I kicked off October with a visit to the Bay Area to give grand rounds at UCSF. To avoid rush hour traffic, I asked them to put me up at a hotel, which was conveniently located at the Japan Center and gave me a chance for some Daiso shopping and noodle slurping at Kui Shin Bo and Hinodeya, in addition to the hosts’ dinner. I spent the rest of the weekend with family, trying out Fish’s Wild Island Grill, petting farm animals at Grandpa’s Barn, and introducing Westley to his first movie – My Neighbor Totoro. Despite occasional scares from the makkurokurosuke and big totoro, he was glued to the screen. With my parents in town for a 3-week visit, I kept myself busy with grant applications, fellowship interviews, and Paul Hom, while Melody attended several meetings. I finally succeeded in changing our fellowship lunch location, but the back-to-back weekend commitments left me little time to spend with my folks, with only a few opportunities to dine out for hot pot, poke, and pozole. Fortunately, Westley has become much more verbal now, and is keeping them plenty entertained.

Still jet-lagged from our road trip tour of Ireland, we had little time to prepare for our lab party last weekend. Fortunately, it was a potluck, so we were able to play host while Westley served as the entertainment for our guests. Back at work, I’ve been contributing my share by giving a talk to a retirement community in Sun City, while also pressing forward with two research grant applications from the BrightFocus Foundation and DoD. In between, I’ve been checking out HBO’s Sharp Objects, where the strong female protagonists, haunting music, evocative locations, and immersive murder-mystery story-telling were reminiscent of Big Little Lies. This has left me little time to edit our vacation photos a.k.a. “panorama-rama”, which has taken considerably more time to photo-merge the expansive landscape sceneries. Last weekend, after our usual Farmer’s Market / Library / Dance Daze routine, Melody’s car battery died. After youtubing how to use our jumper cables, we drove around Davis to charge up and settled on Persian eats on the patio at Village Pizza, only to find that the battery died again. By the time she got the battery replaced on Monday, the Republicans had confirmed Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in face of multiple sexual assault and misconduct accusations, leaving us feeling powerless on all fronts.

With a belated start and a tight schedule, we took turns driving from Belfast to Connemara, filling on sandwiches from Sawers and Cuban Sandwich Factory and Melody’s aptly-named Stinky Bishop cheese. We hiked for an hour in Connemara before a locavore dinner at Kai Café and a short overnight stay in Galway. On Friday, we stopped by prehistoric Poulnabourne Dolmen on the way to the Burren, where our solitary nature walk through the unique, glaciated karst landscape reminded us of its once existence as a tropical sea. The Cliffs of Moher was more touristy, punctated by a singing troupe and a marriage proposal. Stuffed with mussels and Irish stew from Stonecutter’s Kitchen, we made our way to Adare Manor where our mud-splattered Mazda Juke looked out of place at the newly-renovated luxury castle. We indulged in the high-end amenities – free minibar, smarthome features, warmed bathroom floors – before dinner at the Oak Room, where my first taste of grouse fortunately did not contain shot. The concierge managed to squeeze us in for a private falconry experience next morning, where we handled 8 different falcons, hawks, and owls with an avid ornithologist. After a treacherous climb through Conor Pass, we stopped for a quick lunch and Murphy’s ice-cream in Dingle before completing the 3-hour drive along the gorgeous but windy peninsula. Filling on hearty crab dip and seafood curry at Quinlan & Cooke, we settled into our Cahersiveen glamping pod to the sound of rain. Next morning, we drove to Portmagee for our ferry to Skellig Michael. We were glad we skipped the landing tour after suffering the nauseating sail through the rocky waters and seeing the steep climb up to the ancient Gaelic monastery featured in the recent Star Wars franchise. Still nauseated, we skipped lunch and tackled the Ring of Kerry, where highlights included samplings at Skelligs Chocolate Factory and the panoramas at Staigue Fort. We browsed local shops and video-chatted with Westley in Kenmare until dinner at Mulcahy’s, where we learned that the Irish could cook fish but not make sushi. Another 2 hours on the road led us to our yurt in the Galtee Mountains, hosted by an Australian hippie with a cooking oil-run, solar/wind-powered double-decker restaurant bus that he took to music festivals. We made respectable use of the fireplace and car-radio audio system, but found the outdoor shipping-container bathroom inconvenient. We forewent a visit to his chickens in the organic eco-dome garden to truck off next morning for Cahir Castle and the Rock of Cashel on the way to Waterford for lunch and the Waterford Crystal Vistor Center. Here, we learned about the 4-year apprenticeship and one female apprentice before searching their showroom for souvenirs. We reached Kilkenny Castle just before closing, and were fascinated by the investigative work to restore the castle and long portrait hall of the Butler family. Exhausted by pub food, we filled up on Rogan Josh and Saag Paneer at Royal Spice then retired to our stilted treehouse a few blocks away. We awoke before dawn to reach Dublin Airport in time for more hot chocolate from Butler’s and a bite at the airport lounge. Our 6-hour JFK layover was spent in Flushing, where we inhaled cold noodles and potato noodle soup at New World Mall and picked up spicy wontons from White Bear for the flight home. Westley was delighted with our sheep souvenirs and having us back. But with his growing awareness, it will be hard to leave him for this long again.

