An analogy that i like to use to describe making plans (the kind where you fit events into a timeline) is to say that it's like solving a puzzle. you have so much time, and the activities that you'd like to do in that given time. sometimes it's easy - planning things according to proximity in the case of making a travel itinerary. other times, it's more challenging, because there are certain conditions that have to be fulfilled, like "i can't progress to event C without doing event A, which must be done 3 days within completing event B"...that kind of thing. sadly, plan UK kind of falls into the challenging category.

but before i elaborate on that, i just wanted to digress to say that i was told a not-nice piece of news that's unfolding back in singapore. not going to say what it is for the privacy of those concerned, also because i'm not directly affected and was told to keep details to myself. anyway, the person who told me the news finished with, "surprised, right?" due to the gravity of the situation and to spare a thought for the person's feelings, i held back my initial response of "no, not really". of course, this could be the hindsight talking, but i've always thought that this particular thing was a matter of "when" more than "if". and while i didn't and wouldn't wish for it to happen, the signs were too strong to ignore. anyway, the fact is that it's happened, and i hope all parties involved receive satisfaction/closure.

coming back to the puzzle that is my UK visa application, i was recently made aware of a subreddit of people applying for this visa. turns out that the UK started this visa in 2022! i guess that's somewhat mollifying, although i could have applied for it earlier. but well, better late than never. on the subreddit, someone told me that i could only specify an intended date of entry within 3 months of the day i submitted my visa application. from there, i'd get a visa sticker (they call it a vignette) which would only be valid for 90 days from the intended date of entry (aka. visa start date). so, this means that i have up to 6 months (5.5 months to be safe) to enter the UK from the day i submit the application. and if i want to enter as late as possible, i should apply as late as possible without missing the most important deadline of 31 december this year, because that's the 5-year anniversary of my degree.

the other slight issue is that i need to prove that i'm a legal resident of the country from which i'm applying. ordinarily, that wouldn't be a problem...except that my japan visa will expire in late november. so the 2 options i have here are (1) apply before the expiry date, which would lead to a shorter buffer time, or (2) apply after extending my japan visa. there is a third option of taking like, a month's leave and going back to singapore to complete the application there, but it's also the most unpredictable.

on a related aside, i've also begun the process of extending my japan visa. FINALLY got the card reader to work thanks to the IT resource person, reset my password, and managed to access the site today. got a feel for what they were asking, but they didn't allow me to save the application halfway, which sucked. the next step is to prepare my supporting documents, as well as passport photo. from what i've gathered, i need to submit a copy of my existing residence card, passport, contract, and some tax document that shows my annual gross income and tax payable. seems simple enough. my end date will get an automatic 2-month extension once i submit the application, so i shouldn't face any overstaying issues. the problem might be communicating that to the UK side, especially if there's a delay...but we'll see. reminder to self: have to plan to renew my driver's license too.

putting all that together, the timeline seems to be:

within this or next week - submit japan visa extension

1 month later (?) - get results

mid-october, after visa extension - renew driver's license

mid-late december - send in UK application (applying to UK firms throughout all this)

sometime in december - singapore trip (either completely before or after UK application)

??? - prepare to leave japan

may/june-ish - prepare to move to UK

this plan has some wiggle room in when i want to leave japan. if i wanted to maximize my money earned, i'd work until maybe a week or two from my UK entry deadline, then take a short stay in singapore before going over. an alternate idea is stopping JET this year as planned (or in january?), then going back to singapore to job hunt. if i land a job, i can choose not to enter the UK and swallow the money lost in the visa application process, or to activate my visa and treat it as a glorified holiday visa. after all, the visa doesn't come with minimum requirements for how long i have to stay in the UK each year. the annoying thing is that if a UK company asks me to follow their typical calendar of a september start, it means 3 or more months lost on my total visa lifespan.

should IP not work out in the UK for whatever reason, i was also considering doing a chemist job in the UK for a year, then applying for australian PR based on that work experience. it'll delay plan IP by at least a year or two, but perhaps that would be better in the long run? as i've mentioned before, i can't apply for australian PR with work experience in the IP industry, but i can with experience as a chemist. i'm starting to realize that if i want to move countries like this, i should start keeping better documentation. small digression: if i was given a choice between UK or australian PR, i'd probably take australian, simply because it's closer to singapore! strangely, japan PR doesn't entice me any more. well, it's a lesson learnt. and also probably because i can come in so easily on a tourist visa.

it occurred to me that i haven't seriously sat down to work out the cost of moving to the UK. there's utilities (including this thing called council tax - estate maintenance costs, i believe?), rent, phone, food, transport, furnishings, and other things that i probably haven't thought of. even though working in japan has boosted my savings significantly, i need to think long-term and not blow through my available money. i did some searches on airbnb and booking.com for places to rent, and i think the cheapest i saw was the equivalent of SGD800 a month? granted, those may not have been the best sites to search, but i think they give a good ballpark figure. perhaps i'll try other sites/avenues closer to the move.

for now, i'll stick to the plan and apply for more jobs. thinking of just responding to the law firm's job ad, to see if anything will come out of it. will probably contact one of my reserve (aka. not first few choices) firms, and i'm also waiting on a possible lead from one of the JETs. reminder again, that although time is limited, it's not down to the wire yet. i have buffer time, so i shouldn't panic excessively. job ads come up later in the UK anyway!

-random thought of the day: Stay calm.-