With a new grant awarded and several manuscripts submitted, I tried to take a breather at work and spend more time with Westley. Earlier this month, we introduced him to a laundromat and dollar store, then spent a few days father-son bonding while Melody was at a conference. After dropping her off at the airport, we spotted an awake aardvark at Sac Zoo, munched on beef stew and noodles at Macau Cafe, then sampled snacks at 99 Ranch before returning for his afternoon nap and pool time. The following weekend, we followed dance class with a Ginger Elizabeth sundae and Fire Wings, then headed to Discovery Kingdom where Westley enjoyed the dolphin show but not the bouncy froggy ride. A visit to our colleague’s mansion next morning also kept him busy with pool toys, water balloons, and a bounce house. Last week, I got a used bike from the Davis Bike Exchange to accompany Westley for his play date with Bri-bri, where the kids went wild on their mini roller coaster and trampoline. Yesterday, we invited the lab to our place for board games and curries for Iris’ farewell, then split up on Sunday with me attending a retina event while Melody and Westley hung out with Spiderman at his friend Zachary’s birthday party. We wrapped up the month testing out my new DJO Osmo Action at Manor Pool’s last day in preparation for Hawaii. Our excitement grew as we book our AirBnb’s and began planning for our upcoming trips to SF and Honolulu this fall.

I was given the unique opportunity to present and join a discussion panel at OIS in Chicago last week. So despite having planned to skip ASRS this year, and despite having packed clinics before and after the conference, I decided to take the whirlwind trip to the Windy City. After closing out charts and emails on Wednesday, I took a shower in our clinic building and filled on beef noodle soup before boarding my red-eye to ORD. I arrived just after 5am, which gave me time to settle in the hotel lobby to change, charge up, and practice my talk. Following my solo breakfast at Wildberry, I was relieved to find familiar faces at the industry-driven conference, and even got a chance to catch up with my friend Dan at Michelin-starred Entente over mediocre short ribs before flying back. This weekend, we ventured briefly to McKinley Park to welcome the new residents and fellows, but between Melody feeling ill from near-heat stroke and Westley’s mysterious fever, we relaxed at home for the rest of the weekend taking out “bad guys” in AC Odyssey with our new gaming mouse. 

Since returning from our trip, we’ve tried to catch up on TV shows including new seasons of Black Mirror, Stranger Things, and Big Little Lies. We had little time to relax, however, as we had to host our year-end gathering for my retina division just 2 days after getting back. With another Costco run, we fired up the grill for burgers and shrimp skewers, threw in a quiche and salads, and finished with Haagen-Daz bars to celebrate the incoming and outgoing fellows. Even Westley played host and took our fellow Joel’s daughter up to play in his toy kitchen. On July 4th, we sampled dim sum at busy Well Season in Elk Grove, then celebrated at the “Swimsuits & Sparklers” event at the Davis Community Pool. Our $10 tickets gave us access to the pool area to swim with Westley, munch on hot dogs and fruits, and enjoy front-row seats to the spectacular fireworks display that might have been too loud for his 3-year-old eardrums. Despite having to stay past his bedtime, he quickly recovered by the weekend to help me shop Ikea furniture for my new lab office, share ribeye and prime ribs at Cattlemen’s, and meet an old family friend from HK whose son is starting college at Davis. This past weekend, we browsed several local bike shops in search for a bike for me, but ended up with one for Westley off Craigslist. We had to drive to El Dorado Hills to pick it up, and we took the opportunity to check out keyboards and mice at Best Buy and get ripped off at Fat’s Asian Bistro. Back in lab, my new junior specialist and summer student helped me re-organize the lab office and assemble the new furniture. I was relieved to find out that my R21 was successfully funded by the NEI, which brought an end to the string of paper and grant rejections this year. With many new projects and personnel changes in my lab this summer, I’ve got my fingers crossed for the upcoming months.

