Life as a medical student #18 The Return

Yes. I've missed you :')

Dear readers, I am back after a six-month hiatus! So many exciting stories happened during this period of time which I wish I could pen it down here. Been through several amazing postings in HKL and HTJS, completed my fourth year of medical school, had wonderful elective attachment at Tzu Chi Hospital in Taiwan, encountered inspiring people along the way, etc etc. I will try to recall and record them down here. While I am busy clearing away the dust here, here's a group picture with my favourite lecturer to put a good end to another good year.

More updates coming up!

花。语

花样年华指间过。
不再是懵懂的年纪，也不再是做梦的花季。
如梭的岁月写下了流离的往昔。
潺潺的生命之河，花开花谢的旅途。
风风雨雨。
点点滴滴。
在心湖里开出了一片涟漪。
逆流而上的思绪，
随风飘起。
在这个花花世界里，
看见了蹉跎的脚印，看见了斑驳的伤疤。
一点一滴，迷乱了眼眶里晶莹的泪花。

明明只是沧海一粟，为什么非得承载那么多的情非得已？

[DIY TUTORIAL] Melted Crayon Art #2 - Happily Ever After

You meet thousands of people and none of them really touch you, 

and then you meet one person and your life is changed forever.

 “Happily ever after is not a fairy tale. It’s a choice.”

-Fawn Weaver

''Happily Ever After''

I grew up believing in fairy tale weddings, princess and happily ever after. Therefore, words cannot describe how happy I am when I know my friend, Audrey is getting married! Feeling so sad that I had to turn down the offer to be one of her bridesmaids, I decided to prepare something for her - it's time to get my crayons out again! She is a TN lover so I customised a card for her to keep in her TN. :)

 You can read about my tutorial HERE. The steps are basically the same! You can play with any colours you like. I used rainbow colours last time, so this time I use red, pink and purple to create the joy and happiness of the newly married couple. :)

Dear Audrey, you are a strong, fearless and caring lady who helped me so much throughout my blogging journey. When I wasn't given a chance, you pulled me up and gave me encouragement.  You are a sister to me. Although we don't get to meet often, I am grateful to have you in my life. May you create your own very special fairy tale. Your own happily ever after. I wish you a lifetime of happiness and love. :)

[DIY TUTORIAL] Melted Crayon Art - Kissing In The Rain

It was Anjanette's 22nd birthday. I ran out of birthday gift ideas for this special girl of mine, then suddenly an idea struck me, why not DIY something for her? That's when I came across this on internet and inspired by it - melted crayon art! If you are looking for a fun, easy, cheap art project, you can't go wrong with this. This is an easy, straightforward project that delivers a lot of graphic impact for not very much effort. Here I put together an easy step by step photo tutorial to help you make one for your own!

WHAT YOU NEED

Drawing paper

BUNCHO Oil Pastels in 24 colours

Hair Dryer

Scissors

Double sided tape

Transparent tape

STEP ONE: Draw

Before you begin, take some time to decide what and where you would like your design to be. I decided to draw a kissing couple under an umbrella. I chose to make my paper sit portrait and my design rest on the right side. Then colour it with colour pencil.

STEP TWO: Prepare

Get your crayons out!

STEP THREE: Arrange

Decide what kind of color spectrum you want to do. I opted for a rainbow palette. You could also do only cool colors, only warm colors, a random assortment, etc. Lay out your crayons along the top edge of your drawing paper.

STEP FOUR: Stick & Tape

Put double sided tape under the crayons. Make sure they stick on the drawing paper. I put an additional layer of transparent tape on top of them to secure them better.

STEP FIVE: Blow!

Cover your work surface in newspaper. You will know why later!

Here comes the fun part - turn on your hair dryer! I started out on strongest hot wind. Focus the heat on the crayons, they melt easily! 

You have to experiment a little to see how your hair dryer works with melting the crayons. If this is your first time, it is better to put it on a low blower setting first, otherwise it will spatter the crayons everywhere. 