With this year’s ISER meeting in Belfast, we decided to challenge ourselves with a road trip through Ireland and the U.K. before the impending Brexit. We arrived in Dublin thoroughly jet-lagged but ready to drive on the left side of the road. Despite realizing that I had left my credit card at SMF, requiring constant monitoring on the Chase app, I pulled myself together for our tour of Kilmainham Gaol, which was commemorating the life of Nelson Mandela as a parallel to its history as a political prison. After dining on charcuterie and Cockles and Mussels at the Winding Stair, we crossed Ha’Penny Bridge to check out Temple Bar before heading to Martello Tower Sutton. Built in preparation for a Napoleonic attack that never occurred, the AirBnb featured 10 foot-thick walls with poor cellular reception, but spectacular views of Dublin and the bay. With our Dublin Pass, we set out on a whirlwind tour of the city – chancing an arm at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, getting blocked at Christ Church Cathedral, studying Viking life at Dublinia, photographing State Apartments at Dublin Castle, strolling St. Stephen’s Green, rocking out at the Little Museum of Dublin’s U2 exhibit, and exploring the literary collection at the Chester Beatty Library – all fueled by Butler’s famous hot chocolate and the Shelbourne’s Sunday Roast. After pictures with Molly Malone and some mediocre Korean food, we spent another night in the tower listening to the crashing waves. We awoke next morning to brave the crowds at Trinity College’s Old Library and Book of Kells exhibit. After a full Irish Breakfast at O’Neill’s Pub, we crossed the UK border to Belfast, where we filled on fish and chips from John Long’s. I registered for the conference while Melody settled into our tiny, hip room at the Bullitt Hotel, before reconvening for delicious fare at quirky Made in Belfast. We spent Tuesday driving along the Antrim Coast. Our first stop at Carrickfergus Castle confirmed our preference for non-restored castles, and we wove around the Gobbins visitor centre, various Glens of Antrim, and many sheep before hiking the scenic waterfall trail in Glenariff. Our fish & chips at Morton’s nearly made another appearance when a brisk wind buffeted us on the Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge, but settled after some honeycomb ice-cream at Ballintoy Harbor and scenic panoramas at Dunluce Castle. We spent the late afternoon on the surf-washed hexagon towers of the Giant’s Causeway, then stopped for photos along the Dark Hedges of Game of Thrones’ fame before returning for seafood chowder and bouillabaisse at Mourne. On Wednesday, we immersed ourselves at the interactive Titanic Belfast, learning about the city’s history as a ship-building mecca and the events surrounding the ill-fated maiden voyage of the “unsinkable” liner. A disappointing not-all-you-can-eat lunch buffet and city hall visit left us uninspired to explore further that afternoon, but our evening was saved by the inventive tasting menu at Michelin-starred Ox. I gave my talk and received my travel award on our last morning in Belfast before embarking on the second part of our trip. With different hotels and AirBnb’s scheduled each night, we were prepared for a unique experience.

After a day-long investigator meeting in Chicago, and uninspired by Pizano’s deep dish za and Giant’s aggressively-flavored dishes, I returned home ready to spend some time with my family. So I was sad having to attend our resident welcome luncheon alone while Melody and Westley took a journey to Elk Grove for her sister’s birthday. Fortunately, our in-laws made it up by babysitting last weekend to let us watch Crazy Rich Asians in the theater. Hailed as the first Hollywood blockbuster featuring an all-Asian cast since the Joy Luck Club 25 years ago, the movie rode on a wave of lofty expectations, yet still managed to beat the hype as one of the more thoughtful rom-coms I’ve seen in recent years. Meanwhile, we are continuing to explore new restaurants in Sac, including solid dim sum at Ming’s Dynasty, fancy sushi at Kru, cheap poke at Delilah’s Market, and AYCE Korean BBQ at Blue House. The pork belly and brisket were tasty, but the beef belly and intestines were too oily for our palates. Westley continues to keep us on our toes with another fall, this time resulting in bruised gum but no tooth injury according to his dentist. He seemed okay as we took advantage of the final summer weeks of the Davis Farmer’s Market, Dance Daze classes, and Manor Pool. Last weekend, we used an Entertainment coupon to check out the Powerhouse Science Center . Here, we spied a walking stick army, molded topography with play-doh, rubbed plasma balls, blew giant bubbles, and pretended to be astronauts in outer space. Along the same theme, we got a Groupon to visit the California Academy of Sciences on Labor Day Weekend. From rainforest butterflies and leafcutter ants to touch pool starfish and an albino alligator, the visit left Westley plenty excited. He conked out on the drive back after our seaside lunch at the Waterbar, and woke up in time for some luggage shopping in Vacaville. Back home, we finally completed Mario’s Odyssey and another season of MasterChef Junior, as we moved on to new seasons of SYTYCD, Westworld, and Handmaid’s Tale. With our trip to Ireland just a week away, we’ll need to start some serious vacation planning!

