PinoyBuilt — Stories of Filipino America

Vallejo, CA • September 2026. September 15, Nine Years Ago: A 'Happy Friday!' on the I-80 School Run. jf perseveranda family video, vallejo family archive, i-80 school morning, filipino american family, kapamilya, atet nica jian chesca, on this day 9/15. ON THIS DAY • VALLEJO, CA • SEPTEMBER 2017 September 15, Nine Years Ago: A 'Happy Friday!' on the I-80 School Run On September 15, 2017, Nica pointed my phone at the whole car — Atet up front, Chesca and Jian in back — somewhere on I-80 before the overlook into Vallejo. Nine years later, to the day, here's the whole morning back. Nica's phone video from the back seat: Atet up front, Chesca and Jian behind her, on the way to school — I-80, September 15, 2017. The title wasn't complicated. I called it "Happy Friday!" because that's what it was — a Friday morning like a hundred others that fall, the five of us in the...

Good Monday Morning! April 28, 2025. Vallejo, CA. I'm pumped. My Smugmug site is back online this morning after I sent them a "What's up?" status request on Saturday. Saturday was all about my niece's Senior Prom photos. Sunday, I wanted to go to the Benicia Classic Car Show in the morning then a West Coast Creatives photography meet-up in San Francisca late afternoon/early evening. I totally forgot about the car show until noon when I was deep into editing photos while watching an NBA playoff game. I considered driving to SF... but decided to just edit the photos at hand. It would've been nice to meet some photographers and models though. This morning, I saw JLO's latest Instagram post. Due to inflation my love will now be costing a thing. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jennifer Lopez (@jlo) Love it JLO! So I played her video "Love Don't Cost a Thing" on YouTube... which brought up this cool mix below. Back...

Out with Akira

Brunch: Three eggs cooked in avocado oil, lots of mozzarella, and the last of kimchi. Sprinkled with paprika and cayenne pepper. I did one set of mountain climbers before eating. 🧗🏽‍♂️ Magandang umaga. 🌞

I parked at the top of the parking garage so I can get max steps in. Passed by Costco to buy onions (and to get more steps in). Grabbed more tomatoes. Cooked organic mushrooms for my omelette.

February 5, 2025. Kaiser Labs done. Three years ago today, I was in Dubai. Time flies. 

Monday Motivation: "The purpose of life is to give it away." -- Pablo Picasso "You have two choices: use your energy to worry; or you can use your energy to believe, enjoy, create, manifest, heal, grow and glow." -- The Universe Xfinity outage this Monday morning in my neighborhood. I'll have to post using my phone. 

Thanks Dad for the One House Bakery croissant!  Paired with coffee in my current favorite Starbucks Davao mug, courtesy of Tito Nelson. Tito Nelson, I got to watch the final set of the Australian Open Women's Final between Aryna Sabalenka and Madison Keys with my croissant and coffee. One day, I hope to watch it live in Melbourne with you. Morning blood pressure Blood Sugar - 225 at 8:16 AM Snacked on Organic Triscuit wheat crackers before bed... and a few bites of the One House Bakery croissant! Weight - 166.5 lb Update: Blood Sugar 112. Shot 10/25 insulin earlier.