After presenting on day one of the conference while Melody got a facial and massage, we saved room for dinner by sharing pizza nearby, then took a bus to Dubrovnik’s Old Town where our dinner at Michelin-starred 360 atop the city walls was hot and unimpressive. Next morning, we drove through Bosnia and was thankful for our international driving permit after two traffic stops that almost landed us a speeding fine.  We arrived in Mostar to visit mosques, Turkish homes, and the iconic Stari Most, then lunched on kofte and manti-like klepe at Sadrvan before souvenir shopping on Coppersmith street. Back in Dubronik, we dropped off our rental car by tossing the keys through an open office window, then dined seaside at Nautika over fantastic but pricey seafood. We strolled the city walls Monday morning with our Dubrovnik Card, then visited the Rector’s Palace, Dubrovnik Cathedral, a Serbian Orthodox Church with its many cats, and Franciscan Monastery with its longest-running active pharmacy. Our tour was dotted with remnants of the city’s siege in the 90s, reminding us of the devastation of the Serbian conflicts we heard about in middle school. The afternoon heat drove us back to the hotel for lunch and afternoon nap before the conference dinner at the Hotel Excelsior, where we hung out with some Brazilian ophthalmologists and spouses. After the meeting, we took a bus to Kotor that was delayed by the tedious border crossing into Montenegro. We waited for our AirBnb host over pasta and stuffed squid at Che Nova, then enjoyed the gorgeous bay view from our apartment despite interruptions from cruise ships. We waited out the heat by doing laundry before exploring Old Town, where we skipped the imposing climb up the city walls for more souvenir shopping and fresh seafood at Cesarica, including fish soup, stuffed squid, and grilled sea bream. On Wednesday, we grabbed baked goods for a bus ride to Bar, where we were accosted upon arrival by an old woman who mimed her way to “help” us secure train tickets to Belgrade, store our luggage at a local café, and cab us to lunch downtown. With little to do and unrelenting sun, we took our time with our black risotto and seafood pasta at Knjaževa bašta, squatted in an air-conditioned office building at the Marina for a couple of hours, then hopped around several grocery stores before camping out at the Voli Hipermarket cafe, where we withstood cigarette smoke for Wi-Fi and air conditioning over palacinka and cafe affogatto. Our overnight train to Belgrade took us into the Dinaric Alps, through dramatic canyons, across stilted bridges, along river gorges, and even over an ancient tectonic lake. Our 2nd class double-berth had no air-conditioning, but the evening breeze kept us comfortable despite rowdy neighboring teenagers and two passport checkpoints by armed police. On arrival, we cabbed to the unfinished Church of St Sava to gawk at the guilded crypt, walked past Slavija and Flower Squares to St. Mark’s Church, then strolled past Knez Mihailova for ćevapi and phone charging at Manufaktura. We skipped Belgrade Fortress to make our flight out, but a delayed departure and an overzealous security agent left us stranded overnight in Frankfurt with a sad hotel dinner before a less eventful layover in SFO with chowder and crab rolls the next day. Despite the summer heat, border crossings, and currency exchanges, and despite missing Friday clinic and having to file a Lufthansa claim for our flight delays, we enjoyed our time off in the Balkans and were happy to be back with Westley.

When we learned that Club Vit would take place in Dubrovnik this year, we decided to make it a vacation sans Westley, with a road trip through Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Montenegro, and Serbia. After layovers in SFO and Munich, we arrived in Zagreb where we dined al fresco at Agave over foie gras and baked octopus despite the sizzling heat. We lingered over the heartbreaking Museum of Broken Relationships, then headed for Lubjlana, which charmed us with dragon statues, bridges, and Cacao’s single-origin gelato. We enjoyed deer carpaccio and frog legs at Spajza before driving to our AirBnB in Lake Bled. In the morning, we beat the crowds to beautiful Vintgar Gorge then returned for a bumpy electric bike ride around the lake. We attempted to summit Mala Osojnica for the view, but abandoned our climb due to heat and lack of fitness. We recouped with octopus salad and seafood tagliatelle on Ostarija Peglez’n’s patio, picked up a slice of the famous Bled cream cake and scoop of Sladogled (an international winner, but the raisins killed it), then enjoyed siesta followed by dinner at Finefood which featured a massive beef tartare prepared tableside. We drove to Tolmin Gorge Monday, which unlike Vintgar’s waterfalls featured icy rapids, forbidden caves, and a brutal climb to Devil’s Bridge. Filling on leftover krof and airplane sandwiches, we reached Predjama Castle for a brief visit which Melody sat out, then raced to Postojna Caves for a thrilling train ride and tour of limestone formations and blind olm salamanders. We snacked on gibanica before arriving in Plitvice for dinner at Degenija over brook trout and tender veal cooked under an iron lid. On Tuesday, an erroneous GPS entry led us through unpaved dirt tracks before we found our way to Plitvice Lakes. Our 4-hour hike through the beautiful falls reminded us of Uncharted, especially when it started to rain. We dried off over grilled meats at Licka Kuca, then got lost again finding free parking at the Lozovac entrance to Krka National Park. Compared to Plitvice, Krka was more swampy and less impressive, so we decided to skip swimming at the falls to head to Split. Despite the sketchy exterior to our AirBnb apartment, we felt safe walking to the Riva, where the energy and people reminded us of Las Ramblas. After impressive scallops, black risotto, and sea bass en papillote at Konoba Matejuska, we savored Luka ice-cream as we admired how the town incorporated the roman ruins. Exhausted by Thursday, we replaced our original plan for Korcula island with a local culinary tour. Our sarcastic guide talked about food and life in Split while helping us buy scorpion fish, red prawns, squid, warty Venus clams and big clams at the local fish market, followed by veggies from Green Market, which were prepared for us while we shopped for souvenirs and watched a Diocletian reenactment. Dinner with my friend Christina was a little disappointing, but we perked up with more Luka ice cream before bed. On Friday, we explored Diocletian Palace more thoroughly, avoiding the Game of Thrones-themed tourist traps, before driving through a strip of Bosnia to Dubrovnik. We stopped by Mali Ston along the way for a private oyster farm tour and shucking, then lunched at Bota Sare while watching the McLaren Adriatic 2019 tour come in with elderly drivers who needed help exiting their cars. Undetered by a parking ticket, we arrived at our conference hotel, sneaked out of the welcome dinner to watch the sunset from Mount Srd, then returned to the dinner without anyone noticing.

