The Amazon has always been on Melody’s bucket list, which helped kickstart our action-packed itinerary to Peru this summer. Melody returned from a work trip at midnight to find us still awake ahead of our 5am flight. We bought playing cards to replace our forgotten MTG deck for our 5-hour layover in Houston, but had only 30 minutes at the KLM lounge to learn Spit and Speed before filling on gumbo and etouffee and starting our malarone prophylaxis. Our Barranco hotel served as home base to explore Huaca Pucllana and the historic city center. After learning about Lima culture and the adobe and clay pyramid, we shared La Lucha’s chicharron sandwich and La Mar’s ceviche and arroz marisco, then Ubered to tour the ornate altars at Iglesia de la Merced, Moorish facade of the Palacio de Torre Tagle, and mosaics at Catedral de Lima. Plaza Mayor was bustling with tourists as we squeezed our way to the Convento Santo Domingo, bought Westley a fluffy toy alpaca, and sampled street vendor churros, queso helado, and mystery crema. We snapped photos of Casa de La Literatra Peruana’s stained-glass ceiling in the historic Desamparados Station en route to the impressive catacombs of Convento San Francisco and nearby Parque de la Muralla. Too exhausted for the Circuito Magico del Agua, we shared wonton soup and beef chow fun at Chifa Dragon Tong before calling it a night. We awoke Monday for our flight to Iquitos to meet our Aqua Expeditions crew, enjoy lunch on a floating restaurant, and bus to Nauta for orientation and safety training for our 4-night Amazon cruise. Our first morning excursion included sightings of kingfishers, vultures, and fly eaters as we passed pink and gray dolphins and a distant blob of a two-toed sloth on the Marañon River. Our afternoon visit to a local village taught us about high-low water seasons, a fisherman’s catch, a little girl’s pet turtle, and poking at a venomous snake carcass. We relaxed with Animalogic and a napkin-folding workshop before our night excursion featuring sloths, toucans, macaws, fishing bats, saki monkeys, river turtles, and a baby caiman but no anaconda, capping with ceviche & picarones for dinner. We awoke Wednesday to dolphins playing boatside and a morning excursion with a green iguana, a caracara unsuccessfully chasing a kingfisher, and an egret nearly faceplanting on the riverbank. We attempted to canoe dugouts while local women propelled us before we transitioned from the brown to black waters of the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve, where our jungle walk included sightings of termite nests, leaf cutter ant mounds, two millipedes, and giant ceiba trees. We hurried back for a picnic lunch on our boats under a gang of squirrel monkeys, then took a cooling dip in the iced-tea waters near some gray dolphins. After siesta and backgammon, we enjoyed a chocolate demo and a sunset jam with the crew on deck. Our attempt at piranha fishing on Thursday proved successful with Westley catching white and red belly piranhas plus an herbivorous silver dollar. We celebrated our last night with a final toast on the Amazon River, a round of Scrabble, and slideshow from the crew. Our last morning excursion included sightings of Amazon turkeys and a pygmy marmoset but no capybara. Afterwards, we disembarked to visit the Amazon Rescue Center for closer views of manatees and other animals we missed, then headed to the airport where our lounge access supplemented our bag lunch before our flight to Cusco.

