Hobbies
Reading - I have loved reading since I was a kid. I was a regular in my neighbourhood library. And I remember asking for books as a gift when I passed scholarly exam at age 11. I used to read with passion often finishing a book in one go. I remember my mother urging me to go out and play instead of reading. I believe I did this until I went to high school. Then someway or another this habit stopped until I started my first job and bought a kindle. Having the kindle opened an unlimited source of books. Somewhere around 2020, I started maintaining a list of books I read and according to it I read 20-30 books per year since then. I read mainly on the kindle because it's easier to find books online and easier to maintain compared to physical books. But I still miss the touch and feel of physical books.
Playing Cricket - was another childhood hobby. In 1996 Sri Lanka won the cricket world cup, and suddenly everybody is playing cricket. We had four regulars (sometimes others also joined). And we played 2 vs 2. I think we played almost every day. A clear space nearby our house which used to process the paddy harvest (in old school way - with cows) was our regular playground. Sometimes we'd hit the ball straight to the roof of our house which is made from metallic sheets and made a loud noise and source for complaints from my parents. But the complaints weren't 'strong' enough to stop the play. I think this hobby also was stopped when we gradually got older (somewhere when I was around 13-14 years old).
Video Games - My father bought a computer when I was about 15 years old. This computer had 40 GB Hard disk and 128 MB Ram, I've forgotten what's the processor. This computer opened up the possibility of playing video games. I remember playing Need for speed series, Duke Nukem and Grand Theft Auto. I built my childhood dream computer couple of years ago but learned that I don't enjoy playing games at much as I used to.
Watching Movies -is another hobby started with the Computer. I remember taking the hard drive off the computer, and cycling with it to friends' places to collect movies. I still watch movies. Sometimes in the cinema. But mostly on my computer.
Photography - I started Photography when I moved to Singapore. Not exactly sure what triggered this, (maybe the inward analysis triggered by loneliness from moving to another country). I think I wanted to have a hobby which didn't involve only consuming. I bought Sony A6000 with kit lens (after a lot of research) in year 2019. Then in 2022 I upgraded the camera to a canon full frame R6. I even managed to win a couple of prices for my photos. This is my most expensive hobby so far.
Running - started running during the covid period (Year 2022). At the peak I ran a Full marathon led by a couple of half marathons. But these days I don't run much. Mainly due to the weekend the beach activities, which drain the energy and put a lot of strain on the legs. But I believe running helped me a lot to cope during the covid period.
Beach Tennis - is another top of the list hobby as of now. My friend and colleague Siyan introduced me to this game. I played my first game on 2022 June 11 and I've been playing ever since. Recently we started the process of registering an organization for Beach Tennis in Singapore. I'll be one of the founding members of this. I maintain the domain/website for the group, which makes me the CTO of the association.
Dancing - I tried dancing for 6 months in 2024. My choice was bachata. But I had (still have) a hard time picking up the beat of the song. So it wasn't a enjoyable experience for me. And I believe I've higher than normal self-consciousness level, which made it worse. But I might give this another attempt sometime.
Beach Volleyball - is the newest of the list. I played my first game on 2025 June 01. (Almost) exactly after 3 years I started Beach Tennis, come to think of it. I started on Beach Volleyball mainly thanks to my friend from Beach Tennis Jeroen. He organises and coaches sessions on every weekend in collaboration with a volunteer group. I still struggle with the play but I believe I improved a lot and now at the average level of the group I play with. I feel I play better when I play with beginners but my self-consciousness gets the better of me when I play with better players. But I still enjoy the game. And this week I did my first successful spike. The most complicated part of the game in my opinion.