WHABOS In Da House

Legion of Sorts!

2010-06-12T02:51:00.001-04:00

To everyone who has been visiting this blog over the past five years, THANK YOU. Since I've been in China for the past year and a half, Blogger has been blocked and it makes it more and more difficult for me to update. I finally took the time to move over to Wordpress which is still available in China and so I've created a new blog with the same contributors plus many new ones. It will focus a bit on our daily skateboarding adventures in Shanghai but also include more about our many friends around the world; Brian in Canada, Danny in New Zealand, Tyler and the Haines St. Crew in Delaware and much more!

So please update your bookmarks to point to http://legionofsorts.wordpress.com. And to anyone who'd like a link on our site, just shoot us an email at legionofsorts@gmail.com!

Thanks!
-Tommy

Fuck US Airways!

2010-06-01T17:00:00.004-04:00

FUCK US Airways! Had an hour delay in Pheonix, causing me to miss my connection in LAX, forcing me to stay for a whole day in the airport w/ no money, no phone, and no internet. They wouldn't even help me get on the next flight to Hong Kong b/c they weren't liable for what their delays caused. MOTHER FUCKERS! FUCK YOU US AIRWAYS! I hope no one ever flies with them every again, swag ass dick lickers. Anyway, I'm in Seoul, Korea after a 12 hour flight from LAX, waiting another 5 hours for my connection to Shanghai. I have literally been flying continuously since Saturday evening, with a night rest in San Antonio, most of my time has been spent waiting in the god damn worst fucking airport in the world, yes you, LAX.

Here are some old shit videos since China's internet sucks balls and luckily I can still get on Vimeo in Seoul.

Brian Smith likes flowers from Tommy Zhao on Vimeo.

JMART skates?? from Tommy Zhao on Vimeo.

Banana Power

2010-05-31T08:27:00.001-04:00

Johnnie Tang - Backside Heelflip from Tommy Zhao on Vimeo.

Top 10 Airports Visited in the Past Month

2010-05-31T08:08:00.004-04:00

Alright, alright, alrightyyyyy then! So it's been since February since I've had access to un-China-walled internet, that's the main reason I've been lacking on the updates. I'm currently in San Antonio, Texas, waiting for my flight to Pheonix, then LAX, then Hong Kong, finally back to Shanghai. Since I've been traveling quite a bit the past 3 weeks, I'm going to make a list of the airports I've been in and ranking them from best to least favorite:

1. Hong Kong. Free wi-fi. Super quick and convenient. Everyone speaks English if you need it. There's better shopping in the airport than any mall in Delaware. The food is quite expensive though.

2. HongQiao Airport, Shanghai, China. So convenient, it's 6 stops away from my crib on the metro.

3. Xi'An Airport, China. It's so small and empty and peaceful.

4. Pudong Airport, Shanghai, China. It's huge. Pretty much everything that China wants in an airport that portrays the country. Free wi-fi too.

5. Pheonix Airport. Have you BEEN to Pheonix?! The scenery is amazing. Free wi-fi is a plus.

6. San Antonio Airport. Officially the nicest employees out of any airport I've been to. Free wi-fi here too.

7. Guadalajara Airport, Mexico. Tequila everywhere, but shitty restaurants and mosquitos overload.

8. GuangZhou Airport, China. This place sucks. My cell phone got in my checked luggage between LAX and GuangZhou so that may be the main reason. It's full of people spitting and coughing everywhere.

9. Los Angeles Airport. Worst airport. No free wi-fi. No good food.

10. BeiJing Airport, China. I just don't like Beijing.

Fuck Berra...

2010-05-15T20:56:00.003-04:00

Save your three dollars for Benny's hotdog stand. Here's the Shane O'Neill part.

p.s. Don't pay for the video. You're not supporting skateboarding when you buy shit from the berrics. You're supporting the church of scientology and a skate park you will never get to skate. Board companies support riders, riders come up and put out video parts and sell boards for their sponsors that helped them come up... It's win win for both parties. Steve Berra putting out a pro part and taking more than he is entitled to for distributing the video is whack. Fuck you Steve Berra.
/end rant

EDIT: First vid got shut down, here's another... hopefully it'll last a little longer

Support Development of a Skatepark in Newark Delaware Petition

2010-04-27T14:01:00.001-04:00

Support Development of a Skatepark in Newark Delaware Petition

The City of Newark Plans to develop the site of the old Curtis Paper Mill as a community park. We would like them to include a concrete skateboard park in the project.

