~ A ToPSy TuRVy & TiZzY TAzZy WorLD ~

Welcome all to a small corner in the cyber land I call my own! Come into my Topsy Turvy & Tizzy Tazzy world... All bored netizens of cyber land, with nothing much to do, please enter...

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Name: ivanny
Location: Singapore

Aka Vanny / Catboi / Pufferfish / Mushroom! Don’t ask me why (because I’m not telling) *secret* A highly confident individual. I’m abit crazy, mad, insane, mental & looney- altogether I’m super Ding Dong! I’m scary, stubborn & very straightforward; & loving it! Loves animals to death, especially cats (My darlings: Topsy, Turvy & Tizzy). I hate people who abuse animals / abandon their pets. I especially hate hypocrites, backstabbers & snobbish people. Don’t like to discriminate / look down on people just because they are different- unless you prove otherwise! I’m short. Don’t even try asking (how tall?). I’m addicted to taking pictures of myself & everyone else, including my pets. You can say I’m narcissistic, but I’m really not into myself. I’m often misunderstood upon first impressions but it always changes for the better after people get to know me. I’m not an attention-seeking “media whore”. I’ve done my fair share of crazy antics that others won’t think I’d do. Music is my life! No music, no life- a little songwriting & horrible singing. Loves ice cream & chocolate- My weakness! Can go on & on but I think I’d spare you the unglamourous details.

Monday, July 06, 2009

first day of intern in aussie

Today was my first day at internship. Kind of a refreshing feeling, because it is the first time I have worked in an all ang moh (read: Caucasian) environment. I tell you, the feeling is extremely different. For starters, my colleagues are really nice and funny people.

The morning started really cold. I almost froze to death. gosh! I was freezing as I made my way to the bus stop, and then to the train station at 7am. Had to bathe at 6am, so you can imagine how cold it was. Seriously, the journey is damn far. It took me about 1.5 hours to arrive in the morning, not forgetting the 15 minutes mad rush I did from the train station to the office premises. Seriously, if I have to brisk walk (almost jogging) for 15 minutes every morning for 5 months, I think I can lose weight. (If I walked at normal pace, then it will take me 30 minutes.) Yea, and then after work I have to walk another 30 minutes back to the station. How nice.

The moment I stepped into the office, I was almost dying. And I made it just on the dot, at 8.30am.

And then I had lab safety induction, where I was asked to do an open book quiz the very moment I stepped in. Haha… My brain was still asleep and not registering anything at first, but I guessed I snapped out of it after a while. The whole day pretty much passed with nothing much to do, since it was my first day. It was introductions the whole way through. And I totally regretted not bringing LONG THICK socks. Seriously people, if you are required to wear brand new safety boots at work, I advise you to buy some nice woolly socks that cover all the way to midway of your calf. Because those damn shoes will bite into your skin like they hadn’t eaten for a gazillion years. My whole calf is full of blisters and abrasions right now. Imagine me walking around with a bit of a limp the whole day because of that. Thank God no one noticed, or rather, maybe they just didn’t ask me what’s going on. I made a mental note to bring a pair of long socks for tomorrow, apart from the ankle length ones that I normally wear with my walking shoes.

I hope tomorrow would be an even better day. They mentioned that they’d be discussing my project with me when I come in, first thing in the morning. I can’t wait!

And yes, plenty of pastries and cakes to eat. I had this raspberry and white chocolate muffin, and brought home 6 to share with my housemates (and for breakfast tomorrow morning). And those muffins weren’t even selling in the market yet. How lucky of me!

And yea, I left 1.5 hours earlier than I should today, because the supervisor allowed me to. And then it took me another 2 hours to get home, for some reason it took longer than when I was going to work in the morning.

Alright, gotta sleep early or else I won’t be able to wake up tomorrow.
Nitez peeps!
Ciao!!!

P / S: I gave away 2 of my muffins to complete strangers because they kept staring at my muffins when we were in the train. They were sitting directly opposite (facing) me, and kept making movies of my muffins in their heads. I couldn’t stand the staring and asked them if they wanted one, just to stop the staring. (They almost burned a hole through me can!) They unceremoniously nodded their heads, took one each and gobbled it down in front of me. Then one of them even returned the dirty muffin cup to me after eating. How rude and lacking of initiative. People give you yummy food already still want people to throw your rubbish for you. Idiot! And best of all, after eating, they continued to stare, as if I would give them another one. I just took my book out to read and ignored those bastards. How ungrateful!~ If I had known, I might as well have kept those 2 muffins for my other lovely friends lah. What a regret! Another mental note made in my head.

