年年有餘 Nian Nian You Yu

 (A postcard sent from Connie of Hong Kong)

年年有餘 (pronounced as Nian Nian You Yu) means 'May every year ends with ample surplus' or ‘Plenty to spare year after year’ or ‘May you have more than you need, every year’.

Chinese is a fun language, a language of word-play, very creative indeed 

年(nian) 年(nian) 有 (you) 餘 (yu) 

and yu 餘 (meaning surplus) sounds like yu 鱼 (meaning fish).

So, don't surprise why FISH is a common symbol in both Chinese culture and Feng Shui 

as it symbolized the surplus wealth, health, luck, fortune and long life.   

What is your first thoughts of Moomin ? New Film : Moomins on the Riviera

Paula from Finland sent me Moomin, such a sweet card. 

The naive look of Moomin in 'Moomins on the Riviera' is melted my heart :)

If you or you already know beforehand that there are one similarity in Hello Kitty and Moomin ... 

if you can spot them :) 

I just found out today that the two characters does not have mouth because the creator want people to 'project their feelings onto the character'. 

Thus, what is your thought across in your mind when you first looked at the Moomin card ?

Moomins on the Riviera is a film that was on screen in Oct 2014 to commemorate 100th anniversary of Tove Jansson's (the author of Moomin books for children) birth . The film is created in a unique hand-drawn animation technique inspired by the original comic strips. So far, the film has been sold to Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, France, Switzerland, Japan

The Istana of Singapore

 Istana is a Malay word and means 'Palace'. 

What is your first impression of Kuala Lumpur

BackHome is one of a backpacker hotel located at the center of Kuala Lumpur. 

The series of postcard captured the snippet about the daily life of the locals. 

What is your first impression of Kuala Lumpur ? 

A large city as being the cacophony of a busy street ?

• one of the busier street to city town center ~ the tranquil moment (shown in postcard) that only appeared on Sunday morning 
• (hints) Chinese New Year is approaching (Feb 8-9 ), you may want to join the crowd to Petaling Street for shopping spree 

• you can expect to see more street art in Malaysia (here, here , here and here)

• if you can spot the beautiful curve of the buildings 

• You can expect to see the old shop (chai diam ma) backlane 

• Order yourself a half-boiled egg, set of toast with Butter and Kaya (coconut jam) and a cup of Nanyang tea (such as Teh Tarik or Teh C or Kopi-O or Charm ) in those old cafe house.  

The Olden Day Indonesia

Most of the storyline of traditional stage shows / performance in Indonesia is sourced from the manuscripts Mahabharata and Ramayana which originated from India. Wayang Orang Goro-goro, one of the stage performances since olden days in Indonesia, the character appeared with a happy expression, spread humor and joking.