Maligayang Pasko! Merry Christmas!

-

Wish you & yours a 'Merry Christmas!'

Comments

Post a Comment

Hi! Thank you for dropping by. Please leave us a comment. Sige na!

Popular posts from this blog

All Souls Cemetery, Vallejo: A Mass for Tess and the Ligao Brothers Who Rest There

-
Image
Vallejo, CA • August 2021. A Mass for Tess and a Walk to the Ligao Brothers' Graves at All Souls Cemetery. all souls cemetery vallejo, perseveranda family, ligao albay, filipino american genealogy, filipino catholic cemetery tradition, family archive, vallejo california. Vallejo, CA • August 2021 All Souls Cemetery, Vallejo: A Mass for Tess and the Ligao Brothers Who Rest There Five years ago, two generations of the Perseveranda-Putong family gathered at a Vallejo cemetery for a mass — then walked together to the graves of two brothers born a world away in Ligao, Albay. My three kids and me, my sister Joy, her husband Vince, and their children, standing at the graves of Lolo Marciano, Lolo Emiliano, and Tito Ed after mass. All Souls Cemetery, Vallejo, CA — August 14, 2021. Five years ago today, we drove to a corner of Vallejo that doesn't show up on anyone's tourist map of the 707 — All Souls Cemetery, a name that reads almost too o...
Read more

Magandang Umaga Po: A Balikbayan Morning at NAIA, One Shuttle Bus at a Time

-
Image
NAIA, Manila • August 2026. Magandang Umaga Po: A Balikbayan Morning at NAIA, One Shuttle Bus at a Time. balikbayan, NAIA, Philippine Airlines PR105, Cagayan de Oro, family homecoming, Fil-Am travel, Perseveranda family. NAIA, Manila • August 2026 Magandang Umaga Po: A Balikbayan Morning at NAIA, One Shuttle Bus at a Time A 5 a.m. text from Manila, a photo from the NAIA shuttle, and a connecting flight to Cagayan de Oro — my kids' balikbayan morning, told through the texts as they came in. Left to right: Mary Ann, her alaga, Nica, Chesca — holding the phone — and Jian, aboard the shuttle to their connecting flight. Photo texted by Nica, August 2026. The first text came in at 5:12 a.m. Manila time, before they'd even deplaned: “Magandang umaga po from the Philippines!” — from my daughter Nica, a fourteen-hour flight and one very long night removed from home. I wrote back the only thing that mattered to me in that moment: “Hey! Magandang ...
Read more

What Time Does Eala Play?": My Sister's Text and the Full Eala vs. Ruse Preview

-
Image
Mason, Ohio • August 2026. "What Time Does Eala Play?": My Sister's Text and the Full Eala vs. Ruse Preview. alex eala vs elena-gabriela ruse, cincinnati open eala match time, eala ruse odds, eala ruse head to head, alex eala coach joan bosch, cincinnati open round of 64, wta 1000 cincinnati, filipino tennis fan hubs. Mason, Ohio • August 2026 "What Time Does Eala Play?": My Sister's Text and the Full Eala vs. Ruse Preview A one-line text from my sister sent me down a research hole. Here's everything — the match time in every hub that matters, the odds, the receipt Ruse is still holding from 2024, and who's actually in Alex Eala's corner in Cincinnati. Alex Eala at the Lindner Family Tennis Center — her Cincinnati Open debut begins against Elena-Gabriela Ruse. My sister texted me one line yesterday: "What time does Eala play?" No context needed. That's what Alex Eala has become for this...
Read more

Nica, Jian & Chesca Board PR105: Home to Bukidnon for Mama Helen's 85th

-
Image
San Francisco International Airport • August 2026. Nica, Jian & Chesca Board PR105: Home to Bukidnon for Mama Helen's 85th Birthday. balikbayan, philippine airlines pr105, valencia bukidnon, mama helen 85th birthday, nica perseveranda, jian perseveranda, chesca perseveranda, tess garcia. Philippine Airlines PR105 • Aug 12, 2026 Nica, Jian & Chesca Board PR105: Home to Bukidnon for Mama Helen's 85th A photo landed on my phone the second they found their seats. I was already on the freeway somewhere in Vallejo. Three siblings, one flight, headed back to the province that raised their mother — to celebrate the woman who raised her. Jian,  Chesca  and  Nica  — buckled in on PR105, SFO to Manila. Nica texted me this the moment they found their seats, Aug. 12, 2026. My phone buzzed. Nica had sent a photo: the three of them, side by side, seatbelts on, PR105 still on the ground at SFO. "We’re sitting together," Nica texted. ...
Read more

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Atet

-
Image
Overlook • November 22, 2007. A heavenly birthday remembrance for Maria Theresa "Atet" Garcia Perseveranda — Marites to her mommy, Tess to many — with recovered Thanksgiving 2007 photographs of the Perseveranda, Garcia, and Ronquillo kapamilya in Overlook and a birthday greeting to Mommy Helen in Bukidnon. Photos and storytelling by J.F.R. Perseveranda. In Loving Memory Happy Heavenly Birthday, Atet MARITES  •  MARIA THERESA  •  TESS Us, with the kids — Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2007. Happy heavenly birthday to my late, beautiful wife. In an ideal world, we would have celebrated with your mommy, and your kids, and your siblings, and their families at the Double M Hotel celebration they held on August 16 in the Philippines. We love and miss you more than ever. The Garcia–Ronquillo side — Mommy Helen with Marites, Tess’ Ate Rowena Ronquillo, and Rachelle “B...
Read more

Maligayang Bati, Mama Helen! HBD

-
Image
Vallejo, CA • August 2026. Maligayang Bati, Mama Helen! HBD. mama helen birthday, elenita baluyut garcia, tess perseveranda family, valencia bukidnon, st basil vallejo, filipino grandmother tribute Mama Helen's Birthday • August 2026 Maligayang Bati, Mama Helen! HBD A birthday letter to my mother-in-law, Elenita "Mama Helen" Baluyut Garcia — and a 2007 photograph from Vallejo I still smile at every time I find it. Vallejo, CA, November 2007 — after Mass at St. Basil. Left to right: Mama Helen, Tess carrying Chesca, Bebot and Rowena. Standing in front, all smiles: Jian and Nica. Maligayang Bati po, Mama Helen! Happy birthday. Somewhere in Valencia, Bukidnon today, I'm guessing the table is full — most of your apo are there, and I know my three musketeers, Nica, Chesca, and Jian, wouldn't have missed it for anything. I wish I could've made the trip too. Since I couldn't, I wanted to give you this instead: a pa...
Read more

Dilaw: What the Filipino Word for Yellow Really Means — and Why It Feels Like Coming Home

-
Image
Learn Filipino • August 2026. Dilaw: What the Filipino Word for Yellow Really Means — and Why It Feels Like Coming Home. Dilaw Maki lyrics meaning, Tagalog word for yellow, learn filipino OPM, Maki Kolorcoaster, tanglaw katiyakan Tagalog, balikbayan homecoming Filipino American, 200 words Tagalog vocabulary. Learn Filipino • August 2026 Dilaw: What the Filipino Word for Yellow Really Means — and Why It Feels Like Coming Home Maki's record-breaking OPM hit gave a generation a new way to say it. But dilaw has been carrying Filipinos home since long before Spotify existed. Dilaw — the Tagalog word for yellow, and the word my kids flew home with last night. I stood in SFO last night and watched my three kids go through the gate for Philippine Airlines PR 105. Twenty-two, twenty-four, twenty-five — all of them grown now. And here's the part that's been sitting on my chest all week: Nica and Jian haven't set foot in the Philippines si...
Read more