Video of the day: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque projections

by Elizabeth Seward on

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Projections from Obscura Digital on Vimeo.

Ready to see a beautiful video that will brighten your afternoon? Then check out this gorgeous video featuring the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. Projectors, 44 to count, came together form a combined brightness of 840,000 lumens. The images from these projectors covered a 600 foot wide and 351 foot high surface on the building. Mostly floral patterns were projected alongside filigree-type designs, creating a stunning imagery any visitors undoubtedly enjoyed. Were you lucky enough to see this display first-hand? Please tell us about it in the comments if so.

Postage stamp-inspired paintings by Molly Rausch

by Elizabeth Seward on


Ever wanted postage stamp-inspired paintings? Molly Rausch can give you what you want, in that case. And even if you’ve never had an itch to acquire a stamp-themed painting with any cognizance, you might still want to check out her work. Rausch is an artist based out of New Paltz, New York. Her stamp art began 14 years ago when she received an envelope filled with foreign stamps from her father. Her paintings begin with an actual stamp and she proceeds to paint an image around the glued-on stamp. Since stamps are small, her paintings are, too. They’re usually about 3 inches tall. After flipping through her work on her website, I have to say, I like it–it’s a great concept. You might, too. And if you do, throw some travel-related art on your walls, courtesy of Ms. Rausch.

Untouched Italy: Exploring Basilicata through a dream

by Jessica Festa on


While many people go to Italy to explore the wonderful cities of Rome, Florence, Venice, and Milan, there many off-the-radar areas also worth discovering. One of these regions is Basilicata, which Seattle, Washington, filmmaker Matthew Brown captures in this video. The project was part of a Digital Diary competition put on by the Italy Tourism Board, and ended up winning the Grand Prize. What’s really great about this video is that it doesn’t just take you on a tour of Italy, but instead tells a story as if the narrator has “awoke in a dream”, which you can actually feel throughout the whole video. Meet the people, see the landscape and architecture, taste the food, and get to know the culture through creative filmmaking.

The video was shot with a 7D and edited with a Sony Vegas. Music is by Reid Willis and includes the songs “Parachute” and “My sincerity”.

Myanmar Misfortune: a visit to the fortuneteller in Yangon

by David Farley on

The man who told me my unfortunate future, did so with glee. I quickly learned he had a proclivity for sustaining the last syllable of every sentence, like a Spanish-speaking soccer play-by-play announcer after a goal, or a game show host announcing I’d just won a BRAND NEW CAR……!

“In future, you will be very unluckyyyyyyyyy,” he said after recording my birthdate and looking it up in a tattered book filled with numerical codes.

I was doing a self-guided tour of Yangon, the erstwhile capital of Myanmar, as outlined in my guidebook, Lonely Planet Myanmar. The walking tour took me down a street lined with fortunetellers and palm readers. I hadn’t planned on sitting down but I thought that if one of them was particularly insistent, I’d do it.

That’s when Min Kyot Kyow announced himself to me. I took a seat on the bench and within seconds he was rambling on about my unfortunate fate. Astrology is taken very seriously in Myanmar. The location of the new capital, Naypyidaw, was reportedly determined by astrology.

I’ve never really gravitated to fortunetellers, palm readers and psychics, but I’d randomly had a couple experiences with this ilk that left me both intrigued and perplexed. In Rajasthan, a fortuneteller’s main message to me was that the best years of my life were 1996 and 2005. Up until 2011, those were, by far, the worst years of my life. Or did he mean that suffering equals growth which eventually equals positivity? It’s possible, I suppose; after a terrible last year, I’m currently quite happy about the way things have worked out. In Rajasthan, though, I didn’t stick around for clarification. Instead, I walked away distraught and confused. The second brush came when I was reporting a story on people who privately collect holy relics. One of the collectors, it turned out, was also a psychic. In the middle of his answers about how he attained the complete skull of St. Anne, he’d get a glazed look in his eye, stare over my shoulder and make random (and, at times, frightenly accurate) statements about my past.

But no one had dared tell me my future yet. Min Kyot Kyow picked up a piece of paper and began reading badly worded statements in English about what lie ahead for me. It was as if this crumpled notebook leaf of paper had been divinely inscribed just for me. But because the ballpoint pen ink looked long faded and the piece of paper itself appeared to have been through the wash several times, it was like someone saw me coming about five years ago. Or did the fortuneteller just say these things to all the foreigners who happen to walk by?


Telling me things like I would live with my father until I was in my 70s or that I have a kind relationship to “beasts,” as he put it, was fine, I guess. I didn’t really need to know this information. I won’t be living with my father and I already know I’m a friend of the beast, after all.

But then he started to get specific. “You will marry foreign womaaaaaaaaaaaaan!” he screamed. And just in case I didn’t understand, he began naming nationalities, counting off on his fingers with each one. “China woman, Thai lady, Brazil woman, Indonesian woman.” Then he paused before adding: “Burma woman,” and raised his eyebrows up and down at me a few times.

I wish he would have stopped right there. I could have walked away and begun my search for my new foreign-born wife.

“But in eight years,” he added after studying my palm, “you will become widowwwwwwwwwwww.” A widower? Really? He was prophesying the death of a woman I’m going to fall in love with but haven’t met yet? (Note to any foreign-born women who may take a romantic interest in me: unless you like the idea of knowing you’re going to die in 2020, stay far away from me.)

