Enticed by Korean gastronomy through K-dramas and food documentaries, we strategically planned the LA portion of our trip by renting an Airbnb in the heart of Koreatown. Despite the Saturday night crowds, our well-timed arrival and patience landed us a table at Sun Nong Dan for their famous blowtorched galbi jjim for dinner, which yielded leftovers for breakfast for the rest of the trip. On Sunday, we invited our friend Melissa to the Aquarium of the Pacific, where bat ray petting and lorikeet feeding left Westley’s hair soaked and Melody’s hand nibbled. We recovered with BCD’s soon tofu while watching their sponsored spicy tofu eating contest on TV, then burned off the calories with a rigorous climb to Griffith Observatory, where we experienced our first planetarium show as a family. The steaming kalguksu and mandu at MDK Noodles helped warm us up for dinner, which balanced well with the coconut dessert from MeloMelo. On Monday, we visited La Brea Tar Pits to explore uncovered fossils and asphalt puddles under safety cones, then stopped by LACMA’s Urban Light art installation on the way to Yuchun for their chic mul naengmyun and kalbi lunch combo. We picked up Daiso sponges, Paris Baguette pastries, and H-Mart microwaveable rice, then lazed in our apartment before crossing the street for some hearty housemade tofu at Surawon. We spent Tuesday morning at Kidspace in Pasadena, where we played with pulleys, levers, and bottle rockets, crafted holiday floats, and finger-painted a snowflake ornament. The noodles at Noodles St. were fine, but our epiphany was at Hanbat Shul Lung Tang, where their rich oxtail broth was worth the wait in line. We stopped for a Mang macaron from Dragon Boba and very sweet soft-serve at Bumsam Milk Bar before calling it a night. We checked out on Wednesday, then checked into Wi Spa for their scrubs and saunas while Westley watched his tablet on the heated floors. Our final splurge at Parks BBQ sampled ggot sal, parks gal-bi, bulgogi, brisket, and short ribs, wrapping up an unforgettable culinary journey through LA’s K-town. We had not planned for the lack of child seat options from Lyft upon our return. But holding onto Westley’s belly on our ride home reminded us fondly of this very tasty holiday trip.

It was hard not to be swept up in the excitement of a Disneyland holiday vacation after learning that our friend Lisa was bringing her family. With some last-minute planning, I finished clinic early, donned our N95 masks, and boarded our evening flight to LA on Wednesday. We drove to Anaheim in time to pick up food at Pho Ha Plus, and after a mix-up between Hyatt Place and Hyatt House, settled in to put our 5-year-old to bed. Next morning, we filled on hotel breakfast and walked to meet our friends at the Grand Californian for their private entrance to Disney’s California Adventure Park. After an unexpectedly intense drop ride at Mission Breakout, we sped through Radiator Springs Racers for a photo finish with Lightning McQueen, before relaxing a little with Ariel’s Undersea Adeventure and Golden Zephyr on the way to fair games at Pixar Pier and a rope course at Redwood Creek. We refueled with banh mi in our friends’ hotel room, then picked up a Cheshire Cat canvas en route to the Monsters, Inc dark ride, Soarin’ IMAX experience, and Web Slingers adventure, where Westley managed to beat both our scores. We lounged at their hotel lobby with cookies and conversation while Westley watched cartoons over their kids’ shoulders, then headed to Jo Won for jajangmyeon, jampong, and giant dumplings for dinner. We caught the ART bus to Disneyland early next morning to line up for opening. Our day began with Star Tours and Astro Blasters on the way to Autopia, where Westley got a license for surviving his first traffic jam driving a gas-engine car. We encountered the abominable snowman at Matterhorn bobsleds, and enjoyed a holiday-themed It’s a Small World ride, although Mickey’s Toontown seemed deserted except for Gadget’s Go Coaster and Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin. Our Genie Plus pass did not save us from the lines at the Alice in Wonderland, Mad Tea Party Cup, and Storybook Land Canal Boat, necessitating a lunch break at Red Rose Taverne for burgers and leftover dumplings. After more nostalgic dark rides with Mr. Toad, Peter Pan, Snow White, and Pinocchio, we arrived at Galaxy’s Edge, where the live-action stormtroopers, full-scale X-wing, and custom droid and light saber shops kept us immersed in the Star Wars universe. Our Smuggler’s Run was bumpy with Westley as my co-pilot, so we unwound with dioramas at Sleeping Beauty castle and songs at the Pirates of the Caribbean before our Christmas Eve dinner of Roscoe’s chicken wings, livers, and waffles. The crowds did not abate on Christmas day, as we joined the early dash to the Rise of the Resistance, which had us flying through space, escorted by guards, and riding trackless with a droid through an imperial starship. The rain kept us moist at Winnie the Pooh, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Jungle Cruise, before we shared an otherworldly tonkotsu-pesto noodle soup and kid’s meal at Docking Bay 7 for lunch. We spent the afternoon shopping for a sad porg for Melody and shoulder porg for Westley, then watched the holiday parade over an ice-cream sundae. We ended our Disneyland visit with railroad and monorail rides to Downtown Disney to behold the merchandise machine that keeps the lights on at the happiest place on earth, as we prepare to drive back to LA.