By signing this petition you show your support for skateboarding in Newark. This interest will raise awareness with not only city officials, but also members of Delaware Office of Parks and Recreation.

Please visit the City of Newark for more information, site plans, and to use the online comment form.

Switch

DIY in Delaware

2010-04-27T10:47:00.008-04:00

Delaware kids are doing big things...

Help raise funds to keep the building going at The Pink Spot.

Help raise funds to keep the building going at The Pink Spot. Great progress has been made over the last several weeks at the spot. The ground is getting swept up, trash is being removed, and skate obstacles are being built. The spot consists of ledges, rails, pole jams, steps, gaps, and some small transitions. This is a perfect opportunity to create a Delaware skate spot from the ground up. Show your support and chip in a few dollars, if you can't come help clean up or build!

VietNam

2010-04-27T10:42:00.007-04:00

I've attached some pictures from my trip to VietNam. Most of them are of HaLong Bay and Sapa. Did some outdoor rock climbing, it was pretty tight.

Switch Easter Egg Hunt!

2010-03-31T11:46:00.000-04:00

If you're in the Delaware region, go spend your day lurking around campus! Switch Skate and Snow has planted over a dozen prized eggs around Newark:

"SWITCH Skateboarding Egg Hunt 2010.

We have hidden 12 lucky eggs around newark. These eggs hold some awesome prizes: ! This hunt is open to all who feel lucky.

Some of the prizes are:
Switch Skateboard Deck
Switch Cruiser Style Deck
Switch Skateboard Wheels
Switch x Drew Rash Hoodie
50% off Complete Board Coupon
Guys and Girls Prize Bags

All eggs are hidden within the green area of the map, and will not be in any buildings, or on private residential property. STAY OFF THE TRAIN TRACKS!"

For a look at the map and more info, check out their Facebook page: http://lite.facebook.com/events/SWITCH-Egg-Hunt-2010/112245995457366/

Good luck hunting.

Hanoi, Vietnam in April!

2010-03-24T08:24:00.000-04:00

Is there anyone out there located in Hanoi, Vietnam? I will be in Hanoi for 9 days from April 13th-21st, 2010 and would be psyched to meet up with some skaters. If anyone's been and can give me some info, that would be rad, too. CHEERS!

-Tommy

English Assassin

2010-03-18T10:41:00.000-04:00

Dude, Pip aka Paddington aka The English Assassin, where are you? Did you get kicked out of China? Are you stuck in Hong Kong? Back in England? Give me a shout.

Newark Skatepark in the near future?

2010-03-12T11:58:00.000-05:00

Please sign the online petition to get Newark, Delaware a skatepark. It's been long overdue.

Link: http://www.gopetition.com/online/34475.html (Please copy and paste into your browser)

In other news, the Chinese government is going crazy on blocking websites. I haven't been able to get onto Blogger for months and finally found a way to somewhat add a post. Any sort of video broadcasting site such as Youtube, Vimeo, Blip has been blocked ... for a year now? Facebook's been long gone. I actually didn't even have the internet for 2 months, not much you can do on it anyway.

Last week, i bought tickets to go to Sri Lanka and Kuala Lumpur for $260USD. The only downside is that the travel dates are for January of next year. I couldn't pass it up though.

The weather's starting to get around the mid 70's here in Shanghai, so things are looking up! There may be a trip planned to check out the new Woodward Beijing sometime next month. If anyone's seen the pictures, you know's it ridiculous.

Once I figure out a way to upload videos/photos onto the web, I'll start posting some more shit.

"Sa wa dee kup!"

2010-01-31T09:56:00.007-05:00

Since Johnny, Jay and I all have tourist visas, we have to leave China after a certain amount of days. Fortunately, we all have to leave around the same time which is towards the end of a month so we planned a trip to Bangkok and an island in S. Thailand called Ko Tao, along with Johnnie Tang (aka Banana) and Alex (黄剑沣). We took a flight from Shanghai to Bangkok, w/ a layover in HongKong... arriving in Bangkok at about midnight. Since all the buses from the airport to downtown had stopped running by that time and we didn't exactly know where the hotel was located, we decided to sleep at the airport and wait until morning to catch a bus and then call up local Thai skater Tao Kitpullap for some directions.

