Last week, I received some postcards and used stamps from Malta. If you take a closer look at the cover, the stamps were cancelled on 9 September 2009.
The postcard below shows St. Julians, the most popular tourist resort in Malta. This town is famous for its tourism-oriented businesses, including hotels and of course, restaurants. During summer, tourists and locals visit this town, which is located along the coastline.
As the Great September Sale (GSS) enters the second week, The Restaurant is facing an ever-increasing amount of traffic at its outlets. Today, we have a record-breaking number of visitors as a result of the long weekend due to Hari Raya Aidilfitri, more commonly known as Hari Raya Puasa.
Hari Raya Aidilfitri Commemorative stamps from Singapore:
Shopping centres and food outlets around Singapore are holding promotions for festive shoppers. Of course, that includes us! Now, scroll down a few pixels and you will see a 20.09% discount voucher. This e-coupon can be used at any of our outlets.
As the date today (20.09.2009) is really special as agreed by at least 300 others, we have decided to bring you some pictures related to time and date. Here are some timepieces found in The Restaurant:
Disclaimer: Analogue clocks, digital clocks or iPods are for decorative purposes only and are not included in the menu!
Last but not least, The Restaurant wishes all our Muslim readers Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri!
After a busy week in school, I decided to take a short break from studying and check for updates in my Facebook account. Many people who have an account in Facebook would have recently realised that a person dressed in orange floating in mid-air had been appearing all over their friends’ Walls. He describes himself as follows:
El Gurú Sabelotodo lo sabe absolutamente todo. Pregúntale lo que quieras y te responderá sabiamente.
This can be translated into “The Fortune Teller Genius knows absolutely everything. Ask him what you want and he will respond wisely.” With over 600,000 active users, I decided to give the Fortune Teller Genius a try.
I asked if he spoke Spanish. He replied immediately with a triple no.
Not even a little. Well, at least he knows the word ‘no’ in Spanish! Well, maybe it would be better for me to ask him questions in English instead of Spanish, hoping that he would reply ‘sí’ (yes) to some of my questions.
Interested to know if the Fortune Teller Genius was interested in collecting stamps, perhaps maybe asking him to visit The Restaurant, I asked:
Interesting guy, maybe we should add him (and The Restaurant) as a fan. Following that, I asked if he collected stamps from Singapore, and he replied:
Well, at least he collects stamps on the 13th day of each month!
Due to the ongoing Great September Sale, the new (physical) mailbox at The Restaurant is once again getting filled up. From time to time, there will be one or two letters in my mailbox which seem to catch my attention. Last week, I received such a letter. It was an envelope with a postage stamp on it, without any of the wavy cancellations.
If you look closely, the orange barcodes which are used for the sorting of mail are printed right next to the stamp! Maybe that is a new cancellation barcode which contained information such as the time, date and machine number.
However, as I turned the envelope over and was about to open the letter, I noticed the postmark dated 7 September 2009 (Machine C2) at the back on the envelope as shown in the picture below:
This postage stamp used on the envelope was similar to that on the postcard from Singapore. This letter is of standard specifications as well. Indeed, the machines are really interesting!
The machine has struck off the invisible stamp pasted on the back of the envelope, once again!
9 September 2009
Today, The Restaurant presents to you three of our latest set meals at only 99 cents each for the rest of September, as part of the Great September Sale (GSS). Just come down to one of our outlets, or take a look at our lunch menu below.
Postage stamps pasted on envelopes were postmarked at the Serangoon Central Branch, as part of the usual procedure. These postmarks are dated 09 Sep 2009. The stamps on the envelopes amount to a value of 81 cents each, as that number happens to be the product of 9 and 9.
Exactly one decade ago, the latest currency notes (those that we see every day) were launched. Unfortunately, 9-dollar notes are not used, so a ten-dollar note above was chosen as a replacement. Does anyone know whether there happens to be 9-dollar note from any country?
The 99th postcard for the year 2009 has just reached The Restaurant yesterday. Thank you for the lovely postcards from all over the world! However, please take note of the next paragraph.
Please also take note that our headquarters has relocated to a new permanent address as of today. To prevent a hassle, our telephone and fax numbers are unchanged. Do remember to update your address book, handphone contacts and other databases.
You may also have found out that the text here does not make use of the 9th letter of the alphabet at all!
Here is a first day cover from Malta dated 1 January 2008. On that day, Malta started using the Euro currency. As seen on the cover, there are two values imprinted on the postage stamp. The value in red (43 c) denotes the old currency while the value in white uses the Euro (?1).
For a period of one month until 31 January, there was a dual circulation for Malta where the Euro and Maltese lira are used alongside each other. For accounting purposes, the usage of the Maltese Lira is still allowed but limited.
To commemorate the introduction of the Euro, Malta Post issued a colourful miniature sheet featuring the coin designs. Each miniature sheet comes with a unique serial number.
