Rob Cheng’s Blog

I made the flight reservations for November 25th for 5 people (me, Solange (my wife), Teddy, Jesse, and my mother in law Maria). The reservation was for approximately $1000 a person with US Air. I only fly US Air to Myrtle Beach because I refuse to fly Delta ever again, because Delta ripped me off for $2500 which I already documented on this web site. The price I felt was reasonable.

After that, the unexpected happenned. My wife is doing quite well in school, and in Brazil if a student is not doing well then they have the option to take an additional set of exams to try to pass the course. That was not necessary in my wife’s case because she is learning her coursework well. But… last week, she had an exam and the professor did not show up for the exam. They were told that he was in the hospital, and that my wife would have to wait a week to take her last exam. I called US Air and they nailed me for $400 but what could I do? So I paid.

Now, only four of us are travelling (me, Maria, Teddy and Jesse). My wife drove us to the airport to say good bye. When we get to check in they informed us that we were unable to travel since we do not have my wife’s written permission to allow me to travel with the kids. Apparently, they just passed a new law in Brazil in the last two months to stop parents from abducting their children to foreign countries.

I was bummed but I was more nervous because I was sure that US Air would nail us for fees. We go to the US Air counter, and we argue with them, and guess what? US Air actually changed our ticket to the next day for free! I really don’t know why they didn’t stick it to us because I was fully expecting it. More »

November 29th, 2011 | Category: Brazil, Jesse, Teddy, Travel | Comments (2)

Shortly after getting married in 2006, I decided to purchase a car here in Rio de Janeiro. We bought a brand new Chevy Astra for about R$48,000. At the time, that was about $20,000. Still today, it is perhaps one of the most popular car in all of Brazil. Our Astra included leather seats, a 2.0 liter engine, and an MP3 player. Also, I could not live without the rear sensor which lets me know when I am near something when in reverse. After 5 years, we only have about 15,000 kilometers on the car (10,000 miles), but it still has been a great investment.

1. Consider Parking

By and large, we do not drive in Rio de Janeiro. The main reason is that you should not take out the car unless you feel comfortable that you will be able to park the car. For example, a popular weekend activity is going to the beach, however, I would never take my car because you could literally spend 1-2 hours just looking for a parking space. There are however lots of stores and malls that have ample parking. There are many restaurants that have valet parking. Some but not all of the valet parking is free.

2. Obey The Rules

This is not as easy as it sounds because by and large no one else is obeying the rules. It is clear to me that the there is really no traffic police on patrol and so it is basically a free for all. On my street, Epitacio Pessoa, there is a very hairy place when leaving Copacabana, where suddenly 4 lanes are condensed to 2 lanes. If there is traffic, then it slows to a halt as every one vies to get a car length on the other cars. Worse yet, this happens near a gas station, and it is not uncommon to see people zipping through the gas station, to gain an edge on the other side. I always obey the rules. For example, if there is bumper to bumper traffic, and there is an ambulance behind you, then get out of the way and let them pass.

3. Know Your Route

Rio de Janeiro is one of the most complex cities in the world. Worse yet, many of the streets are not very well marked. Now with the internet, spend a good amount of time studying the maps to understand how the road system is put together. One good way to get to know the city is to just drive around on the weekend where there is less traffic and you are not as rushed. It is such a big place. More »

November 12th, 2011 | Category: Brazil, Rio de Janeiro | Leave a comment

On Sunday, August 9th, 2011, we went to the gay parade here in Rio de Janeiro. In the last few years, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro has made a concerted effort to attract gays and lesbians to Rio de Janeiro. He actually has gone on record as stating that the wants Rio de Janeiro to be the most gay friendly city in the whole world. They want to attracts gays and lesbians throughout Brazil and the rest of the world as well. In Ipanema, they actually have a beach that is primarily for people of alternate life styles.

This year was truly spectacular. The estimate that over 1.5 million people participated in this year’s parade. That is a lot of people. We were so lucky. We arrived about a half hour before the parade began, and there was a small platform that was built by the city. No one was on the platform, and we were the first on the platform. It is great because we had a great view and more importantly as the crowd filled up, we got pushed and shoved a lot less than the others. It was a cloudy day but even with my point and shoot camera, I was able to get some decent photos.

