Note: I began writing this post the first week of 2021, as I normally do every year, but it has taken me 2.5 months to finish this post. I thought that because of our lack in travel last year, this post would be shorter than previous ones, but boy was I wrong. There were so many reflections, and so many memories made, from 2020, that this turned out to be my longest blog post ever! I really enjoyed taking my time to reflect on everything that happened, and to go through all the photos and videos of the beautiful memories we created through all the ups and downs of the year, so here goes…
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I think our lives will forever be divided into 2 distinct phases:
Pre-Covid 19 and Post-Covid 19
I can say with certainty that 2020 is going to be etched in our lives forever, in ways that differ for everyone. Our world has changed. Our community has changed. Our family and friends have changed. And, if we are truly introspective enough, each and every one of us has undeniably changed.
For many, 2020 began with an abundance of hope and anticipation as we welcomed a new decade. And for many, 2020 is ending with unbelievable loss and anguish.
Some call this year “The Great Reset”, and I found that to be quite true. We tend to go about our lives in a way that does not allow us to ever really slow down, but the pandemic gave us no choice. It’s like we were stripped of our familiar routines and forced to take a good look in the mirror to take inventory on our life’s priorities and values. While this abrupt and unexpected detour in my plans for 2020 was initially hard to accept, I eventually learned to appreciate all the blessings that simmered through the challenges.
Just like prior years, here’s our annual recap to document the highlights of each month. Instead of sharing an abundance of travel photos like previous years, this time I will share more of my introspections and learnings from this turbulent year.
January 2020–Our 2020 began with us naively oblivious to the pandemic that had begun brewing in Asia already at the time. News of this mysterious coronavirus had began subtly circulating around the world, but like many others, we didn’t feel the threat or impact directly yet. We kicked off the year with gatherings amongst friends and family that would be the last of its kind for many, many months to come. Again, we had no idea, so there were no efforts of cherishing those moments– one of the many great learnings of 2020!
We also welcomed my cousin Celine into our home. Celine was planning to stay with us for 3 months as she did her OT field work in San Francisco. Little did we know then, that her arrival into our home would become one of our greatest blessings of 2020…a solid reminder that God’s plans are always better than ours.
Mid-month, I flew solo to meet up with a couple of my girlfriends for a “mommy retreat” in Taipei, which turned out to be such a fun, carefree trip. Then, I flew over to Singapore for a semi-failed surprise to join my parents, sister and nephew there for a week. After a relaxing and joyous week in Singapore, we all flew back to Hong Kong, where I spent another couple of weeks there. Bridgette flew solo from SF to HK, and we schemed together for her to surprise her bestie Brianne, and while that was a sweet success that left Brianne in tears, the bigger surprise was Bridgette’s flight having to be rerouted to Osaka after a major delay!
February 2020–I spent my birthday in Hong Kong, on a treacherous hike followed by a lovely dinner at Jimmy’s Kitchen. I had a hard time deciding on what to order that night, but felt comforted that I would have plenty of opportunities to go back and try each of those dishes out in the future. I had no idea it would be the very last time I would patron the 92 year old iconic restaurant. Jimmy’s Kitchen closed its door for good on June 1, 2020. Yet another reminder that tomorrow is never guaranteed. “Come now, you who say, today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” James 4:13
Bridgette and I spent a wonderful couple of weeks in Hong Kong with our family, and I am so, so glad we made the effort to do so at the beginning of the year, because it would be another 10 months before we would be reunited. We left Hong Kong without too much sadness, because we already had plans to meet up in Japan in the Spring, and then spend our summer together like we always do back in the Bay Area. If we only knew…
We returned home to unpack, only to repack right away for our trip to Guatemala the following week. This time, Alan joined us and we spent a memorable week volunteering in a small village call San Marcos La Laguna. We also hiked up an active volcano where we listened to volcanic eruptions all night long, walked the famous ruins of Tikal, and then crossed the border by car into Belize. Bridgette turned 13 while in Belize, and we celebrated with an exciting cave adventure in the famous Actun Tunichil Muknal cave. We ended our trip with a few relaxing days on the island of Caye Caulker, where we had one of the best snorkeling experiences ever.
It was an ambitious month of travel for sure, but I’m so glad we went for it because our travel life came to a stand still shortly after. You know that place that you’ve always wanted to go? That thing that you’ve always wanted to do? Go. Do it.
March 2020–We made it home to the escalating concerns about this mysterious coronavirus, and began following it more closely on a daily basis. Still, we continued onwards with our travel plans for the month, which first included Alan’s birthday weekend up in Lake Tahoe where Bridgette taught her bestie Anita how to ski.
