Well!
Been a bit, hasn't it? I should get back into the rhythm of posting here. Of course, in order to do so, I'm going to have to do more blogworthy things. So yay on that!
Regardless, a lot has gone on since my previous posting. Namely, I had a week of vacation! And on that week of vacation, I got to see my family in Hawaii. Wonderful, wonderful trip, it was. So wonderful, it's...taken me a couple of days to really get re-acclimated to living in Korea. Culture (after)shock, maybe? Of course, going to the workaday grind anywhere after a vacation in Hawaii will seem a bit droll in comparison.
I'm honestly not sure just how much to write here! As I'm pretty sure 25% of my readers were on the trip in question. Still, some highlights include:
Visiting a crazy little town called Pa'ia. It's basically a miniature, tropical Austin (read: weird). Neat times! We hit up a really delicious little restaurant, I picked up a rad blue Hawaiian shirt (which you'll see later), and we even found a Tibetan Buddhist shrine. Neat stuff! Though I think visiting there around lunchtime on a Monday may have muted the craziness. Pity!
Driving all the way up to the top of Mt. Halekala. It's a domant volcano so tall that it pokes up above the clouds. Neat stuff! Apparently the sunsets/sunrises here are ridiculously gorgeous...and rather touristy, as a result. We wound up not re-visiting in the dusk/dawn-ish hours.
Travelling to the Iao Valley. Y'see, Maui's got a 'wet' side (which is Jurassic Park level tropical) and a 'Dry' side (which is sort of like Utah with a view of the beach). Iao Valley is on the wet side, and it's absolutely GORGEOUS.
Maui Brewing Company! You didn't think I'd go someplace and not drink the local microbrew, did you? They're kind of unique, in that all of their beers are canned. Their coconut porter is absolutely delicious. I made it a point to hit up the liquor store to get a bunch of other beers I couldn't drink in Korea- Chimay, Hitachino (seriously, it's Japanese but I haven't seen it ANYWHERE here), Rogue, and even a tallboy of PBR (don't hate! It's better than Cass). This also served to spoil me, as I'm still not used to drinking crappy Korean beers. Shoot. 
Bookstores! I made it a point to hit up Barnes & Noble -AND- the closing Borders, in order to boost my bookshelf. I came home with seven new books in my suitcase, including the new Dresden Files novel. Woo! I'm a little less than halfway through said Dresden Files novel- and I'm torn between rationing myself, or tearing through the book over the course of the weekend so I can finally jump into various internet discussion without having to worry about spoilers. Hm! 
A luau! We did this on the second to last night on Maui, and I really, really wish we'd done it earlier. It was touristy as all get out...but still wonderful. Rum cocktails! Coconuts! Pig buried in the sand! Poi! (which is actually not that bad if you mix it with something else) and, of course, Hula Girls!
The last day, we took a snorkeling/sailing cruise to a tiny islet called Molokini. I'm afraid I didn't take many pictures, due to the non-waterproofness of my camera, but damn if it wasn't GORGEOUS. The place is a wildlife preserve, so it's pristine and untouched. I'd done a little bit of snorkeling on the beaches, but poking around Molokini was far, far better than that. As soon as I stuck my head in the water, I couldn't help but sputter a bit at how gorgeous the reef was. Very Jacques Cousteau. I wound up swallowing a bit of seawater while puttering around, which made me a bit queasy once I pulled myself onto the catamaran...but then I cracked open a Corona (the boat had a stocked cooler) which did wonders for me.
And, sadly, the trip eventually came to an end. And now I'm back in Korea. But it's not all tragedy, as I'm looking at a three day weekend, which is always quite nice. Rest assured, I've got some more Korea-centric blog posts in mind. In particular, you can expect some reviews of the major expat bars here in Ilsan. Which will be of use to someone, I'm sure!
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