The city did an awesome job of preparation. There were tons of portopotties and there was rarely a long wait for the facilities despite the fact that there was a lot of people drinking heavily. By the end of the show, the place was a mess, but immediately hundreds of men and dozens of street cleaning machines trailed the parade. In a short time, the streets were pristine again. More »

October 12th, 2011 | Category: Brazil, Photos, Rio de Janeiro, Slide Show | Leave a comment

This week is the first day of a very unusual vacation for me. Historically, I have always travelled somewhere for my vacations. That’s for more than 30 years, but this time, I have decided to stay at home here in Rio de Janeiro, which is really one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Today was a beautiful day here in Rio. It is getting a little hotter since October is the first month of spring, and there was not a cloud in the sky. We live on a very large lake that is called Lagoa. The lake is exactly 7500 meters around (4.7 miles), and is surrounded by the famous beaches of Leblon, Ipanema, and Copacabana. There is also a small but very popular park about 1/2 mile from our apartment. I run by it every day.

Since it was so sunny, I took the kids to the park. A sunny day is absolutely the best time to take photos. You have much more options with a lot of light than not enough. So I took out my camera and put it in manual mode and started shooting the kids playing around. After looking at the photos, it gives a nice flavour how nice a view the park has.

I am still amazed at the quality of photos that I can take with my cheap little Panasonic camera. I plan to buy another high end camera sometime next year but I want to learn more about my current camera first. Most of the photos are taken with a shutter speed of 1/1300th of a second and the ISO ranged from 100 to 300. I was able to do that because it was such a nice sunny day! I could never have pulled off these photos on a cloudy day with my camera.

I am also trying to use the Rule of 3′s which I learned from my photography class but also numerous of my photographically inclined friends told about. It is essentially to NOT put your subjects in the centre of the picture. This gives the photo more context about what the subject is doing, or what they are seeing.

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October 11th, 2011 | Category: Brazil, Jesse, Photos, Slide Show, Teddy | Leave a comment

The last time I was in the United States, I decided to buy Teddy a cheap camera at Best Buy. It was certainly a gamble because the odds were either that he would love the camera or it would be broken in the first 30 minutes of use. After 2.5 months, I am happy to say that the camera is function well. We bought Teddy the cheapest camera we could find which was a Fuji that cost about $100.

About a week ago, I dumped all of the photos from his camera to my computer. I made two discoveries. Camera technology is such that even a 4 year old can take pretty decent photos. Also, photos are a lot different and more interesting from the point of view of a 4 year old. It is also a pretty accurate slice of life of what our lives are like in Rio de Janeiro. Note: neither Solange nor I told him which photos to take. These were all from his little 4 year old point of view.

Here are some notes to help understand the photos:

1. * When we returned from the China and the US, Solange’s mother, Maria, and sister, Sandra were visiting us.
2. * My good friend, Mike Brotherton, came down to Rio for his bachelor party shortly after our return.
3. * Our maid, Cida, is very prominent in Teddy and Jesse’s lives and also in the photos.
4. * Teddy loves playing with his jig saw puzzles.
5. * Teddy’s favorite subject is his little brother, Jesse.

Solange and I have just finished a photography class, and I am amazed at how many of the basics elements of photography that I struggle with and Teddy seems to get right. Maybe it’s luck, or maybe kids have a better natural sense for photography.

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October 7th, 2011 | Category: Brazil, Photos, Rio de Janeiro, Slide Show, Teddy | Comments (1)

One of the best things that we did for our kids here in Rio de Janeiro was to put them in a day care. We searched for the best and we finally found a place called Ativa-Idade, which means Active Age. Another huge benefit is that it is only about 1/2 a mile from our apartment so it is a quick and simple exercise to drop them off and pick them up.

Since going to the school, they get along better with each other and they talk a lot more. Although it is preschool, we get detailed reports on the kids progress. Or the best they can estimate given their age.

