Video and pictures of my travels to China and beyond.
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View from my hotel across San Diego harbor. I used Tilt Shift Generator on my iPhone to give it that miniature effect. Beautiful colors and a beautiful view from Coronado Island.
posted by Obie @ 10:04 AM
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Watched the sunset here today. Millions of years of waves constantly crashing into the rugged cliffs make for a spectacular view. I noticed joggers stepping dangerously close to the edge in their attempt to stay healthy...one small slip and they would tumble to the rocks below, ironic.
posted by Obie @ 9:38 AM
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Paris Hotel & Casino in Las #Vegas using Tiltshift Generator to saturate the colors and blur the background to give it that miniature effect. Taken from our room at the Bellagio. The iconic half scale replica of the Eiffel Tower sits in front of the property.
posted by Obie @ 12:37 PM
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My Ling at a dinner party in Shenyang, China. This was taken at Traders Hotel downtown close to the Liaoning Provincial Museum and the Shenyang Cultural Palace.
posted by Obie @ 8:55 AM
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My Ling in the courtyard of her condo in Fushun, China.
posted by Obie @ 7:45 AM
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Dinner at a Japanese Restaurant in Fushun, China.
posted by Obie @ 7:00 AM
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Temple on Longevity Hill at the Summer Palace in Beijing, China. It served as a summer resort for Empress Dowager Cixi, who diverted 30 million taels of silver, said to be originally designated for the Chinese navy (Beiyang Fleet), into the reconstruction and enlargement of the Summer Palace.
posted by Obie @ 7:30 AM
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What common phrase can you make from these pics? I used the Diptic iPhone application to arrange the pictures, then I used an Instagram filter to post it.
posted by Obie @ 7:21 PM
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Me and my Ling at the Marriott hotel in Beijing, China.
posted by Obie @ 2:55 PM
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This is the new transportation terminal at the Beijing Airport. You can catch the express subway train here and go anywhere in Beijing for 25 RMB, or about $3 US. Quite a bargain compared to the hundreds of RMB the taxi will charge.
posted by Obie @ 8:33 AM
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More from our motorcycle ride in Fushun, China. This was her first time on a motor bike and she was truly afraid. She is literally covering her eyes here. She kept saying MAN, MAN, which in Chinese means Slow, Slow. So I took it slow.
posted by Obie @ 6:30 PM
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Ling and I on her brothers motorcycle in Fushun, China.
posted by Obie @ 12:15 PM
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Ling and I riding bicycles through the farm fields in Fushun, China, near her families home. Thr air was quite fresh compared to in the city, and the lush green countryside was a perfect setting.
posted by Obie @ 12:22 AM
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This is the Tea House upstairs at the Beijing Airport. We usually go here to wait for our plane. They have a variety of different tea, and the red lanterns really set the mood, and make you feel like your somewhere other than the airport.
posted by Obie @ 4:46 PM
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I took this in Lings apartment in Fushun, China. The sun was coming in the window and looks just right on her. I used an iPhone App Aisu Sepia to make it sepia-tome.
posted by Obie @ 2:45 PM
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The Spring flowers in the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens at the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas. Their horticultural staff changes the display 5 times per year, the displays are made from live plants or other organic materials. Its a must see in Vegas.
posted by Obie @ 4:07 PM
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This iconic building contains the space alien themed Encounter Restaurant. It was designed and built in 1962 by the Walt Disney Company and it is located in the middle of the LAX Airport. I've eaten there several times and I can say the food is good, and the view is spectacular.
posted by Obie @ 4:30 PM
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This was a shot Ling sent to me shortly after we met. She is wearing traditional Chinese clothing, which she wears very well by the way. This was take by a professional photography studio in China. We would go there often to get printouts of all our digital shots.
posted by Obie @ 11:44 AM
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Beautiful, colorful blown glass sculpture hanging from the ceiling of the lobby in the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas. Artist Dale Chihuly's Fiori di Como is composed of over 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers. Using the Lomo Filter in Instagram to make the colors pop.