We caught a bus into the city and after breakfast, Johnny and the dudes ran some errands while Jay and I headed to the train station to book tickets to the island then skated around the city and found some spots of our own while we waited for the Preduce skateshop to open. We finally found the shop around noon and got some food before Tao took us to a couple local spots. We eventually met back up with Johnny and the rest of the guys for a quick session and dinner before heading off to the Bangkok railway station. Since we booked the tickets the morning of, no sleepers were left so we took 2nd class sitting w/ fans, which actually turned out to be pretty nice and cool and not sketchy at all. Tickets from Bangkok to Ko Tao run us about $26 USD including an 8 hour train ride and a 2 hour boat ride.

The seats went pretty far back, it was like flying first class... on a train. I lost my digital camera at this point; it fell out of my pocket while I was asleep and I didn't realize until I had already gotten off the train and it had left for the next stop. All these photos are actually stolen from Johnny Tang's camera. I captured a bit on my Nano so expect a vidclip of soon. I was a bit bummed since I had taken over 130 pictures in Bangkok already before I had even gotten on the train. But it would prob. have been worse had I lost the camera on the train ride back vs before even reaching the island.

To the Lomprayah Catamaran which took us from the pier in Chumphon to Ko Tao. About a 2 hour boat ride, where Johnny got boatsick and spent the last 1 hr throwing up. We hadn't really slept much in the past 24 hours though so I reckon that might have done him in.

When we arrived at the pier in Ko Tao, we grabbed some food while deciding what beach to head to first. The whole island is fairly small and you can actually rent mopeds and ride to any beach on the island within an hour or so. The roads are REALLY dangerous and all dirt and steep as fuck so it was pretty sketchy. I saw wayyyy too many people walking around Ko Tao in bandages. Most of the time you get taxi trucks which can take you to where you want, though it's pretty pricey.

I forget the name of this beach... I think it was Ao Thien, on the southeast side of Ko Tao. It was the first beach we went to, only to discover all the bungalows were full.

This is Tanote Beach located on the east side of Ko Tao and was the second beach we went to and ended up staying for 3 nights. Ridiculously beautiful, amazing snorkeling 10 feet from the sand and you can climb up and jump off the massive boulder in the middle.

Johnny's bungalow at Poseidon Bungalows in Tanote Beach. About $4 USD/person/night. 2 people per bungalow. So rad, and the front yard is the beach.

We tried to climb one of the mountainhills surrounding the bay but couldn't find the path, so we ended up just pouchin at a restaurant/bar with an amazing view. The owner was this extremely eccentric Thai lady who called herself Mama. She made us wear cowboy hats and take photos with her and to come back later to have a disco party... which we didn't go to but I bet it would have been fun.

We rented one of these boats for a day and the driver took us on a snorkeling trip around the whole island.

The driver knew all the best snorkle spots w/ the clearest water I ever seen.

Can't recall what bay this was at but you could snorkle between and under the boulders.

We even got lucky and spotted a black tipped reef shark swimming with us. I'd say it was at least 8 feet long.

After 3 nights in Tanote, we headed to Sairee beach, which is the most popular and most crowded beach on Ko Tao. But after the quiet nights on Tanote, we were pretty psyched to get into the night life on Sairee beach. To tell you the truth, there were so many foreigners on this side of the island and everyone speaking English that I didn't feel one bit in Thailand at all.

Dusk on Sairee Beach.

This is a fireshow at The Locust, which is the main bar on Sairee beach and gets pretty wild at night with everyone drinking rum and liquor out of buckets. Def the best option for nightlife in Ko Tao. We even went to a club called H20 one night, but it was pretty lame in comparison to the usual club spots in Shanghai.

We had initially planned to go to Ko Pha Ngan, another island south of Ko Tao. It's apparently got more beaches than days in a month and the biggest party scene: the notorious Full Moon Party. But Ko Tao was too comfortable and no one wanted to leave so ..... maybe Ko Pha Ngan next time. We did check out Ko Tao's moon island Ko Nang Yuan which was really small and amazing as well. A taxi boat took 15 minutes from Sairee beach to Ko Nang Yuan and cost 200 Bhat r/trip. I'd have more pictures but I haven't had a chance to steal any photos from the other guys' cameras so I'll have to upload them later.

