetup’s forum page.

(*) This means that if you’re one of the first 50 commenters, we’ll share your address with the member from Taiwan who will send you a postcard.

Some weeks ago, we took the Little Mail Carrier’s cousin along for a trip to the United Kingdom! It was his first time outside of Germany, and he loved going to all the touristic places and discovering the land of Her Majesty! On May 4th, there was a big meetup in Oxford, which we couldn’t miss, of course! Here’s his account of the day :)

Hi everyone!

The day started on the wrong foot… we left home in London with plenty of time to spare, but I got distracted riding this cute red cart…

… and just missed the bus to Oxford! Luckily, there were plenty more, and half an hour later we were zooming past the rolling hills of the English countryside. When we arrived in Oxford, postcrossers from all over Europe were having breakfast at a café near the bus station, already digging into their stashes of postcards – and they had brought sweets!

The day started with the obligatory trip to the post office, to stock on stamps. Did you know they have Doctor Who stamps here? They’re brilliant! They also had very neat posting boxes!

The day was beautiful, and we took the opportunity to stroll around the city center, to admire its history and architecture.

Oxford is known for its University, the oldest in the English-speaking world, dating back to the late 11th century! There were a lot of happy students zooming by in their graduation garments, and many proud parents as well – it almost made me want to go back to school, but for now a trip to the university’s shop would have to do. :)

We also visited the Alice in Wonderland shop for postcards…

… and many other stationery shops, including the delightful Paperchase!

During the tour, we had the opportunity to check out some British classics, like shortbread biscuits and all kinds of fun souvenirs!

After all the walking and postcard shopping, we had all worked up quite an appetite, and so it was time to sit down to eat, chat, swap presents…

… and write some postcards! There was much laughter and conversations in different languages between friends, old and new. :)

It was a lovely day, the kind that makes your cheeks hurt from so much smiling! A big thank you to Andy (aka Duplevista) for organising such a wonderful meetup! If you’re curious, check out more photos on some of the participant’s galleries: here, here, here or here.

What are you waiting to attend a meetup near you? Check this forum thread for updated dates and locations – and if there’s nothing near you, consider organising your own!