On This Day in 2005: My First Skydive!

Today marks 20 years since I went skydiving for the very first time! The jump took place at Skydive San Diego from an altitude of 13,000 feet...which was also the same altitude when I leaped out of another aircraft above Skydive Perris nine months later. I went on to skydive three more times—in 2013 with the HALO jump in Tennessee (at an altitude of 29,190 feet), in 2014 at Skydive Elsinore for my 35th birthday (at an altitude of 12,500 feet) and in 2018 at GoJump Oceanside for birthday #39 (once again at an altitude of 13,000 feet).

Will I go skydiving again, you ask? Hm. If my finances weren't dogshit right now, yes!

On This Day in 2013: Remembering My HALO Jump!

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."
-Leonardo da Vinci



So today marks 12 years since I flew to Tennessee to do a HALO jump!

According to my jumpmaster on that flight (who's also the owner of Halojumper.com, the website that I booked this jump through), I was apparently the first Filipino ever to do a civilian HALO tandem skydive! Pretty cool...if true.

I found out in 2022 (through one of my brothers, who also told me about the Tennessee-based HALO jump back in 2006) that I can travel up to Northern California to leap out of a plane from 30,000 feet in the air! (I live in Los Angeles County.)

This comes courtesy of SkyDance Skydiving...which is based in the NorCal city of Davis.

Unfortunately, the SkyDance Skydiving website doesn't mention the price of a HALO tandem jump—but I'm guessing it might be in the 4-figure dollar range like my skydive in Tennessee! If it is, then it's all good if I don't end up doing it; my goal was to jump from the altitude that passenger jets cruise in on their flights at least once.

I have other activities remaining on my bucket list to achieve! Anyways, here are photos from my high-altitude, low-opening skydive in 2013...

LINK: Click here for more images from my HALO tandem skydive















"Sometimes you have to go up so high to realize just how small you really are."
-Felix Baumgartner (October 14, 2012)

On This Day in 2013: Remembering My HALO Jump!

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."
-Leonardo da Vinci



So today marks 10 years since I flew to Tennessee to do a HALO jump!

According to my jumpmaster on that flight (who's also the owner of Halojumper.com, the website that I booked this jump through), I was apparently the first Filipino ever to do a civilian HALO tandem skydive! Pretty cool...if true.

I found out last year (through one of my brothers, who also told me about the Tennessee-based HALO jump back in 2006) that I can travel up to Northern California to leap out of a plane from 30,000 feet in the air! (I live in Los Angeles County.)

This comes courtesy of SkyDance Skydiving...which is based in the NorCal city of Davis.

Unfortunately, the SkyDance Skydiving website doesn't mention the price of a HALO tandem jump—but I'm guessing it might be in the 4-figure dollar range like my skydive in Tennessee! If it is, then it's all good if I don't end up doing it; my goal was to jump from the altitude that passenger jets cruise in on their flights at least once.

I have other activities remaining on my bucket list to achieve! Anyways, here are photos from my high-altitude, low-opening skydive in 2013...

LINK: Click here for more images from my HALO tandem skydive















"Sometimes you have to go up so high to realize just how small you really are."
-Felix Baumgartner (October 14, 2012)

Some Tidbits from My '23andMe' Genetics Report...

Earlier today, I received an e-mail from 23andMe informing me about how my DNA report was ready...after I mailed my saliva sample to the biotechnology company last month.

There is so much information to blog about here, but I'll just mention the most obvious and interesting details:

- I'm 99.7% Southeast Asian (surprise, surprise—'cause I'm Filipino)...with my lineage probably originating in Luzon island's Ilocos Region in the Philippines, or possibly Taiwan

- I'm 0.3% Southern East African...with my descendants (who spoke Bantu, a Niger–Congo language) migrating from the highlands of what is today Nigeria and Cameroon

- I have 2% Neanderthal DNA...which is more than that in 98% of other 23andMe customers (in case that image above wasn't enough to inform you about this, heh)

- Two traits that apparently resulted from my Neanderthal ancestry is me having difficulty discarding rarely-used possessions (which is completely accurate!), and me being less likely to have a fear of heights [which is obviously true seeing as how I went skydiving 5 times since 2005... One of those skydives being my HALO jump from 29,190 feet above Tennessee in 2013 (shown below)]

- Another trait that this genetics test accurately predicted is me preferring vanilla over chocolate-flavored ice cream... I love vanilla!

- One trait that this test inaccurately predicted is that I wouldn't have dimples... People kept pointing out that I had cute dimples when I was a child

Anyways, that's enough tidbits about my genetic code for now. 23andMe also offered the option of me knowing what health issues I was predisposed to in the future...but I declined it. This was one of those situations where ignorance is bliss. Happy Wednesday!

Photos of the Day: Celebrating the Big 4-1 Today...

To commemorate me turning um, 41 today, just thought I'd share pics from the two skydives that I did to celebrate my 35th and 39th birthdays, respectively. In 2014, I went to Skydive Elsinore to do a tandem jump, while I followed suit at GoJump Oceanside four years later. I was thinking about doing a jump last year to celebrate my 40th birthday, but I didn't have time to do so since I was in the last three weeks of pre-production on my short film, The Broken Table.

