DECEMBER 7 & 8: RUINS OF SAIPAN (La Fiesta)
The first 23 photos herein are crossed (meaning that the photo for your right eye is on the left, and for your left eye is on your right) stereoscopic 3D. Scroll down to look at one of the photos and cross your eyes. You will see 3 photos: the one on your left will be seen by your left eye only, the one on your right by your right eye only, and the one in the middle by both eyes. Concentrate on the middle photo and allow your eyes relax focus while continuing to keep that middle photo "together." It may take a little practice, but you will eventually notice the same striking 3D appearance that you get with some of the expensive virtual reality goggles!
You may find it tiring at first, but it will become easier and more relaxing the more you practice it. This technique, when practiced regularly, can also be used to make the visual system more efficient, and may lead greater comfort during intense visual work tasks.
SCROLL DOWN for more photos, or click on the little triangle to your right for a slide show.
3D CONTROL PANEL
This one is, I think, the most difficult one in this series to fuse. If you can't get it, proceed to the next ones (scroll down). If you can get this one, I think you will find the rest easy.
Probably a control panel for the theater which was here (?).
THEATER SEATS
Now we're starting into the easier ones.
When I moved here, La Fiesta was a fairly busy mall owned (I believe) by Japan Airlines (JAL, who also owned the Nikko Resort Hotel across the highway). However, the CNMI fell out of favor with JAL (lots of reasons hit the grapevine -- or fan, if you prefer), and the air carrier decided to pull out of the CNMI altogether. The hotel closed for a while, but was then opened again and (on it's 3rd or 4th reincarnation) this well-practiced phoenix is now the Kensington. There was some interest from some private investors and government agencies in taking over La Fiesta Mall, for everything from relocating Northern Marianas College here to forcing all adult business and poker parlors into these premises (you can imagine what all the owners of single-family houses in this area thought of that last idea). None of that came to fruition, so over the years the trees have taken over outdoor open spaces and graffiti artists have showcased their creativity (or lack thereof). The structure is remarkably sound, it seems, but by now would require considerable heroic restoration to recapture even a semblance of its bygone grandeur (did I really use that word?).
However, behind the wall of the entryway for the assumed restaurant, it looks more like an open (now filled in with dense bush / tree growth) courtyard. Maybe it was outdoor dining? Or there may have been some type of removable top or something -- I'm not sure.
The next shot is from the other side, above the ramp / stairway with green trim.
I THINK how this worked was that this area looked like an entryway to a restaurant to your left (which opens into the courtyard you saw 3 and 4 photos ago. If patrons desired to eat inside, there are rooms to the right, some of which had Japanese-style booths (with the seating recessed) and some of which had "American-style" padded sit-up booths.
I think you will find this one of the easier photos to fuse into 3D. Lots of depth in most of these photos. Take time to look through the beams, through the doors, etc.
