My 2020 Highlights

I know I shouldn’t compare but looking back at my 2020, I don’t think I accomplished anything significant. I’d still like to write this post to share some of my highlights in 2020.

1. APRC (Alien Permanent Resident Card) and OWP (Open Work Permit)

I finally got my APRC (Alien Permanent Resident Card) and OWP (Open Work Permit)! You can apply for these once you’ve worked in Taiwan for 5 consecutive years, and have been in the country for a minimum of 183 days per year. There are other requirements but these are the bare minimum. I’ll try to write a post about applying for an APRC and OWP one of these days.

That being said, I also celebrated my 5th year in our company.

2. Quality time with family and friends

My family spent the holidays (Dec. 2019-Jan. 2020) in Taiwan, and I’m so glad they did because who knew 2020 would turn out the way it did? I’m also glad I went back to the Philippines during the Chinese New Year (after initially being on the fence if I should just travel somewhere else) to spend time with family and friends because that was the last time I was able to go back. I don’t know when I can go back again… hopefully, some time this year in 2021?

When I was in the Philippines, I was also able to take some roadtrips (to La Union and Zambales), and I was finally able to do a Poblacion crawl.

3. New restaurants courtesy of the projects team

I’ve said in a previous post that one of the best decisions I’ve made in my (work) life was helping out the F project team 5 years ago because I have reaped a lot of benefits since then (in terms of learnings and mostly in the form of food).

Two such restaurants that I was able to try in 2020 thanks to the project team head were this upscale hotpot restaurant in Bellavita called 合shabu, and Chuan Lang seafood restaurant (川郎活蟹海鮮料理), where I was able to try live King Crab. Omnomnom!

4. Leisure activities

• I remember saying in 2019 that I wanted to start hiking, and it’s something that we continued doing in 2020. We were able to hike 3 mountains – Qixingshan 七星山, Jinmianshan 金面山, and Guanyinshan 觀音山. Here’s to doing more hikes in 2021!
• I tried my hand at baking, which turned out pretty well but it was something I wasn’t able to consistently do. I also did candle-making which was also pretty interesting.
• I got back into doing yoga, and I decided to take it further by subscribing to a 1-year membership to Down Dog because I liked using their app and I enjoyed the customizable practices.
• I watched a lot of kdramas and other Netflix shows & movies. I was also able to read 32 books, which was more than the goal I set for myself.

5. Took more control / became more proactive in handling my finances

• I used to have an account with Maketrade but my broker transferred to AAA so I transferred my brokerage to AAA. I only bought 2 stocks in 2019 and didn’t pay much attention to it, so I’m happy that in 2020, I decided to start investing again and in line with that, I started learning & understanding the stock market. I’m still a beginner and there’s still so much to learn, so it’s something that I’m going to spend more time on in 2021.
• I opened a digital savings account (CIMB) for the higher interest rates. I have a BPI Maxisavers account but they decreased their interest rates (twice!) in 2020 so I decided to find an alternative where my emergency fund will grow a bit more.
• I also opened a Flint account (I’ve linked my referral link, in case anyone wants to open an account as well), which is a real estate crowdfunding platform so I can now say that I have property investments. I’ve invested in 3 projects so far (and only with minimal amounts) because it’s a fairly new investment vehicle so I wanted to try it out first. Who knows? Maybe in the future I’ll be brave enough to invest in crypto. Hahaha!

6. Traveled domestically

The 3 main Taiwan destinations I went to in 2020 are Taitung, Nantou, and Hsinchu (days 1, 2, 3, 4). One of our plans in 2021 is to travel around the island (環島) in our motorcycle.

7. Social media

• I started blogging more frequently again. I know my blog isn’t monetized and I don’t earn from it, but it’s still exciting to see my stats going up. I’ve averaged 343 views per month and in December, I got more than 500 monthly views, which was the highest in 2020. I’ll definitely write more, and hopefully my views & engagement will increase in 2021.
• I finally reached more than 1000 followers on Instagram! The numbers fluctuate because some are those “influencer” accounts who follow and then unfollow you after you follow them back. I used to follow back but now I don’t, unless I truly want to follow that person.

How was your 2020?