Miles High: Mt Evans Scenic Byway

  
We are in Colorado so I can attend the AAFP Family Centered Maternity Conference. Kelvin (and Pepper) came along for some R & R and we spent today outside of Denver exploring North America's highest paved road leading up to the summit of Mt. Evans at 14,260 ft, one of Colorado's many "Fourteeners." I have to say again that I adore Colorado. I nearly moved here for residency and have frequently thought about what it would be like to live in this great state, but will have to be content to visit... for now.

    On the way in Idaho Springs, we saw some Colorado rafters!

 

Near the summit of Mt. Evans, we saw some mountain goats!  

Either tired from our very early AM start, or feeling the effects from driving up to such a height after flight from sea level, we both felt a bit less that stellar at the top (Kilimanjaro flashbacks...), but stuck it out.

This was Pep's first time in Colorado and at altitude, too!

Summit Lake

testing the waters...

Ah, Colorado, with your fresh air and mountains... I have missed you!!!

Anniversary dinner and deformed dessert

Kelvin and I took advantage of a gift certificate from my sister to go out to Folie Douce for dinner to celebrate our third anniversary.

His wasabi steak and my salami/brie/apricot glaze pizza were delicious!

We had the fourth off from work (although we're on call) and I attempted another shot at cookie-baking.  I found a delicious-looking recipe from the bitesizedbaker for Nutella-stuffed Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt. Don't these sound amazing?

My last cookie-baking effort was chronicled in this NYE Cookie Fail post.

Obviously, I should not try to bake on holidays. Or at all.

What they are supposed to look like:

While deformed, at least these taste good!!

Asian Love Languages

If you haven't read the "Five Love Languages"  by Gary Chapman, please do. I think I read it back in medical school on Wendi's recommendation, and it really helps you understand what others may need in relationships and different ways of showing and receiving love. I tried to get Kelvin to read this book early in our relationship. I'm not sure he did, but he remember enough about its points to send me a satirical commentary from the "Asian" perspective which you can read below and which is actually pretty darn funny.

Directly from Sam Louie, on the Minority Report Blog (with the disclaimer that This is not meant to be taken literally.  It's a satirical, tongue-in-cheek commentary."):

" There's the popular book "The 5 Love Languages" for the general population but for Asians these "Love Languages" have a cultural twist.

1) Words of Affirmation = Lecturing.
Kids need to be praised for who they are. They need to be empowered to trust their instincts. Instead many Asian parents simply lecture their kids and treat them as non-entities.

2) Quality Time = No time to play. You play piano
In the more traditional Asian family, play is usually non-existent. Parents are too busy working and trying to make more money.  There was no such thing as leisure time to "play" like a white family going skiing, hiking, or camping
  

3) Physical Touch = You get B+? You get spanking.
Hugs, kisses, and physical signs of affection are scarce. I can only remember vague memories of my dad holding my mom's hand. I've never seen them kiss each other. Consequently, it's almost taboo for Asian parents to display physical affection to their kids.

4) Acts of Service = You have enough to eat? Here, you eat more.
This is the one love language that most Asian parents think overrides the need for everything else. If they feed you, clothe you, and put a roof over your head, they believe they've done their job. Rarely, will they recognize the need for emotional nurturing and oftentimes are dismissive and critical of Americans' desires to give attention and time to their kids. 

5) Gifts = I pay for your tuition. I make you food. What more do you want?
Gift-giving is also big in the Asian culture. If they give you money, buy you things, then they believe that should suffice for caring for you. Why should they need to empathize or try and understand your point of view when they can just buy their way out of emotional entanglements?"

What's your Love Language?

Three years later: UCD Reunion

It's hard to believe that it's been almost exactly three years since we graduated residency (July 1 is the date that new residents came in each year to relieve us!)  Wai Kiu and Hanh hosted an awesome UC Davis Family Medicine reunion on Saturday where we got to reconnect from many of our former colleagues/residents, some of whom we haven't seen since 2011!  There was a great turnout, from many people who live in the large Bay Area, as well as some people who drove from Sacramento and beyond.

Group Photo

(Back row: Rachel, Steven, Brad, Serena, Kelvin, me, Char w/ Alex, Thad, Joe with Connor, Jim, Wai Kiu,

Front row: Aparna, Swati, Kristen, Sonia, Ashby, Maria with Abigail, Hanh with Mason and Sophia)

We enjoyed the lovely sunshine and Bay views from the deck

 

Kids were plentiful (here are Abigail, Sophia, and Mason)

Midway through the evening, the girls felt that it was time for an outfit change-- into princess dresses

(Alex  as Rapunzel?, Abigail as Cinderella [or Elsa, she felt was more accurate], and Sophia as Belle?)-- I'm not too up on my princesses

Catching up...

 

At the end of the evening, Sophia became intrigued with a keg that Brad brought!

 

It was such a nice evening to reconnect-- a lot has happened and families have changed (grown) since residency. We're all living "real" life (albeit still busy) now!

Friday in Frisco

Kelvin's grandfather immigrated from Vietnam in April to live in Texas and has been visiting California for the last few weeks.  We were able to drive down to the Bay Area this weekend to meet up with him and K's parents and show him around (the last time we saw him was in Vietnam in 2010)!

Golden Gate Bridge (in classic fog)

Love my in-laws!

View of Alcatraz, "The Rock"

We enjoyed some crab at Fisherman's Wharf

Believe it or not, I'd never driven down Lombard St in the "crooked street" (very steep!) section

With the Nguyen Family in San Jose