PinoyBuilt — Stories of Filipino America

Vallejo, CA • October 2015. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom: 2016 Season Passes, Day One. six flags discovery kingdom, 2016 season passes, vallejo, jian, nica, chesca, filipino-american family, throwback, on this day, 10/4. ON THIS DAY • VALLEJO • OCTOBER 2015 Six Flags Discovery Kingdom: 2016 Season Passes, Day One Jian, Nica and Chesca on a Sunday in Vallejo, four days before Ate Nica turned 15. An ordinary family day, kept on purpose. Left to right: Jian, Nica and Chesca at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, October 4, 2015. Facebook Memories handed this one back to me today: October 4, 2015, a Sunday, at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo. Left to right, that's Jian, Nica and Chesca. My caption back then was short: "First time to use their 2016 season passes." I can't find the original post anymore, so I'm moving the memory here, to the archive I keep. It was four days before Ate Nica's 15th b...

Maligayang Pasko Kapamilya at Kababayan! 🎄 2025 December 25: Vallejo, California. Dominic and Paige. Dominic & Paige - 2005 July 16 Here you go Paige and Dominic. Flashback to Chesca's first birthday at Blue Rock when I shot this photo. Paige's lola brought her and her sisters. Twenty years ago! 💛 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  PinoyBuilt Blog 📺 Follow  PinoyBuilt YouTube 🎓 Interested in helping us create content? Apply as a  college intern  and join our team! #PinoyPride #PinoyCommunity #FilAm #FilipinoAmerican #PilipinoAmerican

Maligayang Pasko Kapamilya at Kababayan! 🎄 2025 December 25: Vallejo, California. Angeline & Aidan. 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 everyone for the delicious food/drinks, 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  PinoyBuilt Blog 📺 Follow  PinoyBuilt YouTube 🎓 Interested...

Maligayang Pasko Kapamilya at Kababayan! 🎄 2025 December 25: Vallejo, California. Angeline & Aidan. 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 everyone for the delicious food/drinks, 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  PinoyBuilt Blog 📺 Follow  PinoyBuilt YouTube 🎓 Intereste...

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...

Happy Birthday Nati! December 18. Early 90s. Vallejo, California. Birthday flowers for Mom. Thank you for everything! 💛 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 PinoyBuilt Blog 📺 Follow PinoyBuilt YouTube 🎓 Interested in helping us create content? Apply as a college intern and join our team! #PinoyPride #PinoyCommunity #FilAm #FilipinoAmerican #PilipinoAmerican #kaibigan

Chicago, Illinois • December 1978. Christmas Eve at Barr Tower, Apt 1202 — a Perseveranda family flashback from 856 W Nelson St. filipinos in chicago, fil-am family, chicago illinois, perseveranda, christmas 1978, barr tower, filipino diaspora, chicago filipinos. CHICAGO • DECEMBER 1978 Christmas Eve 1978: A Perseveranda Family Flashback at Barr Tower, Chicago Before California was even a twinkle in our minds — Jonjo, Nati, and Joy at Apt 1202, 856 W Nelson St, Chicago, IL. Jonjo, Nati & Joy • Christmas Eve 1978 • Apt 1202, Barr Tower, Chicago. Photo: Ronnie Perseveranda It was Christmas Eve 1978. The tree was up, the presents hadn't been opened yet — a Perseveranda house rule — and somewhere behind that camera stood our dad, Ronnie, capturing what would become one of the most treasured photographs in our family archive. That's Jonjo (me), Mom (Nati), and my sister Joy, in the living room of Apt 1202 at ...

