Road to MD: The Beginning

So, if you're reading this, you probably know who I am. Either you're my friend or you saw a post of my friend sharing one of my blog posts (because I honestly ask them to share my posts). Or maybe you just happened to pass by my blog (if you did, share it!). Well, anyway, if you don't know me, you might as well know that I am going to take up medicine.

So before I start telling you about the journey, I want you all to know the history of how I made a decision.

When I was in elementary or so-called "grade school" in other countries, I wanted to become a nurse. I've always fancied the feeling and thought that I could help people out or giving care to those that are in need. And although at that time, people told me that nurses are just doctor's helpers (this infuriated me whenever I think about it from my RN point of view), I still wanted to be able to help.


In high school, my dream upgraded when things started to clear up in my fuzzy head. A doctor. That's what I wanted to be. Being a doctor could bring a whole new level in helping people. Of course, I wasn't 100% set on about it, given that I was still in my first few years of high school. What triggered my goal was when my grandfather got sick and passed away. As well as my grandmother and two uncles... The feeling of helplessness and worthlessness surged within me. That was the time that I was at least 89% sure of my goal.


Fourth year of high school came and we had to deal with college applications already. And as a big-headed person I was (kidding!), I only applied to four universities: University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle Univesity Greenhills, and University of Santo Tomas. At that time I didn't know what my pre-med will be but I told myself that I'll choose a pre-med that I could still fall back on if the medicine thing will not push through. I asked God for assistance that time. So far, I could only remember two of my randomly selected pre-meds: Nursing and Pharmacy.


Before each day of the four entrance exams, I asked God to help me pass the exam of the university that was meant for me or whatever that is written in His plans. As you might want to know, I got in UST College of Nursing (and now a full-pledged RN!!!). Looking back, I had three signs: It rained during UPCAT;  I got late for Ateneo's exam since there was an accident in front; and I had an intense case of dysmenorrhea on my DLSU exam. During my USTET, it was sunny and I was...in peace. God really did plan it all out for me, huh?


Anyway, enough of that (I know you got bored! Sorry!). During my years in nursing, I became completely and 100% sure I wanted to be a doctor. No matter how hard it was to pass the cut off. No matter how average I was compared to the others. No matter what the others say to bring me down. No matter what challenges I had to face. No matter how hard it was for me to study for NMAT and still be able to catch up with lessons. No matter whatever, I still wanted to be a doctor.


I want to be able to help my family. Since we have a lot of genetic predispositions, I want to know more about it and know more how to act on it. I also want to help the less fortunate. More than 3 years of clinical duty in different hospitals will open your eyes to this. I want to be able to help them for free or for a lesser price. I want to be able to open a clinic in my mum and dad's hometown. I want to be able to do a lot of things...mainly to help. Cliche as it may sound but it's the damn truth. Not the money. Not the title.


And that is it, guys. That is the history of how I decided to pursue medicine. Don't hesitate to join me on my journey. I'll be sure to post more soon about my life in medicine! Ciao!

Chocolate Muffin with White Chocolate Chip

So the other day, I got bored and decided to bake muffins. Instead of the chocolate chip muffins, I baked... CHOCOLATE MUFFIN WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIP!


Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• Cocoa powder - you decide on the quantity but I used 4 tbsp
• 3/4 cup fine sugar
• 1 cup white chocolate chips (1/4 of this is for sprinkling purposes)
• (Optional) 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips for the inside only *not visible*
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup + 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients I used

Directions:

• Place muffin cups in the muffin pan.

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, mix together the dry (flour, baking powder, cocoa, sugar, 3/4 of white chocolate chip, and the semisweet chocolate chips).

• In a measuring jug or a separate large bowl, mix together all the liquid ingredients (oil, milk, egg, and vanilla extract).

• Mix the dry and wet ingredients together until lumpy.

• Spoon into the muffin cups.

• Sprinkle remaining white chocolate chips on top.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until muffins are dark, risen, and springy.