Like rain on my cousin’s wedding day, July has been a month of irony. After lunch with Brenda’s family and fireworks at the Davis Community Pool Party, we took advantage of July 4th sales at the Hyundai dealer to lease a new Ioniq 5 for Melody, only to find the driver’s door handle needing replacement the very next day. My i4 also needed a tire swap just two years in. Beside car issues, I dealt with a gltichy e-mail migration at work and my grad student getting hospitalized, just as we were receiving notice of our new R01 grant on gene therapy. News traveled fast as I received congratulatory remarks from friends at the ASRS conference in Long Beach last week. Aside from my talk on genetic testing using AI and a half-day ad board that ended with a tsunami advisory, I spent the rest of my time meeting industry partners and colleagues, including seafood with Genentech at Parker’s Lighthouse, kebabs with Apellis at Ammatoli, tofu stew with my classmate Brian at Sura, chicken-n-waffles with my co-fellows at The Breakfast Bar, and stir-fried lobster and grilled oysters with my friend Dan at A&J Seafood shack. I returned in time to join Melody’s division for an 80’s-themed Murder Mystery Dinner Theater at the Old Spaghetti Factory, where we placed of course, dead last. With Melody out of town for two work trips, I had bonus time with Westley. Between his UCD and Davis summer camps, we battled yaoguais, built a model castle, and preserved a dragonfly using isopropanol and acetone. He also had a playdate with his friend Albert, where they tried to sear an oak gall with a magnifying glass and sunlight. Beside preventing arson, I kept busy pruning backyard plants, patching irrigation leaks, installing bonsai spotlights, hanging a German gear clock, and brewing my first espresso. With fresh beans from Temple Coffee and my new Barista Impress Touch, I learned to craft my own latte, flat white, and cappuccino, which hopefully will power me through to wrap up loose ends at work before our upcoming travel. 

We set out Friday morning for Hohenzollern Castle, which felt more medieval fortress than royal retreat. After lunch capped with spaghetti eis, we admired the cuckoo clocks in Triburg and indulged in original Black Forest Cake from Hotel-Café Adler before marveling at the world’s largest cuckoo clock in Schonachbach. With 6-pack tickets, we raced toboggans at Sommerrodelbahn Gutach, then settled into Hotel Bell Rock with its American-themed buffet and pool. Our early access to EuropaPark next day gave us a whirlwind tour of the continent through roller coasters, dark rides, wet rides, and even a bobsled ride, along with a daredevilish Zorro stunt show and a hilarious Magic Atlas puppet show. We stayed until closing before driving to Baden Baden for dinner. Next morning’s breakfast at the stately Hotel Belle Epoque evoked the romance of the bath town. We ditched our hiking plans to soak ourselves at Caracalla Spa, picnic with takeout shawarma, and tour the glitzy Baden-Baden Casino. The punishing heat cut short our tour of the Burg Hohenbaden ruins and Heidelberg market square, but we fortunately cooled down for shipboard tapas and paella with my old lab friend Monika. Despite lacking overnight AC, our host greeted us with a generous breakfast spread of pastries and homemade jams before taking us up the funicular to Heidelberg Castle to circle the giant barrel, and educating us about Student Kisses and the Student Prison. After souvenirs from a closing apothecary and salads for lunch, we caught our train to Luneburg, where we bumped into my parents and headed to our hotel together. We lost our sense of time with the prolonged daylight and belated dinner, but managed a morning start for a Hamburg day trip Tuesday. We picked up a jean jacket and sweater to keep us warm for our rainy stroll past the Rathausmarkt, Binnenalster, Mellin Passage, and Alster Arcade, where pastry shops lured us in for strawberry tarts and Nutella shakes. The ornate interiors and spiral staircases of the Hubner Haus and Kontohaus buildings were a photographer’s dream, but we were more intrigued by the paternoster at the Sprinkenhof building, where we decoded the lift’s mechanism with an apricot before testing human subjects. We roamed the Speicherstadt district, took our obligate photo from Poggenmuhlen Bridge, then recharged with fish & chips and fishburgers at Fleetschloesschen en route to Miniatur Wunderland. The world’s largest model railway offered much more than trains – with interactive VR, day-night cycles, F1 racers, and even an Airbus Beluga model that can take off. After dinner with mom’s family and a mellow morning of mall and market browsing, we headed to my cousin Jasmine’s wedding at the city’s water tower and banquet at the groom’s family restaurant. Between Melody’s stilettos clattering on cobblestones and Westley’s dwindling patience with the 4-hour meal, we were wiped out for family time afterwards, and crashed early to prepare for our train and flight home. We had enough time to graze at Frankfurt and SFO, and reflect on the satisfying mix of friends, family, and fun on our Germany vacation.

