My 2020 was going pretty well and was probably again one of my most successful ones financially - apart from that it was likely as boring as for most other people without many highlights. I didn't travel, I didn't party and as a nice sideeffect I basically stopped drinking alcohol entirely which is more an accident though than a planned decision but my big drinking days are over anyways since I'm an old man (caught in a young boys body) now :(
I don't want to dive deep into Covid but I still think I have to write a word or two:
The situation here is fairly relaxed for a while now especially compared to the shenenigans across the western world. We went into a pretty heavy lockdown fairly early which lasted around 6 weeks and then they started to very slowly ease restrictions. For instance inside dining and gyms here were way longer closed than anywhere else in the world I think (gyms probably were closed a good 6 months). Now basically everything apart from nightclubs is open. You obviously still have the mask mandates (and here also additional faceshield mandates in many places) but apart from that life is fairly normal.
The situation here is fairly relaxed for a while now especially compared to the shenenigans across the western world. We went into a pretty heavy lockdown fairly early which lasted around 6 weeks and then they started to very slowly ease restrictions. For instance inside dining and gyms here were way longer closed than anywhere else in the world I think (gyms probably were closed a good 6 months). Now basically everything apart from nightclubs is open. You obviously still have the mask mandates (and here also additional faceshield mandates in many places) but apart from that life is fairly normal.
That being said we also have the advantage of always having summer and an average age of 25 across the Philippines so there is only so much damage this virus can do even though health infrastructure in most parts of the country isn't on par with western countries.
If you are currently struggling because of lockdowns especially financially I can only recommend that you invest the freetime they "gave" you in building side hustles & businesses. Think about what you want, how you wanna make money, etc. I see alot of people way too dependent on one source of income and if this gets shut down by crooked governments, force of nature or black swans they are entirely rekt. Yes, I know this isn't easy and this will take time but you will have alot more piece of mind going forward. When Covid hit I knew that my real estate stuff will tank but I also knew my other endeavours would do very well because of it. If you just rely on one industry and one source of income you will always get problems throughout your life because of this!
But enough about Covid.
I haven't played poker myself for quite a while now but am still involved in the affiliate side of things. I built a small condo portfolio in Metro Manila which I want to grow further and throughout the last year I made crypto my main focus. So those are the 3 main pillars I'm currently focussing on. Even though real estate took a hit the other 2 did well as I already said before.
I also established a telegram channel where I post about crypto from time to time so if this is an area which is interesting for you (and I strongly recommend you to make it an area you are interested in!) you can subscribe here:
https://t.me/joinchat/RxIvt358l5h39zfi
While Covid sucked for alot of people it definitely was a blessing in disguise for online poker and casinos which definitely popped off due to this. It's only logical if half the world is forced to be home that decent amount of those people will flock to online poker due to boredom. But most people weren't that "lucky".
https://t.me/joinchat/RxIvt358l5h39zfi
While Covid sucked for alot of people it definitely was a blessing in disguise for online poker and casinos which definitely popped off due to this. It's only logical if half the world is forced to be home that decent amount of those people will flock to online poker due to boredom. But most people weren't that "lucky".
One of the main drivers for me to go and live in the Philippines was the real estate situation in Manila. My goal was to start building a portfolio which worked out nicely so far that I have my own 1br now, 2 studios that are ready and one rented out and another 2 studios which should be turned over to me in the first quarter 2021 which will be rented out as well going forward. Depending on how condo prices develop and how crypto develops I might consider buying some more throughout the second half of the year but still some time to go until I will think abit more about this.
Alot of people ask me when I will go back to Europe and the short answer is NEVER. Surely I will visit the EUssr from time to time once the covid situation is abit clearer but I absolutely have no intention to be based in Europe again at least for the foreseeable future. I think that over time only Manila will get boring for me so I intend to split time between here and Bali once the situation eases up. Midterm Dubai is also on my list for a part-time residences but in order for that I would want to be fully removed from poker which won't happen anytime too soon but will happen eventually! In the end the trifecta Manila-Bali-Dubai sounds pretty tempting to me and shouldn't get boring in this lifetime :)
Lastly fitness-wise it's same old same old. I'm currently on 95% carnivore diet and it's going pretty nicely, 2 days gym, 1 day cardio (swim and run alternating) without any rest days.
We`ll see if I keep up with blogging from time to time,
rgds from Manilly
PS: some pictures of the different units attached
my own enduse flat:
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| currently rented out |
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| lived here myself a couple of months and will rent out soon |
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| waiting for 2 studios to get turned over to me in this one |
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| picture of an old man |
my own unit prior renovation (which took a LONG time):