We came back 1 day early to spend it trying to skate in Bangkok but it rained almost all day and we made it to one spot around 4pm, then it took us 2 hours to catch a cab and get stuck in traffic to move less than 5 miles. Bangkok's traffic is worse than anything I ever been in. Earlier in the day, we actually got scammed into a tuk tuk scheme. Super wild. Some stranger told us it was Buddha day and all the temples in Bangkok were free and the tuk tuks were only 20 Bhat for 3 hours. Since we were only skating around looking for spots (and this is at 10am) we figured why not check out a temple. So the tuk tuk takes us to a temple with no one and we weren't even allowed in. Just some dude outside trying to tell us about this crazy jewelry he bought at the Bangkok Expo center, selling it for cheap on that day only. We didn't give a fuck about jewelry but the tuk tuk ride was fun so we went to the Expo only to find out it was a small dingy jewelry store on a small street, haha. We instantly hopped back on the tuk tuk, sensing something was super weird, and the driver being put off by us now. He didn't even ask where we wanted to go next and took us to some crazy deserted temple fairly far from the skateshop. The funny thing was that when we came out of the temple the tuk tuk was gone but really, it was him who got screwed considering we didn't even pay him anything. Though we did have to take a taxi to a skateshop which cost us about 30 bhat ($0.88) each so I guess in the end, we did get screwed. But the tuk tuk ride and the story was def. worse it, ha.

I'll have more pictures up later in the week and a video clip once I put something together. Sorry for the lack of skate photos since we only skated for one day, and the skate spots I had photographed got lost with my digicam. Extra thanks to Tao for helping us out though, without that dude, Bangkok is a maze. I'm also pretty sure I ate so much pad thai the length in noodles could span from Shanghai to Delaware, haa.

Kenny Reed

2010-01-30T14:07:00.003-05:00

Just got back from Thailand. Flicks and a write up in a few days.

Check out Kenny Reed's part in the new Rasa Libre video:

Essence of Freedom : Kenny Reed from Rasa Libre on Vimeo.

Gone fishing.

2010-01-18T00:25:00.003-05:00

Leaving for the islands of South Thailand tomorrow. No updates for 11 days.

Star Wars x ADIDAS Party

2010-01-17T12:55:00.003-05:00

Look familiar? Shimizu's ledge.

In the van to SMP Skatepark.

The Source threw a party for some Adidas Star Wars collab. 10 free kegs of TsingTao and all you can drink Absolut voddy.

bzzzzz

Chewbacca can do bluntstalls better than you.

Johnnie Tang Youtube

2010-01-16T20:31:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Danny Lucas for posting up a Youtube version.

Machotaildrop Trailer

2010-01-14T23:56:00.006-05:00

Have you guys seen this?! The titles depict a slight "Nacho Libre" feel to it. The movie looks pretty rad, w/ dudes like Rick McCrank, Steve Olson, and John Rattray, it might be the best skateboard movie "movie" to come out since... ever? I never saw PRod's Street Dreams or Rob Dyrdek's movie but.... yeah, who did?

Also, please help out:

"Switch Skate and Snow: Help children affected by the earthquake in Haiti. For every Switch skateboard deck sold this weekend we will send $10 to UNICEF to help aid relief for children in Haiti via their Haiti Earthquake Fund."

Or directly donate at: http://www.unicefusa.org/haitiquake

$10 USD per deck is a good amount of money. I think it's about time you got yourselves a new deck, or two. It comes with a free "feel-good-I'm-tingling-because- I-just-helped-the-world-feeling."

"Enjoy Party"

2010-01-12T01:55:00.005-05:00

VANS had their Fall 2010 Fashion Show/Miniramp party last week. I had to film for the majority of the night, and since my digicam battery died the instant I got there, I was only able to grab these two flicks. This is of their ice luge.... with fine, aged whisky to any takers.

Rehearsal... notice Jay on the runway.

KTV again! I think I've already gone more times this year than I went all of last year combined. The story is... my friend Johnny has a crush on this lady from Sweden and he can't think of anyone but her. So we had to go karaoking to be his wingmen.

Those are my water bottles. I've been sick with a cold for over a week.

