This year’s ARVO meeting took us back to Vancouver, where it has been less than a year since I last visited with my family for ASRS. I arrived Sunday afternoon, and made my way directly to Xi’an Cuisine in Richmond, only to find that my favorite purveyor of spicy wontons and cold noodles were gone for the week. Feeling defeated, I dragged my luggage next door to Xin Jiang Delicious Food for solid beef noodle soup, then to Silkway Halal Cuisine for flavorful goat soup and spicy Xinjiang-style braised chicken with broad noodles. After checking into my hotel, I networked at a reception at the Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden and hung out with friends at the Harvard reception before calling the night. I kept busy between scientific sessions on Monday, briefly sneaking away for Marutama Ramen, and ending the evening with a clinician-scientist dinner sponsored by Alcon at L’abbatoir, followed by drinks at the SERI reception. I spent Tuesday by my poster, pleasantly surprised by the mounting interest in our work, attended my post-doc Sook’s talk, and became acquainted with the AMPC as a new member. The soup dumplings at Dinesty were worth the trip, but the Cantonese seafood at Kirin was not as good as I remembered. Wednesday was more relaxed, which gave me a chance to do some video interviews and podcast recordings, revisit Long’s for more soup dumplings, and return to Richmond with my friend Yao for pineapple buns, tofu fa, and Taiwanese beef noodle soup. I spent Thursday morning strolling along the harbor to Stanley Park, but cabbed back to catch my technician Iris’ talk, followed by a lab celebration over aburi sushi at Miku and Akbar Mashti (saffron, rosewater, pistachio) gelato at Bella Gelateria. My return flight was delayed by a mechanical issue that made me miss my connection, but I was thankful for the Priority Pass credit at Yankee Pier for some chowder and crab roll during my SFO layover. While I was underwhelmed by many of the restaurants I revisited on this second trip to Vancouver, the scientific exchange at the meeting was satisfying, and I returned home excited to continue our research. 

Picnic Day is UC Davis’ annual open house and one of the largest student-run events in the country. Yet, it took us nearly 5 years living here in Davis before we finally ventured a visit. We arrived on campus early Saturday morning, where Westley got to climb aboard a fire truck and shake hands with fire fighters before we made our way to the entomology exhibits, learned about mosquito control, tasted honey samples, and created some maggot art. The campus was much busier by the time we returned from his dance lesson in Davis. We split up to wait in line for food trucks, and enjoyed a smoked lamb sandwich from Smokin’ Ewe, popcorn chicken and taro milk tea from Quickly, and churro sundae from Cowtown Creamery on Hutchinson Field as the dog frisbee contests were underway. The sun was beating hard on us as we made our way past the Silo to the Cole animal facilities, but we reached the petting zoo and showed our support for animal research. On Sunday, after 99 Ranch and Yum Buffet, we returned to the Vacaville RH Outlet to purchase a new cowhide rug for our living room. I was glad the rug fit in my car, as the 5-year-old bimmer has been a source of angst for me with another windshield replacement and navigation system issues requiring a pricey repair that didn’t even fix the problem. I felt better after Westley helped me vacuum and clean the car, but I’m again reminded of the cost of car ownership in California.

After my birthday extravaganza in Marin back in January, Melody felt that it would be tough to surpass. So she instead agreed to treat our prior getaway as a joint celebration and keep things more laid back for her own 40th. After imaging some monkeys while she enjoyed a lazy morning reading on the couch, we drove to Napa for Hog Island oysters, Oxbow Merchant cheese, Three Twins ice-cream, Kara’s cupcakes, and Model Bakery treats. We had little time to extend the love as I was off to Las Vegas the next morning to attend VBS7. This was my first time attending the glitzy conference which caters to a younger generation of retinal surgeons, featuring live surgeries, audience participation, and live tweets. I had fun moderating a session, but felt underdressed for the Austin Powers-themed reception and was bewildered by a closing lecture on medical ethics by the former dean of USC. The short overnight trip left me little time to check out the city except for some Popeyes at the airport before my flight home. Before her Napa retreat, Melody had dropped Westley off with Pam’s family. His full day of movies, Funderland, light-saber battles, and brief cousin rivalry left him zonked out by the time I arrived, and made for an easy hand-off as I drove him home for bed.

The episodes of spring rain last month made for an impressive show of flora and fauna. Last weekend, we took Westley to UC Davis’ own Jepson Prairie Preserve for a Wildflowers & Critters docent tour through grasslands that featured “eggs & butter” wildflowers and vernal pools filled with fairy shrimps and frogs. Back home, we also took the opportunity to plant some tomato plants and herbs in our new planter, as well as the aloe plant that my lab technician Iris gave me. Unfortunately, the blooming flora also brought my allergies back in full force, which I had to battle with a daily regimen of Zyrtec, Flonase, and Patanol. The humidity also led to mosquito infestations returning to our front and rear porches, requiring more rounds of bifenthrin spraying. Melody’s new chicken pho recipe thankfully soothed our souls, and we were able to enjoy the warm noodles in our new backyard. For this 3-day weekend, we journeyed to Elk Grove for soup dumplings, scoped outdoor furniture at Scandinavian Designs and the RH outlet in Vacaville, and took Westley to our cousin Pamela’s place to get acquainted. Because we both have out-of-town conferences this week which overlapped by a day, and neither of our in-laws were available for childcare, we turned to our extended family for help. It took only a few slices of take-out pizza and the promise of watching the Cars movie to convince him to hang out with their family next weekend.

