From time time to time the conversation was interrupted by a brief flurry of activity on set. For most of the morning it seemed like there was something like a wrecked jeep (or some similar vehicle) in the street beside Chinatown. From time to time it would burst into flames, prompting all the other military vehicles in the area to drive ‘round in various directions. After ninety seconds or so the flames would die down as the vehicles returned to their original positions. After a short break the flames would flare again and the process repeated itself...
As twelve o’clock rolled around, Warbo headed homewards in search of warmth and my thoughts turned to the prospect of lunch.
Now, I must admit to a more than passing interest in the catering arrangements here. When the first batch of Volunteers wandered arrived on site back on Day One, the spread we found was spectacular in the extreme. One Volunteer expressed the opinion that it was a better spread than the all you can eat buffet breakfasts you find at major resorts.
Later in Week One, a visit to the same location for lunch revealed a similar generosity in the catering department, and I’m sure that I wasn’t the only one rubbing his hands at the prospect of a substantial reduction in the weekly grocery bill if access to the area continued.
So there was understandable disappointment when I learned that access to breakfast was a late scratching, although Volunteers from the morning shift were quite welcome to drop in for lunch at the end of their stint.
Then again, of course, the fact that breakfast was between five-thirty and six and the realisation that there was not going to be much action on the Volunteer front till eight-thirty or so probably had something to do with that....
So things on the catering front weren’t too bad at first, though it seemed that on days when our Resident Media Tart was rostered on for a morning session the arrival of lunch at the Volunteer headquarters was substantially delayed.
And then, once the shooting schedule switched to night time, the flow of comestibles ceased altogether.
Until last Monday....
Finding a space at the table outside the Grand View to attack the contents of the styrofoam container I noticed that the security detail down on the corner was also tucking into the rather spicy contents of a similar vessel. Then, with my lunch out of the way I wandered back to the front....