Another USPH Scare

Well we thought we were going to have another USPH inspection this week as the day before we got to Juneau one of our ships was checked. Also that morning another of our ships was inspected. Everyone was freaking out and they denied us shore leave to get off the ship. What a bummer, and they didn't even come. All of that nonsense for nothing, anyways we still have to be ready for the next few weeks until we pass through Hawaii. Only 4 weeks left in Alaska!

On our day in Skagway we really were in the weeds. We had the Dine with the Chef dinner that night plus regular service in the restaurant. The Dine with the Chef was only supposed to be 9 people with a maximum of 10, so we always prep for 10 just in case. But someone in the front office took a reservation for 4 people and forgot to put it in the computer. We now had 13 people and not enough mis en place and we just got slammed with 10 tables at once for dinner. We pulled through it, but it was crazy busy.

Overall not a whole lot happened this week, just the same old same old. I have looked over the upcoming schedule for our crossing and have found that I may not be able to get off at every port because we don't dock shore side. Sometime we have to take the lifeboats to go ashore and that's after all of the passengers get off. I hear it takes a long time, so I guess I have to miss out on a couple of islands, but I can take pictures from the ship, ha.

Back in Vancouver again, and there won't be too many more of these days. Only 5 weeks left in Alaska! Well we received the highest rating again for our restaurant and are number one in the whole fleet. We even received a little party to celebrate how well we have done. It has been quite intense here over the last couple of weeks. We are preparing for another US inspection, and for the corporate inspection before we cross the Pacific to Hawaii.

I have to say that one thing I find interesting still is the difference in cultures I see every day. For one, a lot of the guys will put food on a plate, and then just eat it with there hands. I'm talking like rice and stir fry. And the fork is right there next to them. They all tell me to eat more rice because and I quote, "A serving of rice a day will keep you healthy and looking young." They said that is why all of the Filipinos look in their 20's but are closer to 40.

I was talking to the Chef about different things I have learned here since I started. One was how to make magic. Not in the sense of card tricks and disappearing people, but how to make something work if you don't have what you need. Don't have enough butter for the beurre blanc, a cornstarch slurry and extra cream can make something reminiscent of it. A lot of times we don't get what we need and we have to "mafia" or steal/borrow something from another department. I am now the #1 mafia man on the ship. I don't have a choice because my order for 1 lime, 2 pints of berries, or 1# of cheese won't get approved. So I have to roam the lines and go shopping for what I need. It is accepted though, that my position in the restaurant requires this action. I did however get involved in the Great Butter Heist this passed week. The Garde Manger guy needed 16 # of butter and I needed about 4#, so we waited until the delivery had been made to the bakery of 60#. We then used our aprons as bags and loaded up on butter. It was fun to have a teammate help out with this thievery.

I have really learned the importance of self control in the kitchen. I know it is very easy to lose control in the kitchen and start yelling and giving a lot of attitude to people. A lot of effort is needed in order to stay calm. This also allows everyone to respect you more. I definitely started out here with out any control, and I would get angry at people for doing something the wrong way. Now I know better, and feel better because of it. A lot of the people I work with either don't know or don't care. I do my best to turn both of those the other way around.

Some more interesting points of note this week: the ship I am one cost $350 million, as was pointed out in a letter to the crew that stated that we don't take care of the public crew areas. I lost my voice over the last couple of days (how can I call for service of a fired table?). I work the buffet breakfast line every once in awhile when they get slammed upstairs. I usually cook the eggs to order station. I wanted to say thank you CIA and Breakfast Cookery. I mean I would have been screwed for cooking the eggs here had I not practiced it so much at school. And while roaming around Ketchikan I saw the salmon swimming upstream, and what a sight it was.

Well I continue on my journey through Alaska, and then on to the crossing. 11 weeks left until I return. It has been a great experience so far, and I can't wait to see where it goes from here.

This is where I get to cook!

That's a lot of salmon swimming upstream.