Thursday, July 02, 2009

virgin (brisbane) clubbing experience

The Group... (from left) Hui Min (China), me, & Eeling, Alex, Ler, Alvin (Malaysia). Met some other friends at the club too, but didn't have a camera to take a picture at that point.

Went to a club called Family a couple of nights ago (29th June 2009) with a couple of friends for the Klub Kandy Dance Party. Ummm… The clubbing scene there is just alright. Seriously, the experience wasn’t totally as exciting as I thought it would be. Super lots of Asians I must say. I could almost count the number of non-asians with both hands.
The Guys... For some reason, the girls didn't take pictures.

Music, is the utmost important factor in a club. However, my friends and I just thought that the club lacked a little of an oomph in terms of its dance music. Ironically, we even went to a specially organised DANCE party, thus, I cannot imagine what the music would be like during normal times. The house beats were horribly mixed and overused, I must say. That is in my own opinion though. I thought they kept replaying the same beats over and over again, so much so that every single song felt the same. If they were going for consistency, then probably they succeeded; although, to me, it sounded more repetitive than consistent.

Random Shots (not by me)... There is the interior of the club, the DJs, & the random dancers that appeared on stage for a short while. Pictures are blur due to lighting & laser.


In the premise, there were 3 levels. Level 1 was the main House / Trance music dance floor. That was where all the repetitive music I was talking about earlier came from. Level 2 was lounge area where you get to sit or stand around to observe the level 1 dance floor, while you drink. This was also the reception area where you would enter directly from the main doors. Level 3 was my favourite, where they play mostly R&B dance remixes. The music flow here is what I would rather call consistent. However, I think they need to update their music more often. The only current tune I heard the whole of last night was probably Beyonce’s Single Ladies, which lasted for like 3 minutes or less. The other music played was probably from a gazillion years ago.


Level 1 Dance Floor... Interesting enough, this picture showed alot of ang mohs, which is not a true representation of the proportion.


In terms of music, I would give it 3 out of 10.

The variety of drinks there I can’t comment since I didn’t drink much. However, I must say it’s the first time I’ve seen beer in a club. (Maybe it is because I didn’t pay attention in the past when I was in Singapore. Maybe it could also be because of my preference for vodka based drinks that I neglected the beers in the past.) And since this was my virgin trip to a club in Brisbane, I can’t compare the prices between the different Brisbane clubs as well. However, judging by the prices (without currency conversion), I would say the drink prices were comparable with Singapore’s very own clubbing scene. Taste wise, I would say my Vodka Lime was extremely pleasing on the palate. It wasn’t overly strong, alcoholic wise, and they even took the effort to crush the lime properly. However, this is not a good thing for those who crave for strong tasting vodka mixes eh? But I like my vodka this way, thus, I shall be bias here. Oh they even have a choice of soda water or carbonated water (or something along the line).

For the drinks I had, I would give it 7 out of 10.

Interest wise, I would say the club is stay-able only for about 3 hours or so. First of all, there weren’t many people around. Possibly because it’s a Monday night. Then again, I would say the lack of people is also due to the high turnover rate, where people come and go every single second. Also, just to note, I was told by a friend that on a good day, the queue can actually go down 3 streets. Thus, I guess I just went on a bad day. Haha… Also to note, when I say there weren’t enough people, I don’t mean sparse existence of the human kind within the club premises. I just meant that it wasn’t packed to the brim, where everyone danced like sardines in a can. I guess I am biased here again. I just prefer to club in an extremely crowded club, where people actually bump into each other while dancing. Haha… I think it is more “high” this way. No?

The Banana's Toilet... Someone (I can't remember who) wanted to go to the toilet, but didn't know which was the gents. One look and I told him that it's obviously the banana! Like Duh!~ I have no idea why females are represented by a coconut though. The breasts?


Overall, I would rate my clubbing experience at the club (Family- Klub Kandy Dance Party) 6 out of 10. By the way, I am rating my experience, not the club’s competence. So, that about sums up my virgin trip to an Aussie club.

Oh yes, if you’re hungry after clubbing, I saw a 24 hours McDonalds and another Kebabs & Pizzas place just a street away. There are also tons of taxis parked along the streets for clubbers’ convenience.