Westley and I embarked on our trip to Germany on Father’s Day, stopping for bun mee and MTG in SFO before our 11-hour flight to Munich to rendezvous with Melody. We picked up our VW convertible, settled into our artist apartment, then set out to explore Marienplatz and nearby Asamkirche, St. Peterskirche, and Frauenkirche, followed by kaiserspatzle and crispy pork at Viktualienmarkt for lunch. BMW did not offer factory tours this week, so we checked out BMW Welt instead and slurped Max’s beef noodles before turning in early. Not having adjusted our biological clocks, we awoke at 2am Tuesday and kept ourselves busy until breakfast at Café Rischart with weisswurst and kaiserschmarrn ahead of our morning tour of the Munich Residenz. The Rathaus glockenspiel was underwhelming as I expected, but at least put us back near Viktualienmarkt for shweinwurst, leberkassemmel, and liver dumpling soup for lunch. After a short nap, we headed to the kid-friendly Deutsches Museum to explore the science of aviation, bridges, particle physics, and musical instruments, followed by dinner at Zum Alten Markt for delicious mushroom soup, crispy schnitzel, and more kaiserspatzle. On Wednesday, we sped through the autobahn and steep climb up Neuschwanstein Castle to catch our timed tour of the iconic Bavarian palace, including an impressive throne room and singer’s hall. We squeezed past other tourists to snap photos from Marienbrucke Bridge, then rested our legs at Café Kainz over spatzle and spaghetti on the way to tour Hohenschwangau Castle, from where Ludwig II observed his fairytale palace. After a sunny treetop walk across the Austrian border at Walderlebniszentrum, Westley cooled his feet at the alluvial forest trail, while I detoured to photograph Lechfall and bring back ice-cream. We barely made the last English tour at Linderhof Palace and its gardens, and enjoyed a traditional costume parade passing by our dinner in Oberammergau. We relaxed with a serene boat ride on Lake Königssee on Thursday, with a short hike from Salet to Lake Obersee, before returning to Seelände for crepes and bubble waffles. At the Berchtesgaden Salt Mines, we donned overalls to ride the miner’s train, slide, and raft across an underground “mirror lake,” but sadly left our souvenir alpensalz behind. Our day concluded in Salzburg, where we ate Barenwirt’s famed fried chicken, braved the catacombs at St. Peter’s Abbey, and learned about Mozart at his birthplace, before crossing Makartsteg Bridge to Mirabelle Gardens where the Sound of Music was filmed. Marionette shows were sold out, so we drove back to Munich for pho and to pack up our belongings in preparation for the Black Forest.

Having watched our kurapia lawn die slowly each year, we finally hired someone to install new fescue sod that promises to be both sun- and shade-tolerant, along with some creeping figs and more lava rocks. We also chipped in our own yard work planting a new Jade Butterfly Maidenhair gingko tree and repairing landscape lights. The refreshed lawn helped prepare us for another backyard camping adventure with the Deas on Memorial Day, including a viewing of E.T. on our back patio. Our movie night inspired us to catch up on 80’s nostalgia with other vintage movies like the Goonies, Labyrinth, Back to the Future, Batteries Not Included, and the Sound of Music to prepare for our Salzburg visit. We also met up with Ala for hot pot, and our cousin Pam to check out their fancy new digs over tri tips and pool time. Our home projects this month included my new undercabinet lights in the butler pantry, and Westley’s GaoGaiGar to expand his growing gundam collection. My car was stuck in the shop for a drivetrain issue for a few weeks, so I drove our X3 loaner to check out Taffach’s Ethiopian fare, Estelle’s pastries, and Maya’s birria ramen for my lab lunch. With looming threats of rising tariffs and car prices, Melody also test drove an Ioniq 5 and 6 in preparation for joining the EV evolution. Nico’s recurrent cheek mass required a pricey work-up and nightly antibiotics that added to our checklist for the pet-sitter ahead of our Germany vacation. With Melody heading out first for her fellowship reunion, I spent Father’s Day weekend with Westley tiring ourselves out with a Black Ops 6 campaign and Rush Hour marathon to prepare for our 11-hour flight together. I can hardly wait.