Ta-da!! Hope you guys enjoyed this! And I hope your muffins turned out awesome! Feel free to share this and even comment below. Happy baking! I'll surely bake next time and share them to you!

Oktoberfest @ Poppins

We all know that the Oktoberfest season is here and we all want to celebrate it in our own ways with our friends, family, or with that special someone (yiiie, kilig).

If you don't want to go to a huge beer party or you're only looking for a cool place with cheap shots and half-priced beers, Poppins is the place for you!

For the first time ever, Oktoberfest will be coming to the doorstep of Poppins. And I urge you to try it out. You get to enjoy beer and play games with your companions. They're also inviting people who don't drink beer! Because as I have mentioned before, you can invite your family here.

Oh, let me tell you about the games, too! I'm sure you guys will be excited for it because honestly, I am. I like playing games while drinking. I mean, who doesn't, right? You get to spend quality time with your family, friends, and with your special someone through it. You get to have a good laugh, a good drink, and a good time. With these three, I'm sold.

So the games include: casino-inspired drinking games; family card games that have a twist; and drinking games which, I know, college students would love to try. I may not be a college student, but I definitely would love to try all the cool games!

What are the games, you may ask? Don't worry. I'll tell you some of it! 

Inside (Indoor) Games:

Liquor Roulette

Wheel of Shots
Monopoly Board Game (with a twist)

Uno Playing Cards (Adult Style) 

Outside Games:

Twisted Beer Pong

Flip Cup

King's Cup

Cup Swap 

Are you curious about these games? Well, you can only find out when you go there (tee-hee).

Let's not forget about the drinks! San Miguel Light and San Miguel Pale Pillsen are made affordable from the price of P62.00 to P32.00 for people who will be playing the games. Imagine that price drop! So affordable! So how about for those who will play games with shots? They will only pay P8.00/shot! Red Horse Beer is unlimited for only P175.00! Unlimited Red Horse in such an affordable price?! O-M-G, right?! Just thinking about it makes me feel so excited.

So come and enjoy Oktoberfest at Poppins Tomas Morato corner Sct. Madriñan, in front of IL Terrazzo, on October 2, 9, and 16(6PM - Onwards). Bring your friends, your family, or your loved ones and enjoy. You won't regret it one bit!

You're so excited that you want to have your table reserved?! 
Or maybe you have some questions??

Contact,

Kyna 09267854810

Cita 09175160565

This is brought to you by Poppins' very own (end very pretty) media partners:

Left-to-right:

Lyn Estrella : Lyn Estrella

Katherine (Me) : Scarlett Letters

Angela: Five Feet of Awesome

Oktoberfest @ Poppins

YOU WON'T GET LOST. WHY?! HERE IS A MAP FOR YA'LL:

What I Lack in Blog Ideas, I Make Up in Photography

So here's the thing... I don't have any idea what to put in my blog nowadays. I've been busy studying for our PNLE this coming November and blog ideas are not on the top of my list.

But while I was sitting in the car on our way home the other day, I realized that I should really try to update my blog even without using a lot of words. I got this crazy idea of just posting amateur photography. I got hooked to VSCO the moment I installed it in my Samsung Galaxy S5, so I'll just share some of my photos and what I did to it (you know, like filters and stuff)... so here it goes....

What I Lack in Blog Ideas, I Make Up in Photography

These two are the first "artsy" photos I took with VSCO in a Cafe in Katipunan (7/14/2015)...

No filter ; Increased exposure, contrast, sharpness, and saturation

Filter: BW Moody ; Increased exposure, contrast, and sharpness

UST while waiting for my 2 friends (7/21/2015)....

No filter ; Increased exposure, contrast, sharpness, and saturation

Chocolate Chip Army at Maginhawa with my best friend since elementary (7/25/2015)....

No filter ; Increased exposure, contrast, sharpness ; Decreased saturation

Red Mango Original Yogurt with three toppings (8/8/2015)....

