Chow hall grumbling...

Back to another full week of work in paradise... get up, shower, have breakfast, ride the bus to the other side of the island, work for eight hours (with an hour-long lunch break), back on the bus, grab some dinner and back home.

For most of us on an unaccompanied contract, we get an adequate room to sleep in and three meals at Cafe Pacific as part of our compensation package. Unfortunately, meal quality at the PDR (Pacific Dining Room, the official name for the chow hall) varies widely. Sometimes, you get a good meal, other times it flat out sucks. Of course, we have the option to eat at the AAFES snack bar but you gotta pay. Or you can buy groceries at Surfway or the shoppette and try carefully cooking up a meal in your BQ without burning it down - or play it safe and cook in the ARC kitchen. I've reached an average level of proficiency cooking in my BQ room (and I was a former cook when I was in the Air Force); it's amazing how you can perform miracles with a George Foreman grill, microwave and a small electric skillet.

Budget cuts have taken their toll on the PDR... the building is badly in need of serious repair or replacement, the food budget has been cut severely, and you just can't please everyone's palate. Add the typical island attitude and there you have it... a major sticking point with unaccompanied personnel. Accompanied personnel (families) have kitchens in their homes; they generally do not get a meal card.

Fine dining options are non-existent on Kwaj... what passed for fancy dining ended in 2008 with the closing of the Yokwe Yuk club; another victim of aging infrastructure and budget cuts. The old Yuk now sits closed and waiting for the inevitable wrecker's ball; the new Kwaj hospital is supposedly being built in its place. A poor substitute is the 'mobile kitchen' night on Emon Beach or the country club; personally it's a little too much money to pay for table service and be served food barely above chow hall quality. Lousy food is but one of the many reasons so many don't renew their contracts after their initial two years are up. I've learned to live with it; while I might grumble about food quality or island life in general from time to time on this blog the good usually outweighs the bad.

But one benefit of getting off the island (either on vacation or TDY) is the variety of dining choices, especially in Honolulu. I've really come to enjoy Asian and Pacific Island cuisine, especially Hawaiian food. I've already told my mother that the first stop after picking me up from the airport is the nearest In-N-Out Burger location for a Double Double and fries 'animal style' (from their 'secret menu' which really isn't that much of a secret).

Twenty-five days and counting (or twenty-four and a wake up) before home leave!