An Evening Alone

There is a new event that is going on now every week called "Dine with the Chef." This week we prepared everything for it and for the first one the exec chef too my Chef too. This meant I had to run the kitchen for dinner by myself. It was awesome. I mean I was really nervous at first. But I had the whole line to myself and didn't have any problems the whole night. I was in the zone, just pushing out the food. It was very exciting for me, kind of like showing that I was capable in the kitchen.

I now realize that when I am on break and have a good amount of free time that I have to change into my uniform. I can't let some of the guys know that I am free when they are working. It's strange, but I don't want to get any more questions of why I am not upstairs. If I can get my work done fast enough I like to enjoy some rest and relaxation, what little I may have. Anyways I also don't want it getting around to others who may want me to work extra duty somewhere else.

A few interesting things again that I find amusing... A lot of the guys call the walk in refrigerator a day room. It gets confusing, especially because who would want to spend a day in a 38 degree room. That's a little cold. Sometimes we hit some rough sea and the ship rocks a little, and plates fall. Every time a plate breaks I laugh a little. I mean it just slides right off of the shelf. Of course if I could prevent it I would, but when your trying to stop your whole station from falling to the ground there are bound to be few casualties. A lot of people keep giving me their information so that I can try to help them get jobs in the U.S. I mean I wish I could, but we have 99 cooks in the kitchen who all want to live in the states.

Anyways I have made past the half way mark of my journey here. With 13 weeks down and 12 to go it is all down hill from here. 6 more weeks in Alaska and then a 6 week crossing to Sydney. I am really looking forward to that last part. Now it's time to get some food and chill out a little.

The Alaskan Brewery Adventure

Well I finally had a decent amount of time in Juneau this week. Yup 2 whole hours off of the ship to explore. I knew that I wanted to see the Alaskan Brewery, but I didn't know really how to get there. I certainly couldn't walk as it was about 10 miles away. So that left the bus or a cab. Who has money for a cab, at least not me. So it was the city bus that took me to my destination. After asking the bus driver where to get off and getting thoroughly confused I walked off of the bus. And where the hell was the brewery! After asking for more directions and a 10 minute walk I was there. Unfortunately with only 20 minutes before having to get back on the bus to hurry back to the ship. I enjoyed my free beer tasting, but couldn't get on the tour as it started too late for me. Anyways at least I made it and enjoyed a few tasty brews.

We had an immigration inspection when before our first U.S. port this week. A long line of people awaited to be check and I was at the back. After 20 minutes I arrived at the front and saw all of the non U.S. citizens in one line, and the U.S. line was much shorter. I could've walked right in front. And to top it all off they asked everyone else plenty of questions, they only asked me, "what does your job title mean?" Wow! They asked plenty of others to everyone else.

I went on a hike again in Skagway. The trail had said it went to this waterfall called Reid Falls. So I followed the trail until it ended at the river and I couldn't follow it anymore. I followed the side of the river and caught up with the trail again. It then proceeded to split in several directions several times. I continued because I really wanted to see the waterfall, but as I continued I seemed to get lost. I couldn't really see a trail anymore and I was on a time limit. I mean someone has to be on the ship to cook dinner right? So I made my way back safely. I then found out I can get to the falls by following Main Street through town to the cemetery and take the trail behind it and it's right there. I know what I am doing this week. Hopefully some good pictures will come with that expedition.

This morning I was hurrying up to get all of my prep done so that I could get out and enjoy the better part of my day ashore. As I was speedily walking through the kitchen, the exec chef stops me and says, "Why are you moving so fast?" I replied that I just wanted to move fast to get everything done. He told me not to be so speedy so early in the morning. Oh man did I get a good laugh from that. Needless to say I kind of slowed down, at least when I was near him.

Almost to the half way point of my culinary excursion on the sea. I am really looking forward to what is to come. 12 down and 13 more to go. Wow that seems a lot better than my first week here. Things have definitely improved for me, which makes the experience all the more enjoyable.

The onboard ferrari, yup look at it in all it's glory!

The taps at the Alaskan Brewery tasting Bar

One of the servers caught me on the phone in Ketchikan.