Does this spot look familiar? Peep the Fully Flared Bonus discs and you'll see Rick Howard frontside noseslid it. Banana backsmithed it, but couldn't make it all the way, it's pretty fucking long.

Switchflip Backtail Switch Bigflip out??!

2010-01-12T00:12:00.003-05:00

When did skateboarding turn into this?

Johnnie Tang "It's a Wrap" Videopart

2010-01-11T05:32:00.004-05:00

Direct link to video: CLICK HERE

I've uploaded Banana's video section onto Youku since a lot of people have been asking to check it out w/o the yellow tint that was on the other version. I also tried uploading onto Youtube and Vimeo but w/ the China firewall and my shitty proxy, I wasn't able to. The quality's shit since Youku doesn't have a HQ feature like Youtube and Vimeo do, but check it out, hope you guys enjoy it; it's def. my favorite part out of the whole video for sure!

"Go Take Your Gym Shorts Elsewhere, You Jock"

2010-01-08T22:56:00.003-05:00

Daniel Lucas is back at it again! Here's his latest trick tip: "How to Lose Your Board at Margherita's." Watch closely as he takes you through a typical day of a lurker at Switch... damn, I could really use a slice of pizza from Margherita's!

And if that video doesn't show up well, the direct link is: CLICK HERE.

For those of you..

2010-01-05T23:03:00.004-05:00

..that know Banana, you'll get a kick out of this.

I found these photos on the extremely outdated Quiksilver/Roxy website for their China team. Quiksilver doesn't even have a skate team anymore here. Though I hear they are still pretty big in Hongkong, kind of like the chinese PacSun, they even sell decks, wheels, and everything you need to set up a complete.

Woodward Beijing

2010-01-05T20:02:00.005-05:00

There will be a WoodWard opening up in Beijing sometime late Spring. I havn't posted much info on it since you can read all about it on KickerClub.

I'm not quite sure what I think about it; I mean, it's def. going to be an epic park, but how the fuck do they reckon they'll stay in business? Look at SMP for example. The biggest skatepark in the world, and yet on a daily basis, there are less than 5 skaters there... ever. Plus, I hear the fees to get into Woodward are about 3000RMB/week. Who are they targeting? The Russians? The Japanese? Because the average Chinese family makes less than 3000RMB a month. Who's going to be going to this park? 3000RMB in the States ($441USD), is nothing for a week at Woodward, especially for what looks like (now) the best skatepark in the world, but I don't know any skaters in China that aren't sponsored or an expat child, who can afford to go to this camp. Also, the park isn't even in Beijing. I heard the bus ride takes 2 hours to get there from downtown Beijing. Will there be a bus on the regular to take people there? I mean, SMP Skatepark in Shanghai is considered pretty fucking far from downtown (that's also one of the main reasons it's so empty), but by taxi, it still takes less than 30 minutes. So the real question is.... what will Woodward do differently to attract its' customers, WHOM (am I using it in the right way?) are its' customers, and how will they keep them coming back?

I heard a soft opening is in March/April, I'll keep you guys posted on how really fucking awesome this park looks. Oh, but I heard they require helmets and pads.... really... really??, come on now, it's 2010 fellas.

PARTY PICS!

2010-01-04T06:03:00.005-05:00

In no particular order.

Our boy Johnny Martinez moved into a new crib that over looks The Bund, and it's fucking baller, so we spent NYE breaking in his new abode.

Went to some club called Skyy? on New Year Day. Luckily, one of the girls pouchin with us knew a manager ... aka.... free drinks!

Partied till 8am on New Years Day. This is Johnny, on our way to getting breakfast.

Keeping it festive.

Pregaming on the street.

The view from the rooftop terrace.

Self timer.

NYE eve party.

Not sure which club this one's at. Muse?

New Year Eve dinner. A shithole.

Young Forever

2010-01-04T02:39:00.002-05:00

Jay Z's "Young Forever" music video featuring Willy Akers and Josh Marcinizyn at FDR!

Rumor has it that Josh is riding a Switch deck in the video!

Brian Peacock

2010-01-02T01:27:00.003-05:00

Really fucking solid. Brian, send me some footy?!

EDIT: Looks like he's even on the SLAP Forums.

Happy New Year!

