Rob Cheng’s Blog

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

A big surprise about China Tours is that they control your schedule from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed. And they keep you busy, very busy. Finally, by Day 9 of our trip, they gave us a day off in Shanghai. Some people in our group decided just to stay in their hotel, because they were just tired. We decided to go shopping and see Shanghai with Özgür and Selin Tanriverdi our new friends from Dubai.

Based on the recommendation of our guide, we walked to Metro City to purchase a new camera for Solange. Her point and shoot camera was slowly breaking, and I decided to spring for a professional SLR type camera during this trip. Metro City is a very different shopping experience than American retail outlets. It is a huge building with four floors of all things electronics. It is like 20 Best Buys all rolled into one. The problem is that it is possible to buy the same camera from over 20 different merchants.

First off, we had no idea what we wanted as I have little experience with SLR cameras. Fortunately, Özgür is a camera enthusiast, and we finally settled on a Nikon 3000 with a 18mm – 200mm lens. It was no easy task to figure this out because there are so many selections by all the manufacturers. Then we wanted a good price but we had no idea. Finally, we found a place with a great deal, but when they realized we were tourists, the price went up. They wanted another $200 for a warranty. I felt like I had been slimed, like I could not trust these people. So we left and went to another shop where we found the same camera including warranty. Great! But now, they won’t accept my international credit card. In fact, they don’t accept credit cards at all. The price was about 9000 RMB or about US$1400. I had no idea on whether it was a good price but I was positive it was a better price than I could pay in Brazil. More »

August 16th, 2011 | Category: China, Photos, Slide Show, Travel | Comments (2)

As part of our package with China Tours, we went to four different artistic shows in four different cities. Below is a quick list of the shows and the cities.

Kung Fu Show When I first heard about this, I had thought it would be a Kung Fu demonstration which I thought might be entertaining. However, it was quite different. The Kung Fu Show was actually a small play set to music and dance. The sound system in the theatre was awesome and the music truly floated through your ears. The play was about a young boy that wanted to become a Kung Fu master. He learns the ways, but he loses his focus because he falls in love with a beautiful woman. Ultimately, he finds his way back and becomes a master. The dance moves are quite elaborate and physically difficult. They are running and spinning through the air doing marvelous things. Many thought this was the best show of the tour. The one problem with this show was that photography was specifically prohibited and they made an announcement before the show began. So no pictures.

Ancient Dynasty This show was very elaborate and spectacular but in a very different way. The show endeavors to give us a flavor of how music, art and dance were during the times of ancient dynasty. Again, the sound system and lighting was fantastic. The costumes were amazing. More importantly than that, there were close to 200 people participating in the show. Because they were all running around changing costumes, it felt more like 400. They also had a few music scenes which really gave a nice feeling for Chinese music and the stark differences from the commercialized western approach to music.

Solange deserves a lot of credit because they allowed photo, and she stood up the entire time, so she could take as many photos as possible. We have the best photos from this show. More »

August 14th, 2011 | Category: China, Photos, Slide Show, Travel | Comments (1)

One of the must-see sights in China is the Terracotta Warriors. It is really an almost unbelievable story. Way back, well over 2000 years ago, the first emperor of China make the most elaborate tomb in the history of time. The tomb itself was the size of a small city covering many square miles. He decided to protect his soul in the afterlife, that he wanted to be surrounded by an army of his best servants. So he put all of his people to work to create life size replicas of his army.

Flash forward to 1974, and researchers were speculating that there must be untold treasures in this city size tomb of gold, art, and other valuables. They did not find that, but they found close to 8000 life size warriors, chariots, horses and so on. Although the discovery happened over 35 years ago, they are still working to unearth many of the warriors. It is a pain staking process because they must be careful not to break the warriors when excavating and then they must restore what time has damaged.

It really made me wonder what it was like to be a Chinese Emperor. I really marvel at someone that decides to build a city just for his tomb. Maybe they were going through a recession and it was his way of stimulating the economy and putting the people back to work. On the other hand, the same guy that did all of this was also the one that made the Great Wall of China. No doubt about it, that this guy (Qin Shi Huang) thought really big. If you look carefully at the warriors, each face is different. The amount of time to do this project must have been stunning.

