I am a UK-based Filipina who has just officially become an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW). This blog is all about the journey I have and the people I share it with. Through my eyes, I’d like my readers to see first-hand how life is away from one’s country – the struggles, emotions we battle with, the financial pay-offs and the prices we pay for wanting so hard to have a better life.
Being a Filipino is not just being in the Philippines. It is being who one truly is, regardless of where he lives. I will share with you amazing, inspiring, maddening or hilarious stories of Pinoys around the world – including me.
My readers are welcome to put in their two-cents’ worth by commenting on the posts. I hope to share this exciting journey with all of you and I hope that all of us will mutually benefit from the experience. Let us all celebrate the essence of Pinoy-hood wherever you are in the globe.
Hi there! How are you? You have such a well-thought and well-written blog. I love reading through all your posts. Very inspiring! Passion for writing surely emanates from deep within you.
Take care always!
Hi,
I do not know how do you maintain your time having 2 blogs with amazing content.
Good luck to this and the way I look at it, it will go a long away.
I’ll find time to visit this regularly.
Thanks.
:Being a Filipino is not just being in the Philippines. ” I believe in you…my hubby is also an OFW, and he told me that when you are outside of the country….it does not make you less Filipino but instead it validates how Pinoy you are….
thanks a lot, A Blessed Life, guardian angel and cielo, for leaving your kind comments here. I hope to see you more often in this site. I do write for people like you who take time to read my posts and share with me the journey I have chosen to take.
God bless you!
My father is also an OFW, most of his life, he has spent it all on his work. But I don’t blame him for that. Instead I admire his courage of going through all of that just to support our needs and schooling.
I am happy to be able to land into your journal.
Yvie, thanks for dropping by and for sharing something about you. You are lucky to have such a responsible father. And he is lucky too, for having an understanding daughter like you.
Do come by anytime you want.
Hi there !
I just came across your article when I decided to look for the english word of one of our Filipino vegetable saluyot.
BTW I’m born and raised in Manila. My parents are deceased
but also born in the Luzon area—Dad from Tarlac and my
Mom was from Mindoro. I bet you noticed my last name sounds foreign. Yup I’m married to an American US Army retired. It’s a long story how I met him so I wont’t bother to
waste space here.
My sincere admiration for what your doing. This is the first time I ‘ve seen an article like your while I was on a search mode. Keep up the good work and will try to visit your site again. Belive it or not, I’m 65 years old and we live here
in McAllen, Texas. Wouldn’t mind if you call me grandma
( got 5 granddaughters…..10,8 and 18months respectively.)
Forgot to ask….do you speak Tagalog or Visayan?
Sure enjoyed posting this for you.
Take care and God bless,
Grandma Nanette
Hi! Nanette! Thanks for dropping by to read my blog. It’s nice to be acquainted with you, regardless if we are miles apart. Well, I read in the packaging of the frozen saluyot that I buy here that the English term for it is “jute”. I don’t know what you need it for but i hope this helps.
thanks for admiring what I am doing here. Actually, I think of it as my own personal mission to be a voice for the millions of OFW’s around the world – to tell their story, to spread their vision. In fact, I would want to invite you to share your story with us here.
I am from Luzon po and I speak Ilocano and Tagalog.
Bye and I hope to see you regularly henceforth in my blog.
modermaclara,
may i know where are you from originally? i have noticed you’re good in ilocano. I’m from Laoag City, Ilocos Norte.
hi. yes, i am a filipina. i guess i forgot to indicate this fact in my blog.
anyway, thanks for reading my posts. i appreciate it a lot. i’ll be checking out your blog too, and i’m pretty sure ill enjoy it a lot. Take care !! 
aimee
Hi good story on Maritz. Wish her all the luck! Hope to read more success stories in your blog. Will surely drop by again.
hello!
I am a 17 yr. old Filipino student and I read one of your posts about your experience in Europe. The one about good English. HEHE. I hate it when foreigners think of us in a bad way. Good thing you looked at that encounter in God’s perspective. We are all equal in His eyes.
I’ll be using your post for my research and essay about discrimination of OFWs. I hope its okay. Thank you very much
Where do you go to church in UK? Just wondering
More strength from the Lord! God bless you!:D
Hi there! how are you and your family?hope things are just fine there..
I came across your blogspot when I was researching for some info about working in UK as a caregiver. Then I found myself reading your blogs and it inspired in lots of ways..
I like Marits and Tinays stories..I like other stories too but theirs catched my attention more than the other stories coz im a self proclaimed romantic..heheheh..
Im actually in the stage of wanting to explore the world for greener pastures….I wanted to work abroad either as a caregiver or teacher but Im not either a caregiver or a teacher..odd huh??hehehe..
If you dont mind,maybe you can provide me infos on how to apply as caregiver in there in UK..i will be enrolling a caregiving course soon..
hope to hear from soon..pls do keep on blogging (on your free time,of course) as it will always help aFilipino soul wandering out there..
God bless u and your family always!
Hi Monet and Emm!
Monet, I sent you an email, hope you got it. No reply from you kasi, eh.
Anyway, Emm, Caregivers are still part of UK’s manpower shortage list. So, that means, they still need your services.
There are a lot of manpower agencies that deploy caregivers to the UK from the Philippines like Bison International. However, you will have to dish out a lot of money.
My hubby, who is a Radiographer, applied online only. His former agency in the Philippines, Bond Worldwide, was charging him something like one hundred thousand pesos for placement fee. We didn’t have that much money so he tried applying with Reed UK and he was hired!
He did not pay a cent – just his expenses for his fare and visa, which was way less than what his agency was asking. In fact, companies who hire headhunters (those who scout for employees) are the ones to pay the latter for each successful hire.
Sadly, in he Philippines, the employees are the ones who pay the agencies or the head hunders. Perhaps, they are even paid by the companies they scout for – doble kita.
You can visit my other website, http://matheubaniaga.com and email me through there so that we can correspond better.
Bye!