"Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself." - Charlie Chaplin

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Things to do before I go

It's been confirmed. I start work in Shanghai on June 16th.
Things I need to do, in no order of importance, from now till then.

1. Clean up the mess that is my room, go through my wardrobe, chuck clothes I don't wear anymore, figure out what I'll need for Shanghai, decide what I should buy here before I go, and what I should buy when I get there.

2. Sort out my bills, filing and tax forms (gawd, how I hate doing this every year).

3. Collect debts, pay off debts (the ones I can anyway).

4. Pay for the airconds for my Saffron apartment before the month is out.

5. Plan how to consolidate my unit trust investment and find out from insurance agent how far my policy covers me abroad (call both unit trust and insurance agents).

6. Go to EPF, withdraw from Account 2 and dump money in housing loan to reduce monthly payments. Check EPF beneficiary names, just in case.

7. Train for A Formosa Triathlon.

8. Plan how to ship my stuff over to Shanghai - books, bike et al.

9. Set up my own domain name, get a webhost and transfer my blog to www.wandernut.com, because all free blogsites are blocked in China.

10. Get air ticket.

11. Try to do a last ditch decent campaign in current agency before I go.

12. Plan for Sunshine's well-being while I'm away.

13. Catch up with friends.

14. Put all utility bills at home on auto debit to credit card.

15. Arrange for auto debit for car loan and home loan.

16. Go for trip to Bangkok with D, LY and FH.

17. A long weekend with D and another with LY.

18. Spend more time at home with folks and Sunshine.

19. Get a new smaller laptop and configure current laptop to make it more user-friendly for folks (and teach them how to Skype).

20. Do homework on new agency (check out their current and past work)

21. Fix my camera.

22. Find out when I'll be getting the keys for Saffron, appoint real estate agent to rent out apartment.

23. Get broadband sorted out for the pouting rooster.

24. Make sure car is in decent condition (car is at the workshop to replace all my balding tyres as I type), get mom used to driving my car, and hopefully clear her of road phobia by the time I go.

25. Claim all my credit card reward points before they expire (yes, I kiasu hahaha)

26. Brief brother what to do in A, B and C scenarios.


Things to buy before I go:

1. A new pair of jeans (I have a comfy pair that makes me look like slob, and a one that's too tight I can't wear them anymore).

2. A decent jacket for cooler weather in autumn. I'll get winter wear when I get there.

3. A portable hard-disk.

4. A good suitcase (I usually travel with a backpack or a cheap roller suitcase that has since fallen apart).

5. Some OTC medicines like Panadol, flu meds, tummy meds etc (they say in China, you never know if the stuff you get are genuine)

6. Spices, belacan, stuff that will help me feel less homesick, food wise.

7. My skincare stuff, and toiletries to last me for the first couple of weeks.

8. New laptop. Thinking of the Dell XPS 13.3" (2G HD). For the same price I could get a Sony Vaio (1G HD). Hmmmm. Shucks.

9. A Chinese - English dictionary.

10. Some decent clothes. Apparently in Shanghai, appearances matter and I can't go to work looking like a slob anymore. Dammmit!!!! DAMMMMMMMIITTTT!!!


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9 wandered by:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am SOOOOOOSOSOSOSOSOSOSO proud of you, nart.

Lemme share with you some stuff on shipping and moving. :)

Shipping and Freight management:
We used Abda, link here: http://www.abda-excessbaggage.com/
They partner with DHL and they are slightly more expensive but reliable and pretty good service. And fast!

Jeans:
Skinny jeans is in, don't tell me you cannot wear but i would say don't buy because skinny jeans is a fad thing that I see might go out soon. Stick with 577s. They're expensive but it's a damn good cut and if you'll be wearing boots for winter, it'll look damn nice.

Shoes:
No more crocs. Go buy a decent pairof boots. I read somewhere M&S is having a moving sale in 1U. check it out. They have very decent and sturdy-walkable boots. Don't get Lewre. They're pieces of overpriced shit.

Meds:
Good choice. Toss in a lipbalm while you're at it too. And body lotion.

Toiletries:
Strawberrynet is good for online purchases, remember? You don't have to cart your liquids and stuff over. But, bring enough just to tie you over until you are more settled to shop. Aiyah, got sephora in shanghai la, just walk in and check it out la. Hee hee.

Work clothes:
G2000 has very nice suits but kinda expensive. I spent about 400 on my jacket & pants but they fit me very well. Alternatively for shirts, you can check out this parkson-owned brand called nicole, i got some pretty standard white shirts from them. G2blue also has casual jackets for weekend wear kinda thing. You'd be surprised that there are many nice work clothes found within Parkson or Jusco too. I bought a few work dresses from Jusco.

Babe, shanghai is a shopper's paradise, don't have to worry.

When can jen and i leech accomodations from you? hee hee

6:15 am  
Blogger drownedglass said...

Darling, you make it sound like you only own two pairs of jeans! OMG?

So about the mess in your room - pick out everything you want to bring, and leave everything else there for your mom to throw out and clean up :P

And yes, Shanghai's the fashion capital of China and people there are pretty hip. Well, as hip as one can be while peddling around on one of those classic-style bicycles. Hehe

9:29 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yay! It's finally happening! Good on you!

Yeap, Shanghai is the fashion capital, so no more T-shirts & jeans for you! Unless of course, you start a new fad... lol.

*big hug*

7:38 am  
Blogger The Editor said...

damn, u will be able to enjoy the olympic there. Say hi to Jackie Chan ;-)

Jokes aside, proud of u to have the guts to go abroad

8:08 am  
Blogger Lumos Maxima said...

going for good?

8:45 am  
Blogger adriene said...

for the chinese-english dictionary, you could get a nintendo ds lite, and buy the chinese dictionary software. very useful for drawing chracters which you don't know and it spits out the meaning and eng translation. comes with chinese character games to help you remember them too. on the luxury side for a dictionary but...

5:59 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

u're leaving on my birthday...


sunshine - better list out what stuff i can't feed her. cos my parents will probably fatten her up by your next visit.

-SM-

6:51 pm  
Blogger Wandernut said...

Geek: Wow. That's a load of info! :) Thanks alot. Accomodation - anytime after I'm settled in. Most likely getting a 1br place though... but hahaha, you guys can take the room when you visit. I'll make sure I get some comfy foldable mattresses.

Drownedglass: Errr... errr... (yes). A comfy pair of Esprit and a too-tight pair of Levis. That's 2. But I do have another pair of corduroys. They're comfy, not exactly trendy and I've had them since uni! :) I'm a cheapskate when it comes to clothes and cosmetics.

Rin: Thanks. Hmmmm... it's gonna be hard. Very hard. HAHAHAHAHAAH.

Big Mac: Thanks dude. We squeeze in a few more rides before I go!!

Lumos: No lah... 2 years max la. Just to rendam air masin and try try something new.

Adriene: Wow... Gulp. We'll see how my finances go, but the DSlite does sound like a real nifty gadget. Though I'm not really a gadget kinda girl.

7:05 pm  
Blogger Wandernut said...

SM: Oh nooooo... we must have a pre-birthday thing before I go then. Will do up a Sunshine manual before I go ;)

7:09 pm  

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