Ok, this is a long and overdued update. But whatever.

Took my final paper exam in NTU. Of course this sem is not without its fair share of set backs. Firstly, the screwing up the the S/U option. Secondly, I believe I did relatively badly for my core paper to warrant a B-. Im hoping that today's elective might provide me with some leeway. Perhaps a B+/A- would be good. But of course, I am going to expect the very worse. As usual. If all goes well, I would obtain a second uppers for myself. Which is what i have set out to do in the very first place.

So i guess its time to look back and see if i would have done something differently. Yes, even though i believed that should i put in the effort, getting first class is not a big deal. But i decided that there were more things than grades in life. As such, despite being eligible for double specialization, i chose to took all the nonsense elective, all in the name of fun. And not bad, i gotten myself quite a wide range of elective. I did computer science (pong to warcraft), Bio (Bio fiction), Chem (Forensic), Physic (Astronomy), Art (Creative design for ad), Psycology (Crisis managment) and finally, a language (French). All in all, definitely better than java and database programming. However, the only gripe i have with my uni life is the lack of uni life. Of course, it just so happens that i had difficulty clicking with the hall people, which just makes me more withdrawn from them. So i guess, thats my only regret. Not to mention, failure to take part in fun competition just for fun. Apparently my friends are not spotting enough.

Recently tried to apply for a game testing job in Lucas Arts. Well, i din't make the cut. Not that its a big loss to me, but it would definitely had been a fun 2 months should i be able to take up such a job. However, interesting point to note, when the HR called me, they said that they were regret to inform me that they are going to look at other candidates and added that they would contact me should something relevant come up again. This sound totally like jp m0rg4n. Where the HR did the same thing to me. Perhaps its standard protocol. But im pretty sure i won't be receiving any calls from them any time soon. Probably never.

So finally school is out of the way, and i have some stuffs to settle. So let me just note some of the stuff down. Loads of church work to do. 10 anniversary planning X 2, and church finances. Get new computers for church as well. Format my own comp and install the long awaited windows 7. Clean up my room. And tidy up the notes accumulated over the  past 2 years or so. Settle the final itinerary for my taiwan trip. Have some post exam madness. Meet up with people, like KSM.

And yes, i gotten my pay raise. Which is $100 more than the normally offered rate. This means that i can have a take home pay of 2000. I intend to save 700 a month and spent 450 a month. Im not so sure if that is really possible. Maybe someone that is working and is keeping track of her finances can let me know if 450 expenses is reasonable? No utilities fees though, those are paid to my mom from another part of the salary.

Projecting my pay and income for the next 3-4 years, it would seem quite impossible to get myself a house in Toa Payoh. My own house is 300k and its only 66 sqm. Which i guess is too small for some. However, im not in the mind to laden myself with a 30 years loan. So im not exactly sure how should i go about solving the housing problem. Of course, the simplest one would be to sell the current house and get a much bigger one in a less ideal location. But my old folks have grown used to this place, and i don't really have the inclination to uproot them from some place which they had stayed for the past 40 years or so. The second route would be to suck it up and just get an overpriced flat in my area. Of course, this house ultimately will be mine, since im the only child. So it might be viable to undertake the 30 years loan afterall.

Just a rule of thumb to those who want to buy a flat. Your flat should be 5 x of your household salary. Of course, you can be more prudent and peg the price to your salary instead, in case of 1 person deciding to quit to look after the family.

In such financial difficulty, i guess we must learn to be more careful with our own monies. Else someone will blame you for not opening your eyes wide enough!