For Bridgette’s 13th birthday, Alan and I gifted her a plane ticket to fly solo to the UK to spend some quality time with her worldschooling bestie Ruby there, and we briefly contemplated on postponing that trip as coverage of the coronavirus became more intense. Ultimately, after praying hard about it, we decided to let her proceed, but not before giving her some serious lessons on escalated hygiene practices.
It seemed as if the world completely turned upside down while Bridgette was in the UK. All of a sudden, death rates skyrocketed from the coronavirus and countries began to close their borders. Airlines started to close down specific routes and for a short period of time, we honestly didn’t know if Bridgette would be able to come home. We weren’t terribly worried though, as our worst case scenario was to have her stay put in the UK. We trusted the family that she was with, and knew they would take good care of her. More importantly, we have learned to entrust her safety and life in the hands of God, who can do way more than we ever could in protecting her.
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10
In the end, we didn’t have to change any flights at all and God brought Bridgette home on a near empty flight, right before all flights between the UK and US were cancelled and the Bay Area went on lockdown.
Once Bridgette returned home, our family (including Celine), abided to the new government regulated rules of sheltering at home. We only went out to buy groceries once or twice a week, but we did flex our muscles in our neighborhood daily, with activities like long boarding (one of many new skills learned during 2020!), biking, running, unicycling, sunset watching, and strolling. We cooked nearly every single meal at home, ambitiously trying all kinds of new recipes like Japanese fluffy pancakes, matcha macarons, ram-don (from the movie Parasite), and so much more. We picked up new skills that included hand lettering, guitar (Bridgette), and gardening. With no ability to venture anywhere, or to meet up with friends and family, the four of us kept our spirits high by finding fun things to do at home, such as playing mahjong and board games, baking incessantly, cozying up for movie nights, and having deep and meaningful conversations.
April 2020–The state of the world remained grim, with COVID death tolls breaking record every day. No real hope of overcoming this pandemic seemed to be on the horizon, as we paid close attention to the news at all times. Despite the dark outlook, we did our best to stay optimistic through prayers and family time. The cooking marathon at home continued, with our stovetop and oven both working on overdrive everyday. We loved meal times together though, and looked forward to gathering at the dinner table 3-4 times a day, because mid-day snack time became a regular thing for us. To work off all that food, Celine introduced us to Blogilates, a Youtube workout routine that we tried hard to follow everyday.
Grocery shopping became both an exciting and stressful event for me each week. It was exciting because it actually allowed me to be in a public space amongst other people, something that we just did not get anymore since having to shelter in place. It was stressful because there were always long lines to get into the stores (due to the reduced capacity and the need to stay 6′ apart), and often times, I found myself staring at empty shelves once I entered. Staple items like toilet paper, bread, pasta, etc. were always high in demand and short in supply. Finding available supplies for those items was like winning the lottery!
Weekends didn’t feel any different than weekdays, but we did develop a special routine that we loved. On either Saturday or Sunday, we would bike together to get our favorite boba drinks. We started off biking around 12-15 miles, but eventually upped that to our record of nearly 30 miles! Talk about discovering strength and endurance that we never knew we had!
One really fun project we did was creating an obstacle course right outside our house along the lagoon, using chalk. We had such a great time creating and doing the obstacle course ourselves, but what we loved most was watching how it brought joy to others during an otherwise scary and turbulent time.
May 2020–We stayed in touch with family and friends via zoom calls and FaceTime. Even with my parents in the Bay Area, we weren’t able to gather with them at all. Once a week, I would drop off groceries and some special treats to them, chatting briefly 10′ apart with our masks on outside their garage. What a strange, strange time it was, that to protect our loved ones meant to stay away from them.
Restrictions in the Bay Area loosened up every so slightly, allowing us to celebrate Mother’s Day with a picnic in San Francisco. By the end of the month, we finally got to see some of our friends, but kept it to biking outdoors together only. We also dedicated more time to finding volunteer opportunities around the Bay Area to help others, and really enjoyed serving with Menlo Church and San Francisco Food Bank.
Spending so much time at home motivated us to change out some of our furniture, including Bridgette’s bed and our backyard dining set, which kept Alan preoccupied for some time trying to keep up with all the furniture assembly work at home!
June to August 2020–Up until this point, we had remained hopeful that things would turnaround by summer and the Chuangs would continue their summer tradition of spending it in the Bay Area with us. But, when June rolled around, it was clear that this plan would prove to be impossible, given the incessant climb in COVID numbers in the U.S. and the quarantine requirements imposed in Hong Kong. It was devastating, to say the least, that we wouldn’t be able to spend our summer together, but we had to trust in God’s plans. Fortunately, the restrictions in the Bay Area for COVID loosened a bit, and we were at least able to gather with a few selected families throughout the summer. Bridgette also got to bike around the neighborhood with one of her besties, Anita, while also meeting some new friends as well.
