Editor’s note: This is the first of a series on Filipinos carving a home abroad.

Newly married Kat Zuno moved from Manila to Singapore in February this year to follow her husband Reden, who has been working in the Lion City for less than a year.

Battling homesickness every day, Kat still managed to adjust seamlessly into married life.

During the four months she spent job hunting, the obsessive-compulsive housekeeper in Kat played the doting wife to the hilt, doing the ironing even as she detests the chore.

“I don’t want people to think na walang nag-aalaga kay Reden pag nakitang gusut-gusot ang damit niya,” she says.

Kat would cook adobo, sinigang, tinola, and ginataang manok for her husband. “Madali namang makakuha ng ingredients dito for Filipino dishes,” she says. Silver Swan or Datu Puti soy sauce or vinegar are easily available at Lucky Plaza.

Now that she’s working (Kat is an editorial assistant for a magazine in Singapore), the couple gets to taste homecooked meals only during the weekends.

“Home” is a small bedroom rented out by a Pinay in Geylang. Two other rooms are occupied by other OFWs. Their building is in one of the “hottest” streets in Singapore’s red-light district, Kat tells us.

“There are a couple of brothels along our street, and the prostitutes and their pimps do not even wait for the sun to set before going about their business!” she exclaims. “Tuluy-tuloy ang hada: madaling araw, umaga, tanghali, hapon, gabi.

“The area reminds us so much of Manila: May mga basurang di nakokolekta, madumi ang bangketa, madumi ang kanal. Matraffic pag gabi at madaming tao.”

Playhouse
Setting up a home was easy because the apartment came fully furnished. They only had to buy the appliances.

“One of the first things Reden acquired when he arrived was an electric kettle. He also bought a laptop to keep in touch with the family back home. When I came to Singapore, that’s when we bought a toaster oven and a small desk fan,” Kat recalls.

Some Ikea photo frames taped to the side of a cabinet add a personal touch to their little space.

The Daily Grind
“A typical workday for me starts at 7 a.m.,” Kat says. Breakfast is usually Spam, egg, and bread, or something heavier like fried rice and corned beef. She is usually at the office by 9:30.

At work, Kat’s daily chores involve sending out magazines, research, writing an advertorial, and searching for photos on Getty Images.

“I may have lunch with the editorial team at the hawker centers. Sometimes I bring baon.”

Workday ends at 6:30, and then Kat takes the train from Bradell to City Hall, where she sometimes meets Reden for dinner.

It’s a different life she lives now, Kat says, although she is quick to add that she is still the same person she was back home.

“I’m still me. But I’m trying to break out of my shell. I’m in that stage where I’m unsure of who and what I can become here, of who I am and how to fit in. Little by little I am trying to learn how to be Pinoy in a foreign land, how to keep my self in a different country,” she reveals.