Alice in Wonderland and another Russian Postcrossing stamp

I had no idea the Russian post had issued ANOTHER Postcrossing stamp until someone posted an offer on the Postcrossing forum and obviously I couldn't resist. :P So many countries seem to be issuing Postcrossing stamps now, I wonder if there's a list or something of upcoming releases in other countries? I'm sure the Dutch post will be issuing a second set as well, or have they already done that?? I haven't been very active in Postcrossing recently and haven't sent that many cards for a while. It's just too expensive, and it doesn't help that stamp prices went up in the UK recently.

Anyway, thank you so much for swapping, Elena!

I know the postcard isn't Postcrossing-related or even a viewcard.. but I've got a bit of a soft spot for Alice in Wonderland, and I love seeing different illustrations from different countries. The artist here is named Oksana Vostrikova.

Greetings from Singapore

Today's Greetings from... postcard comes from Singapore. I'm not sure how I feel about this one, the blue and the gray seem a little cold to me...

The background picture here is the Art-Science Museum at Marina Bay area, a bay located in the Central Area of Singapore surrounded by the perimeter of four other planning areas, the Downtown Core, Marina East, Marina South and Straits View. The area surrounding the bay itself, also called Marina Bay, is a 360 hectare extension to the adjacent Central Business District.

I've got to admit, Singapore kind of fascinates me, I'd love to visit the country one day. I mean, I can't help wondering how it would be like to live in a country that basically comprises of one city?!

Bangkok, Thailand

May is almost here... it's May Day tomorrow! It's a little difficult to believe at the moment - we've had snow and hail stones a few times this week! :O I could understand that happening in Finland, but England?!? I'm not impressed, and not sure if it's because of the rubbish weather that I haven't been feeling too great for about a week now and have a sore throat. It's been feeling so raw at times that it's been painful to talk. :/ I've said this so many times but I certainly wouldn't mind being somewhere sunny and warm at the moment. :P ...such as Thailand, maybe? I received this card from Jobbo last year. Thank you ever so much for yet another great postcard!

I have no idea if this building is of any importance or what it's called.. There's no info on the back of the card. It does look pretty impressive.

Greetings from New Zealand

Just one more card for today, a 'greetings from' one from New Zealand.

Mentioning the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy was probably a very obvious choice here?? I do love the trilogy, they are some of my all-time favourite movies and I still remember when they came out and the anticipation for the next film... and then the extended edition dvd boxes and all the extras on those and watching them with friends. It almost got to the point where the extras were my favourite part :D Most dvds/blue rays still don't come anywhere close. Ahhh, good times! I'm getting nostalgic here... :p

 I do wonder why the kiwi fruit isn't mentioned here.. but at least the sheep are included! ;)

Helsinki, Finland

A lovely snowy view from Finland I received last year. I love the atmosphere here, it seems magical somehow.. and cozy at the same time.

The picture is from the Kruununhaka neighbourhood in southern Helsinki. It's one of the more affluent, fancy areas of Helsinki. According to Wikipedia, the area is known for its vintage shops??!

I LOVE the stamp! It was kind of why this swap got arranged in the first place... :D

Just a small post for today as it's late already and I was hoping to have an early night... I managed to spend today mostly doing nothing that exciting - washing a lot of clothes ready to take to a charity shop (finally doing some clearing and getting rid of stuff I don't need/use), catching up on my favourite tv shows...

This card arrived from dear Rita last month. Such perfect timing, too, as I had been looking for something tasty to make for Easter. There's a recipe for these quark bites at the back of the card and I was dying to give them a try. I was hoping they would be like the 'kohuke' quark bars I bought in an Estonian shop in Finland last year. They were sooo good, but none of the grocery shops here selling Eastern European foods sell them :( Alas, they were not quite the same, but still very, very tasty and moreish. ...although I had to keep them in the freezer as they would've melted too much in the fridge (I couldn't have eaten them all in one go :P).

You'll need: 

200 g quark 
2 tablespoons sugar 
a dash of vanilla extract 
50 g butter 
100 g dark chocolate 
50 g whipping/double cream 

Mix the quark, soft butter, sugar and vanilla. Put the mixture into cupcake cases (I used paper cases but silicone ones might work better... although I'd recommend using fairly small ones!!) and freeze. Melt the chocolate with the cream. Dip the frozen quark bites into the chocolate, cool in the fridge (and store in the freezer?! ... in that case just let them soften for a bit before eating).