Salamat ate Nica! 2025 November 27: Northern California. 💛 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 PinoyBuilt Blog 📺 Follow PinoyBuilt YouTube 🎓 Interested in helping us create content? Apply as a college intern and join our team! #PinoyPride #PinoyCommunity #FilAm #FilipinoAmerican #PilipinoAmerican #kaibigan

Some are goofier than others! So thankful for my family. 2025 November 27: Benicia, California. Missing some peeps. Maraming salamat Joy & Vince for hosting. Thank you Tita Nene and everyone for the food. Thanks Glenn & Chanylle for more Bingo fun. We hope to see you at our Christmas gathering. Thanks Bino! To those "missing in action" you were all in our thoughts. Perseveranda & Putong families 💛 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 PinoyBuilt Blog 📺 Follow PinoyBuilt YouTube 🎓 Interested in helping us create content? Apply as a college intern and join our team! #PinoyPride #PinoyCommunity #FilAm #FilipinoAmerican #PilipinoAmerican #kaibigan

Family Time on Turkey Day 2025 November 27: California. Photo from the second group of shots with my two Godox flashes. Does it look it was shot outdoors, or in a photo studio? Thank you everyone! Perseveranda & Putong families 💛 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 PinoyBuilt Blog 📺 Follow PinoyBuilt YouTube 🎓 Interested in helping us create content? Apply as a college intern and join our team! #PinoyPride #PinoyCommunity #FilAm #FilipinoAmerican #PilipinoAmerican #kaibigan

Happy Birthday again, Missy! Flashback to January 18, 2005 when I hung out with you and met Maricruz. I had not posted these photos since they were taken before we all joined Facebook (me in 2007). Great meeting you Maricruz! Tess and the kids had flown to the Philippines in early December so thanks you two for letting me hang out. I'm pretty sure we finished at least a couple bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon. Peace my friend! November is the month of Thanksgiving  Missy, thank you for being part of my story, for the good energy you’ve always shared, and your friendship. You deserve a birthday filled with love, peace, blessings, and the kind of laughter that echoes like it did back in 2005. I would have posted our Seattle vacation pix, but I still have to scan phtos prior to December 2000 (when I got my first digital camera). Stay tuned; I'll be scanning those. Happy Birthday, Missy. Here’s to more years of connection, friendship, and moments worth remembering. ...

Happy Birthday Melissa! 🎉 Flashback to 2019 November 23 in Benicia, California. Tony, Rudy, Arnel and I met you in Rellik Tavern to celebrate. Cheers. Hi Maricruz! 💛 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 PinoyBuilt Blog 📺 Follow PinoyBuilt YouTube 🎓 Interested in helping us create content? Apply as a college intern and join our team! #PinoyPride #PinoyCommunity #FilAm #FilipinoAmerican #PilipinoAmerican #kaibigan

40th Reunion Milestone Hogan Sr. High Class of 1985: Dinner at Union Hotel October 18 • Benicia, California Forty years after graduating from Hogan Senior High School , members of the Class of 1985 gathered for a pre-reunion dinner at the historic Union Hotel. Before heading to the main event at Rellik Tavern, our core group of the Filipino-American community came together to reconnect. Front: Arnel Pacanza, Ben Carbonell, Glenn Victa, Gloria Arzaga-Vega, Nolan Highbaugh, Missy Cabrera, J.F. Perseveranda, Jim Abad, Julie Chong-Sinai, Martin Nunez. Back: Tony Magbitang, Rudy Jandoc, Tony Palisoc & Melana Paris. A Generation Coming of Age In the mid-1980s, Hogan Sr. High was more than a school; it was a cultural intersection. For many of us, it’s where our identities were shaped through community and shared resilience. Alternate angle: Union Hotel, Benicia. Sp...

Happy Birthday, Mama Helen & Tess ❤️🎂 Today, August 16, is a day filled with both joy and bittersweet memories for our family. It’s the shared birthday of my beloved mother-in-law Mama Helen in the Philippines, and her youngest daughter, my late wife Tess . Fate has a funny way of working. Long before I even met Tess, I had already planned a week-long vacation for the week of August 16. Then, on May 16 of that same year, Tess came into my life. Lo and behold — it was a perfect match. That week, which I had set aside for rest and fun, would soon become one of the most meaningful times of my life, forever tied to celebrating two incredible women. This year, we remember them through a flashback photo from August 1999 in Chino Hills, California. It was taken right after we returned from a weekend in Las Vegas to celebrate their special day. The smiles in that photo say it all — love, laughter, and family togetherness that distance and time can never erase. August ...