The newly loosened restrictions allowed us to dine in at restaurants again, but we still limited our exposure in the public to be safe. We brought my in laws to have dim sum at Harborview Restaurant in San Francisco, where they had a very safe and socially distanced set up. We also took a day trip to Napa for Father’s Day to celebrate Alan, and indulged in a sumptuous meal at Valette.
Our days were still mostly spent at home, with regular outings around our neighborhood that consisted of bike rides, light strolls, and chasing after the ice cream truck. Hearing the familiar jingle of the truck would bring Celine, Bridgette and I such joy as we dropped whatever we were doing to take an ice cream break together. Weekends were often spent catching up on precious time with my cousins and a handful of friends that were in our “social bubble.” We found ourselves focusing a lot on outdoor activities, such as backyard BBQs, hikes, and picnics. How ironic that it took a global pandemic for us to pursue a much healthier lifestyle!
Farmer’s Markets resumed, enabling us to satisfy our summer craving of sweet peaches and nectarines. Our movie nights at home became focused on learning more about racial injustices through extraordinary documentaries such as When They See Us and Just Mercy. Celine and Bridgette also binged and bonded over Anime series like Haikyuu and Violet Evergarden, leaving them in either unstoppable laughter or incontrollable tears. As for me, I binged on reading big time, sometimes finishing one book a day, and it felt sooooo good to revert back to one of my favorite hobbies.
Other notable events included my attempt at gardening, rewarding us with an abundance of fresh herbs for our continual meals at home. Bridgette and her bestie Anita also found a way to continue their sleepovers, COVID-style….by camping in separate tents outside our backyard! One particularly memorable sleepover had them finding themselves being awakened in the middle of the night to a thunderstorm, drenching their tents, lol. We also began babysitting my niece, Maddison, once a week, where we spend our time together baking, building forts, gardening, and playing make believe games.
September 2020—This month became a turning point in our year, as we finally packed up to travel again. Obviously, it was not an easy decision in any way, given that we were still in the middle of a global pandemic. We prayed incessantly about it, and discussed at great lengths the risks and the tradeoffs. We knew another Worldschooling family that had been in Ecuador for the last few months, and after talking extensively with them about their experience there, we honed in on Ecuador as the destination for our first “COVID trip”. Not that we had all that many choices, since most of the world still remained close to US citizens. Ecuador was one of the few foreign countries that allowed Americans to visit, and they happened to have just lifted their mandatory 14 day quarantine requirement, so all we needed to do was to provide a negative COVID test. Everything felt like it was pointing us towards Ecuador, and so we took the leap of faith and booked our trip! I knew that traveling during COVID times meant having to be extremely flexible, so I mainly just focused on booking flights and accommodations. Most of my time was spent on researching on the most effective safety precautions to take, and choosing airlines and accommodations that have a high emphasis on safety protocols.
Prior to taking off again, we got to celebrate Maddison’s 6th birthday with a “spa and afternoon tea” party at her house. We also celebrated Bridgette’s friend Karina’s birthday with a steam seafood feast, and right before our own departure, we tearfully sent Celine off to Puerto Rico so she could spend time with her parents. It was hard to watch her pack up, as she became such an integral part of our lives in 2020!
Finally, it was our time to go. With our negative COVID test in place, as well as our masks, face shields, and an endless supply of sanitizing wipes, we courageously hopped on an airplane again and headed to Ecuador!
October 2020—We spent the last week of September and the two weeks of October in Ecuador, beginning with a week in Mindo Valley where we did some service work at a wonderful organization name Salem. After Mindo, we spent 3 days being completely off the grid in the jungle, at a beautiful farm that focused on permaculture, before we headed to Quito. While in Quito, we took another COVID test and upon receiving our negative results, we embarked on a trip of a lifetime….to the Galapagos Islands!
Our week in the Galapagos Islands began with an unforgettable 5 night cruise on the Alya, where we encountered and learned about the most amazing wildlife, many that were endemic to the islands. We were also blessed with new friendships, and a whole new appreciation for God’s beautiful creations!
We completely fell in love with the people and the country of Ecuador, so we actually considered extending our stay there, but ultimately decided to head home after 3 fulfilling weeks. Truth be told, Ecuador was never on our list of places to travel for Bridgette’s worldschooling, but as always, God’s plans are better than ours, and He blessed us with truly one of the most memorable and special journey that we’ve ever taken.
Even though we returned home well before Bridgette’s favorite holiday (Halloween), the COVID situation was getting worse, which meant that there was no chance of trick or treating this year. Bridgette and her bestie Anita still managed to work up a Halloween spirit by throwing bedsheets over themselves as “ghosts”, and had another backyard sleepover watching horror movies together. I love how they did not let a global pandemic dampen their love for Halloween and still managed to pivot in a way to keep their spirits high while prioritizing safety!