2009-12-30T05:52:00.004-05:00

According to CityWeekend-Shanghai:
"Thanks to a government incentive package, there are 46 million NYE parties in Shanghai, more than two for every man woman and child in the city. "

48 million parties in one night?! It's going to be a wild year.

If you live in Shanghai and want more info on some of the parties going on tomorrow night: CLICK HERE.

"It's a Wrap"

2009-12-27T20:33:00.006-05:00

There is a version of the Gift video online which you guys can check out. Please note that it isn't the version that premiered and I'm not sure at what stage of the editing process this was put up but you can check it out and since the DVD's will be free, I'll try and send as much as I can to the States if anyone wants a copy out there.

The DVD should be out sometime in February, with bonus footage, and all the usual. Also, the credits are not done, so I apologize to anyone who was a part of this video and left out in this version. Thanks!

Youku Videolink: CLICK HERE
(Youku videos don't seem to embed well w/ Blogger.)

Gift Video: "It's A Wrap" Premiere!

2009-12-27T02:30:00.003-05:00

The Gift Skateboards video "It's a Wrap" premiered on Christmas night, with free flow alcohol, food, and gifts, so you know it was fucking TIGHT AS SHIT!

Eric from Nike giving the intro talk.

That stache is looking fresh!

Ahahaaa

Boss' graphic is too hard.

Double tsingtaos.

Chipper had some action in the friends section.

She farted?

Who farted?

Merry Christmas!

Xmas - New Years

2009-12-27T02:02:00.004-05:00

The week from Christmas Eve to New Years Day, is the best time to get nothing done. Here are some random pics from the past couple days.

Room full of drunk singers.

KTV for Xmas eve

Shanghai to HK to Beijing

The whole Gift family in from all over china.

Got to pay rent!

Gigantic soup dumplings.

Went to some dance off competition... haha.

How is that tea pot floating?!

Souvenirs? Peep the Titanic scene in the back, haha.

Keychains, keychains, keychains!

We went into Old Shanghai to shoot last minute lifestyles.

Happy Holidays

2009-12-15T14:47:00.002-05:00

The Christmas tree in my living room w/ the unconventional star.

I've been trying to take a picture of this bike for a year now. A couple times a week, I see this lady riding this bike strapped w/ all these styrofoam boxes on it. I'm going to buy her a truck if I ever get rich.

Expo 2010 = no go. Went to look for skate spots, but we weren't allowed near it b/c it's still under construction. Fake ass Olympics.

My roommate Johnnie Tang at the Jing An Metro Christmas tree.

Awesome Awesome!

2009-12-10T11:20:00.002-05:00

Some friends and I have started our own brand called Awesome Awesome. Not quite sure what we're going to be producing yet but we've made a couple short films for it, so check them out and have a laugh.

Commercial 1

Commercial 2

You Snooze, We Cruise.

Nano Vision!!!!! USA ---> CHINA

2009-12-09T13:25:00.001-05:00

NANO VISION!!!!! from Tommy Zhao on Vimeo.

Here is my NanoVISION of my trip from Delaware to HongKong to ShenZhen to Shanghai over the course of a month. All filmed on the iPod Nano viddycam.

Strange World Premiere Photos

2009-12-08T22:25:00.004-05:00

Zero's Strange World premiered at Fly Skateshop over the weekend. They hooked it up with 5 free TsingTao kegs and mugs instead of plastic cups! The party continued to rage at 2 clubs and a karaoke bar; emerging back into the real world as the sun was peaking over the horizon. The video's dope, get a copy!

Er Zhi, Xiao Ji & Boss getting it in.

Whiskey and tea.

8 dudes, 1 chick. By chick, I mean bum.

BFOM

Kent and Rock and Roll Man in their element.

TAMPA AM 2009!

2009-12-05T09:37:00.004-05:00

Shout out to my homies Chipper and Willyyyy! Good luck.

Glasgow Skatepark Back on Track?

2009-12-01T07:41:00.003-05:00

Looks like the Glasgow Skatepark may once again be a possibility, according to the Delaware News Journal:

"It's been a project that was highly anticipated and greatly supported by the community when the decision was made five or six years ago to put it in there," he said. "Ultimately, we're ready to put it out for bid to see what kind of reception we get from contractors."

Let's hope there's a skatepark there to skate when I get back into the States!

For the full article, click here.

