PinoyBuilt — Stories of Filipino America

USA • October 2026. Critics Loved Forgotten Island. Now It Needs Filipino Americans in the Seats. forgotten island box office, forgotten island opening weekend, dreamworks filipino mythology movie, januel mercado, h.e.r. vallejo, liza soberano, lea salonga manananggal, filipino american history month, fahm 2026, support filipino film, 10/1. Forgotten Island • October 2026 Critics Loved Forgotten Island. Now It Needs Filipino Americans in the Seats. A Fil-Am director from Stockton made a studio film out of the stories our lolas told us. Audiences gave it an A. Then it opened fifth. This weekend is when we decide what Hollywood learns from it. PinoyBuilt illustration: an empty seat, a capiz-window screen, and one ticket waiting to be used. Not a still from the film. I was supposed to see Forgotten Island on Tuesday with my bunso, Chesca. That was the plan. Then the plan met a better offer: on Tuesday she was on a flight to Burbank, and on Wedn...

Las Vegas, NV • September 2026. Maligayang Bati sa Langit, Tito Ed! Eduard Perseveranda birthday tribute, Perseveranda family Las Vegas wedding photo 2008, six of eight siblings, Manlangit clan, kapamilya, Filipino American family archive. KAPAMILYA • LAS VEGAS, NV • SEPTEMBER 2026 Maligayang Bati sa Langit, Tito Ed! Six of the eight Perseveranda siblings, gathered before a wedding in 2008 — a birthday tribute to Tito Ed, gone since 2020 but never left out of the frame. Left to right: Manuel, Ronald, Diana, Luz, Grace, and Eduard Perseveranda — six of the eight siblings — Las Vegas, NV, May 17, 2008, hours before Glenn married Chanylle. I took this photo on May 17, 2008, in Las Vegas, Nevada — hours before Tito Ed's son Glenn stood up to marry Chanylle. Everyone was already dressed, already posed for a dozen family shots, when I got this one: six of the eight Perseveranda siblings in one frame, together in a way that...

Marikina • June 2013. Maligayang Bati, Karl! A Vikings Buffet Flashback From Marikina, 2013. karl perseveranda birthday, vikings luxury buffet marikina, sm city marikina, perseveranda family archive, balikbayan titas, marikenyo, filipino american family, kapamilya. MARIKINA • JUNE 2013 Maligayang Bati, Karl! A Vikings Buffet Flashback From Marikina, 2013 Karl turns 29 today. Before the happy birthday, a flashback to the one afternoon the balikbayan side and the Marikenyo side of this family shared the same table — and the same all-you-can-eat spread. Vikings Luxury Buffet, SM City Marikina — June 28, 2013. The balikbayan titas and the Marikenyo Perseverandas, together for a treat. Today, Angelo turns 29 — Karl Perseveranda to the rest of the world, but he's been Angelo to this family since before he could walk. He's my first cousin Michelle's eldest, and as far as the Perseveranda family tree goes, h...

Pasadena, CA • August 2026. Maligayang Bati, Tita Lila! HBD — The Tita Who Named PinoyBuilt. Luz Perseveranda birthday, Tita Lila, Perseveranda family, Pasadena family archive, PinoyBuilt origin story, Filipino-American family, Fil-Am tita, Maui 2011, Fu Shing Pasadena. Family Archive • Pasadena, CA Maligayang Bati, Tita Lila! HBD — The Tita Who Named PinoyBuilt Luz Perseveranda turns 71 today. Fifteen years ago, on a family trip to Maui, she's the reason this site is called PinoyBuilt at all. Pasadena, CA — April 22, 2006. Back row, left to right: J.F. (tripod shot), Tess carrying baby Chesca, Tita Gigi, Tita Nene, and Tita Lila. In front: JianCarlo and Veronica. Taken on the Olympus E-500, right after lunch at the family's go-to spot, Fu Shing — since closed. Every family has a photo like this one. Nobody remembers arranging it — it just happened, the way it always happened on the annual Spring Break...

Pasadena, CA • January 2004. Kapamilya in Pasadena Before the Long Drive Home. family archive, fil-am, filipino, pasadena, california, vallejo, kapamilya, perseveranda, cervantes, tess, road trip, throwback, pinoybuilt. Family Archive • January 2004 Kapamilya in Pasadena Before the Long Drive Home One last family photo at the titas' house in Pasadena before the Perseverandas pile into the van for the long drive back to Vallejo. Pasadena, CA — January 4, 2004. At the titas' house before the drive back to Vallejo. Pasadena, California. January 4, 2004. Tess, Nica, Jian, and I had spent the Christmas holidays in Arizona. We dropped off my mother-in-law and Tess's niece Reah at Tess's ate's house in Glendale, AZ — they'd be flying back to the Philippines from there. Then we drove to the titas' house here in Pasadena for a few nights. My cousin Kristine Cervantes, her daughter, and her sister Rosanne had been o...

Maligayang Pasko Kapamilya at Kababayan! 🎄 2025 December 25: Vallejo, California. Family photo. I took 679 photos at our family Christmas party with lots of burst photos from our parlor games. It's going to take me time to cull and edit. Thank you for your patience.  If I post to @Pinoybuilt on Instagram , the photo will post to the facebook.com/pinoybuilt . You can download the photo from there. Otherwise, I will post the other photos here on pinoybuilt.com. (That's the purpose of this blog. Plus I'm backlogged for 2025 as well as previous years). 😉 Thank you Melvin & Melissa for hosting the party. Thank you everyone for the delicious food, as well as the games and entertainment. Maraming salamat, kapamilya! 💛 Explore Filipino American heritage, culture, and stories! Join our Fil-Am community to connect, comment, celebrate, and share experiences. Mabuhay! 📌 Follow PinoyBuilt Instagram 👍 Like PinoyBuilt Facebook ✍️ Follow P...