Flashback: Happy Birthday Auntie Dory & Joy Family is forever.  Today’s flashback takes us to (I'm guessing) the first Saturday after Auntie Dory & Joy's shared July 31 birthday - August 3, 1996, 190 Toni Ct. Vallejo, CA.  It's the first house my parents bought in the USA.  I use  timeanddate.com  by the way to look up dates & days. Reyes sisters reunion: Dory, Nati, Rachel, Manye & Joy If memory serves, Auntie Dory & family always drove up from San Jose for an annual shared celebration with my sister so that my mom and her sisters could spend time. This flashback is a reminder that no matter how much time passes, the moments we share with loved ones are priceless. Whether it’s a holiday, a family vacation, or just an ordinary day that became extraordinary — they all deserve to be remembered. 💬 Your Turn! Do you have a favorite family flashback? Share it with us in the c...

Flashback: August 7, 2004 Family is forever. Every now and then, it’s nice to open the old photo albums (or scroll through our hard drives -- and back them up before you drop them!) and relive moments that shaped who we are. Today’s flashback takes us to Outside Lands 2004  — when that meant Mama & Papa's front lawn (with the new added bonus of a water slide I bought). Jian and Keo attended Outside Lands Day 1 in Golden Gate Park yesterday, so I'm just playing off that. They've got two more days with their Benicia buddies. Enjoy. Jian, Nica, Keo & Kuya R Tita Gigi was in town to help care for Baby Chesca. This flashback is a reminder that no matter how much time passes, the moments we share with loved ones are priceless. Whether it’s a holiday, a family vacation, or just an ordinary day that became extraordinary — they all deserve to be remembered. 💬 Your Turn! Do you have a favorite family fla...

✈️ Travel Throwback: Chesca’s First Trip to Chicago 🇺🇸 J.F.R. Perseveranda Tuesday, July 5, 2022 July 5, 2022 — A memorable day for our family, especially for my youngest daughter, Chesca. This was her very first visit to my U.S. hometown of Chicago. Her kuya Jian brought us to SFO that night for her red-eye flight. We were both attending my niece’s high school graduation party — a long-awaited family reunion. For me, it was a return to familiar places and faces. For Chesca, it was a special second: meeting her three girl cousins close to her age for the first time in years, reconnecting with my Tita Lita and Tito Narding after so many years. It was heartwarming to watch a new generation build ties with roots they’ve only heard about in stories. Travel throwbacks like this remind us of how family — and a sense of home — can stretch across miles, memories, and generations. #PinoyBuilt #FilAmFamily #TravelThrowback #ChicagoTrip #FilAmYouth #FilipinoAmerican #PinayA...

Memories from our Overlook house Thanks to Facebook for the memory. But I had restricted the YouTube subsequently after sharing it on FB. I just made my YouTube video public again. 2008 July2. Vallejo, CA. Their mommy shot the video. Since we had our first kid, Nica, I always encouraged her to shoot photos/videos while I was still at work. (We didn't have to pay for Costco photo processing anymore. LOL). Per the filename 20080702161804, it was 4:18 PM so I was still at work in Fairfield. I love how Jian leaves the Rockband session by running away when he sees the food his mommy had cooked, and says, " Ooh lumpia !" LOL! We never worried about Jian and Chesca eating -- only their Ate Nica.  When Nica was a small toddler, she had always shown natural musical gifts. Nica even made up her own songs. I got her first toy keyboard (a red one) when she was two years old I believe. I encouraged her to perform, and always had her sing karaoke at our parties. She ha...