What's this "stop" you're talking about?

Anyway just to recap on what happened to my short weekend, let's get started. 2 weeks or so ago, Tania left a link on the group chat we were in that WWF Malaysia was holding a paper marche panda workshop, an activity where you can make your own paper marche panda for a small fee. I was reluctant in the beginning but when you have an extremely convincing friend...it happens. We both signed up, got excited and merely waited.

We got a shock however when Kenneth from WWF Malaysia called us up, informing us that the workshop on Sunday was cancelled due to the lack of participants and we were given the option to move our slots to Saturday or get a refund. I weighed my options and thought, "Forget sleeping in and going to class later on, let's just wake up for pandas then go to class looking like one!" It would have been extra convincing when I pose with my panda, right?

 Comfortable working space with ready materials.

Glue, paint, brushes, newspapers and husk panda base included.

Oh hello, are you making me?

If you've known me enough, you would know that I have absolutely zero talent in the art division, making the job 200% more difficult than what it looked to be. Luckily though, I had two assistants for the day and that too didn't help too much because I was on one hand excited to make my own paper marche panda yet on the other hand glad I didn't have to be responsible for a bad job.

Tania and I hard at work.

The first job was to glue on newspaper bits to the husk base.

I know I only had one job, but I gave that away too.

Just a disclaimer though, I didn't demand for help. They merely couldn't handle looking at how I was working and took over anyway so now you know I was not kidding about the failure to art part.

I reserve the right to say that I did 70% of that, okay? He did the touch ups!

Hello, base of my panda!

The trick to make sure everything gets glued and in tiny pieces.

To make the base, all we had to do was brush on glue and stick on torn pieces of newspapers, ensuring every bit of the base is covered. It helps to slap on two or three layers, alternating between blow drying with hot air and air drying as normal in order for the newspaper bits to bond better.

And then you paint.

Dry it off with a blast of cold air...

It works better if you have TWO blasts of cold air!

The next step was just as tedious as the first and that was to make the paper marche panda white. This became one of the hardest steps because it not only could not be overly thick in paint as it could crack, but the white paint provided was fairly watery, making it extra difficult to paint over the blacks of the newspapers. The trick is to paint a thin layer of white over the paper marche panda, blast it with cold air and repeat the process until every inch is covered in white, looking almost snow like.

Unfortunately for us, we ran out of time as the workshop only ran from 9 AM to 12 PM, with a 30 minute delay as there were irresponsible people arriving late. In return, we went home with a polar bear, some white paint and some black paint. Every participant even got a certificate from WWF Malaysia for taking part in the Paper Marche Panda Workshop and I thought that was really adorable. It could have possibly one of the most fun things to do on a Saturday morning with my parents and losing sleep over this was totally worth it.

We've replaced my brother with a panda bunting for this family picture. Do you approve of your new look, Chef?

Oh and remember to visit the 1,600 pandas on display right now in Publika, Solaris Dutamas while they're still there from 10 AM to 10 PM until the 25th of January! You won't regret it, my blog post will vouch for me. Get more information from WWF Malaysia for more adorable activities like these or find out how to donate to save the wildlife. They do need us more than you need coffee daily.