So how am I celebrating today, you ask? By staying at home, typing this Blog entry, keeping track of the latest online updates about Trump being hospitalized for COVID-19 (I'm voting for Joe Biden, FYI), and waiting for Game 3 of the NBA Finals to begin at 4:30 PM, Pacific Daylight Time on the ABC Network. Happy Sunday!

LINK #1: Click here for more images from my Lake Elsinore tandem skydive

LINK #2: Click here for more images from my Oceanside tandem skydive

Happy TMI Monday!

Here's a random personal tidbit: I never learned how to swim. I think it stems from the fact that I almost drowned in a river when I was very young. I recall that it was one of my aunts who pulled me out of the water after I was submerged for a few seconds, though I don't remember why my family was at this river in the first place.

So yea— I'm able to go skydiving five times (as of last October), but you'd have to put me in a life jacket if you want me anywhere near the deep end of a backyard swimming pool... Carry on.

PS: TMI = Too Much Information. In case you're wonderin'. #CaptainObvious

The Final Post of 2018: Reliving 2008 (and then some)...

Just thought I'd end this year by pointing out how 2018 reminded me of 2008...a year that I look back on favorably for personal reasons. 2008 was memorable because a spacecraft carrying a DVD that bears my name (NASA's Phoenix lander) successfully touched down on Mars, I attended my 10-year high school reunion in Pasadena, CA, I went to Florida and took part in a cruise (to the Bahamas) for the first time, and I did so many viewings of The Dark Knight in movie theaters because it was such an awesome film.


SpaceX

In regards to 2018, my name landed on Mars for the third time (via two small microchips aboard the InSight spacecraft over a month ago; my name is also on the Curiosity rover as it safely arrived at the Red Planet in 2012), I attended a dinner cruise in Newport Beach, CA, to mark my 20-year high school reunion two months ago, I went to Florida and took part in a second cruise (to the Panama Canal and other locales in Central America) last March, and I watched The Dark Knight in Universal City (twice during the summer) after the movie was theatrically re-released for its 10-year anniversary.


JAXA

Along with the highlights listed above, this entry also includes some non-personal events as well as cool, exciting activities that I did this year [namely, going skydiving in San Diego County for my 39th birthday (as shown in the pic at the very top of this entry)...and finally meeting 5-time NBA champ Kobe Bryant (as shown in the image at the bottom of this post)]. Check out the photos throughout this entry...and have a safe and happy New Year!

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MARS LANDINGS

NASA / JPL - Caltech

NASA's Phoenix lander arrival (at Mars' north polar region): May 25, 2008

NASA's InSight lander arrival (at Elysium Planitia): November 26, 2018


NASA / JPL - Caltech

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THE DARK KNIGHT


1st Theatrical Viewing: July 18, 2008

1st Theatrical Viewing (for 10-year anniversary release): August 26, 2018

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OLYMPICS


2008 Summer Games (in Beijing, China): August 8 - 24, 2008

2018 Winter Games (in Pyeongchang, South Korea): February 9 - 25, 2018


Chang W. Lee / The New York Times

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CARIBBEAN CRUISES


Bahamas cruise (from Fort Lauderdale, Florida): August 13 - 18, 2008

Panama Canal cruise (from Miami, Florida): March 11 - 23, 2018

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CLASS OF 1998 REUNIONS


10-year high school reunion (in Pasadena, CA): October 25, 2008

20-year high school reunion (in Newport Beach, CA): October 6, 2018

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And lastly, it only took 11 years to meet the Mamba...on October 23, 2018!

Celebrating Birthday #39 with Skydive #5...

Earlier today, I drove down to Oceanside in San Diego County, California to mark my 39th birthday by jumping out of an aircraft for the fifth time ever (courtesy of GoJump Oceanside)! As usual, it was awesome...despite the fact that I had to constantly turn my head to the side (and keep my mouth closed) during free fall because I felt like I couldn't breath with the continuous gust of air blasting upwards and hitting me directly in the face. (My tandem instructor and I descended towards the ground from an altitude of 13,000 feet at 120 MPH. The free fall lasted 60 seconds.) You can see this for yourself on my YouTube video—which is posted at the very bottom of this entry.

I plan on marking my 40th birthday next year by skydiving for the sixth time! I already know which jump zone I'm planning to drive to (Hint: It's still in California), but I won't divulge it here since I'm a big believer in not jinxing plans by talking about 'em (moreso, that is) before they take place. So yea— I'm gonna keep you guys out of the loop about that till next autumn, heheh. In the meantime, check out these photos and watch my skydive video below. Happy Thursday night! And a happy free-falling birthday to me once more!

LINK: Click here for more images from my Oceanside tandem skydive

Back in the Day: My HALO Tandem Skydive...

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."
-Leonardo da Vinci



Five years ago today, I conducted a HALO jump above Whiteville, Tennessee...from an altitude of 29,190 feet. Here are a couple of photos from my webpage that's devoted to this awesome jump; you can check out the rest of the images in the link provided below. Chances are I'll re-post these pics again in 2023—to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of my HALO tandem skydive! Carry on.

LINK: Click here for more images from my HALO tandem skydive















"Sometimes you have to go up so high to realize just how small you really are."
-Felix Baumgartner (October 14, 2012)