Then again, I get pissed talking about taxis, as I was extremely pissed off with our cab driver last night. That fucking bloody bugger just had be a spoiler for a wonderful day. He was rude, obnoxious, and extremely irritating. He was rude because he told me that he knew the St. Lucia surburb very well and didn’t need me to direct him; when I offered to direct him as we approached the vicinity as he seemed totally confused. (I mean, who wouldn’t be confused since we have 3 different streets to go to as all of us live on different streets around the same area.) And he was very rude and blatant when he said that. He was obnoxious because he switched on his Punjab radio station when all of us were conversing with each other (obviously in Mandarin since we didn’t want him to know what we were talking about). He was extremely irritating (cum rude) because he didn’t reply us when we asked him stuff; stuff such as do you understand the directions that I just told you; etc. He even refused to stop when we told him to, and went almost one street ahead, and stopped only when my friend shouted at him rudely. Bloody fucker should just go back to India if he is not happy being a cab driver can!!! (By the way I am not being racist when I say he should go back to India. I’m saying that because he is obviously and coincidentally from India. If he was from Singapore or China, I would say the same thing albeit a change of location. Just to inform, most of my very close and good friends are INDIANSSS, so the fucker who say that I am racist should just go eat shit and die. And fuck off, that is.) I think it is because of such people who spoil the reputation of their own nationality / race, thus, there is always this racism issue. Damn, I should have taken a picture of his fucking mug!!! Then again, I scared the camera lens crack.


P / S: Don't expect me to dress up for clubbing. I have no idea why some people bother to dress up, only to feel restricted at the club. I mean, some clothes are just not suitable or comfortable for dancing and drinking in a confined premise. Also, I think if you have it, then you have it. You can be striking even if you don't dress to the nines overly.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

expression VS interpretation

I was called insensitive and mean by a friend because I typed on MSN:

“Yea, I guess he is an “uglier” version of Elvin Ng, with just a slight resemblance?

OR was it:

“Yea, I guess he is an “uglier” version of Elvin Ng, with just a slight resemblance.

(I can’t remember the last punctuation.)

Insensitive because that friend thought I had said that this person was UGLY.

However, in my own personal opinion, I don’t think I was insensitive, and that I did NOT imply that the person was ugly.

Point 1:
Because in terms of an English expression, uglier doesn’t mean ugly. For example: This flower is uglier than that other flower, probably in terms of colour or pattern. But ultimately, both flowers are not ugly. Just not as pretty in context of being compared. It is just like me saying that I am fat on my blog. But does that mean that I am truly fat? Maybe I am, since in my own standards, as well as amongst my group of friends (you skinny bitches!!!), I am considered plus size. Maybe not, since I am certainly not the fattest bastard on earth. Now now, did I really mean that all my friends are bitches with the above sentence? Or, did I just call myself a bastard literally? No? why not? But I did put it into the sentence, and some more no inverted commas wor. So how? Right!~ For those reading, get my meaning from this example? No? Then read on…

Point 2:
In English punctuation terms, “ugly” (inverted commas, aka quotation mark) just mean the opposite in terms of the word it encloses. No? (Click HERE for some English lessons; specifically search for the part on “quotation mark”.) If not, what are inverted commas for? Decoration? (Well, it would be decoration if it wasn’t taken into account when put together.) Talking about punctuation, like I said before, they are there for different purposes. Like my example in the “insensitive” sentence I wrote above, I couldn’t decide whether I had put a question mark or a full stop at the end of the sentence. However, why am I so uptight about that? Well, because a question mark and a full stop interprets differently. I want the truest representation for what I write on this blog, thus, I need to clarify my lack of memory on that part. So, case in point of view, a question mark would mean I am asking a question back whether my statement was true, while a full stop would mean that that was my statement without further questions. However, even then, both sentences still don’t imply that I have called someone ugly. Maybe just not as good looking as Elvin Ng. No?

Point 3:
The issues on interpretation. Who can we blame? The interpreter or the writer? The interpreter who interpreted the sentence in a certain direction, without being forced to. The writer who could have chosen a better substitute word. Who then? In my opinion, I say the writer is not at fault. Because first of all, what are punctuations and the different methods of description in the power of the English language for? That is to further signify the direct difference between 2 similar terms, ain’t it? If not, why are those invented for? Fault the interpreter??? Can the writer be blamed for the interpreter’s sensitivity or lack of direct interpretation? Thus, the question here is, who is in the wrong? The writer’s lack of use of a different word, or the interpreter’s lack of understanding towards what was written? In my opinion, it is ambiguous, where both can be faulted. As in like, why must you choose that word? Or, why must you interpret it that way (are you being too sensitive)? However, I do know that in terms of an academic examination, the wrong interpretation just means you answered wrongly, and thus, fail. Can we say that the author of the textbook shouldn’t have written it that way? Could we have asked the writer of the published text or the lecturer to have expressed the term using a different word? I don’t think so.