I began this month frantically rushing to submit an R21 grant for an RFA while also reviewing grants for study section. By the time I left for Bethesda, I was too tired to do any more work, and instead binge-watched the first season of the Haunting of Hill House aboard my flight while munching an egg pocket from SMF and a panini from ORD. The show’s immersive storytelling refreshingly focused more on love and family rather than cheap thrills, leaving a haunting impression even after the show was over. After heavy bistro fare for dinner, I awoke to a long day of lively grant discussions with a working lunch which fortunately concluded early to allow an earlier flight home. Meanwhile, Melody and I took advantage of free childcare from my parents to do our taxes, plan our summer trip to Croatia, and catch up on Oscar contenders like A Star is Born, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Roma. We also finally used our Christmas gift card for Studio Movie Grill to check out Captain Marvel, where the strong female protagonist and 90’s throwback references made for an entertaining dinner show over fried coconut shrimp and buffalo wings. The following week, I returned to Irvine for a second visit to the Ryan’s Initiative, which gave me plenty of networking opportunities, and even included delicious fried chicken and milkshake courtesy of a colleague from Google. Before their departure, my parents joined us for Westley’s last dance class, followed by pizza, Six Flags and KFC. They did not get a chance to see the finishing touches for our landscape renovation. We had to scramble to correct a few last-minute glitches including blazing path lights that we swapped for dimmer ones, but were pleased with the final product as we wait for our new foliage to fill in. 

My parents flew in for their semi-annual visit in time to celebrate a belated Chinese New Year and Westley’s 3^rd birthday. We kept the festivities low-key, and Westley seemed quite content with his home-made chocolate cake, new jigsaw puzzles, and Nintendo Labo variety kit. The unique combination of origami-like cardboard assembly and interactive video gameplay was a hit, and it was satisfying watching our toddler’s spatial skills develop. Both Melody and I have been feeling burnt out lately, with many changes to her first-year med school course and my upcoming NIH study section and grant due. We were therefore relieved to have additional childcare coverage as we took turns attending conferences this month. The Macula Society annual meeting took place in Bonita Springs in Florida this year, and I had almost thought of skipping it if not for my receiving a research grant from them and committing to present work I did with Genentech. I didn’t venture far from the conference hotel, apart from dinner with Clearside people at an Italian-Sushi place and lunch with my cousin at the hotel restaurant. I did enjoy my return trip, catching a ride to the airport with the editor of Retina, and consuming solid creole fare from Landry’s Seafood during my IAH layover, thanks to Priority Pass’ new inclusion of restaurant offers. Back home, we continued to watch the slow progress of our landscape renovation as we laid down the kurapia, installed a new patio cover, and trimmed the overgrown oak trees in our backyard. Melody and I took the opportunity to dine out a little at Beast+Bounty, Tasty Pot, and Redrum Burger, although they were all too pricey for the quality. We also took my parents out to check out our recent food finds, including Ming Dynasty, Yum Buffet, Macau Café, and the newly opened ramen joint T-Kumi in Davis, which were better options. Between our mounting workload and our increasingly talkative and energetic 3-year-old, we’ll need to maintain a balance between wellness and stress to maintain our sanity.

I surprised my wife with a short getaway at Point Reyes Station to celebrate my 40th birthday this year. While my in-laws watched Westley, we headed out early Sunday morning to begin our West Marin food tour at Cowgirl Creamery. We began with lessons about the region’s history, sustainable agriculture, and MALT over baked treats from Bovine Bakery. After cooing at fuzzy Red Hawk cheese in their incubator like babies in a nursery, we consumed chai at Bovine and sourdough at Brickmaiden, taking a behind-the-scenes tour of the latter and whiff of their 16-year-old starter. Next, we shared avocado toast, salad, and grass-fed beef burgers at Due West while our crunchy tour guide proselytized on the importance of eating local and organic. At Heidrun Meadery, the only sparkling mead factory in the world, we sampled their bubblies, but left with some buckwheat and wildflower honey. We got a preview of our next day’s activity at Hog Island Oyster, where we shared raw and grilled oysters as we learned how the company grows and harvests their bivalves. We returned to Cowgirl to buy some cheese before checking into our AirBnB cabin. In the evening, we suited up for our bioluminescent night kayaking, which was only possible in January due to global warming. As we paddled across Tomales Bay, picking up sawgrass and spotting seals, we started streaming magical blue-green light in the wake of our kayak and swish of our oars. We refueled at Nick’s Cove, but unfortunately spent the night up with food poisoning. Nevertheless, we were determined to make our picnic table reservation at Hog Island on Monday. After a quick trip to Palace Market to pick up foil, butter, garlic, parsley, deli sides, cheese, sourdough, and water buffalo gelato, we got a shucking lesson at the Hog Island counter along with trays of oysters. We had to ask our neighbors how to start the grill with a chimney, but we successfully took down two dozen raw Kumamoto oysters, a dozen grilled Pacific oysters, and a pound of steamed mussels for a very satisfying lunch. We kept dinner light at Stellina to make room for more water buffalo gelato before returning for Scrabble game night. Having been told that my car tires were about to pop from wear, we investigated tire options as we stopped for lunch at Wild Goat Bistro in Petaluma. We managed to get a new set of run-flats installed before picking up Westley for my birthday dinner at Yue Huang. We stuffed ourselves on fish maw soup, abalone, conch, fish hot pot, and pea stems before returning home in time for cake, song, bath, and bed for Westley. Despite the short respite, I felt refreshed and ready to take on middle-age. 