November 2020—We spent most of November at home, catching up on gorgeous sunsets, healthy homecooking, and intimate time with our social bubble of friends/family. COVID was still raging in the U.S., with grim forecasts for a brutal winter ahead, which meant tighter lockdown measures in the horizon. I missed my sister and her family dearly, as it had been 9 months since we last saw each other, our longest stretch since the girls were born! After multiple discussions with Alan and a series of prayers, we decided to spend our holidays in Hong Kong! It was not a simple decision by any measure. First, we needed to ensure that Alan could continue his work remotely on Asia time for the next month and a half. Next, we needed to find a hotel in Hong Kong for our mandatory 14 day quarantine that would be relatively comfortable at a reasonable size and price. Then, we needed to make sure we had enough time to meet the strict COVID test requirements of Hong Kong before our flight.
God paved the way for us for a smooth journey to Hong Kong, despite the circumstances that we faced for choosing to travel during a global pandemic. Our flight was so empty we each got our own row, enabling us to sleep soundly for the majority of the 14 hour flight, even with our masks on! Upon arrival to Hong Kong, we had to go through a series of safety and health declaration checkpoints, culminating with yet another COVID test that we self-administered. We had to wait at the airport for 7.5 hours for our test results, before we were finally released to head to our quarantine hotel!
I was sort of dreading the 14 day quarantine…I mean, who wants to be stuck inside a hotel room for 2 whole weeks? The quarantine rules were stringent too. We were not allowed to step foot outside of our room AT ALL, and nobody was allowed inside our room either, not even housekeeping. We were, however, allowed to have deliveries from family/friends, and we were also allowed to order from food delivery apps as well. All drop offs would take place in the lobby, and then a hotel staff would transfer the items to the table outside our room.
In the end, we actually quite enjoyed our 14 day quarantine! We loved the variety of amazing food we got to order and eat on a daily basis. We delighted in the surprise treats that family and friends dropped off for us every few days. Our room at the Crowne Plaza in Causeway Bay was spacious, so even though the three of us had to share one King size bed, we still had enough space for Alan to work, and for us to do a daily workout!
December 2020—After going through what felt like a year full of loss, despair, and fear, God showed us once again that He is the source of our hope. Our months of prayer to be reunited with our family was answered, and in ways that far exceeded what we would’ve imagined!
Following our 2 weeks of quarantine in Hong Kong, the government there tightened up their restrictions and enforced a 2-person limit for all day-time dining until 6pm. After 6pm, dine-in was prohibited altogether. Initially, this dampened our spirits a bit as we love dining out in Hong Kong, and had plans to do all these fun activities with the kids, which all had to be cancelled because the government called on the closure of beaches, farms, museums, and other public spaces. In the end though, these restrictions actually forced us to be more creative than ever in maximizing our time with each other. We would take turns pairing up with one another for lunch dates in various restaurants, and then take turns cooking up a storm at the Chuangs’ home in the evening. I don’t recall spending this much time with our family, ever, and we were blessed with harmony and laughter day after day. We praised God for such incredible blessings during a year of struggle, and for teaching us to cherish these small, but monumental moments in our time together.
When 2020 came to a close, I felt immense gratitude for the growth that has emerged from all the hardships faced on a personal level, as well as a global level. The pandemic has taught me so much, and has opened my eyes to see how our lives can literally change in an instant. I believe the entire world got to experience first hand how little control we really have in our lives, and how much we have taken for granted in the past. A hug with a loved one, freedom to move around, visits with friends and family….these were all simple things we did regularly that seemed so “normal” and “easy”… until it was taken away from us.
As I reflect upon all that happened last year, I am able to find so many blessings weaved in between the hardships. Our family, including Celine, grew a lot closer from the many shared meals and activities that we did together while sheltering in place. Alan and I got to reconnect deeply from our daily walks around the neighborhood, which we are still continuing to do right now. Bridgette formed a tight tribe with old and new friends with all the extra time that she remained at home. I got out of my comfort zone to try a lot of new recipes at home, and it was so rewarding to be able to bring joy to my family that way.
It will be interesting to see how life transitions back into normalcy in 2021, though I think it will definitely take most of the year to get back on track in a way that most people want. My hope is that we won’t ever go “back” to what felt normal in the past, but instead, we will take all our learnings and growth from 2020 to create a new normal that will be even better. More love for our neighbors and strangers, more gratitude for the little things in life, more intentional times with people that matter to us, more joy found in our daily lives, and more courage to face what’s ahead.