Point 4:
Then, comes the issue of writing as a form of art. Isn’t interpretation a form of art as well? When a painter showcases a piece of painted canvas, isn’t the true form of art being in both the skill of the painter, as well as the difference in interpretations of the canvas? So in expression and interpretation, aren’t both an art on the same line? If you say choosing of words is an art, I would say interpretation of the word is also an art. Isn’t it so in this context? Thus, instead of faulting the writer, why not fault yourself for your own interpretation?

And then on a side note, does saying that someone should have interpreted something differently = saying someone is stupid??? Does it even inter-relate? Interpretation of a different direction, I would say is proportional to saying, initial MISINTERPRETATION. However, what does stupidity have to do with misinterpretation? If that is the case, then the whole wide world is stupid, since everyone has differing points of views of the same things. No?

Point 5:
Question on whether I could have chosen a different word? Like what? “Not as good looking as”, “Not as handsome”, “Below average compared to XXX”, “Lacking of compared to XXX”, “Handsome but not as handsome as XXX”; etc. Don’t all these phrases have negative connotations as well? If you say they are more sensitive and/or less hurtful, who made that rule to say that it is less damaging? I think it is just in the mind of the beholder, which is not my problem as a writer but your problem as an interpreter. No? So rather than 3 to 4 words, why not just one word? Besides, what other more polite ONE-worded words could I have used to replace the word uglier? I can’t think of any, because in the first place, it isn’t even a word. Ugly is a word, not uglier (it’s a one word phrase by itself).

Point 6:
I have many other points to make my point but I am too lazy to write on such an insignificant thing. The entry is already overly long too. Besides, like I said before, I make no apologies or explanation for what I write. So stuff it! Bottom line is, I stand by what I write. I think the most important point is that I made clear that calling someone ugly or whatever other similar negative connotations with previous writings is not my true intention. It is better than being sneaky and lying about the true intention after writing or saying something, just to put oneself in a good positive light.

I do apologize for the misinterpretation though; HOWEVER, I do NOT apologize for my usage of vocabulary and punctuation. Because I feel that words and punctuation have been justified in black and white, over the years, for its command in the English language as well as the connotations it brings forward.

On another side note, it was said that my apology (for my expression of the sentence) was accepted in due of gentlemanliness. However, there was no clue of true gentlemanliness where a reciprocal apology for the misinterpretation was non-existent. So, my question is, does that count for gentlemanly behaviour?

So what say you people? What is your take on this issue? (I certainly encourage comments for this, however, if you didn’t read the entry fully due to its length, or if you just want to give a fucking CB comment, better think twice with your fucking brains. For your information, all nonsense comments will be deleted, so don’t waste your fucking time and mine. Ummm… Then again, who am I kidding. If a person didn’t read fully and decide to give a fucker of an answer, would not see this final note, ain’t it? Haha…)

P / S: Elvin Ng’s name is being used in this blog entry because prior to this, it was mentioned by the friend on MSN that the “someone” looks A BIT like Elvin Ng, but not quite because he has got his own style. Elvin Ng’s name was used not because I randomly pulled out a name from a bag.

P / P / S: I am writing this blog entry not because I am angry, or not because I am bitchy and want to put that friend in question down. I am writing this entry because I want to let everyone reading this understand that in a write up or speech, you often don’t get the whole picture (especially in the case of writing, because of the lack of expression of emotions in the words used or a lack of insight on the writer’s facial expression while writing), unless you know the person very well. Like how I was discussing with another friend, a simple phrase of “What? I have always been vulgar what.” can be meant menacingly or can be meant in a “just saying” attitude.

P / P / P / S: By not knowing all the above said English commandments also does not make you bad at the language. Often than not, someone who is inclined in the English language tend to oversee such minor details, compared to someone else who isn’t as well inclined. That is because English-pros tend to think too much. Why they think too much? Because they are so good that they tend to be able to come up with several different connotations to a sentence, where most are not wrong. For example, saying that quotation marks mean that the word in between is the direct opposite of its actual meaning, does “uglier” mean that you’re handsome (in fact, even more handsome, since uglier means uglier than ugly), or does it just mean that you’re not ugly at all???

Thursday, June 25, 2009

what am i gonna do?

The sudden burst of free time is so overwhelming; I have no idea what to do with it. I think I am going to hole up in my room, light some aroma therapy oil, tuck myself under my blanket, and read a book. Like just chill. It’s been ages since I last had time to even feel the waxy covers of my books. They were just sitting there collecting dust, and waiting for me to pick them up and stroke their pages seductively.