Earlier in the afternoon, I was at the Pod on level 16 of the National Library Building for the Singapore-Philippines Joint Issue stamp launch. Access to the Pod is restricted, requiring wireless access cards to take the lift up. The lift, which could fit up to 40 people, was similar to the size of a cargo lift. The view at the Pod was magnificent! I started going around taking pictures of the scenery.
(Click to enlarge)
The event started at 1500 hours with a song in Tagalog which amazed the crowd. Following which, the Ambassador of the Philippines Mrs Minda C. Cruz officially launched the stamps by pulling a lever. The panel rotated slowly to reveal an enlarged image of the stamps. After that, a music school teacher performed another song.
Guests received a set of commemorative first day cover in a stylish silver folder, as well as a colourful folder containing a personalised stamp sheet: MyStamp.
The covers below are autographed by Mrs Minda Cruz.
This stamp issue commemorates the 40th anniversary of Diplomatic relations between Singapore and The Philippines, featuring five bridges: Henderson Waves & Alexandra Arch (80c) and Cavenagh Bridge (65c) from Singapore, as well as Bamban Bridge (1st Local) and Marcelo Fernan Bridge ($1.10) from the Philippines.
Henderson Waves and Alexandra Arch opened in May 2008 and are both found along the Southern Ridges. Henderson Waves is Singapore’s highest pedestrian bridge at 36 metres above Henderson Road. Cavenagh Bridge was built in 1868 and was the oldest bridge across the Singapore River. This bridge was built to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the Crown Colony of the Straits Settlements. Bamban Bridge, completed around 1998, is one of the longest bridges of its type and has an arch span of 174 metres. Marcelo Fernan Bridge is an extra dosed cable-stayed bridge located in Cebu, and has a total length of 1237 metres.
The latest addition to my collection is a set of first day covers issued to commemorate the 11th Asian Games held in Beijing, China. Three series of stamps were released by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications of the PRC, from 1988 to 1990, one in each year. The 11th Asian Games was held from 22 September 1990 to 7 October 1990, and was the first large-scale international sports event to be held in the People’s Republic of China.
The first series was a set of two stamps issued on 20 July 1988, with a total face value of RMB 0.38. The 8 fen stamp shows the logo for the Games, while the 30 fen stamp shows the mascot of the Games, PanPan the Panda.
The second series consisted of four stamps with total face value RMB 2.08, and was issued on 15 December 1989. The stamp showcases the four most spectacular competition venues renovated and built for the Games. They are the Beijing Students’ Gymnasium, the Beijing Natatorium of the Northern Suburbs, the Beijing Workers’ Stadium and the Chaoyang Gymnasium, appearing on the 8 fen, 10 fen, 30 fen and 1.60 yuan stamps respectively.
The final series of six stamps was released on the opening day of the Games, and included a miniature sheet of the 12 stamps from all three series, with the theme on sports events. They include Track and Field (4 fen), Gymnastics (8 fen), Wushu (10 fen), Volleyball (20 fen), Swimming (30 fen) and Shooting (1.60 yuan).
A last day commemorative cover was issued on 7 October 1990.
All stamps measure 40 mm by 30 mm and have a perforation of 11 by 11.5.
The annual Safra Singapore Bay Run & Army Half Marathon 2009 was held early this morning. The 21-kilometre run started on the Esplanade Bridge under the night sky, passing by Fullerton Hotel. We then proceeded up the Benjamin Sheares Bridge at 20 metres in height, passing by landmarks such as the Singapore Flyer and the Floating Platform, before entering East Coast Park. A 50-metre stretch along the East Coast Park was shrouded in darkness, with the path lit up by light sticks. After making a right turn to Mountbatten Road, where runners found themselves running alongside the morning traffic, the sky became brighter. The next straight stretch was along Nicoll Highway, but after making a turn into Republic Avenue, we had to run twice below an underpass at the 17-kilometre mark. The last four kilometers was along the F1 track and across Anderson Bridge. The run ended at the Padang, where runners collected their finisher medals and participated in the carnival.
This is the second time I have came to the Padang in a week. On Friday evening, I attended the One Year Countdown to the 2010 Singapore Youth Olympic Games as mentioned in this article.
The Youth Olympic Games Countdown Clock greets runners as they cross the finishing line.
As the clock approaches exactly 365 days, the crowd became more excited.
It is now less than a minute away to the moment. The Countdown Clock, sponsored by Omega, was unveiled a while ago by Professor S. Jayakumar, Senior Minister and Co-ordinating Minister for National Security.
At the same time, fireworks shot up from behind City Hall, as everyone whipped out their cameras and mobile phones.
There were many performances at the countdown event.
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In addition, there were Singapore 2010 flags available on a first come first served basis.
Other than?the new issue of stamps, limited edition pens bearing the Singapore 2010 print were on sale. Each set of pen is priced at SGD 10, but half of the sale proceeds are donated to charity.
