Postcrossing Malaysia (My Postcard Collections)

Taiwan’s Sept. 21 earthquake, which struck the area in 1999, caused severe damage to the Sun Moon Lake Scenic Area, at the time under the administration of Taiwan’s provincial government. The park has since been reorganized as a National Scenic Area. Significant increases in human and capital investment inflows and the promotion of various special programs and events centered on the Scenic Area have been instrumental in attracting tourists, helping the area emerge from the shadow of the earthquake and setting Sun Moon Lake firmly back on the path to becoming an international tourist destination.

Tampere

Sent by: FI-1205640 Tampere, Finland

Tampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of 213,344, growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in Finland, after the Greater Helsinki municipalities of Helsinki and Espoo. In 2007, the entire Pirkanmaa region had around 470,000 residents, of which 230,000 were employed, and a turnover of 25 billion euros.

Tampere is located between two lakes, Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi. Since the two lakes differ in level by 18 metres (59 ft), the rapids linking them, Tammerkoski, have been an important power source throughout history, most recently for generating electricity. Tampere is dubbed the "Manchester of Finland" for its industrial past as the former center of Finnish industry, and this has given rise to its Finnish nickname "Manse" and terms such as "Manserock".

Helsinki can be reached in 1.5 hours by train and 2 hours by car. The distance to Turku is approximately the same. Tampere Airport is the third-busiest airport in Finland, with 800,000 passengers annually.

University College Cork (UCC)

Sent by: Wendi Heffernan, Cork Ireland 15 September 2011

University College Cork (UCC) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland. The university is located in Cork.

The university was founded as a college in 1845 under the original name of Queen's College, Cork. It became University College, Cork, under a charter issued after the Irish Universities Act, 1908 became law. The Universities Act, 1997 renamed the university as National University of Ireland, Cork, and a Ministerial Order of 1998 renamed the university as University College Cork - National University of Ireland, Cork.

The university was named the "Sunday Times Irish University of the Year 2003 - 2004", and again in 2005 - 2006. In 2011 the QS World University Rankings ranked the university 181, placing it amongst the top 2% of universities worldwide. The university also received a 5-star rating in the QS University Rankings 2011, making UCC the first and currently the only Irish University to hold this distinction. Dr. Michael B. Murphy has been president of the university since February 2007.

Toronto Rogers Center

Sent by: Mary Anne Augerman, Toronto Canada Sept 2011

Rogers Center (formerly known as SkyDome) is a multi-purpose stadium, in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated next to the CN Tower, near the shores of Lake Ontario. Opened in 1989, it is home to the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. From 2008–2012, the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League are scheduled to play at the stadium for eight games (five regular-season and two pre-season) as part of the Bills Toronto Series. While it is primarily a sports venue, it also hosts other large-scale events such as conventions, trade fairs, concerts, funfairs, and monster truck shows.

The stadium was renamed "Rogers Center" following the purchase of the stadium by Rogers Communications, which also bought the Toronto Blue Jays, in 2005. The venue was noted for being the first stadium to have a fully retractable motorized roof, as well as for the 348-room hotel attached to it, with 70 rooms overlooking the field. It is also the most recent North American major-league stadium built to accommodate both football and baseball. The stadium will be the centrepiece of the 2015 Pan American Games as the site of the opening and closing ceremonies.

Hello from Michigan

Sent by: Tera Rowe, Michigan USA Sept 2011

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake".

Michigan is the eighth most populous state in the United States, with the 2010 census placing its population at 9,883,640 residents. It has the longest freshwater coastline of any political subdivision in the world, being bounded by four of the five Great Lakes, plus Lake Saint Clair. Michigan is one of the leading U.S. states for recreational boating. The state has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds. A person in the state is never more than six miles (10 km) from a natural water source or more than 85 miles (137 km) from a Great Lakes shoreline. It is the largest state by total area east of the Mississippi River.

Michigan is the only state to consist entirely of two peninsulas. The Lower Peninsula, to which the name Michigan was originally applied, is often noted to be shaped like a mitten. The Upper Peninsula (often referred to as "The U.P.") is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac, a five-mile (8 km)-wide channel that joins Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. The Upper Peninsula is economically important for tourism and natural resources.

Floating Market At Damnoen Saduak, Ratchaburi

Sent by: Joy Pornprapa, Thailand September 11, 2011

Damnernsaduak is believed to be one of a well-known and an attractuve travelling sites. Historically, Damnoenssaduak was actually the name of the canal dug in the reign of King Rama IV by the military men and the people of Rajburi, Samutsakorn and Samutsongkram Province directed by Phayasrisuriyawong, the minister of Defence. In those days without rivers and canals, transportation was almost motionless; King Rama IV with his great concern over the country's future economic growth, he finally had the canal dug to connect the Taachin River in Samutsakorn Province and Maklong River in Samutsongkram Province together.

Nowadays Damnoensaduak is one of a provincial district of Rajburi Province. Most people live densely along both sides of the canal from one end of the canal to another.The majority of this people are agriculturists. They grow several different kinds of fruit and vegetable for examples oranges, grapes, papayas, cabbages, bean, onion and etc. The land in this area is naturally fertile. Apart from providing transportation, Damnoensaduak Canal also provides farmers with adequate water for agricultural purposes for the whole year around. More than 200 small canals were dug by local peasants to connect with it to get water to splatter their land. Moreover; these small canals also become protitiouus ways of taking their agricultural products to the markets in neighbouring provinces and Bangkok.

Day in and day out from about 8 a.m. to about 11 a.m. the Floating Market is routinely crowded with hundrreds of vendors and purchasers floating in their small rowing boats selling and buying or exchanging their goods. What they purchase are particularly food, fruit and vegetable which mostly brought from their own orchards. They usually travel on their small rowing boats. however; today the long-tailed boats pushing by engine become very popular. People tend to use them instead. Anyhow because of the shortage of fuel today long-tailed boats are quite unavailable compared to a few years ago.

Damnoen Saduak in Ratchaburi about 109 kilometres south of Bangkok or approximately 2 hours drive.

Taipei 101 Skycraper

Taipei 101

Taipei 101 (台北101/臺北101), formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a landmark skyscraper located in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. The building ranked officially as the world's tallest from 2004 until the opening of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010. In July 2011, the building was awarded LEED Platinum certification, the highest award in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system and became the tallest LEED building in the world.[3] Taipei 101 was designed by C.Y. Lee & partners and constructed primarily by KTRT Joint Venture. The tower has served as an icon of modern Taiwan ever since its opening, and received the 2004 Emporis Skyscraper Award.[4] Fireworks launched from Taipei 101 feature prominently in international New Year's Eve broadcasts and the structure appears frequently in travel literature and international media.

Taipei 101 comprises 101 floors above ground and 5 floors underground. The building was architecturally created as a symbol of the evolution of technology and Asian tradition (see Symbolism). Its postmodernist approach to style incorporates traditional design elements and gives them modern treatments. The tower is designed to withstand typhoons and earthquakes. A multi-level shopping mall adjoining the tower houses hundreds of fashionable stores, restaurants and clubs.

Taipei 101 is owned by the Taipei Financial Center Corporation (TFCC) and managed by the International division of Urban Retail Properties Corporation based in Chicago. The name originally planned for the building, Taipei World Financial Center, until 2003, was derived from the name of the owner. The original name in Chinese was literally, Taipei International Financial Center (臺北國際金融中心).

Tallest in the world from 2004 to 2010

Preceded by: Petronas Towers
Surpassed by: Burj Khalifa