My Visit - Hawaii (I)

游记? 还是算了吧. 文笔不行. 所以, 把去过的地方以流水帐的形式记下来似乎可行...先从夏威夷开始. 然而, 我又不想再写个旅游点介绍的流水帐...

夏威夷, 1959年正是成为美国第五十个州.

Hawaii

Flag of Hawaii

State Flower - Hibiscus (黄槿)

第一天 - 时空之旅 

时差与落差

太远了. 无论如何, 都要转机. 对半分吧. 东岸到旧金山, 再由旧金山到檀香山, 共12 个小时.到达时已经东岸半夜时分了(6小时时差, 夏威夷是美国屈指可数的几个没有夏时制的地方).

时值当地完间傍晚6:30. 机场看起来出乎意料的简陋, 与美国其他国际机场的巨大豪华宽敞明亮没有任何可比性.出门见到水泥墙外随风摇曳的椰子树,与落杉矶似乎也区别不大. 传说中的天堂不可能仅此而已吧?

辗转找到出租车站 却见不到想象中的黄出租或红出租。路边停着一辆车, 除了頂着“TAXI”之外, 与私家车无二。旁边站着一个白人男子, 看起来是个刚下飞机的旅客。另一个亚洲人模样的男子正往车的后备厢里搬行李. 他, 看其起来是司机无疑了。一位腰上挂着对讲机, 手上拿个本子的中年妇女一边不时地指着站在一旁的白人男子, 一边跟那个貌似司机的亚洲人说着什么。这真是出租车? 正在疑惑之际, 拿本子的妇女挥了一下她的本子, 一辆已减速的面包车便停在我们旁边。司机, 一个亚洲妇女, 从后面绕过她的车朝我们走来, 随手开了车的后厢门。同时, 拿本子的妇女也朝我们走来: "你们去哪个旅馆?" 我想都没想, 报了名字。司机一边说着OK, 一边开始往她车里搬我们的行李。拿本子的业已走到我跟前, 从中抽出一页花花綠綠的纸并在上写着什么: "如果你有东西往忘车上了, 打这个电话, 这是她的注册号码”。她一边把那张纸递给我, 一面挥着手走向刚刚停在面包车后面的一辆小车。

“来, 上车吧.". 我坐进副驾驶。首先看到的是dashboard上从左到右盖着类似地毯(rug)的一块东西。记价器压在下面, 红色的数字不停地闪着。旁边, 别在rug上是贴着司机2寸彩照的营业执照, 标准及各种条款, 细致而明朗, 不正规中透着严谨。

司机是华人无疑。车子转了几个弯, 上了夏威夷的州際(没错, 是 interstate) H1。司机得知我们来自波士顿, 便自我介绍说她来自离我们不远的加拿大Montreal, 每年至少回去一次, 不然的话, 在岛上会憋出病的(island fever). 对于旅游者来说, 檀香山很方便, 到处都是ABC店 (一个连锁的便利店, 类似此间的 CVS, Walgreen, 但大得多), TheBus (没错, 名字就叫TheBus) 很频繁, 不用租车. 接着她又介绍到, 夏威夷有很多亚洲人, 日本人最多, 其次是越南人和韩国人. 华人也有一些, 但相对少. 一个假说在我脑海中形成: 看样子岛国人就是岛国人, 越南人, 还有韩国人, 他们的基因驻定了他们是半岛国. 香港人, 在亚洲, 住惯了背靠大陆的香港, 到了北美, 不是也很喜欢 "香哥华" (Hong-couver)么?......  已是掌灯时分, 街景变得朦胧, 车子早已下了高速, 在巷中穿梭. 我们就在这恍惚中到了我们在夏威夷的第一个栖身之所......

下一篇: 文化之旅

My Reading List - C. J. Box

Joe Pickett is the protagonist of CJ Box series. Joe is a game warden in Wyoming, who often acts as a private investigator to discover the twisted and complicate truth behind obvious murder.

Blood Trail (2008) - Joe needed to find out who murdered Frank and mutilated his body. Coincidence in politics? anti-hunting activist?
Cold Wind (2012) - Joe discovered the truth why Earl Alden was murdered and displayed on a wind turbine blade.
         All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. - Galileo Galilei

My Reading List - James Patterson

Alex Cross novels

1. Double Cross: Kyle Craig’s escape and DCAK serial murders in DC area.
2. London Bridges:  The chase of Wolf, a super criminal, who claimed responsible of a Nevada explosion and potential acts all over the world.
3. Mary Mary: Alex’ custody rights. Search for the artists’ killer coast to coast. Mary was from Vermont? B.

Michael Bennett

1. Tick Tock: Why this a copy cat serial killer did it for Lawrence? A typical mouse and cat game. Fun to read. B.

Women’s Murder Club

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9.    The 9th Judgment: The mixture cases of Pete Gordon, the WCF, Lipstick, Killer and, Hello Kitty, the cat burglar.
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Standalone

1. The Quickie: Lauren Stillwell’s revenge and cover up for her husband’s killing of Scott.
2. Guilty Wives: A girls-only weekend turned wrong in Monte Carlo. How would Abbie, proved her and her friends: Winnie, Serena, and Bryah innocent with a huge price. A-
3. Swimsuit (co-authored with Maxine Paetro): Ben Hawkins, a then cop and now LA Times reporter wanted to locate who murdered the swimsuit model in Hawaii. The story illustrated the ugly murder scene and sick minded people of their nasty habits and desire. Pretty heavy to go thru those. B.

My Reading List - Harlan Coben

I like Myron Bolitar series, but I think Harlan Coben's stand alone novels are even better. All Harlan's stories contain very complex 'plots'. Story lines are complicated but surprisingly clear and clean. Harlan spend a great time at the beginning to lay the foundation and create the environment. Once done, fast paced and the scene one after another and you don't want to put it down.

