Decision made

I'm going home in August.

After a couple of meetings with my lawyer and a couple more conversations with my boss, I have decided to go home to renew my working visa. My lawyer initially suggested that I extend my current visa so that I won't have to leave the country for that long period of time.

I can't say I didn't give the idea some thoughts, but I thought it'd be nice to go home to visit my family since opportunities like these would be extremely hard to come by in the future once I obtain my new visa.

I would probably have at most 2 weeks vacation which is so not sufficient to go on a whirlwind tour of all the places that I want to visit =) So although it initially felt sort of awkward to leave work for a month and a half, but now I have set my mind for it. It's a good thing to take some time off to spend with family and friends.

Let's take a breather

I'm finally done.

After months of non-stop working, my nightmare is finally over. I submitted the final two episodes of work and returned my beloved iMac G5 to the possession of my client. I'm also done with my other translation part-time! Yeepee..

Right after I was done with work and everything, I went car-hunting this weekend. After months of procrastinating and not landing a sweet deal, I was desperate to nab one. It's just too inconvenient not only for my cousin but also other friends as well.

After test-driving a couple of cars and bargaining with the dealer, I finally purchased a Camry. The car is still in pretty good condition as the engine is so silent that you won't know it's even running at all. It feels pretty liberating to be independent once again and not depend on others =)

Nevertheless I really appreciate my friends' help in searching for a right car, giving me rides, offering advice and all that jazz. Without them, I'd probably still be sulking and all ^___^ Thank y'all!

And the Oscar goes to...

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to meet with Ang Lee.

As you probably already know (duh..) Ang Lee won the Oscar for Best Director. Taipei Economic and Culture Center decided to hold a special press conferences for all the Chinese media to congratulate and share the joy with him.

Ang Lee came out as an extremely humble man. Although he has an Oscar in hand, he still manages to be amiable and down-to-earth. During the hour-long press conference, he talked a lot about making film, the comparison between his previous hit movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the latest Brokeback Mountain.

Ang Lee requested the media not to take any photos using flash during the press conference because the condition of his eyes is deteriorating as a consequence of continuous camera flashes these past few years. And that is the only regret of his all these years because his eyes are what allows him to continue making beautiful movies.

Ang Lee revealed that he had no way of hiding his obvious disappointment and a tinge of anger when the Oscar for Best Picture was announced. He confessed that he was Crashed, just like the movie that came out as the surprise winner. He stressed that his disappointment was not because he didn't win it but because he felt responsible for all the workers who had worked hard on the film this past year.

He even joked that he was almost expecting it since Brokeback has bagged all the most prestigious awards for the past 6 months and this was the last gem of the lot.

Nevertheless Ang Lee frankly asserted that he would not bow down to making films just for the sake of winning an Oscar. He will continue making movie to his own liking and which he feels best reflect societal issues. He revealed the secret to his success is to stay true to yourself and find your own path.

What an amazing director...

Lost...

It's been a week since I lost my wallet.

It's been such an ordeal trying to gather all my essential lost documents once more.

Credit cards are actually no big deal since the credit card companies sends a new card in such a lightning speed that before I can say l-o-s-t, my spanking new card is already in my mailbox.

Cash is not a big deal either since I normally don't carry a lot of cash with me anyways. I just wished someone would be kind-hearted enough to send me back my cards.

The most inconvenient of all is my driver's license. It would be fine if I were still living in the place I orginally applied the card. Nevertheless, I have moved for who-knows-how-many times since then. But it's still worth a try to get it since I'm almost out of ideas...Long story =(

So moral of the story, check all your belongings every once in awhile. You might think 'duh..', but let me tell you this, I used to think that way as well. I never thought I would lose my wallet because I deeply believe that I am not that kind of person who would lose something as important as this.

Even til now, I still have absolutely no clue where and how I loss my wallet because I vividly remember when was the last time I used my wallet and where I went during the period I lost it.

Be warned~