What inspired me to begin sharing my stories was really the life I have been living all these years—through work, through moving from one country to another, through motherhood, marriage, food, travel, and all the unexpected turns that somehow become part of who we are.

 

For more than two decades, life has taken us from Manila to Copenhagen, New York, back to Manila, Bangkok, and now Istanbul. Each move has asked something different of me: to begin again, to make a home in unfamiliar places, to hold on to the traditions that matter, while learning to appreciate the beauty in someone else’s.

 

I am Filipina, married to a Dane, and a proud mother of two wonderful grown-up daughters. They have grown into their own lives now, though I suspect every mother understands that they never really stop being your children. My husband and I continue our expat journey with Bruno, our much-loved dog and faithful companion through yet another chapter of life.

 

Real estate has been a big part of my professional story. Over the years, I have worked with people buying homes and making investments across borders, and perhaps because I have moved so often myself, I have always understood that a home is never just about a property.

 

It is about belonging. About finding your footing. About creating a life in a place that may once have felt completely foreign.

 

And then there is bread.

 

My love for sourdough began quietly, at home. I loved the patience of it, the ritual, and the simple pleasure of making something with my hands and sharing it with people I love. Eventually, that love grew into The Breadfest Club.

 

What began with flour, water and wild yeast became much more than baking. I started teaching, inviting people into the process, and gathering them around the table. I discovered that what I loved most was not only making bread, but sharing what I knew and watching people connect—with the food, with the process, and often with one another.

 

Somewhere along the way, Portugal became part of our family story too.

 

My husband and I became custodians of Quinta da Marfenja, our small vineyard and olive estate in the Douro Valley. Before us, the land had been cared for by the same family for five generations, and I have always felt that we are not so much owners of it as people fortunate enough to care for it for a while.

 

The Quinta has brought us closer to the rhythms of the land—the seasons, the harvest, the vines, the olive trees, and the people who have known this landscape far longer than we have. Our grapes make their way into the renowned Sandeman wines of Portugal, while our olive trees give us our own small production of olive oil.

 

There is something humbling about standing among vines that were there long before you arrived and knowing that the story of the land did not begin with you.

 

And from the Quinta, Marfenja Experiences began to take shape.

 

It felt less like starting something new and more like bringing together many things I already loved—gathering people, sharing food, discovering places, learning from others, and creating space for people with knowledge, craft and stories of their own to be part of the experience.

 

I have always loved introducing people to one another. To a baker, a farmer, a winemaker, an artist, a teacher, or a place they may never have discovered on their own. There is a certain magic in watching people arrive as strangers and, over a table, a walk, a harvest or a shared experience, begin to connect.

 

Looking back, I can see that these were never really separate chapters.

 

Real estate. Moving countries. Motherhood. Bread. Teaching. Portugal. The Quinta. Gathering people around a table. Creating experiences. Learning from people and places along the way.

 

And perhaps that is what Real Connections has come to mean to me.

 

The people we meet.

The places that stay with us.

The things we learn and pass on.

And the unexpected ways we find home.