I missed my department’s Napa Eye conference for the first time this year to attend the Duke AVS course as guest faculty. My first visit back to the Duke Eye Center in nearly a decade had me spending more time reconnecting with friends and co-workers than facilitating the hands-on vitrectomy workshop that I was assigned to on the first day. Arriving on a red-eye flight and filling up on pasta from Cucciolo Osteria made it difficult for me to stay up late to practice my talk before another full day of vitreoretinal education. Friday dinner at the Wallace Wade Stadium featured a Squid Game-themed fellow skit broadcasted on the Jumbotron while I munched on fried mac-n-cheese balls, chicken-n-waffle bites, and lobster rolls. My mentor Cindy replayed snippets of our own AVS skit, and Duke residents reminded me that my OKAP review slides are still in demand. I was fortunate to take some naps between sessions on Saturday, catch up on Black Mirror episodes, and burn off calories at the Wa-Duke swimming pool. Our last dinner at Geer Street Garden took us to downtown Durham, where I appreciated the revitalized neighborhood while sipping sweet tea to good company. The party atmosphere at the Velvet Hippo reminded me of my age and early flight home next morning. So I bid goodnight to my hosts and returned home with fond memories of the program and institution that launched my academic career.

The ARVO experience for me is always a mix of excitement and exhaustion. Meeting colleagues can spark new ideas, but also reveal new challenges and competition. Like always, this year’s meeting was packed with meetings, new collaborations, and lots of walking. I arrived Monday in Salt Lake City with just a backpack to catch my grad student’s talk, meet with our new department chair, and join an advisory board dinner at a steakhouse without steak. On Tuesday, I enjoyed crispy chicken sandwiches at Pretty Bird with my former postdoc Sook, then met with an incoming postdoc and prospective postdoc candidate before catching up with MD-PhD friends for dinner at Takashi, followed by a second dinner with my lab at the Copper Onion. Breakfast with a company CEO next morning included advice on engaging industry, followed by another CRO meeting that will hopefully produce a paper. In need of a break, I left the conference for delicious brown butter miso ramen and whipped tofu at Koyote, then explored fossils at the Natural History Museum of Utah. Among the most impressive of the collection were the mammoth, dire wolf, sabertooth cat, and giant sloth skeletons. Back at Temple Square, I perused the edifices of the Mormon headquarters, although the Salt Lake Temple itself was completely covered with scaffolding. I returned to my hotel to practice my talk before joining DFC lab’s decadent Indian buffet at Saffron Valley. I snapped photos of my trainees at their posters and gave my talk to a largely empty audience on the last morning, then detoured for Freshie’s 5oz warm butter lobster roll and clam chowda en route to the airport to join other faculty for our flight home. I finished the week welcoming my friend Phoebe as our invited speaker at Lemongrass before finally rejoining my family to spend a quiet Mother’s Day weekend over nearby pho, boba, and beef chow fun.

We welcomed the warm weather last month with a Rivercats baseball game courtesy of the Ob-Gyn department. Attendance at the stadium was sparse, however, ahead of the Athletics MLB opener the following day. Westley at least made it through the 5th inning before we returned home to more familiar games, which included a 3-game losing streak in Pandemic Legacy, discovering a porcine companion in Black Myth Wukong, and learning to invert Y in Black Ops 6. We spent our other weekends dragging him to the Paul Hom health fair, and to his first baby shower at my technician Thomas’ house. Westley at least enjoyed his own movie outing with the Deas and low-impact paintball with his friend Elias. He also showed off his artistic and acting chops at his school’s open house and musical performance, Character Matters. Back home, we installed a new retractable garden hose and planted new trees, including a ‘First Flame’ Korean maple to replace our struggling dogwood. The decimated kurapia and scratching sounds in our bedroom wall had us soliciting quotes for a replacement grass lawn and another bat exclusion, which along with recent stock market volatility loomed over our wallets. To ease anxieties at home and at work, we planned a weekend getaway in San Jose for Melody’s birthday. Judging trainee research for Kaiser Santa Clara granted us a hotel stay that served as home base to try out Fuji Huoshao & Dumpling, shop for dresses and shoes at Santana Row and Westfield Valley Fair, and savor springy Ox 9 Noodles. Our dim sum at Lei Garden the next morning was not worth saving for leftovers, so we brought home Pineapple King buns instead. For Sac eats, we discovered hearty aburasoba at Kajiken, but could not match LA-quality Korean BBQ at Gogi and Bullta (despite a fancy ramen machine). As we continue planning our Germany and Peru trips, we hope to seek out better gastronomy.