Three years after the break-in at our house, I finally replaced our antiquated security system with a new one from Ring. With 24/7 monitoring, remote control, and cellular backup, the smart alarm system also links to our video door bell and new spotlight cam for the backyard, just in time for planning our landscaping and patio renovation project. Beside installing the system last weekend, we took Westley to the California State Fair. We arrived at Cal Expo prepared with sunscreen and diaper bag, but no stroller. So we gave our biceps a workout carrying him as we lunched on fried calamari, veggies, and fries; sipped strawberry lemonade, perused prized goats and fancy pigeons, dodged a runaway horse, watched live clogging, and sampled cheese and yogurt from local dairies. The outing was probably still not adventurous enough for Westley, who decided to take a head dive off the piano bench onto, ironically, a toy piano from grandma. The resulting lid lac led to frantic texts to my oculoplastics colleague and an evening drive to clinic for some dermabond action. He was clearly dejected seeing himself in the mirror next morning, but perked up for our father-son trip to the mall while mom was volunteering at Paul Hom. We went to Arden Fair to return some shorts, dresses, and shoes; but Westley was more interested in escalators, massage chairs, and Lego sets. After nap time, we took another trip to Manor Pool, where Westley remains fearful of the water. With his recent “owie”, no wonder everything around him feels a little “cary.”

Vancouver is just a 2-hour flight from Sacramento, so this year’s ASRS meeting gave me an excuse to take my wife and son for our first family trip abroad. Our Airbnb was centrally-located downtown, so we made good use of local transit upon arrival. Inspired by a recent NY Times article, we headed to Richmond for a self-guided food tour that began with a fluffy pineapple bun and silky tofu-fa, and ended with excellent spicy wontons and lamb noodles from Xi’an Cuisine, although we disappointingly missed out on the sold-out cold noodles. Next morning, we changed our plans from the UBC campus to Queen Elizabeth Park. Though we just missed the transient bloom of the corpse flower at Bloedel Conservatory, we enjoyed Westley’s interactions with the tropical birds. Lunch at Long’s Noodle House was an amazing find for soup dumplings and both sweet & salty soy milk, but the Hainanese chicken and laksa at Hawker’s Delight was unimpressive. The afternoon concluded with Frommer’s walking-tour through Gastown and Chinatown, with a brief stop at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden en route to Kissa Tanto, where we enjoyed some amazing Italian-Japanese fusion. On Friday, with newly-purchased jackets and creamy coffee buns from Lonsdale Quay, we rode train, ferry, and bus to Capilano Suspension Bridge. The shaky, narrow bridge was no obstacle for our toddler, who navigated the treetops with aplomb. Further north at Grouse Mountain, the Skyride ascent provided a panoramic view of Vancouver city. The death-defying daredevil at the Lumberjack Show was unnerving to watch, as were the swooping owls and falcons that led to Westley whipping his snooze-shade closed, but the grizzly bears enjoyed his attention before we departed. After a late nap, we headed to the Richmond Night Market. A $25 splurge for a 6-pack entry helped us skip the 45-min line before we immersed ourselves in meat skewers, senbei crackers, roti mac-n-cheese, rainbow mixed dumplings, Korean-style pork belly, dragon beard candy, stuffed crab claws, matcha mochis, stinky tofu, grilled squid, egglet with ice-cream, and golden milk tea. I spent Saturday at the conference while Melody and Westley wandered around Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park. We met for lunch at Marutama Ramen, then parted again for my ad board and case presentation until dinner at the Royal Dinette. On Sunday, we returned to Richmond to visit the International Buddhist Temple, followed by another go at Xi’an Cuisine for their spicy wontons and cold noodles, Peanuts taro coconut boba tea, Top Shanghai’s soy milk and XLB, HK BBQ Master’s roast/BBQ pork, and Dynasty’s steamy dim sum. After awaking from our ensuing food coma, I presented at a Zeiss symposium while my family chilled at a nearby playground. We spent our last full day on Granville Island. After landing early via aquabus and browing stores and galleries, we embarked on a Foodie Tour where the highlights were duck prosciutto and a fresh honey-dipped donut. We supplemented with bison poutin and free masala chai, then ate more at dinner with my cousin Steven at Kirin, including fresh spot prawns, Peking duck, and scallop fried rice. Despite the occasional struggles with our tempestuous 2-year-old, we look forward to returning again to sample Vancouver’s amazing Asian cuisine in the near future.