No filter ; Increased exposure, contrast ; Decreased saturation

My Samsung tech (8/14/2015)....

Filter: G3 (+7) ; Increased exposure, contrast, saturation, and fade

Lunch at Chili's with my mum (8/18/2015)....

*Both are edited the same way

 No filter ; Increased exposure, contrast, and fade ; Decreased saturation

Two new babies (8/22/2015)....

No filter ; Increased exposure, contrast, sharpness, saturation, and fade

My other baby (8/27/2015)....

No filter ; Increased contrast, saturation, and fade

 
Padi's Point with my two high school best friends (8/28/2015)....
*All are edited the same way

 Filter: C1 (+6) ; Increased exposure, contrast, sharpness, saturation, and fade

 Legen-Dairy (9/6/2015)....

Filter: HB2 ; Increased exposure, contrast, sharpness, and fade

Nephelium lappaceum/Rambutan (9/7/2015)....

Filter: KK1 (+8) ; Increased contrast, sharpness, and fade ; Decreased saturation

"People who love to eat are always the best people"
Mary Grace with one of my best friends Angela (9/17/2015)....

No filter ; Increased exposure, contrast, sharpness, saturation, and fade

The Arcade (9/17/2015)....

Filter: A6 ; Increased contrast, sharpness, saturation, and fade

Naga Metropolitan Cathedral
Porta Mariae (9/19/2015).....

No filter ; Increased contrast and saturation

The Cathedral (9/19/2015).....

No filter ; Increased exposure, contrast, and saturation

 Inside the Cathedral (9/19/2015).....

No filter ; Increased exposure, contrast, sharpness, saturation, and fade

Monastery of Tarlac (9/25/2015)

Filter: SE3 ; Increased contrast, sharpness, and saturation

Filter: KK2 ; Increased contrast, sharpness, and saturation

Filter: SE3 ; Increased contrast and saturation

Filter: KK2 ; Increased exposure, contrast, and sharpness ; Decreased saturation

Filter: SE3 ; Increased exposure, contrast, sharpness, and saturation

 


Try using VSCO for your future photography sesh. It's one of the best apps that should be automatically downloaded to your smart phone.

Follow me in my Instagram for more photos that are made beautifully with VSCO!

Scarlett's Way: How to Move On

Love... It's stupid, right? When things started to feel okay or alright, it all crumbled down right before your eyes. And that man or woman you love so deeply just walked out without even bothering to fight for this thing called "love". Without even bothering to fight for you. Without even bothering to fight for that "us".
So, what do you do now?
Oh, wait. That's right. You move on.

(c) huffpost.com

You'll need a list of things before we get started.
Here's what I suggest:

✓ Hobbies
✓ Friends
✓ Alcohol
✓ Cellphone
✓ Empty room
✓ Laptop
✓ Paper and pen
✓ Prayer book / Rosary / Altar / Anything from your religion
✓ Self-determination (We can't start without this!!)


Okay, let's start...

1. Cry

I'm serious. You just cry it all out and there is absolutely nothing wrong about it -- even if you're a man. The first few days won't be easy. You'll cry a lot of times per day. You'll cry when you're just sitting in class while listening to a professor. You'll cry when you're in a mall. You'll cry whenever a memory of him/her surges through your head. You'll cry while listening to a song that makes you remember. You'll cry whenever you're in bed right before you sleep. You'll cry when you look at pictures or messages.

You will cry a lot and those tears won't be forever. Day by day, the times that you cry will lessen until you'll stop crying at all and the only thing left is that pain you'll feel in your heart. Don't be afraid to shed those tears. It is not a sign of weakness.

2. Delete old photos and messages

When you feel that it's time and you're very much determined to move on...It's time to delete old messages and photos. You don't have to do it all at once. You can start with some photos or some messages and the time will come when you'll have to delete all of it.

