We continued exploring the Northern California coast with a family retreat in Manchester this week. Since our last stay was in a redwood grove, we chose this time a house on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We prepared for our trip with library books, activity kits, and a Lego 3-in-1 pirate ship set from last Christmas, then packed eggs, milk, snacks, and quick meals like frozen dumplings, jajangmyeon, and hot dogs into our cooler. We also ordered Tasty Kitchen take-out the day before, and stopped by Costco for a mac ‘n cheese tray on the drive up. On Sunday, our leisurely lunch of fried chicken, ribs, and shrimp-and-grits at Sweet T’s was all Southern comfort, but worsened my motion sickness on the windy 2-hour drive to the coast. The panoramic views of our AirBnb was refreshing, however, as we settled into the house, observed sea birds hovering outside, and prepared dinner and s’mores while watching the Pacific sunset. Our next few days followed a similar routine – watching Waffles & Mochi in the mornings, outdoor hikes in the afternoon, and Midnight Diner in the evenings. On Monday, we stopped by Pirate’s Cove in Point Arena for fish tacos, salad, and a vanilla milkshake on the way to Bowling Ball Beach, where Glenn snapped photos of a gopher and Melody discovered crabs and starfish while Westley was more excited about smashing shale rocks. A visit to the community private beach on Tuesday gave him a chance to chase ocean waves, explore driftwood huts, and drown his mom’s sand castle. We spent Wednesday afternoon at Point Arena-Stornetta, where we spied a seagull and buzzard sharing a fish carcass before we ventured down the cliffs to explore the tidepools. Back at the house, we made gummy insects and clay pinch pots and continued building the Lego ship while listening to BTS, BlackPink, and Chipmunks radio to drown out the roaring winds. On our last day, we stopped by the Sea Ranch Chapel, lunched at Spud Point Crab Co., and shopped at the Vacaville Costco before returning to Davis. Westley was excited to spend the long weekend at home completing his Lego pirate ship. We took breaks in between for some mini-golfing at Golfland Sunsplash and shopping for mattresses and outdoor kitchen stuff. Despite the relaxed schedule, our week-long break felt way too short. It was unclear if this was due to Westley’s constant energy or the sparse activities, but we may need to change things up a bit for our next vacation.

Our tax return was really jarring this year as we had to shell out an extra $60k in taxes owed and late payment penalties, which we attributed to more consulting gigs, new capital gains, and lower tax withholdings from our paychecks. Despite setting up a Solo 401k account and tax loss harvest, the unanticipated dent in our bank accounts added to the stress of my back-to-back NEI review meetings and Melody’s pre-clerkship course this month. To relax in the evenings, we started watching the meditative Midnight Diner drama series while trying out their simple recipes like yakisoba, pork miso soup, butter rice, ochazuke, and octopus wieners. I also found good tonkotsu ramen at Fukumi Ramen while helping to cover clinic in Roseville before the new retina faculty begins. Last weekend, we organized our first socially-distanced, in-person lab gathering for my post-doc Sook’s last week at work. We kept it simple with grilled wings and burgers from Costco, which also gave us an excuse to revisit Elk Grove for soup dumplings from Journey to the Dumpling and Ah-Boong from SomiSomi. At home, I installed new LED lights for the crown molding in our dining room to help brighten our days. With such taxing times, we are all looking forward to our next family retreat in Manchester.  

My birthday flew by with the blink of an eye after a busy week at work and inclement weather that knocked out our electricity and internet for several days. We recovered with all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ accompanied by a giant scoop of ice-cream that was too much for our bellies to handle. The following week, we celebrated Westley’s birthday over Zoom with my parents, in-laws, and a home-baked chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and sprinkles. We upgraded him to a 16″ bike from Craigslist for his birthday present, but he was too anxious to ride it. Instead, he was more preoccupied with the games on his new camera from my parents, and an extra Lego race car set from last Christmas which we broke out when he asked for his gift from his other grandparents.  For school, we got him party favors from Daiso, but forgot to bring his Dollar Tree valentine favors.  We made up for it by celebrating our lunar calendar birthday with a dinner outing that ended with a Macaron Madness Honey Toast sundae that was nearly the size of his head. We tried to burn off the calories with the Ring Fit Adventure, but found ourselves more sore from yard work, as we spent our past weekends planting gardenias and hydrangeas, potting ferns, spraying weed killers, removing kurapia stems, and fertilizing the trees and shrubs. We took a break from cooking by trying out several Davis restaurants including Burma Eat, Hotdogger, and Hunan Bar & Restaurant. Our local digs did not compare to the exotic fare from Netflix’s Street Foods Asia, but the show did get us excited about future vacations abroad and inspired to start planning our next family trip. 

