Combo breaker time! so far, every post this month has been about cheating and the subsequent fallout. so today, i'll blog about going house-hunting and another interesting errand scary JC friend asked me to do.

errand first. she's helping her friend sell his house, and she needed better photos. so, she asked me to help "stage" the house, which is basically hiding messes from view to take flattering photos of individual rooms. it was...a chore, that's what it was. and it also reminds me not to let too much stuff accumulate, lest i face that problem in the future. seems like the universe is pushing me towards the minimalist direction. come to think of it, i should do a massive clearance when i move out of sengkang.

house viewing next. we saw 3 flats today, one 3-room and two 4-room. so far, the 3-room flat is in the lead, as far as preference goes. the 4-room places are just too big! and not only that, they're expensive too. if i were to go for a 4-room flat, getting tenants appears to be mandatory to help with the mortgage. or maybe we just didn't find one that resonated with us. anyway, i'm ok with a 3-room. as japan has taught me, i actually don't need that much space.

in the 3-room realm, the one we saw was not bad, but my top pick was unavailable for viewing today. still, it's good to have this as a backup. the seller's agent mentioned that renovation was done 2 months ago. brand-new kitchen counters, hobs, flooring, tiles. but i think that i will still need to do another (minor) round of renovation. scary JC friend says due to its age, the unit will most likely require rewiring, which means that i can redo the lighting. it looks so harsh now! i think warmer lights would be nice. and i'll have to install air conditioning too. contemplating hacking the storeroom away, but i hear that's expensive.

based on photos alone, the top pick looks more up my alley. the layout is also better - it's a mirror image of the one we saw today. colour scheme looks brighter, although the bathroom tiles are what i'd call "garish". more importantly, the storeroom was already hacked out, meaning that it looks more open-plan. the kitchen looks well outfitted, even coming with an oven! maybe it's my bias speaking, and that i haven't viewed it in person yet, but i am heavily inclined towards it. but even if i manage to snag the one i viewed today, i wouldn't count it as a loss. assuming that i have an equal chance to get both, the choice then comes down to whether i should take my less-preferred one and have a larger budget for renovation, or take my more-preferred one and do minimal modifications. that's something i'll figure out when the time comes. deep down, i know my answer already, but circumstances may force my hand either way.

IP week is on tuesday and wednesday, and it's at MBS! so i have to dress fancy (ugh) and head down. dress code aside, i'm actually looking forward to it. an excuse to not do work while being at work, plus getting to meet some old connections (assuming they're going). just trying to figure out the logistics of spending a couple of nights at the marine parade flat. i should also slowly start packing the rest of my stuff. don't want to leave any important stuff behind, after all.

-random thought of the day: Remember passport!-