Our plan for a lab retreat to South Lake Tahoe was almost foiled when our Airbnb hosts told us that they had accidentally double-booked our cabin. Fortunately, they found another property to put us up in and offered to refund the costs, making the lodging essential free. Some lab folks had already made a Costco run a few days prior, and dropped off loads of beef, sausages, eggs, OJ, milk, bell peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, and other fixings to store at our house. This made for some creative arranging in the car trunk along with Westley’s luggage as we headed out Saturday morning. After stopping by McDonald’s for a potty stop and breakfast, we headed to the Eagle Falls Trail, parked on the side of the road, then made the short hike to the top of the falls. Westley was no fan of being strapped in the baby carrier, wailing “too tight!” as I ascended the steep, rocky steps, but managed to stand briefly in the water. We shared some hot dog biscuits with a local chipmunk for lunch before checking into the rental. Westley fell asleep quickly for his daytime nap, which gave us the opportunity to unpack and shift furniture around to make room for his pack-n-play. After he woke up, we joined my labmates at Pope Beach for badminton and volleyball. Westley helped with sand castle-building but did not brave the water. Thunder and lightning drove us back to the cabin, and we rigged a patio umbrella over the propane grill for burgers, skewers, and corn. The evening concluded with a group picture followed by an intense game of Pandemic over refreshing watermelon. After a restless night of Westley tossing and turning in bed, we awoke to eggs, sausage, and pancakes for breakfast while watching France defeat Croatia in the World Cup finals. We efficiently cleaned up for check out, then headed back to Pope Beach for more relaxation before driving back. The busy traffic and lack of a rest stop led Westley to wake up to a meltdown in the last part of the trip. To recover, we feasted at Tasty Kitchen followed by durian pancakes and mango with black sticky rice at the new Sweet Honey Dessert in Davis. With just two days before our trip to Vancouver, we’ll have to plan quickly!

We decided to visit the Bay area Japan Center on July 4th for some lunch and shopping. Despite not knowing the traffic conditions and both of us being on call that day, we took a chance and made the last-minute decision to go. Fortunately, the drive was smooth and all the stores were open. After shopping knick knacks at Daiso, we waited in line at Marufuku Ramen for delicious hakata tonkotsu ramen and karaage, although Westley’s favorite was probably the matcha soft serve from Matcha Cafe Maiko. We returned in time to grill some burgers and hot dogs with Emmeline and Eugene, who stuck around for MarioKart after Melody got called in and Westley went to bed. We spent the following weekend focused on Westley’s potty training. Having blocked off the weekend with no other activities planned, we let him go commando and bribed him with chocolate chips and stickers to encourage independence from diapers. We missed his first poop on the floor at the blink of an eye, but he slowly got the hang of it, although not enough to transition to the bigger potty at daycare. Back at work, the new academic year meant new fellows, new students, and new projects. We took advantage of in-law childcare after work on Fridays to check out new restaurants like Ming Dynasty and Allora which were both excellent. At home, we have also been interviewing landscape designers and our neighbors’ front yards in preparation for some upcoming landscape renovations. Finally, with the rising costs of my GoDaddy hosting services, I liberated myself from their contract and moved the website to BlueHost. Citing itself as the recommended provider for WordPress, the migration has not been too painful, although I have noticed slower speeds and latency for refreshing updates. We’ll see how the new Xephalon.Net 3.0 holds up!

With the weather getting warmer (but not too hot), we’ve been taking Westley out to enjoy the neighborhood – the local farmer’s market, public library, dance classes, and even the city pool. After gearing up with Target swim diapers and Costco swim wear. we spent our first visits to Manor pool helping Westley adjust to the water. Despite his constant look of fear and clinging to us for dear life, he seemed to enjoy the outings. We also explored several Davis restaurants including Blaze Pizza and Solomon’s Deli. For a Jewish deli that advertises “No-Bagels-No-Life”, I was pretty disappointed by the dense “NY-style” bagel, although the pastrami, corn beef, and matza ball soup were not bad. With the end of another academic year, we also said goodbye to lab friends at Ala’s house and graduating residents/fellows at the usual venue. Between getting called in for surgery on Father’s Day and trekking out to Lincoln to talk to potential donors, I felt obligated to “treat yo self” a la Pho Saigon and checking out E3 game trailers, including exciting new announcements for Fallout 76, Cyberpunk 2077, and Elder Scrolls 6. With Westley getting older, I wonder if we’ll ever get around to playing video games like we used to