This is week 2 of the 6 weeks our department is/would be down by a lawyer. We were pretty busy even before this lawyer started her 6-week leave. Since then, I have been getting in early (between 7 and 7.30 most mornings) and leaving late as well (usually by about 7). In fact today was the first time I got in around 8, and that was because I was in the gym this morning and I was dashing for the 6:56, I realised I had forgotten my ring! By the time I went back to the gym and searched the locker room, I had to catch the 7:18.

This absent lawyer must be having the time of her life – she got married last week and is now on her honeymoon with her husband somewhere in Italy. They would be making their way through Europe, including Barcelona, my favourite European city.

I was in Barcelona twice – once for the famous victory of Manchester United over Bayern Munich in the final of the Champions League competition in 1999, and before that, on holiday with Theresa, her father and a couple of his friends. Apart from the very beautiful buildings and the always lively La Ramblas, I remember doing my run early in the morning, through the streets of Barcelona. I remember running up to the Olympic stadium, the home of Espanyol, the lesser known football club of Barcelona. Anyone who watched the opening ceremony of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics would have remembered the archer lighting up the flame from afar. I also remember dining alfresco in the La Ramblas, sipping a sangria and having a paella while watching restaurant owners chasing down non-paying English patrons. The English had swarmed Barcelona and statues and busts were all decked out with England and Manchester United jerseys and bathed in beer.

One of best parts of a holiday in a new city/country is the early morning runs through its streets. In Malaysia, I had done my runs on the streets of Langkawi, Penang, Ipoh, Cameron Highlands, Pangkor Island, Fraser’s Hill, Genting Highlands, Seremban, PD, Melaka, JB, Kuantan, Cherating, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. I feel like there may have been some other small towns which I cannot now recall. Of course, my runs in Klang, KL, PJ, Subang Jaya and Shah Alam aren’t included.

Outside of Malaysia, I have done my runs on the streets of Bangkok, Phuket, Balasore (Orissa, India), Perth, Gold Coast, London, Manchester, Cote d’Azur and of course, Barcelona and Melbourne. It is in these runs you feel the life of each of these places starting each day. It is usually the old or the womenfolk who are up early. In Balasore, the run had to be terminated fairly early as battles with dogs and dung proved too much. The busier places I remember were Bangkok and Kuching. Maybe I started my runs there later. Perth was great as I ran along the river and up towards Kings Park, then down towards Fremantle before I realised if I continued on to Fremantle, it would be an additional 28km for a round trip! Theresa would not only be wide awake by then she would also have sent out a search party to look for me!

Always, the end of the run brings an exhilaration which confirms in my mind the benefits of endorphins. I’d be ready for the day, aches and tired limbs notwithstanding. I would also be less wary of tasting new foods or simply indulging in anything I wish as we were on holiday. I would feel especially free to have a few cold ones in the course of the day…

Those sweet memories are a distant past now, as I hunker down to bear the added workload each day, and when I get home at night, think only of finding enough time for Kiddo and Theresa. It’s great having a family to return to each day – something this colleague of mine would surely discover in the near future. For that reason, though I bear a load now, I feel happy for her and her new husband. Bless them, God.