I also learned a lot about photography. The lighting is not very good, and then on top, you need to zoom to get close to the warriors. This is really pushing the limit of what a point and click camera can do. Some of the photos are blurry because you need a perfectly steady hand or the picture will distort. Solange bought a new expensive camera and maybe that will take better pictures in tough conditions like this. Anyway, I still think that the photos give a pretty good flavor of what the Terracotta Army looks like in Xian, China. More »

August 10th, 2011 | Category: China, Photos, Slide Show, Travel | Leave a comment

Another segment of our tour of China was a boat tour from Guilin to Yangshuo. The tour provides a fairly large cruise boat for a 4 hour tour along the Li River. The main reason to do the boat tour is that the rock mountains along the side of the river are simply stunning. The pictures that one can take along the boat tour are perhaps the best we took during the entire tour. I hope you can see why.

Another reason it is interesting is that the only purpose of the river is for cruise boats and tourists. The weather was absolutely perfect and we were surrounded by hundreds of cruise boats large and small all full of tourists just like us. I shouldn’t say that because most of the tourists are from other parts of China. Let’s not forget that all tourism is run by the government and so basicaly the River Li is owned by the Ministry of Tourism.

Another interesting part of the voyage is called 9 horses. There is a huge mountain wall, and if you carefully, you can see a horse, and then another one, and so on. I was able to see 5, legend has it that there are nine on the wall.

The water is very shallow and very clear. We are way up in the mountains, and so it is very clear fresh water. I saw a few people stopping and swimming which might be a little dangerous since there were so many boats, but I really wanted to jump in and join them. Don’t forget to watch in Full Screen Mode. More »

August 7th, 2011 | Category: China, Slide Show, Travel | Leave a comment

Perhaps one of the most fascinating segments of our trip to Chinas was a small side trip to the Chinese farmland. It as only an additional $20 per person for a 2 hour tour of the farmland. At first, I was quite skeptical but those fears were quickly doused.

The location of this farmland was in Yangshuo China which was located in the southeastern part of China. They said it snows in Yangshuo but we were there in the heat of the summer. This part of China is truly spectacular. These are these very large rock formations that are nestled in the country side. Most of these rocks are rather large and the size of mini mountains. It is called a rock climbers paradise because there are so many of these structures. From my standpoint, it made for some of the best photos that I have ever taken. Hope you like the slide show.

On top of that, I learned so much about the Chinese culture and government through this simple trip. Unlike the hustle and bustle of Beijing and Shanghai, the Chinese farmer lives a simple and uncomplicated existence. They have running water and electricity. Everyone has access to a television, and more recently almost every farmer has a cell phone. The internet however has not yet found its way to this small village near Yangshuo.

Shelter is provided by the government, and everyone had ample food and clothing. The housing is very basic, and does not have air conditioning nor heating despite the fact that it can get quite cold in this area. I was surprised to see the variety of food that they harvest from this land. They grow rice, soy bean, black bean, wheat, and more fruits than I can remember. The farmers are productive parts of Chinese society. More »

August 6th, 2011 | Category: China, Slide Show, Travel | Comments (2)

Just the other day, Solange and I climbed to the very top of the Great Wall. It was not easy, and it was one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life.

The reason that it was so fulfilling is that I am afraid of heights. As I get older, it is getting more and more pronounced. Climbing to the top of the Great Wall is a harrowing climb and it is even more difficult on the way down because you can see how far you have come. Kind of like the scared cat that quickly climbs to the top of a tree.

The Great Wall is an incredible sight, but to it is very very steep and the climb is very very high. Basically you start at the ground and you go to the highest point on the mountain. Worse yet, each step is uneven. Some steps are small and some are over 2.5 feet in height. So you are always a little nervous going up and even more perilous going down.

On top of my fear of heights, I perspire a lot! To be honest, after I was done, I wasn’t that tired, but my shirt was totally wet. People were laughing because I looked like a wreck although I felt great.

There is a quotation in Chinese at the foot of the climb by Chairman Mao that said (me paraphrasing), “One cannot have success in life without first having climbed the Great Wall.” This is definitely true. It is not physically enduring, but it is a mental drain especially someone that is afraid of heights. As you climb higher and higher, you see less and less people until you get to the top and you are there with the small percentage that actually make it there.

My wife Solange took almost all of the photos, since I had put away my camera to focus on getting up and down. Put the slide show in Full Screen mode, and I hope it gives the feeling as to how high one must climb. More »

July 30th, 2011 | Category: China, Slide Show, Travel | Comments (1)

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)