Rob Cheng’s Blog

Teddy and I went out yesterday for his first golf outing. I wasn’t planning to go with him because I didn’t think he was ready, but he cried plenty until I agreed. I normally play at Prestwick, but that is a very hard course for anybody much less a 4 year old, so we went to a little par 3 called Midway close to our house.

It was a beautiful winter day. The temperature was in the in mid 70′s which was awesome. I brought a large plastic softball, and then we also had a blue plastic golf ball, and then of course normal golf balls. Teddy is very patient, and very determined, so we always made it to the hole, and then Teddy really loved trying to putt the ball near the hole. The trick is that the closer to the hole, the less hard you must hit the ball. Teddy figured it all out. We paid for 9 holes and we played each hole twice. We certainly got our money’s worth and I want to thank all the other golfers on the course that put up with us. We let quite a few play through.

It wasn’t easy taking photos since I still don’t understand my new camera well, and I have not played golf in a while. I only took a few shots, but I am so glad I did because it is so cool to see Teddy learning something new. More »

December 18th, 2011 | Category: Photos, Slide Show, Teddy | Comments (1)

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)

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)

We traveled back to Myrtle Beach, SC in December 2010 for the Christmas holidays. Little did we know, but it would be coldest winter on record. It actually snowed in Myrtle Beach, although it was just a light frosting, it was the first time my wife and the kids had seen snow.

Solange took the kids out in the cold and they had their first ever winter photo shoot. I think the photos turned out great and Solange just used her point and click camera. The technology sure has come a long way!

We bought Teddy gloves for the cold, but for some reason, Teddy preferred to put socks over his hands. Jesse didn’t seem to care either way. More »

April 20th, 2011 | Category: Jesse, Photos, Slide Show, Teddy | Leave a comment

We are on our first day of a much needed vacation. We are staying at a place called Hotel do Frade which sits on the beach but also has a golf course which nestles against the mountains. I woke up early and decided to run the golf course TWICE. I am not sure how far I ran but I am estimating between 10-11 miles. Then we went swimming in the hotel pool. Later, we went bike riding on the golf course for about an hour. It was a good full day and a great start to the vacation. More »

April 19th, 2010 | Category: Brazil, Jesse, Photos, Slide Show, Teddy, Travel | Comments (1)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! No matter how I look at 2009, it was a tough, tough year, but that said, there is still so much to be thankful for. We made it back to Myrtle Beach in mid December, and it was very hectic. On top of that, December 29th, is also Jesse’s birthday. So to commemorate all the the things to be thankful for, I decided to have a nice photo shoot of me and my wonderful family. The pictures turned out great. More »

January 4th, 2010 | Category: Jesse, Photos, Slide Show, Teddy | Comments (1)

Teddy’s second birthday party was held in our home in Myrtle Beach, SC. Solange bought an inflatable castle for the kids to play in. At the same time, Brazil played the United States for the soccer championship called the Confederate Cup. Brazil won 3-2 in a very exciting match. Every one had a great time, and here is some video of the event.

The theme of the party was Spiderman, and the food was delicious and the cake was especially memorable. More »

July 28th, 2009 | Category: Teddy, Videos | Comments (2)

Man Oh Man. I have been working harder than I can ever remember. I am a man on a mission to finish a huge project sprinting to the finish line. When I want to, my focus can be amazing and singular. I really hope that I can look back at this period, and be amazed at how much work I got done.

Despite all of that, I decided to take a lightening vacation to NY with my family. We arrived on a Friday and went to the Statue of Liberty. We woke up the next day, and grabbed a train from Grand Central to Pleasantville NY to visit my cousin, Nancy and her family. My other cousin, Larry, was also kind enough to join us for the train ride from NY to Pleansantville. More »

June 4th, 2009 | Category: Jesse, Slide Show, Teddy, Travel | Comments (1)