Myron Bolitar Series

1. Deal Breaker (1995)
2. Drop Shot (1996)
3. Fade Away (1996)
4. Back Spin (1997)
5. One False Move (1998)
6. The Final Detail (1999) - Clud Haid, former drug addict player, was murdered, Esperanza was arrested, players were left him... This book is full of twists from many directions. It keeps you going to the end, philosophical too.  A.
7. Darkest Fear (2000)
8. Promise Me (2006)
9. Long Lost (2009)
10. Live Wire (2011) - complicated history and mysteries involved Myron's family, nephew Mickey, sister in law Kitty and tennis star Suzze, Rock star with murder and killing. 
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Mickey Bolitar series

1. Shelter (2011) - Micky's first adventure in high school where he teamed up with Rachel,Spoon to find out why the mystery girl Ashley vanished. His uncle Myron tried to protect and helped him from background with the iPhone GPS application.

Stand-alone

1. Miracle Cure (1991) - NBA star Michael Silverman and an AIDS clinic.  Who killed the AIDS clinic founder? Was it done by the gay slasher, who murdered all those cured AIDS patients?
2. Tell No One (2001) -  David Beck got mysterious emails from his wife, who was murdered 8 years ago. Someone was following him too! Full of surprises till the end. Tyrese, his drug friend, and Eric Wu, all developed well and impressive figures. A.
3. Gone For Good (2002) - Was Will Clein's brother, Ken, really dead? What had happened among Ken, Ghost and Philip McGuane. Steady development of each character, and dark secrets got revealed one after another until the last minute. A.
4. No Second Chance (2003) - Complex plot, or is it? Dr. Marc Seidman was nearly killed and his daughter was missing, and how did this and the ransom get related to the baby selling ring?
5. The Woods (2007) - A New Jersey county prosecutor, Paul Copland, trying to find out what exactly happened in a campground which four teenagers were killed. Everyone had beard some level of guilt. You would do anything to protect your children.
6. Hold Tight (2009) - Complicated plots: Adam Baye and the 'pharm' party, Spencer Hill suicide as well as Nash and Pietra's random killing. Paul Copland and the gang make a cameo.
7. Caught (2010) - News reporter Wendy Tyns discovered the mystery of a Princeton graduate Dan Mercer's disappearance, and Dan's involvement of a seventeen girl Haley McWaid. Complicated plots and entangled events. 
8. Stay Close (2012) - The recent missing person bore similarities of a person missing 17 years ago as well as each year a person was missing at mardi gras.The connections among the house wife Megan, Ray, a photographer as well as Lorraine,the bartender went a long way.
9. Six Years (2013) - Story of Fresh Start unveiled during the journey that Professor Jake Fisher tried to locate his old girl friend Natalie, who, six years ago, married to Todd Sanderson.

The quote that I like:

• "It takes too much to hold on to hate. you will lose grip to the important things..."  - Caught
• "The line between good and evil, fair and foul will fade over time..." - The Final Detail
• "The ugliest truth was still better than the prettiest of lies" - Gone For Good

My Reading List - David Baldacci

Camel Club

1. The Camel Club (2005) -  Together with Annabelle Conroy, a con artist, to find what and who killed Rare Books director Jonathan DeHaven?
2. The Collectors (2006)
3. Stone Cold     (2007)
4. Divine Justice (2008)
5. Hell's Corner  (2010)

Sean King and Michelle Maxwell

1. Simple Genius (2007) - Sean went to investigate the cause of death of a man in a CIA facility. Mysteries got revealed as Michelle joined him later on with her own mental issues to be resolved as well. The figures' characters personally were not always consistent. B+

2. The Sixth Man (2011) - Edgar Roy a brilliant Analyst was accused of murdering 6 people in Maine. Edgar's lawyer was also discovered murdered before the trial. Everyone wanted to get a slice of pie from the big brother. Clear story line and tight writing although some clues came from 'thought' without support. A-
3. Memory Man

My Reading List - Robert Crais

Robert Crais is an other thriller author that I recently discovered. His Joe Pike and Elvis Cole ("world's greatest detective") series are fun and page turners. It is like watching  movies and walk along with Elvis and/or Joe on a journey of mystery solving.

Elvis Cole/Joe Pike novels

1. The Monkey's Raincoat (1987)
2. Stalking the Angel (1989)
3. Lullaby Town (1992)
4. Free Fall (1993)
5. Voodoo River (1995)
6. Sunset Express (1996)
7. Indigo Slam (1997)
8. L.A. Requiem (1999)
9. The Last Detective (2003)
10. The Forgotten Man (2005) - Cole and Kelly Diaz to find who killed Elvis' "father"?
11. The Watchman (2007)
12. Chasing Darkness (2008) - Why did police say the case was closed? Cole had the faith that, Byrd, the suicide killer, who Cole and Allen acquitted seven years ago, wasn't the real murder of those women. The book was well written and fast paced. Keep your friend close and enemy closer! A.
13. The First Rule (2010) - What was behind Pike's friend Frank Meyers' murder by Eastern Europe gang? AK47, 10 month old baby. The truth was hidden by entangled lies. A.
14. The Sentry (2011)
15. Taken (2012)
16. Suspect (2013) - LAPD Scott James and his new partner, a military dog, Maggie were to chase down the those who killed his partner nine months ago.

Stand alone novels

1. The Two-Minute Rule (2006) - Former bank robber Max Holman wanted to find who killed his cop son. What are the corrupted police trying hiding? Is old saying 'like father like son' true? A

* I chase darkness to make room for the light - Chasing Darkness