It was a great year and I am thankful for all the blessings. I am thankful for all the people who made my 2014 more awesome. So instead of writing a new year's resolution, I wrote snail mails to thank them. It was eons ago since the last time I sent a letter via post office. This activity was very exciting for me.
I've been hoarding washi tapes, paper tapes, fabric tapes, all kinds of tapes! It was about time to start using ‘em. Handmade. Handwritten.
I made cards and wrote "It's the little things" on the cover.
I love snail mail!!! There is something charming, sweet and personal about writting a letter and sending it thru the regular postal service rather than the usual e-mail. So I decided to give this lost art another go.
I took my time writing these letters because I really wanted them to be more intimate. I didn’t want them to read like automated notices. I tried my best to write them from the heart. For weeks, I enjoyed going to work early early...staying in coffee shops...penning my gratitude on paper... I enjoyed it immensely. It was a good way to start a positive day. Not to mention the opportunity to have an excuse for a second breakfast! Lol!
Then off I went to the Ortigas Center Post Office. It's a short walk from our office.
The first thing I noticed was the pile of letters. Hundreds of letters stacked in one corner of the post office! It was just there out in the open. I had an urge to grab a handful to see what would happen, but decided against it. For a moment, I was skeptical. Would my letters reach my friends or end up in the mysterious island of lost things? I set aside my doubts and sent my letters anyway. 30+ letters... not sure if they'll ever reach their destination...
Look at that mailbox! Vintage!
Snail mail on the way! (fingers crossed). If you want to send a good old-fashioned letter, all you have to do is buy some stamps and paste it on the upper right cornerof the envelope (postcards usually have a square to indicate where the stamp goes). Most of my letters are for areas in and around Metro Manila. The lady at the counter asked me to put only one P10 stamp. For other areas she asked me to buy extra stamps. I added two P1 stamps to the letters headed for Rizal and Laguna. Not bad, still very cheap diba? After attaching the stamps, I gave the letters to the lady in-charge and that’s it!
Look at those pretty stamps! I love ‘em! I even bought extra for my stamp collection.
Well, my friend’s address is in Pasig, the same city where the post office I went to is located. But still, I didn’t expect it to be that fast! My friends in Quezon City got theirs 3-4 days after I sent it. Some of them, from other cities, received it after a week or two. Some of them still haven't. I guess it varies from city to city.
To sum up my snail-mailing adventure - It was fun! My faith in PhilPost is renewed!
There's still a lot of room for improvement. I they had better facilities, a more organized system, more info at their office and website. For convenience, I wish we could have mail boxes scattered in the metro. We could buy stamps in advance and just drop-off letters with stamps. I wish we could have more post offices per city.
I will continue to write snail mails. If you want to try this, please do. If more people use the local postal service, the dying art of letter writing may yet still thrive in the small corner of our digital world. Send good vibes thru snail mail! Support PhilPost!
So get a pen and paper now, write and visit your local post office soon.
Mwahugs!