They have also made a deal with a professional photography firm that takes tons of photos of the kids events and they make them available on the web site for the parents and the kids. Here are bunch of photos from that web site. There are three events. Mother Day, a day in the park, and then something called Festa Julina. It happens every July and they try and dress the kids to look like little adults. Not sure why but that explains a lot of the photos. Check them out.

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September 2nd, 2011 | Category: Brazil, Photos, Rio de Janeiro, Slide Show | Leave a comment

Since my wife has a new, expensive and complicated camera, she decided to enroll in a photography class here in Rio de Janeiro. We went to the first class last week, and I understood much of what she said, but it isn’t so easy since she is talking about a tough subject in a foreign language, but I managed. This week, she decided to meet us at the park for a photo session.

Since my wife had the new camera, I had to go to the shoot with my little point and shoot camera. Every one in the class had a nicer camera than me. But that was OK. I figured that once I learn more about photography, I will buy myself a nice camera too.

This was a fun experience because the park is called Parque de República, and I have never even known this park existed. It is located in the neighborhood of Catete and the park unlike many parks in Rio is very nicely done. It is about 2 city blocks big. It has a lot of very cool statues, and many of the statues have a common theme of little children strangling animals. Pretty wild! In addition to the statues, there are several large fountains, a water fall, a monkey feeding station, and a turtle station. we were also quite lucky because the weather was beautiful for a cool winter day in August. The place was alive with people of all walks of life. Lastly, there is a huge children’s playground which was packed the entire time.

So our entire class basically start clicking photos in the park. I had no idea what to expect, and I just started. I know how to use my Panasonic Lumix more or less but I never really bothered to learn the finer points of my camera. So I asked the teacher, and she proceeded to give me the best digital camera advice EVER. The impact on the quality of your photos can be amazing. It is so important than I thought I would share it here. More »

August 21st, 2011 | Category: Brazil, Photos, Rio de Janeiro, Slide Show | Leave a comment

Water

My time on my first 1/2 marathon was 2:39 minutes which is basically a horrible time. The reason that my time was so bad was because I walked somewhere around 3 kilometers of the race. It was my goal to run the entire race, and I failed in that goal. I wanted to finish and not walk.

The reason is that I developed cramps and I started walking. Worse yet, after about 2 kilometers, both my legs cramped incredibly and I fell to the ground in pain. I was so mad at myself. People were yelling at me to get up and keep on stretching so I did. I started walking and finally I decided to finish the race running no matter what. I stopped again and started stretching like a mad man until I felt that I stretched out all the cramps. I finished the last 4 kilometers running and those are the photos taken by the photographers.

I had no idea, but I need to rehydrate. Cramps are a function of fatigue and hydration. I sweat a lot when I run. In fact, it is one of the reasons that I enjoy running but if I want to run for long distances, I have to hydrate during the run or I will cramp. My wife also ran and she did not hydrate much and she did not cramp. The difference is she barely perspires.

I decided to run a test and yesterday (4 days after the 1/2 marathon), I weighed myself before I ran my normal 7500 meter run. I weighed 69.1 kg which is 152 pounds. Aftewards, slightly less than an hour later, I weighed 67.4 kg or 148 pounds. So in less than an hour, I lost 4 pounds and to be honest, I was still sweating madly when I weighed myself.

The most important lesson that I have learned is that I have to learn to hydrate. I mean this literally because it is a skill to drink liquids while running.

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July 23rd, 2011 | Category: Brazil, Health, Rio de Janeiro | Leave a comment

In April, Solange, me and my parents visited Foz de Iguaçu in the southern part of Brazil. It is generally thought to be the largest and most spectacular water fall in the entire world.

I made an HD video of our adventures and sights right after the trip. I was quite proud of the video particular but somehow it did not capture the full effect of how spectacular are the falls at Foz de Iguaçu. So I now have made a new slide show of the same trip. I have found a new technology which allows full screen of slides in resolutions much greater than HD at 720 p. So check it out below, just make sure you watch it in full screen mode. I think it is pretty self explanatory and leave a comment about what you think.

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July 19th, 2011 | Category: Brazil, Slide Show, Travel | Comments (1)