I was in Tokyo this week for the 2016 ISER biennial meeting. It has been 8 years since my last visit there, and I was determined to try something new having already done the touristy stuff. Making reservations was no easy task, however, with language barriers and opposite time zones that necessitated multiple email exchanges with my hotel and an online concierge. I left Sunday morning, and after a muggy layover in Honolulu with bland ramen, landed in Narita Monday afternoon. The hotel was tiny, but perfectly located a block from the meeting venue and a quick walk to Shinjuku station. For dinner, I waited in line at Udon Shin to squeeze in for a hearty bowl with parmesan, butter, and tempura ham, then checked out the bustling scene in Shibuya. Jet-lagged, I got little sleep before attending the conference next morning. For lunch, I had reservations at Sushi-ya in Ginza, but the place was so hidden in an alleyway that it took 30 minutes of getting lost before I enlisted a nearby coffee shop hostess to help me find it. The meal was worth the trouble, however, as Chef Ishiyama, who trained at Michelin-starred Sushi Saito and Kanesaka, prepared an amazing 14-piece lunch set with hamachi, chutoro, otoro, bonito, ika, botan ebi, kohada, ikura, kinmedai, shiro ebi, kanpyou, Hokkaido uni, hamaguri, unagi, and tamago. Every piece was meticulously assembled by the chef himself, despite my belated arrival and off-set preparation of my pieces. After presenting my poster, I went for dinner at Sumibiyakiniku Nakahara. Here, I sat at the counter as the chefs grilled each slice of meat individually before me, with 3 divine cuts of the “legendary” wagyu tongue, followed by the 7-piece omakase course including sirloin, outside skirt, misuji, zabuton, rump, katahana, and kata-sankaku. The size and sequence of each cut were perfectly calibrated, and they even comped a few extra pieces at the end. I returned to the hotel afterwards to bask in utter ecstasy. On Wednesday, I met my old PI for a massive breakfast buffet prior to the meeting. Lunch was at Le Sputnik, but I again got lost from my outdated map app requiring more assistance, this time from the Ritz-Carlton concierge. When I finally arrived, I learned that my reservation was not until the next day. So I spent the next hour wandering Roppongi to locate a ramen shop that I had researched, which again was mislabeled on the app and nowhere to be found. Sweaty, hungry, and frustrated, I returned to Shinjuku where a bowl of tsukemen from Fuunji made me feel better. Exhausted, I napped all afternoon and awoke feeling reinvigorated. A late-night bowl of yummy fish-based ramen at Nagi Golden Gai helped fuel me as I walked through Kabukicho and squeezed past Chinese shoppers at Don Quixote. I stayed up all night but could not keep my eyes open back at the meeting on Thursday. Instead, I checked out and dragged my luggage back to Le Sputnik. Here, Chef Yujiro Takahashi’s 9-course tasting lunch menu certainly earned its Michelin-starred status, with highlights like a divine mushroom sorbet with poached egg yolk, a seared foie gras with orange compote and espresso jelly, and a juicy Hokkaido venison with red wine jus reduction that transcends the game meat genre. Before I left, I inquired about their fine glassware, and was directed to a glass shop in Ebisu which unfortunately did not stock the Kimura tumblers I wanted. I got to Narita early to take advantage of my new Priority Pass membership and enjoyed the amenities at the KAL lounge before my flight home. My visit to Tokyo showed me a different side of the city, and left me with a sense of longing for the beauty, energy, and unique culture of the city.

This month’s travel has been very hectic. Shortly after the DC trip, I flew to La Jolla for a day to present my work at Scripps for the Alcon Research Institute Young Investigator Award symposium. Luckily, the flight was short, and my Global Entry membership arrived just in time to facilitate airport security. The company also helped make things easy by arranging for airport transfers to the hotel complete with black Mercedes and black-tie drivers. Dinner was generic fare, although I did enjoy rubbing elbows with leaders in the field. I returned home for less than 24 hours to spend time with my family and get some dim sum, baked goods, and groceries, before hitting the road again for my flight to Japan. We also broke out our new copy of Uncharted 4, where Nathan Drake’s newest adventure continues to wow us with action-packed cinematography and impressive voice-acting. While my hectic travel schedule will not be as exciting, I look forward to some novel dining experiences in the days ahead.

I headed to Washington DC this week for my first experience in lobbying congress. I was selected by NAEVR as one of 22 “Emerging Vision Scientists” from around the country to represent early-career researchers to present our research on Capitol Hill and promote funding for the NIH. I had forgotten how much farther IAD was than DCA, so I didn’t get to my hotel until past midnight, after a $50 Uber ride. On Thursday, I took advantage of free time in the morning to do my Global Entry interview at U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The 5-minute interview was a breeze, and I had enough time to join some friends for the overpriced hotel breakfast buffet. In the afternoon, we attended a presentation as part of AMD awareness week, then joined the organizers of the event for a preparatory luncheon. In the evening, we presented our research posters at a congressional reception, where we interfaced with representatives from congress, the NEI, and RPB. I stayed up late catching up with an old lab-mate over takeout at his house, which made for a rough early morning on Thursday. I was first scheduled with Doris Matsui herself, but only got to meet with her aide when the Congresswoman was stuck on the house floor. In between my House and Senate visits, I navigated the underground tunnels, checked out the cafeteria, and got a souvenir coin from the Capitol gift shop. I also passed the Supreme Court, and checked my email at the Library of Congress. I joined the UCSD delegation to meet staffers from Senator Boxer’s office, but had to leave to catch my flight before Senator Feinstein’s office meetings. Although visiting these three offices was like preaching to the choir, I was nevertheless deeply inspired by the democratic process and the ability as a constituent to visit our representatives’ offices to voice our opinion.

With a recent surge in patient referrals from Kaiser due to a few of their retina specialists being on leave, my usual white cloud has turned into a cumulonimbus of late night surgeries. Between taking call through Labor Day weekend and keeping up with a more mobile Westley, I felt like a zombie on the cast of the Walking Dead, AMC’s compelling drama series that has now gotten me hooked into a second season. With the baby’s schedule, however, our TV-watching over dinner has been kept brief as we embarked also on new seasons of Kimmy Schmidt and F.O.B.. Melody was glad that SYTYCD survived another season as well, but this time featuring kids between age 8-13, much like Masterchef Junior. Despite not getting to do much on weekends, we made an effort to continue dining out each week, including dim sum with the in-laws at New Canton, and lunch at Selland family restaurants Obo’ and Selland’s Market. We also shopped for new guestroom furniture at West Elm, including an upholstered sleigh bed as well as nightstands and dresser. Hopefully, the stuff will arrive in time for my parents’ visit later this month.