Hobbies are activities which people enjoy doing during your free time. My hobbies include reading, keeping fit, playing the ukulele and drawing zentangle patterns. I find my hobbies relaxing and even therapeutic; they give me a sense of well being and achievement.

I love reading and the love for reading started when I was in primary three. A group of friends gave me two books, viz. Black Beauty and Heidi. Nowadays I tend to read detective story books and I enjoy reading such books by Sue Grafton, Elizabeth George, Michael Connelly, Linda Castillo, etc. I also like reading articles on travel, language, health and politics.

I keep fit by walking, practising Taichi and doing Zumba. Walking relaxes me and besides it being good for my heart and muscles, it helps me to think. Taichi appears to be slow moving but I get a good workout whenever I practise it. As there are many different steps involving hand and leg movements as well as turning in different directions, it helps with my sense of balance and gives my brain a workout by remembering the different steps. Zumba is fast-paced and a fun way of exercising to music.   

I enjoy playing the ukulele although I am not good at it yet. I had wanted to learn to play a musical instrument all my life and I was told that the ukelele is the easiest musical instrument to master. I am not musically inclined, so I have to rely heavily on the music notes. I also put coloured dots on my ukulele to tell me the different chords. So far I have not been able to achieve a breakthrough in the smooth transition of chords, so I am not ready to join ukulele jam sessions yet.   

I discovered zentangle patterns recently. I saw beautiful pictures of animals filled with zentangle patterns being sold at a fundraising event. I initially thought that it was difficult to create such beautiful designs. Then I heard that it is zentangle and I googled it. After reading about it and looking at some of the patterns, I started creating my own designs. I find drawing zentangle patterns relaxing. Not all my zentangle patterns turn out well but there are some really good ones. I will be giving framed pictures of my zentangle patterns as presents this Christmas. They are not perfect but they are handmade with love.

If you find that you have too much time on your hands, start a new hobby today. It’s never too late to do so.