We decided to take a short trip to LA to enjoy some movie magic and Korean food for Spring Break. Melody was on call Saturday and I had a conference in San Diego. So I flew out first to give my gene therapy talk at Sonoma Eye, stuffed myself with Yangzhou cuisine at Hometown Taste, then slept through the afternoon and stayed late for the evening gala at the hotel. On Sunday morning, I joined Melody and Westley at LAX Hertz to drive to Sun Nong Dan for their breakfast seolleongtang special. We then explored the California Science Center to learn about fire safety, body functions, ecosystems, and space travel, which ended with an inspiring IMAX show about the James Webb Space Telescope. After lunch at Jinsol Gukbap, we explored gundam and K-pop paraphernalia at Koreatown Plaza, and indulged in a kream spanner and kream bomb (i.e. cube croissant) at Le Kream. Our Airbnb apartment was in the same building as our prior K-town visit, just a short distance to MDK noodles’ kalguksu and dumplings for dinner. On Monday, our early access and lightning passes at Universal Studios Hollywood helped us skip the lines to enjoy the Mario Kart ride at Super Nintendo World, a wet ride at Jurassic World, and an immersive Harry Potter ride at Hogwarts. The fish & chips and butter beer at the Three Broomsticks were surprisingly delicious, and the $20 mushroom soup at Toadstool Cafe at least got us a Mario mushroom bowl to go. We spent the rest of our visit at the studio tour, Minion Land, and Springfield before retreating home to watch Moana 2, snack on Every Favor Beans, and feast at Soowon Galbi for amazing a la carte BBQ.  We awoke Tuesday to Han Bat’s Shul Lung Tang and Surawon’s soondubu for breakfast and lunch on the way to WB’s Studio Tour. Despite a lackluster trolly tour guide, we enjoyed photographing ourselves on the sets of Friends and Big Bang Theory, and learned about sound stages, green screens, ADR, and sound editing. We wrapped up our trip with kim bap from the oldest K-town grocery store while waiting to board our upgraded flight home. For a 3-day trip, we were glad to have both our hearts and bellies fulfilled.

With my parents still in town, my wife and I were able to take respective work trips to Philly and Miami. Melody’s visit to Independence Hall led her to the National Constitution Center’s podcast, where discussions of DOGE and presidential power helped shed light on the evolving challenges to my own research, including the rejection of my foreign post-doc’s visa and cancellation of the NIH council to fund my new grant. At work, I welcomed a new technician, consoled my overwhelmed grad student, and cheered on a resident at her concert along with our own pianist-in-training. We were glad that Westley adapted quickly to his first set of braces, which allowed us to try out new restaurants like Pho Yummy, Tasty Pot, and Seapot. At home, we continued planning for our spring and summer vacations and competed online for summer camp openings. We were distracted, however, by episodes of The Day of the Jackal and season 3 of the White Lotus, where Lisa’s first acting role contrasted with her rapper persona, and the likes of other Kpop girl groups we like including NewJeans, Le Sserafim, IVE, XG, and ILLIT. Our other new after-hours obsession has been Baldur’s Gate 3. Larian Studios‘ role-playing adventure faithfully adapted the D&D tabletop mechanics down to the 20-sided die-roll on screen, which helped immerse us in the Forgotten Realm. Along with Astarion, Gale, and Karlach, we set out to rid ourselves of our mindflayer tadpoles, and hope that escapism could help us deal with the growing existential threat to science and higher education.