posted by Obie @ 6:41 PM
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Beautiful evening at Manhattan Beach just south of LAX. We ate dinner here overlooking this great view, then took a little walk along the beach at dusk. Can still remember the smell of the warm salt air.
posted by Obie @ 10:08 PM
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This was taken at the Boryeong Mud Festival in Dalian, China. We used the mud to keep us cool and protect our the skin from the sun. It was a blast getting covered in it. We rented the little blow-up floaters and I was amazed at how many people there used them. Dalian is a popular vacation city on the east coast.
posted by Obie @ 11:11 AM
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Took this from Pennsylvania Ave outside The White House, the home and office of every United States President except George Washington. The White House was damaged and set on fire during the War of 1812 by the British. The White House gets its name from the white paint that was applied to mask the burn damage it had suffered. Using Instagram X-Pro II filter.
posted by Obie @ 7:30 PM
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This was taken at a 1200 year old temple in Fushun, China. It amazes me to be in some place that old. Fushun is the origin of the Qing Dynasty, at a site known as Xingjing City, and it was the first capital of the Late Jin Dynasty. More recently, Fushun was occupied by Russia until 1905 and by Japan until 1945. Source: Wikipedia. There are lots of places like this still around.
posted by Obie @ 4:06 PM
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This shot is of Chinese New Year (CNY) decorations on a store front in Fushun, China. Red lanterns are up everywhere and the celebration lasts about 2 weeks. Fireworks every night. Red envelops of money for the children. Dumplings is the traditional meal.
posted by Obie @ 1:45 PM
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This shot is from our celebratory dinner cruise along the Pearl River in Guangzhou, China. All of the buildings and all of the other boats are covered in neon lights. It's really quite spectacular. What are we celebrating? Ling got her Visa earlier that day which allows her entry into the United States. I wrote about that process here.
posted by Obie @ 3:35 PM
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More experimenting with Tilt Shift photography. This is from the top floor inside the Luxor Casino in Las Vegas. I used Tilt Shift Generator on my iPhone to blur the edges and keep the center point in focus. I get to Vegas about 3 or 4 times a year, stayed in most of the major proprietress on the strip. I have posted details about some of my Vegas trips on my Poker Blog.
posted by Obie @ 11:15 AM
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Took this at Caesars Atlantic City looking south down the Boardwalk. I used Tilt Shift Generator on my iPhone to give it that miniaturization effect, blurring things in the distance and keeping the closer subjects in focus. A great example of this effect in this video Miniature City Shanghai. Got a lot of comments about this one on Instagram.
posted by Obie @ 3:00 PM
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My beautiful wife Ling, on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, NJ. I used an Instagram filter to give it that older summer vacation effect. My work takes me to Atlantic City a couple times per year, it's great when my family can travel with me. She likes the ocean and shopping along the Boardwalk in Atlantic City and Ocean City as well, and I like the casinos.
posted by Obie @ 2:46 PM
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I get on this train everyday for my hour & a half commute to DC. I's not a bad ride, I usually sleep or listen to podcasts for a good portion of the ride. Only slept through my stop twice. It's nice getting on when its empty. Fills up about halfway to DC, standing room only on Fridays before a holiday weekend. They have a pretty good website that provides real-time location updates for their trains so you can tell where the next one is while you are waiting at the station.
posted by Obie @ 5:30 AM
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Took this from Independence Ave in DC, love how the tree provides a silhouette. No filters or color editing, this was how the sky looked at dusk. The lower half of the monument is a slightly different color from the top half. That's because construction was halted in 1854 for 25 years due to the Civil War, when construction resumed in 1878 they used marble from a different quarry.
posted by Obie @ 5:30 PM
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Using Instagram to edit and share some photos and trying to improve my photo skills. I'd like to publish a picture each day, so here's one to start off the new year. This is Chinatown in Washington DC, went there to pick up some Mulberry tea leaves. Chinatown offers many Chinese restaurants, a couple of them offer authentic Chinese food, not the westernized version, and a few shops to pick up imports.
posted by Obie @ 1:45 PM
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