The fortuneteller gave me a candle and pointed me toward the Sule Pagoda, the large Buddhist temple in the center of town that was looming in the distance. He said I’d know what to do with it when I got there (um, light it, maybe?). Which is what I did. I put it on an altar, set the wick ablaze, and sat there, meditating with a handful of Burmese Buddhists, hoping this fortuneteller was terrible at his profession.

Guide to wine tasting in Thailand

by Jessica Festa on

While Thailand isn’t typically thought of as a destination for wine-lovers, there are actually various opportunities in the country to experience vineyards, wineries, and tastings. Whether you want to explore a Thai vineyard on the back of an elephant, try a one-of-a-kind local wine, or have a sommelier guide you through a 10-course wine pairing under a candle jungle waterfall, you can use this guide to help you find the best in vino that Thailand has to offer during your next visit.

Hua Hin Hills Vineyard

Located on a former elephant corral, the fertile sand, slate, and cool ocean breeze make this a prime area for grape-harvesting. Huan Hin Hills Vineyard rests peacefully in a hill and jungle setting, close to the Myanmar border and a convenient stop on the way to the Huay Monkol temple and the Pala U waterfall. In you are staying in downtown Hua Hin, the vineyard operates a daily shuttle that leaves from Market Village at 10:30AM and 3PM (about $9-$10 round-trip).

The vineyard takes up over 560 acres, and produces an array of Monsoon Valley vino varieties, including Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Chenin Blanc, Colombard, Muscat, Tempranillo, and Sangiovese. In fact, Hua Hin Hills is the only vineyard in Thailand to harvest the Sangiovese grape, which has hints of red berries. There are a few different ways visitors can sample the wines. First of all, there is the The Sala Wine Bar & Bistro, which features wine and food pairings as well as educational opportunities to learn more about winemaking. The other option is to sign up for a wine tasting experience, which starts at about $9 to sample 3 wines, and goes to about $41 to try 5 wines and pair them with tapas. Other unique and fun vineyard experiences offered include painting wine bottles, playing Pétanque, or exploring the vineyards via elephant, mountain bike, or jeep.Siam Winery

Siam Winery, which is affiliated with Hua Hin Hills Vineyards, is the largest winery in South East Asia and has a staff of over 1,000 that includes diverse and knowledgeable people from German winemakers to farmers to oenologists. They operate under a New Latitudes Wine perspective, which is basically a new way of looking at wine. The ideology looks at past beliefs about wine creation and combines them with innovation, new technology, and modern discoveries. Winemaker Kathrin Puff explains, “The New Latitude wines teach the right to be wrong. They turn the wine world up-side down. Whilst most wine books refer to the 30th to the 50th latitude as the wine growing country belt, countries like Thailand and India now prove this to be wrong.”

The winery is located about 45 minutes west of central Bangkok and offers 2-hour tours that include a guided tour of the facility, 3 tastings with cheese and crackers, homemade grape juice, and a souvenir to take home. Tours cost about $16 ($6 if you’re under 20 years of age and cannot drink the wine) and must be booked in advance by emailing winerytour@siamwinery.com.

Floating Vineyards

Also owned by Siam Winery, the floating vineyards are a unique way to experience wine tasting in Thailand. While they’re not actually floating, as you can see in the photo on the right, the 1,000 acres of vineyards are situated on islands along canals. What’s really interesting here is that the vineyard kind of acts as an optical illusion. From an arial point of view, the vineyards actually appear to be bouyant, while a closer look will show what’s really going on. The unique landscape makes for an unusual harvest and production process, which you can learn more about through a visit. Make sure to sample white wine from the Malaga Blanc grapes and red wine from the plum-tasting Pokdum grapes, which are what the vineyard is known for. The vineyards are located about an hour southwest of Bangkok in the Chao Phraya Delta near the the Gulf of Siam.

PB Valley Khao Yai Winery

The PB Valley Khao Yai Winery produces 600,000 bottles of wine per year and the Founder, Dr. Piya Bhirombhakdi, recently received a South East Asia Wine Pioneer Award for his work in wine culture in Asia. Their vineyard is located in the northeastern part of Thailand, in the hillsides near Khaoyai National Park. The chilly temperatures, surrounding mountains that protect the vines, and little rainfall help make the area perfect for grape cultivation. PB produces three ranges of wine, including the Sawasdee Range, PB Reserve Range, and the Pirom Khao Yai Reserve Range. Visitors can sample these varieties through educational tasting tours of their vineyard and winery. Click here to view the various package options.

The Sarojin

While The Sarojin isn’t a winery or vineyard, it definitely caters to the wine enthusiast. This boutique 5-star resort is located in Khao Lak near Phuket and features many unique opportunities to sample the region’s best wines. For the past 4 years, the resort’s wine cellar, which boasts over 160 old and new world wines, has been given the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence. Sam Bonifant, the Wine Director at The Sarojin, explains, “The old principles of what went with what were really quite limited and thus the challenge is to find what is best for the myriad of flavors which modern cuisine has to offer.” To help guests experience these unique varieties, the resort offers degustation dinners with up to 10 courses each paired with wines by the resident sommelier, Dawid Koegelenberg. What’s really unique about these dinners is that they don’t just take place in an upscale restaurant, but literally anywhere you desire, whether it be under a jungle waterlit illuminated by candles, on a beach with the ocean’s waves creating natural background music, or on your own private island. If you want to expand your wine knowledge, The Sarojin offers wine lectures both privately and as a scheduled weekly activity for a group environment. There are also cooking classes to help you enhance the culinary side of your vino pairings.

[photos via sherrattsam, Siam Winery, Rivard, PB Valley Kao Yai Winery, The Sarojin]