We began the new year by kicking off our landscape remodel, as contractors began demolishing the existing foliage and pergolas, letting through sunlight that we did not know existed. It left our yard looking rather bare as we hosted our lab holiday hot pot party last week. We had initially planned for board games also, but the food preparation and logistics of running two pots on our kitchen island was more than enough to keep us occupied. Melody’s division holiday party was less hectic, although the mood was solemn due to a recent patient complication at work. My MLK weekend call was spent volunteering at Paul Hom and helping the TEAM Make-A-Thon. This year’s project was to design an eye drop assist device, and I got to serve as as client, mentor, and judge. Meanwhile, Westley appeared to have a newfound passion for jigsaw puzzles, but also seemed to have misplaced his potty skills. With him starting in the intermediates class at school, we hope that he will recover his bladder control soon.

With back-to-back 4-day weekends, we had activities all lined up for the holidays. Last Saturday, we took Westley to the Global Winter Wonderland. We had sent my parents there some years ago, but thanks to tickets from my post-doc, it was our turn to be dazzled by the gaudy lanterns, foamy faux snow, and Chinese acrobats. Westley was too little for the fairground rides and too confused by the tribal dance, so we left early for creative vegetarian fare at Mother before calling it a night. On Sunday, we stocked up on beef noodle soup ingredients from 99 Ranch and lunched at Yum Buffet, where Westley stuffed himself on sesame balls and taro buns. Having purchased season passes for Six Flags, we had planned to go after his half-school-day on Monday. But winter rain kept us indoors, and we spent the afternoon assembling his Christmas present, which helped to alleviate a grumpy wake-up from nap time. On Christmas day, my sister-in-law and niece joined us for waffles and omelettes while Westley showed off his holiday act, followed by a round of Settlers of Catan during naptime. After a short week taking down disappointing beef noodle soup from a new Instant Pot recipe, we successfully made the trip to Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo. Westley had clear preferences for certain amusement rides (like the train and safari jeeps), but the wildlife exhibits were mostly empty. Without our coats, we warmed up with overpriced smores at the theme park, followed by hearty kalbi tang, soondubu, and KFC at Hot Stone Korean Kitchen. We spent the next two days doing more grocery shopping and home vegging, with Westley binge-watching Pete the Cat and us checking out the most recent Avengers before the ball dropped on New Year’s Eve. We rang in New Year’s Day with a visit to the Sac Zoo. Thanks to a gift membership from a thoughtful colleague, we enjoyed the hyperactive meerkats and hyperacoustic gibbons, followed by HK-style lunch at Macau Cafe. In the evening, we gave Westley a nice haircut as we prepare for another exciting year ahead.

With our budget in the red this year, our department had to forgo the lavish holiday party for more modest celebration. We began the month with a hot chocolate hike with one of our big donors, although Westley preferred sipping the beverage from his stroller. Our lunch afterwards was cut short when our home alarm system was triggered. Our camera showed that the wind had pushed the front door open, but we still had to wait for the police to make their rounds before our house was cleared. The following week, my clinic staff and I planned our own holiday festivities with drinks at the Bank, followed by hot chocolate from a pop-up bar at the Punch Bowl Social. We spent the rest of the weekend at Kit’s holiday lunch and Melody’s department holiday party, where we saved ourselves a drive by squeezing into Jocylen’s minivan with Westley and Brianna. This past Sunday, we invited my friend Brenda and her family up to try our new waffle maker over brunch. Westley warmed up to their daughter Audrey quickly, and the two crafted their way through his Christmas gift. At work, my clinic has been running more smoothly with my new scribe who is quieter but much more efficient. I also took my lab out for a holiday lunch, although most of the students were already out of town. Back home, we learned not to let Westley put his own clothes into the laundry, when we found our last load covered with diaper gel beads that required lots of flicking in the backyard. Westley has been excited to join his classmates in transitioning from pull-ups to undies, although the occasional accidents still showed that he’s not fully potty-trained. Despite how fast he’s growing, we are reminded again that’s he’s just a 2-year-old.