In my mission to keep myself sane, I started writing down my bucket list, December of last year (it's still a WIP as of writing). One entry in the list says - "Learn how to play at least one instrument." I felt that guitars are a little overrated for beginners (no hate here) so I chose the ukulele. With a mix of little determination and loneliness, I went to the music store in Singapore and bought my first ever ukulele.



I remember telling the Auntie at the store, "I'm looking for ukulele for beginners." She returned to me with a question, "Is it for you or will it be as a Christmas gift?" I actually don't know what's the relevance of her question but I got shy and intimated so I answered her, "It's for a gift", even though it is really for me.

(I felt a little guilty lying to her because she was so nice and accommodating. She recommended buying a bag and a tuner as well for beginners and even genuinely told me I was beautiful. Yes, that made me smile.)

For the first few weeks, I tried to learn on my own - watching tutorials, listening to uke covers, googling chords. I had a hard time tuning my uke even though I already have an auto tuner. After less than a month, I gave up altogether. I loss interest then life happened - Christmas season, vacation, work and more work. My uke became just another decoration in my already messy side of the room.

It was only a month ago (August 2016) that I somehow resolved to play the uke again. Wanting to make myself busy as possible, I devoted my free time learning and I must say, it was all worth it. I still have a LOT to learn and I'm just glad that I succeeded on making this instrument an outlet of some sort. Sometimes, I would crave going home just so I can play the uke - talk about obsess.

A fried told me, "If you already have callus on your fingers, that's when you would know that you're no longer a noob." Can I just say that I already started forming some and pressing the strings doesn't hurt like the first time anymore? Haha! Good job, Raine! One item off the bucket list.

Here's a little something for you, though. :)