Starting Anew

When Public Messaging Doesn’t Match Migrant Experience

When I look back at how Kubjertos, a Filipino restaurant, began, it never feels like “just” a business story. It’s woven with migration, motherhood, healing from abuse, rebuilding my confidence, and trying to dream again after five years of simply surviving. In 2018 and early 2019, I finally reached a point where I could breathe again. After years of domestic violence, after becoming a full-time mother who had no space for herself, I slowly started imagining a future that bel

When I first moved abroad, I wasn’t chasing adventure. I was building a life from love, motherhood, and faith in something bigger than myself. But even with all the love I carried in my heart, I found myself in a world that felt unfamiliar and quiet... Too quiet for someone who grew up surrounded by laughter, noise, and family just a door away. What grounded me, in those first uncertain months, was the quiet kindness of my own community. It began at the local community centre

When I first moved abroad, I brought with me more than just luggage. I carried assumptions, habits, and a rhythm of life deeply shaped by where I came from, a culture that centered community, warmth, faith, and family. Then suddenly, I was in a place where things were quiet, people were private, yet strangers smiled at you on the street and offered a cheerful "Hi!" without needing to know your name. At first, it felt strange. How could people be so distant, yet so friendly a

For the ones quietly aching for connection, identity, and home far from everything familiar. Maybe you moved for love. Maybe you followed your dreams. Maybe you just needed to start over. But now you’re here, standing in a grocery aisle where nothing looks familiar, smiling politely at conversations you only half-understand, scrolling through messages from back home with a lump in your throat. And you’re wondering: “When will this feel like my life?” The Weight of Displacemen

For the woman who gave too much, stayed too long, and is finally ready to come home to herself. You didn’t plan for it to turn out this way. You loved deeply. You tried harder. You stayed, hoping things would get better or that maybe you were just too sensitive. But now, it’s over. Or maybe it’s almost over. And all you’re left with is silence, exhaustion, and a version of yourself you barely recognize. If your voice feels shaky… If your boundaries feel blurry… If your sense

The Quiet Reality of Love, Life, and Loneliness After Moving Abroad for a Relationship You did it. The visa got approved. The reunion hugs were real. You moved your life for love, maybe with children, maybe with nothing but hope and a few pieces of luggage. And now… you're in the kitchen, or in your shared apartment, or walking through quiet streets in a foreign city, wondering: “Why do I feel so alone?” This part? No one prepared you for. The Aftermath They Don’t Talk About