PinoyBuilt — Stories of Filipino America

Vallejo, CA • September 2026. H.E.R.'s Mom Is a Nurse. Her Dad Built Things. In Vallejo, We Know That House. h.e.r. jennifer hudson show, gabriella sarmiento wilson, h.e.r. filipino mom nurse, h.e.r. vallejo, forgotten island h.e.r., filipino american nurses, empire of care, the makings of curtis mayfield, cabanatuan nueva ecija, fil-am working class family, 9/25. Vallejo, CA • September 2026 H.E.R.'s Mom Is a Nurse. Her Dad Built Things. In Vallejo, We Know That House. On The Jennifer Hudson Show, the Vallejo-born star traced her art back to family and the Philippines. Behind the Oscar is a Filipina nurse from Cabanatuan, a construction worker who introduced her to Curtis Mayfield, and a story thousands of Fil-Am homes already know by heart. PinoyBuilt illustration: a stethoscope, a hard hat, and a guitar by the door of a working Fil-Am house. Not a still from the show. In my family, the white uniform...

Marikina Philippines Chicago USA 1976. August 19 Filipino immigration anniversary. Northwest Orient Airlines Manila Chicago Filipino American migration story Perseveranda family OFW diaspora. DIASPORA MEMOIR • AUGUST 1976 August 19: The Day We Left the Philippines A nine-year-old boy, his Lola, and his sister walk across a Manila tarmac — toward Chicago, toward their parents, toward a new life. Fifty years later, the journey still shapes everything. Manila International Airport (MIA), August 19, 1976. Lola Rosita, Joy, and Jonjo — three generations, one tarmac, one leap of faith. Photo by Tito Sonny (Marciano Perseveranda Jr.), who had airport access through his work at PAGASA. Every August 19, I go back to that tarmac. I am nine years old. My Lola Rosita has our papers. My sister Joy is beside me, probably already calculating whether she would be carsick before we ever reached Chicago. And somewhere ahead of us is a Northwest Orient j...

Celebrating the bunso who's bday is in July Eskinita . M Hizon St. Manila, Philippines. Eskenita is alley in Tagalog. Here's Baby Joy checking out my favorite cap gun. Dad, did you take this pic or Lolo? Manuel Hizon St, Santa Cruz, Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines "The youth is the hope of our future." -- Dr. Jose Rizal 📣 Calling All Filipino-Americans 🇵🇭 Whether you're a first-generation immigrant who journeyed here from the Philippines, a second-generation Filipino-American born and raised in the U.S., or like me—a 1.5‑generation Filipino —you belong here. PinoyBuilt is a space for all of us to celebrate our roots, share our stories, and build community. 🌟 Words That Inspire “I’m Olivia Rodrigo. I’m a Filipina, I’m a lumpia fan, I’m a daughter, a granddaughter and a great‑granddaughter.” — Olivia Rodrigo “I wanna say proud Pinoy ako, my Tagalog isn't so go...

Join the #FilipinoAmerican conversation. Comment below. #PinoyPride #Filipino Click to follow this website . Like our Facebook Page Pinoy Built . Thank you. Salamat po. blog,community,fil-am, filipino american,

The sons were classmates; the moms were classmates! Flashback to Dino's Benicia High School Graduation June 10, 2017. Pleasant Hill, California. Benicia High School had its graduation at Diablo Valley College that year because the school was building a new stadium. Here's Dino with his mom, Joy (my sister), and his friend and his friend's mom. I came to find out that the two moms had been classmates in St. Scholastica in our hometown of Marikina, Rizal. I kinda remember telling both of them that when my sister introduced me to Rica at Dino's graduation party at their house. Sure enough they were classmates (at least batchmates St. Scholastice Batch 1984) via Hannah. I'm backing my files online. FYI, if you have Amazon Prime, you can use "Amazon Photos" to back up your photographs to Amazon for FREE! That's what I do everyday since I've lost three hard drives already. "It's a small world after all." Join the #FilipinoAmerican conversat...