The crayons will quickly turn sweaty, then start dripping down the paper. 

Just like the coloured rain. :)

At this point of time, you will have to tilt your drawing paper a little to control how fast the drips go and allow the melted crayon to flow in the way you wish to. Or you could also prop the drawing paper against the wall.

I concentrate on one area at a time, working my way across the drawing paper. It takes 5-10 minutes on each area. It took me about an hour to get all the colours to melt sufficiently. If you are not happy with how far down the crayons melted, you could always go back over the specific area until you get the desired effect.

STEP SIX: Wait for it to dry and voila!

To be honest, I am not satisfied with the finished artwork. :( I didn't expect the crayon painting to be ''brittle'' and part of the crayon to peel off, leaving behind a translucent coloured area on the paper. (See the yellow and green part)

TIPS: To avoid this, don't move the paper until it is COMPLETELY dry!

''Kissing In The Rain''

Nevertheless, I had fun during the process. Picking up crayons make me feel like a kid all over again.  And I am sure you would have fun watching crayons melt with the on switch of a hair dryer, too! :)

Let me know if you'd ever try something like this. What makes you feel like a kid again? What's your favourite DIY project?

Leave a comment below to share with me!

A plain white paper has unlimited possibilities.
Colour yours.

Life as a medical student #2 The lady who inspires me

''What your mind doesn't know, 
your eyes won't see, your ears won't hear, your hands won't feel.''

- Dr Uma Sothinathan

We all look up to strong, independent women. But how do we become one ourselves? There's this one lady - her determination, vision, and strength have always inspired me and is a great example of how we can do anything we set our minds to. Her name is Dr Uma Sothinathan, PU-RCSI Director of Clinical Competency.

I used to dislike her. She is one of the lecturers who emphasises a lot on dress code in university. It really gets on my nerve - it means I have to say goodbye to my skirts and dresses because they are all above knee length! I used to think that she's conservative and demanding. However, not long after I attended her classes and listened to her talks, I realised I was wrong. Proper and decent clothing is a protection to ourselves and also our patients. There's a reason behind everything she does. Deep down, how much she wishes that all of us would make Perdana University proud when we are working in the hospitals in the future. She speaks to us like how a mum speaks to her children. All because she truly cares.

She uses creative methods in delivering quality clinical teaching, with emphasis on reflective practice, mindfulness and shared learning in her students. She made us think - how to be a good doctor? She taught us to be compassionate. She taught us to stop and listen. She taught us to feel. Her humour, her passion in paediatrics, her sparkling eyes when she talks about it. All of these influence my life in ways I am still discovering. 

There's once she made me cry - when she was in-charge of the performance for White Coat Ceremony 2014. It was a group performance. She pointed out my mistake directly, corrected me and said I am not cut out for the stage. She said all these right to my face, I tried so hard not to cry in front of her. I mean, I may not be that talented, but I love stage performance! How could you deny the efforts that I have made to be able to shine on the stage. How could you. I continued to practise, and practise, and practise. She no longer gave any comments, she just sat down at a side and watched. Then when the music stopped, she walked towards me and said, ''You did a very good job. That's the way!'' 

Thank you, for allowing me to grow my own wings. 

It's time to bloom and prosper ft. Ma Chérie - the Inkyfingers from Johor

It was yet another lazy Saturday morning where she just wanted to stay in bed and curl up in her bed sheets.

Her workload was overwhelming – files were piling up in her tray and even though she worked long hours she kept getting further behind. So many things to do but so little time. The whole situation seemed out of control and she started to feel pretty depressed. What are the dreams that she had been chasing after? Where are they now? The burning passion that she used to have, was slowly fading away without her noticing. She felt confused and lost. She took a deep breathe in.

Sigh.

Still curling up in her bed sheets, she took a look out through the window. And she was stunned.

