| October 6, 2025 |

This past Saturday, 10/4, I went with family and friends to check out the Filipino Island Fest.  It was held at the Ferry Point in Alameda.  The vibe was lively.  They had quite a few vendors this year as well as food trucks.  And what does that mean?  Yes, you got it, long lines everywhere.  But that is to be expected and actually wonderful.  They had also set up a stage where there were very talented performers either singing, dancing or playing an instrument.  The weather was a bit on the hot side only because the sun was beating down on you and you may not catch a breeze where you may be standing.  Once we got our food, we sat closer to the water and that gave us a nice breeze to cool us down.

More importantly, it was just being around the other Filipinos and just seeing how rich our culture is.  We also ran into some other friends and family alike that made the experience even better.  When we set out to go, we said, we won't stay that long but we ended up staying quite a few hours.  Time flies when you are having fun right?

When we left, we didn't quite feel that we wanted to end the day yet, so we continued the Island vibe by having snacks and drinks at the Forbidden Island where we had more intimate conversations.  We caught up each other on what's going with our lives and we recapped the day.  I value these moments of togetherness and am grateful that I have people around me that make life living easier.  As the saying goes, NO ONE IS AN ISLAND.  Let's continue the vibe of what we call Life.