Lately, I've got so many unpublished entries. Not that I’ve regretted and don’t want to publish them anymore, but the feeling is no longer there. Like what Juliana had mentioned on her blog, about her deleting entries that she thought was inappropriate after publishing. Mine's a different case. I have tons of half written entries lying around the laptop desktop. The reason why they would never see the light of day is because I’ve lost the emotions I had while writing the entries. I think it would be meaningless to post them, ‘cause then, they would not be reflecting my true emotion at the very moment. The sad, angry, or emo entries are just there, wasting space (plus the tons of complaints I had over the past 6 months). Happy entries, with pictures, would definitely be posted though.

I think I have to tidy up my laptop and portable hard drive already. That is, after I clean up my filthy room and toilet (everything was totally neglected during the whole semester). Ummm… Yea, I have a whole pile of clothes to fold too. Haha… Gosh! Totally not looking forward to that.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

it's over

Alas, everything is over. The last paper wasn’t that much of a prick. Thank goodness… Made some major mistakes or else I would have scored a distinction or something.

It’s time to party before the results arrive hot out of the oven.

Woohoo…

P / S: How I wish I can go back home for the short vacation. All my friends are back home in Singapore, Malaysia, China; wherever but here. How envious!~

cold cold day

It is friggin’ cold today. It is sooo misty outside right now, I have trouble getting back into reality. I still think I am in dreamland lah.

I hate studying during winter though. Singaporeans are always so hard up for winter they don’t realise that winter is only shiok if it’s a vacation, not when you live in the place. I hate it when someone says to me “Wah shiok hor, Australia now winter! Singapore sooo hottt.” Grrr… They have no idea how difficult it is to study when it’s so damn cold all the time. And when you switch on the heater, it is too stuffy and hot. And Singapore is hot? Gosh, you have yet to experience summer anywhere around the world. Trust me!~

I couldn’t sleep at all last night. I mean I did sleep for 2 hours because I was just too tired to go on. And then I woke up at 3.30am and studied all the way till now. Oh man! Hopefully, everything is safe and sound in my squishy brain. I can’t wait to sleep my fill later today!!!

Juliana and Kookyplum, Paddington any time PLEASE!!!! Weekday or weekend???

I need to enjoy before the dreaded 2nd of July (results day!!!). Grrr… You know what my housemate Isabel and I were discussing yesterday? It is this:

“Australia is so slow in everything. BUT when it comes to exam results, they are like a bolt of lightning.”

Another bad exam today, and I would seriously have to slit my wrist. Not literally though. Lol...

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

horrors

I officially declare this the worst exams I have taken in my entire life. Seriously? How about fail 2 out of 2 taken; with 1 more difficult one coming up? Grrr!!! I think I’ve broken my personal record; never fail means never fail, once fail then fail all together. Gosh! Anyway I am definitely not the only one breaking that record this semester. So be it lah. Sianz…

I wonder what is up with the lecturers this semester.

Apparently this year’s Chemical Food Analysis paper was deemed the hardest in years to come by everyone. Looked through all the past year papers and they were shit compared to our paper today.

Having just one question worth 120 marks totally didn’t help matters. (There was 5 part questions; each worth more than 20 marks. And all 5 parts are connected. So if you don’t know part a, say goodbye to parts b, c, d, e.)

Seriously, no one I spoke to had finished the paper. And best of all, most of us didn’t do the last 3 parts, which was worth more than 60 marks. So you can imagine how bad most of our grades would be. Damn it lah... What a waste of my time. Some more paper so late than start; 5.45pm to 7.55pm. Almost fell asleep can.

One piece of good news is, the lecturer mentioned that he would moderate our grades if everyone did badly. But then again, how much can he fucking moderate? Cannot be fail then moderate to become credit (5) or distinction (6) right? I am sooo over it already. I have another exam tomorrow. I better study extra hard for tomorrow’s paper, or else I would have to say goodbye to a good class of Honours.

Haiz…
So irritated now! Ok, don’t want to talk liao. Thank God my mum was quite supportive when I told her to not buy her air tickets to Brisbane for my year end graduation. I totally told her i might be repeating, and all she said was "do your best". -Make me feel even more guilty only.-

Ciao!

P / S: Don’t say I didn’t fucking study, because this is an open book examination. Failure does not equate to a lack of studying (or whatever studying in the right way blah blah; because if I didn’t study in the right way, then I don’t know where all the fucking distinctions and credits I got in the past came from).

P / P / S: And for those who want to say that open book examinations are easy, go fuck yourself. If it’s so damn easy then how come almost the WHOLE class cannot finish the paper?

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