Source (bluerose99.blogspot.com): google image

It was a profusely flowering Tecoma tree. She rubbed her eyes, thinking that she must be dreaming. It was like Sakura trees in Japan! After months of drought, Pink Tecoma finally came in a full bloom in Johor. This was a rare scene in Malaysia! On both up and down the same road and on other adjacent roads too, other Tecoma trees were also in full blossom. The fallen withering flowers turned stretches of roads and pavements into a bright and pink carpet.

It delighted everyone in town and warmed their hearts that their city can be so beautiful. The trees were a beautiful addition to the local landscape. People were happily jumping with joy, welcoming this beautiful sight, taking pictures and sharing them on social medias. 

She knew it's time for her to do something. The beautiful scene in front of her eyes resonates with her inner self, as a blogger in this land. After being lost and blogging alone for so long, she saw a ray of light at the end of the dark tunnel. It's time to bloom and prosper. Just look at the Tecoma flowers. Although it has short life span, but throughout its life it shines its beauty to the world. This was when she realised that:

''In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." 
- Abraham Lincoln

Swiftly she got out of her bed and turned on her laptop - if someone's supposed to take this first step - she would be the one. Even in a small town like JB, she believes she can, together with her team, produce good and quality blogs. As the Pink Tecoma resembles the Cherry Blossom flower, she decided to name themselves Ma Chérie. It means my precious/my darling (a way of calling your loved ones) in French. Just like the flowers, they wish to have a unique and distinctive existence. Something precious, to all Johoreans.

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‪#‎MacherieJB‬ ‪#‎InkyfingersJB

‬ Ma Chérie- the Inkyfingers from Johor

So this was how we got our inspiration for our group name: Ma Chérie! (pronounced as " Ma Share Ri ") :D We are a group of eleven Johor girls who are passionate in blogging. I wasn't the girl in the story above, but I feel so thankful that I am being brought into this big family. All thanks to:

Kim - the founder of this group;

Audrey - the designer behind our lovely group logo;

Eryn - for the beautiful story written for Ma Chérie;

Ler - for all the advice given regarding IT stuffs;

Jennifer - our professional make up artist;

Carinn - for bringing me into this group;

Princess and Cece - the lovely sisters who are forever helpful;

Edlyn - the cute youngest sister in the group; and

Sherlyn - the doctor wannabe, just like me!

We want others to recognise us as a community, which brings you the latest trends and the fastest and  most accurate information - be it food, beauty, travel or fashion - we have them all! Everyone of us is like a flower ready to bloom and charm the world. We work together as colleagues, help each other like friends, and love each other like family. When I was still new to the group, I was clueless about everything. However, I received so much of help and even though I never say them out, I feel so touched deep inside. I have learned so much since the beginning. Of course there are times when some of us were caught up in work and there never seems to be enough time. But with helping hands from the other members, we overcome all of these obstacles and grow stronger.

Blogging is our interest, our passion, our dream. We are not going to give up just because of our busy work schedule. We strive to achieve the seemingly impossible work-life balance, because we know that we have YOU - our loyal readers who will continuously show your love and support. We are the Inkyfingers from Johor, "Inky" depicts writing; and "fingers" are what we use to do our work - that we type to produce blog posts for our dearest readers!

Support us by clicking 'like' on Ma Chérie JohorBloggers Facebook page!

We share posts daily!
p/s: Ma Chérie first project coming up soon! A fun and mysterious one.
So you've got to like and follow us to know more about it! :)

A million thanks to all my readers, for your kind words, your support and for believing in me. Thank you for spending your time to read through my words, even if this is the first time you are visiting my blog. Thank you to my blogger friends, blogging has never been this fun before. I never know I can do this much in such a short time, and I know I wouldn't achieve them without all of you. And it is amazing how all of us are working towards the same dream now. You are the courage for me to run a little faster, dream a little bigger.

Dear readers, I hope you are living the life of your dream too! :)

''Dare to dream.''

Love all of you!

Eunice, xoxo