I tried to keep my schedule light ahead of the holidays, but the usual barrage of meetings, paper reviews, and other obligations kept me busy this month. Westley at least got more rest with a new mattress-in-a-box, although the bookcase bed frame we wanted is backordered until next year. He also finally completed his COVID vaccine course this month, which made us feel better about bringing him to the Ob-Gyn holiday gathering at Sac Zoo where we missed the new baby giraffe but witnessed an intense lion roar that upstaged the animatronic dinosaurs on display. Back home, we checked out the live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop, which despite mixed reviews, was entertaining and channeled well the vibe of the original anime. Unfortunately, the final weeks of 2021 turned out to be rough on our wallets. First, we missed our property tax deadline that set us back a hefty late fee. Melody’s car then got rear-ended by a cannabis-scented couple on Stockton Ave.. And when I took Westley for family swim time last Sunday, I accidentally left my non-water-resistant cell phone in my swim trunks. Unable to revive the drowned device with rice or dessicant packs, I frantically ordered a replacement Pixel 5A from Google, which luckily arrived at our doorsteps minutes before we had to leave for our flight to LA. With so many things having gone wrong, we kept our fingers crossed for our week-long holiday in SoCal.

I spent much of November preparing grant reviews for study section and progress reports for my R01, R21, and BrightFocus grants at work, while also gathering for holiday lunches with my lab and primate research team. Our contractors pulled through and completed our outdoor kitchen just in time for the long weekend. So we took Wednesday off to rearrange the patio furniture, wax the outdoor cabinet, and tidy up our outdoor living space. We spent Thanksgiving morning biking to Pioneer Park where Westley made his first attempt at tennis with his new racquet. Most of my in laws were unavailable or not interested in gathering, but we did invite our niece over for some beef noodles, lemongrass pork summer rolls, and butter mochi, in between trying out Beat Saber and First Steps on our new Oculus Quest 2. Compared to our previous forays into VR, the new headset and controllers felt intuitive and immersive, which combined with my referral code bonus and holiday sales afforded me a few new games like Vader Immortal and Pistol Whip as well. We returned to Vacaville on Black Friday for HomeGoods and Jockey. A new arcade at the shopping outlet got Westley excited, but the pinball machine was malfunctioning. We instead warmed up with Ramen 101 before heading home to set up our Christmas tree and get haircuts. We attended Liam’s Pokemon-themed birthday party at Pioneer Park on Saturday, followed by an afternoon of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. We had gotten the game for PS4 from a sale, but decided instead to get a PC version for a more familiar interface. Between rhyming games and hunting wolves, this latest entry to the series felt familiar but continued to favor role-playing over stealth-based elements. Having just completed the engrossing end game to Cyberpunk 2077, this was the perfect transition to even greater immersion with my new 49″ Odyssey G9 gaming monitor. With the winter weather setting in, I look forward to warming up in my room with some hot chocolate and family time ahead.