My 5 day weekend!

Sometimes I wonder if I'm 27 or 72. It's so easy for me to burn out nowadays that I need a proper break every 3 months. Whenever I read the blogs of friends with kids, I wonder if I'll find the energy to juggle my family life and career as well as them when the time comes.

Well, one of the best things about being a research student is the flexible work (/play) schedule. No one will raise an eyebrow even if you walk in at noon, go for a 3 hour lunch, or even 3 hour tea-break. There will be no questions asked if you decide to work from home on a certain day. But likewise, no one pities you if you have to work every weekend.

So, as a reward to myself for finally having worked through that 12.4GB worth of data, I've decided that my weekend starts on Thursday evening where I caught 2 movies in succesion, first, Prime then followed by X-men 3. Prime has a surprisingly realistic ending for a romantic comedy, hence not quite the cup of tea for those who are addicted to happily-ever-after endings. I wonder if the producers name it Prime cos 23 and 37 are prime numbers. I thought the mother/therapist handled the role quite well. :) Well, X-men 3 (contented sigh), I must say I really enjoyed it immensely. No idea why the reviews in Metro are so bad. Maybe the reviewer is suffering from movie fatigue having to watch a string of summer hit movies recently. Seeing SF and the Golden gate bridge brought back really happy memories... I remembered the very first time I drove on that bridge myself after a stop at Saulsalito, I was so torn between wanting to look up and admire the symmetry of the suspension cables and keeping an eye on the road!! Although the traffic can sometimes be quite bad on that bridge, I've never regretted taking that route into SF and back to Albany via Bay Bridge.

As I mentioned before, my weekend started on Thursday so naturally I didn't come to college on Friday. Spent the morning/early afternoon doing 2 rounds of stress-free laundry with no one else in queue, then headed to the cinema again to catch DaVinci Code. Still don't think Tom Hanks quite fit my image of Robert Langdon and I noticed that the start and end of the movie was different from the book but otherwise the directors pretty much captured the essence of Dan Brown's fiction. Was really looking forward to Sir Ian Mckellen acting as Teabing. His acting was fantastic. I was so mesmerised by his ability to create a range of unique expressions and movements for each of his characters that it is so difficult for me to convince myself that he was the very same person acting as Magneto in X-men 3 I've watched the day before. Oh by the way, if you are catching X-men 3, there is a carrot snipplet right after the credits which is worth waiting for so if you are not in a hurry to leave the theatre do try to catch it.

Ok, I realise I seem like an extremist when I comes to watching movies, but I guess I'm just as focused on play as I was on work and I've always enjoyed doing movie marathons. Anyway, that was the end my weekend movie marathon. Didn't catch one on Saturday. Instead, YS and I headed for the Royal Opera House to catch Placido Domingo in a French opera, Cyrano de Bergerac, and stood for 4 hours in the lower slips just to hear him sing. (cos all the seats were sold out) Haven't stood this long since the assemblies at SNGS, but hearing him live in his naturally projected voice was worth every cramp and ache. It was a pity that the director favoured the right side for most of the important scenes and our view was blocked for the entire ACT 4 where Cyrano sang the touching final love letter to Roxane. However, even with the blocked view and having to read the english translation as they sang in french, I still managed to shed a few tears hence you can just imagine how moving his voice was. One thing we observed about ROH performances is that their sets are usually very professionally done and breathtaking.

Today was the most 'normal' of all days I guess. Came to college today just for the sake of seeing MX online. I really missed seeing him in real time even though we talk almost daily. Wouldn't it be great if the people in photograghs can move like in Harry Potter world? :) Ok, I guess that still wouldn't be enough for me when having him by my side is what I really want. :) So yah, we video conferenced till his dinner time and thereafter I went to the gym, trying to lead a more healthy life but unfortunately, I developed toe cramp after running a few hundred meters. Yes, really wierd toe cramp in my big left toe which I've never experienced before. I'm familiar with cramps from my years of dance/martial arts and usually they can be traced to a source of strained muscles which I can massage away but never before have they been isolated in just the TOE. Might it be a sprain? But I didn't do anything out of the ordinary today so I'm totally baffled. Anyway, I figured a sprained or cramped toe wouldn't get in the way of cycling so I switched my workout to the exercise bike instead. It's my 1st time trying out the semi-reclined bikes in the gym and I must say having back supports are quite enjoyable.

Ok, I realised I've typed quite alot while waiting for YS to finish her lab work. CR is cooking today as Qi-jie is in town (she is the V.V.VIP mah...) and we'll be gathering at her place later. CR usually cooks fabulous dinners but she is so humble and keeps apologising for making us her guinea pigs (we are always very happy voluntary guinea pigs... heehee). I hope she is making her fabulous roast lamb today. Thanks to the great timing, it's Bank Holiday tomorrow and I will be spending the last day of my no-work weekend at Nasim's place, playing with her kids and catching up with the girls. Well, I'm really happy with the activities of the past few days and I think I'll be ready to 'chong' again on Tuesday. :)