Olan Mills is now Lifetouch Vallejo, CA. Throwback Thursday. Photo was either taken near the end of my junior year in high school, or the summer after my 11th grade. Sophomore year for Joy in Hogan High School. I don't remember where the Olan Mills studio was located in Vallejo.  I love this photo of Mom. Olan Mills, Inc. was a privately owned American company founded in 1932 by Olan Mills Sr. and Mary Mills which was headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It provided portrait photography and church directories through its two main corporate divisions: Olan Mills Portrait Studios and Olan Mills Church Division. On November 9, 2011, Lifetouch Inc. announced that it had purchased the Olan Mills photography business, Olan Mills Church Directories and Olan Mills Portrait Studios, its corporate functions, and the production operations in Chattanooga. Join the #FilipinoAmerican conversation. Comment below. #PinoyPride #Filipino Click to follow this website . Like our Facebook Page ...

Maligayang Bati Mae! Flashback to our meeting at the Starbucks in Niles, Illinois in July 2022. Join the #FilipinoAmerican conversation. Comment below. #PinoyPride #Filipino Click to follow this website . Like our Facebook Page Pinoy Built . Thank you. Salamat po.

What is Pinoybuilt.com? Pinoybuilt is a website built on "off-the-shelf" Google technology. I initially conceived of this site prior to the birth of Facebook, back when Friendster was a thing. Then life and Facebook happened. In 2011, while on vacation with family in Hawaii, I found out that they didn't sell "Filipino Strength" t-shirts as they did in Honolulu. My buddy Tony referred me to the local Maui Built apparel. I thought of a Filipino Built brand along the same line. My tita said that it was too long and suggested Pinoy Built. I bought the domain pinoybuilt.com. I worked with a couple of graphic designers in creating a logo, apparel ideas, but nothing really took hold. Eventually, I turned this back to the original concept of a community site. Marketing Tool Currently, all blog entries auto-posts to the Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/pinoybuilt and posts a tweet to  https://x.com/PinoyBuilt  (formerly Twitter ). The @Pinoybuilt Twitter account ...

February 23 Flashback in Suisun City Hogan High School reunion with Grace and Joe in town, and Rowena back in the country. Grace and Rowena were both in the same class as Joy and Vince. But I was close with both of them.

Benicia, CA • September 2017. My Birthday Dinner in 2017 — Kimono Japanese Restaurant Family Birthday Video. jf perseveranda birthday, kimono japanese restaurant benicia, perseveranda family dinner, september 12 birthday, old camcorder video archive, pinoybuilt family archive. Benicia, CA • September 2017 My Birthday Dinner in 2017 A 1 a.m. hard-drive backup turns up the biggest video file of 2017 — the Sony camcorder footage from J.F.'s September 12 birthday dinner with family at Kimono Japanese Restaurant in Benicia, CA. The Perseveranda family at Kimono Japanese Restaurant, Benicia, CA — J.F.'s birthday dinner, September 12, 2017. I'd fallen asleep sitting on the sofa. I woke up after 1 AM. The Amazon Photos app had backed up all the PICTURES folder on my Macbook. 📌 Did You Know? Old camcorder tapes and hard drives are one of the diaspora's quiet family archives — MTS...

Flashback to February 1, 2005 A quiet celebration at home. My family (Tess and the kids) are absent because they flow to the Philippines in December 2004 for an extended vacation. Remembering Uncle Nick. 🙏 I lost a 5-TB hard drive (my main one) last week so I started to backup my photos to Amazon Photos (free with Amazon Prime). I'll post more pix from February 1 later today. HBD! 🎂

I don't remember if I learned this poem while a student in Marist in Marikina or in St. Sebastian in Chicago, IL. But I can't forget the first two lines. They popped into my head just now as I was browsing the internet. Happy Friday! Solitude By Ella Wheeler Wilcox Laugh, and the world laughs with you; Weep, and you weep alone; For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth, But has trouble enough of its own. Sing, and the hills will answer; Sigh, it is lost on the air; The echoes bound to a joyful sound, But shrink from voicing care. Rejoice, and men will seek you; Grieve, and they turn and go; They want full measure of all your pleasure, But they do not need your woe. Be glad, and your friends are many; Be sad, and you lose them all,— There are none to decline your nectared wine, But alone you must drink life’s gall. Feast, and your halls are crowded; Fast, and the world goes by. Succeed and give, and it helps you live, But no man can help you die. There is room in the halls of ...