2021 is looking up to be a better year as I finally received official notice for my first R01 research grant from the NEI! I spent the new year zenning out by pruning my bonsai, composing Ghosts of Tsushima haikus, and making my own tonkotsu ramen. The Serious Eats’ version seemed too serious, so I opted instead for recipes from Glebe Kitchen & Ramen-Lord. We liked the 11-hour sous vide char siu, but the 12-hour pork bone broth was not as satisfying as the Ippudo kit delivered from Sun Noodles. At home, we updated our decor with new floating shelves for the loft, and a flamingo lamp and hex pedestal for the guest room. We also took advantage of our Netflix premium upgrade with Queen’s Gambit and the Haunting of Bly Manor. With both of us getting our Pfizer COVID vaccines and our local stay-at-home orders lifted, we ventured out again for crepes, donuts, and curry. We’re not sure if Indian buffets will be back anytime soon, but we did enjoy exploring the nearby playground at the Ironworks. We hope that the new year will be a mark of new beginnings 

Between the holiday season and pandemic lockdown, our work productivity ground to a halt as we limped our way to the end of 2020. We took turns between clinic to spend time with Westley over his two-week winter break, with visits to the allergist, playgrounds, and grocery stores. But mostly, Westley preferred to stay at home to indulge in tablet playing, paper crafting, and Lego building. We continued to feed his Lego crave on Christmas with a new Ninjago Firestone Mech and Creator 3-in-1 Pirate Ship, Fire Dragon, and Underwater Robot sets. Our friends and family also contributed educational STEM kits and origami paper, while I added 10 rolls of Scotch tape to keep him stocked. We spent our break mostly hunkering down at home over Taiwanese beef noodles and Mongolian hot pot, and even made time to prepare the “best-damn-meyer-lemon cake” for our neighbors. We finished up second seasons of the Mandalorian and His Dark Materials, as well as Modern Warfare and the Spider-Man expansion packs, in time to embark on the Ghost of Tsushima. Set in feudal Japan, the open-world samurai adventure combines the immersive storytelling of the Witcher, the stealthiness of Assassin’s Creed, the acrobatics of Tomb Raider, and the sword play of Dark Souls. Between bamboo strikes, composing haikus, and Mongol standoffs, I did manage to repair Westley’s bicycle kick stand and mud guard, as well as my Nikon 35mm prime lens, which required some intricate soldering action. On New Year’s Eve, I watched the ball drop alone while Melody and Westley slept, and reflected on this very tough year. In 2020, Melody battled insomnia while I discovered back pain. But this year also marked new beginnings for Westley, from learning to bicycle to basic math and reading. With the two of us finally receiving our first doses of the COVID vaccine, we look forward to a better year ahead.

Our house has been long overdue for a window cleaning. And with ashes from recent wildfires hindering our solar production, we hired professionals to clean our windows and solar panels ahead of the holidays. The month-long Black Friday sales gave us a chance to replace our defunct dishwasher with a newer model that featured a nifty third rack, and upgrade our TV for 70% more surface area, double the refresh rate, and quadruple the resolution. At work, I took advantage of my allocation accrual to upgrade to the new SQ2 model of the Surface Pro X, which sports an ARM-based processor that prioritizes speed and energy efficiency over software compatibility. I was very pleased with the lack of fan noise and ease of being always on, although I needed a dbrand skin to hide the fingerprint magnet coating. We spent November revisiting our sci-fi craves, uncovering the fate of the Federation in Star Trek Discovery, the name of baby Yoda in the Mandalorian, and the identity of the explorer in His Dark Materials. We also tried out new cuisines nearby, including Hainanese chicken at Chicken Hawkers, lamb kabobs at Stand Up Kabob, crawfish boil at Cajun Feast, and chicken kabuli at House of Shah. We spent our Thanksgiving warming up with slipper socks and hot pot while staying mostly indoors to set up our Christmas tree, holiday lights, and the new TV. With Westley still tentative about watching movies, we introduced him instead to MasterChef Junior, with the hope of instilling a shared interest in the culinary arts … or at least a shared love of food. 

With COVID cases on the rise, we decided to spend our family trip this week in a secluded AirBnb retreat in Jenner. On Saturday after a second round of virtual fellowship interviews, we booked it to Bodega Bay for dinner over grilled oysters, fried fish, and hearty clam chowder at The Boat House. A majestic view of the incoming fog and Pacific sunset off Highway 1 welcomed us to the Sonoma Coast as we arrived at our cabin. We awoke the next morning to the sounds of nature, and explored the nearby trails and redwood groves on the property. Knowing that there were few dining options nearby, we had brought along ingredients and supplies for hot pot, but forgot the hot pot itself, forcing us to jerry-rig the cabin’s Crockpot. The new mala broth mix was also too oily and spicy for our taste, which made for a subpar lunch. We spent the afternoon lounging in the cabin while Westley assembled a Lego submarine from grandma and grandpa. In the evening, we made a supply run to the nearby Fort Ross Store for overpriced chicken broth and skewers to make s’mores to go with our frozen dumpling dinner. We slept in Monday morning, and after a diluted spicy hot pot lunch, headed for Salt Point State Park. Here, we spent the afternoon seal spotting and hiking the Tafoni sandstone, whose honeycomb erosions provided exciting tidepool encounters, including the frenzied disassembly of a stripes shore crab carcass by a gang of hermit crabs. Back at the cabin, Westley quickly discovered the cabin’s own Lego stash, with a mix of pirate, space, and medieval-themed bricks that took his attention from my attempt to teach him Scrabble. We spent Election Day hiking Stillwater Cove’s switchback trails, dry creek, and pebbled beach. Our dinner of mac n’ cheese with peas put Melody to bed early, although my staying up put me no closer to election results. We spent our last morning at Goat Rock Beach, where masses of ducks, geese, seagulls, and the occasional harbor seal congregated at the confluence of the Russian River and Pacific Ocean. We wrapped up with crab rolls and chowder at Spud Point Crab Company, which were definitely worth the socially-distanced wait in line. Although we spent the rest of our vacation week catching up on work, our short getaway to the Sonoma Coast gave us a chance to get out of the house and connect with nature.

