Aloha, readers! It’s been about two weeks since I came back from Hawaii. Work’s been picking up, but I’ve got enough slow days coming up to catch up. Better yet, I’m nice and recharged after two weeks in paradise.
While I was in Hawaii, I made sure to do most of the things I usually do when on-island. I caught up with friends where I could while playing video games and going on shopping sprees. During one such rendezvous with friends, I embarked on my first ever escape room challenge! It was a thrill working together against the clock, and I look forward to trying more such challenges in the future. Whenever the weather allowed it, I went swimming by pool and by beach. As someone with limited pool accessibility (there’s a pool at the local Y, but I haven’t had the time/courage to check it out), swimming is an experience I always treasure on vacation. Kailua Beach is also world-renowned for its beauty, so hitting that beach is always the highlight of vacation. On most days, I took it easy the best ways I knew how: playing video games, enjoying Mom’s cooking, sleeping, not thinking about work, reading manga, and watching Cthulhu (who traveled with me and deserves a medal for dealing with my stressed-out @$$ at the airport) shoot Nazi testicles in Sniper Elite 5.
As fun as everything was on vacation, the grandest time of all was the main event: Kawaii Kon, Hawaii’s annual massive anime/gaming convention. I had been to Kawaii Kon before, and I used to be quite the convention-goer, but I haven’t been to any cons since COVID-19 shook up the world. Obviously, massive gatherings of people were not ideal when there was a deadly global pandemic; to be honest, I had been hesitant to return to cons even as the pandemic was winding down. Now, having been vaccinated multiple times and survived the virus itself, I finally felt confident enough to re-ignite my social life and spend some time with fellow pop culture-enthusiasts. Cosplaying as a protagonist from Pokémon Violet, I hit the scene with some friends and had a blast. I know what you’re thinking: “pics or it didn’t happen!” Well, my skeptical reader, enjoy!
It was great to be back in Hawaii and equally great to be back in the convention game. I don’t know how many cons I’ll go to in the foreseeable future (I’ll need to watch the country’s continued infection rates…and my pocketbook), but I certainly look forward to the next one I attend. Similarly, I look forward to the next time I go to Hawaii, whenever that may be. For now, I must continue my life’s work in Tillamook: representing clients by daylight and conquering video games by moonlight!
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