With growing feelings of burnout at work, we made a last-minute decision to take a family trip to Santa Cruz for Memorial Day weekend. I pulled a late night on Thursday to work on a paper, and felt more caught up by Friday as we packed for our mini-getaway. Due to a dearth of AirBnb options, we spent our Chase points for a family-friendly hotel that included free breakfast. We set out after Westley’s Saturday dance class, fueled on black garlic ramen and XLB from San Jose’s DTF, and arrived at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk by late afternoon to soak up the carnival atmosphere before taking a turn on the carousel. The 1911 Looff Carousel is a national historic landmark, featuring hand-carved wooden horses, a ring-dispenser, and an original Ruth & Sohn organ that was a step above the pedal-powered merry-go-round at the Davis Farmer’s Market. Westley still fits in a Pack-n-Play, so we were able to indulge in season 1 of the Umbrella Academy in bed next to him with the lights out. On Sunday, we wandered among greenhouse seedlings at UC Santa Cruz’s Life Lab, piloted a submarine at the Monterey Bay Marine Exploration Center, barked at sea lions over chowder at the Santa Cruz Wharf, then enjoyed chicken salad and roasted beet sandwiches at the Picnic Basket. After nap time, we visited the touch pond at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History and strolled along Seabright Beach on the way to a mediocre dinner and fantastic ice cream. We awoke early on Monday for another go on the carousel before grabbing sandwiches to take on the Dixiana Redwood Forest Steam Train at Roaring Camp. The Memorial Day train also featured a Civil War skirmish reenactment, complete with dramatic deaths and musket salutes. Westley napped until our afternoon stop at Pacific East Mall, where we stocked up at 99 Ranch Market and stuffed ourselves with pancake balls and Sichuan cuisine before driving home. Our spontaneous family trip at least cleared away our mental doldrums – hopefully the effects will last until our trip to Croatia next month.

After weeks of training, Westley busted out his moves at the Dance Daze performance at the California Honey Festival. Despite the constantly evolving choreography and dizzying turns that led to his head dive on stage, he remained a good sport and made us incredibly proud. Before the show, we tried the ramen and boba at I-tea near UCD campus, but was disappointed by the slow service. Melody volunteered at Paul Hom the next day, so I took Westley to Home Depot, Ross, and Ikea to check out toys and office furniture, followed by lunch over chicken tenders and Swedish meatballs a la mode. I also showed Westley off at our all-staff Rivercats game event last week, where he nabbed a baseball during practice while gobbling hot dogs and potato salad. After hours, we’ve been watching Denaerys go postal on the less-than-satisfying last season of Game of Thrones, and an even-less-satisfying Twilight Zone reboot from Jordan Peele. Melody left town for a conference this week, so I spent another father-son weekend assembling the elaborate Nintendo Labo piano kit, cruising around the neighborhood in his tricycle, and hanging out at the Roseville mall for Lego and Daiso shopping. However, things also took a turn for the worse this weekend when our internet service was abruptly disconnected, requiring hours of Comcast calls and troubleshooting before I deduced the cable modem AC adapter as the culprit. Davis’ Aquahawk also alerted us to a 30 gallons-per-hour leak which appeared to be coming from our landscape irrigation. By the time Westley found a mysterious new crack in his bathtub, I was beginning to suspect supernatural foul play. As if we had stepped into our own twisted dimension, we felt our household stress level reach a critical high.

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.