Between the upcoming election, RBG’s passing, and a mounting third wave of coronavirus, the past month weighed heavily on us. At work, anxiety surrounding centralized funds flow, lab space allocation, and lab personnel departures converged with my second R01 score, grant/paper rejections, and multiple deadlines, even as I was busy reviewing grants for NIH study section. Melody’s unusually busy call also hinted at her darkening white cloud, as she continued to combat insomnia with melatonin and blue light-blocking glasses. A couple of weeks ago, we fired up our grill for some lemongrass pork shoulder, only to face a sudden flare up and grease fire that necessitated a frantic discharge from our extinguisher and an exhausting afternoon of clean up. The ensuing fumes was a good test of our new air quality monitor, but not for our dishwasher, which suffered a recirculation pump failure that same day. Fortunately, Westley helped us maintain a routine on weekends, with Saturday bike trips to the nearby playground to hang out with local kids, and Sunday visits to SwimAmerica for family swim and play. We also continued our home improvement projects with a new coat of paint for the garage, slatwall panels, and a mango wood sideboard that we bee-waxed for our back patio. Last weekend, the cooler weather finally gave us a chance to enjoy our new digs in the backyard over a Billie Eilish livestream concert. With Melody on her Kindle, Westley on his tablet, and me on my laptop, it was a moment that felt right, even when everything else was going wrong. Today, we got Dollar Tree supplies to dress Westley up as Shy Guy, as we plan to spend Halloween and Election Day on the Sonoma Coast to escape these scary times.

With wildfire smoke persisting into this month, we’ve upgraded to MERV 13 filters and invested in an air purifier for Westley while staying indoors. The orange skyline provided a fittingly apocalyptic backdrop for embarking on the Last of Us Part 2, where we took on the gritty role of Ellie on her path for revenge as we infiltrated the overgrown streets of Seattle. Meanwhile, we also helped Westley pass the time with a  Snap Circuits STEM kit, although his burgeoning skills were not up to dealing with the variety of repairs we had to face including a defective graphics card in Melody’s PC, a failed capacitor in our HVAC system, and a coolant leak in my car. Hoping to tidy our garage, we added new storage cabinets, a new epoxy floor, and a fresh coat of paint, but color mismatches between cabinet doors, ceiling lights, and the wall paint gave us more headaches than relief. Our household stress levels rose further when Westley had to be quarantined while his classmate was being tested for COVID. Fortunately, the notice turned out to be a false alarm and the smoke also began to clear out, letting us breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy some fresh air. Last week, we made another run to Green Acres to replace some dead lavendar bushes and other casualties of Bermuda grass extermination, then power washed the ashes off our front porch, side fences, and new patio furniture. Melody’s BTS obsession inspired a few Korean food outings, while Westley enjoyed a shipment of origami paper and Mario Kart RC cars from my parents. With fingers crossed, we hope that next month will be less exhausting.

Desperate for some time away, we had planned for a weekend of hiking and biking in Santa Cruz when sweeping wildfires closed down I-80, necessitating a last minute change to an Airbnb further north in Fairfax to escape the smoke. We delayed our departure Saturday to clear out some rejuvenated bermuda grass, but arrived in time to enjoy Creole fare at the Hummingbird including beignets, gumbo, chicken n’ waffles, and shrimp n’ grits, followed by a scoop from Fairfax Scoop. Unfortunately, the smoke had penetrated into our area by afternoon, which kept us indoors and baking in our moutainside rental. We delighted in the eclectic interior which sported old family photos and equine decor to reflect the hosts’ farrier service, but Westley’s favorite were the toy chest, bunk bed, and loft bed in the master bedroom. Feeling too lazy to venture out, we shared leftovers and instant noodles for dinner before calling it a night. On Sunday, we awoke early to hike Cascade Falls by Canyon Road before enjoying curry, thali, and biryani at Cafe Lotus. We spent another afternoon lounging in the cabin to work on Westley’s new Lego race truck while watching a squirrel steal from the bird feeder. A brief reprieve in air quality gave us a chance to enjoy izakaya dinner take-out from Village Sake on the balcony, but was cut short when Melody got stung by a yellow jacket. We left Monday morning, stopping briefly in San Rafael to hike the Turtleback Point Loop, then hurried home through the smoke to get our 4-year-old home to use the bathroom.  I agreed with Westley that our trip was too short, but we were thankful for the chance to get away for a weekend.