These photos and messages will only make things harder for you to move on. You'll continue to view photos and read messages and you'll remember all the good things and blah blah blah. So, delete it. It's for your own good.

3. Stop stalking him/her

Oh trust me, it's not good for you. If you keep checking his/her Twitter or Facebook or Instagram, you'll continue to have this attachment and it's not gonna stop the pain you feel in your heart. It's gonna make things worse. Whenever you see whatever or however he/she is doing, you'll start to feel the pain growing within. And the process of moving on is going to slow down.

Stop stalking him/her! Unfollow if you must. And don't even think about asking about him/her through your mutual friends. Just. Don't.

4. Surround yourself with friends

One of the reasons why you have friends is that they'll be there when you are at your lowest. If they're not, then they're not true friends! Your friends will help you get distracted. They'll be there to accompany you in doing random things like shout at the top of a building or play in the arcade the whole day. Friends will say a lot of inspirational quotes like "There are many fishes in the sea" or "When one door closes, another opens." And you'll feel relieved that you have weird friends like them to help you cope.

True friends will also be there to amplify your feelings or will be the first ones to notice the little things. They'll be the ones who are angry and shouting at the person and would even make up plans to hurt him/her. They'll be the one to remember that the song affects you. They'll be the one to notice that someone mentioned your ex's name. Whenever someone mentions his/her name, they'll look at you and expect that you're going to cry. But they're your true friends. They mean no harm.

5. Drink

Yes, I am really suggesting this but please, don't drink too much that you'll turn yourself into an alcoholic. Drink for the first few weeks. Drink 2-3 bottles per week only and remember to have someone sober with you to take you home if you're too drunk to drive or even walk.

Drinking is a natural ineffective coping mechanism of a person. People will understand if you drink when a problem comes, just as long as it'll gradually stop and you'll find your own way to deal with shit. Alcohol is not a permanent solution!

6. Distract yourself through hobbies

Another way to distract yourself is to get a hobby. You can continue your old hobby or go and try a new one. You can get a guitar and make music (because seriously, who doesn't love music?). You can try and mix songs. You can try sketching or painting. You can go get your laptop and start typing poems or stories. You can even collect weird items just so you can forget.

Hobbies will help you realize that there are fun things to do that just sulk around all day in hopes that he/she will come back even though you're sure that they won't. I'm not being cold, but it's the reality. Hobbies can also be your outlet whenever you need to release negative vibes within you.

7. Pray

You may not be religious or you don't believe in God, but it wouldn't hurt to try. Go to an isolated or empty room and take with you a rosary or prayer book or whatever religious/sacred thing you know. Stay in that room and start to pray, even in your head. But sometimes talking really helps.

Praying helps clear your mind and sometimes you may start to cry. For me, that's God's way to help you release the pain you've been keeping inside. After praying, you'll feel lighter and you'll start to think clearly. You may or may not realize that maybe God has a different plan for you and that he/she isn't for you and that you have to wait a little longer. Maybe God made you undergo through this because He wants you to learn from this and make you stronger or even become a better person for that future man/woman that you're destined to be with.

8. List down advantages

Go get a paper and pen and write down the advantages of being single. No disadvantages because it'll only lead to negativity. Sometimes, we're too hurt to realize that there may be advantages of what is happening. What if you were too blind to realize that you've been hurting and you just love him/her too much to let go? What if you didn't realize that you've been crying a lot recently? What if you weren't happy anymore?

Isn't it great to realize that maybe things happened so that you could be happy again? That maybe you could find love again?


Forget about what I said awhile ago about love being stupid. It's not. You'll only say that love is stupid and you've given up on love when your heart is breaking into bits. But when it is completely healed, you will find someone. And although you're scared, you will take that risk again because in your heart, you know that it's worth it.

If it doesn't work out, maybe you just chose the wrong person. Maybe he/she's not "Mr/Ms. Right" yet.

(Please bear in mind that what I have listed are my opinions only. It's up to you if you're gonna give it a try or what)