Venice of the East: SUZHOU

2009-11-29T21:45:00.009-05:00

Since the deadline for the Gift Skateboards video is coming up soon, we took a trip to Suzhou for the weekend to get some stuff done. Suzhou used to be a river/canal city, and you could get around by getting water taxis, people just paddling canoes around town. The city's huge now, but still slightly more traditional than Shanghai and Shenzhen are. The skatespots in Suzhou are too many, mostly never been skated before.

Shanghai railway station, packeddddd.

Guess where we ate.

The whole underside of the bridge is a huge long television that plays shit you see in the IMAX theaters.

weeee, lights

more

This shopping center area contains more skatespots than Delaware has to offer in its whole state.

so purrrty

Jay Meador and his kickflizzer

beamer

This club was pretty happenin. Except drinks were super expensive, so we got drunk outside before staying here till 4am. What's up with the chandeliers?

Suzhou cuisine

canooodaling

renaissance man

shoulder cam steeze

power stall

Turkey Thrashin' Skate Jam!

2009-11-27T18:19:00.004-05:00

Turkey Thrashin' Skate Jam! Sunday, November 29th at Barksdale Park! 12pm - DARK.

Tyler, send some photos this way!

ES Game of Skate AM Finals

2009-11-23T21:56:00.003-05:00

Congrats to Brian making it to the finals of the Finals this year.

Strange World Premiere SHANGHAI

2009-11-23T21:14:00.003-05:00

Zero's Strange World video premiere is being held on Friday, November 27th at Fly Skateshop on Changle Lu (intersection of Fumin Lu). 9pm start. Free beer and beverages!

Twins

2009-11-23T20:47:00.004-05:00

Switch recently participated in the UD Fashion show and then I saw this photo:

If Luis and Tyler made a child together, it would be this dude. Forest green pants and Supras?

Nedd Flip Trick Tip

2009-11-19T22:53:00.003-05:00

Nedd Flip Trick Tip from Tommy Zhao on Vimeo.

The illest kickflip ever, brought to you by Nigel Nedd.

Nedd Flip Trick Tip

Since YouTube and Vimeo are both blocked over here, I had to use a Chinese Youtube called "Youku". And since I can't read Chinese, I have no idea how to embed the video onto here, so click that link and hope it works in the States.

THE ALL AMERICAN WHABOS SUMMER MONTAGE IS HERE!

2009-11-19T04:42:00.002-05:00

The much anticipated Whabos Summer montage is here... It's basically the feel good five minutes of the year. Let it take you back.

Featuring the antics, general badassness and skateboarding talents of Nigel Nedd, Carmine Silveroli, Tyler Jacobson, Tommy Zhao, Daniel Lucas, Jeremy Tingle, Greg Coker, Sean Suvie, Ryan Morris, The Paoletti brothers, Peeps, and just about every lurker on Haines st.

Big ups to Switch and the Haines St Crew for making this possible! Until next year suckers!

Back in Shanghai!

2009-11-19T03:09:00.003-05:00

After spending a month in southeast China, I'm finally back in Shanghai. I've managed to get thru the China firewall to post some random pics I've taken over the past few weeks.

hotpot

lemon pulp

whoopdy doo

powerslides are fun

pouchin on Shek O beach

brick kicker

waves

fire

this is not mao.

wtf?!

UPDATE

2009-11-04T03:44:00.002-05:00

I'm currently updating from HongKong at the moment, staying at a friend's house and using his computer since I left my laptop charger in ShenZhen. Did you know they serve McDonald's breakfast sandwiches all day here? I've been waking up at like 4pm and I go downstairs and it's like I never missed breakfast. But waking up at 4pm sucks, especially when you do it for a couple days straight and all the while, there are beaches to go to and skateparks to skate.

Since I left, I've spent 4 days in HongKong, then went to ShenZhen for 7 days, before coming back to HongKong where I've spent the past 5 days. I'll be leaving for ShenZhen again tomorrow night for 10 days before heading back to Shanghai where I can finally drop off my Brita pitcher that I've been lugging around with me. And maybe wash my only pair of pants that I bought back in September.

I've got Nigel's Nedd Flip trick tip and a trick tip from the Kiwi to edit and post, as well as a full montage of my recent trip back to the States in September/October. Also a shitload of photos to post. The problem is that the moment I enter mainland China, anything and everything website/blogger/facebook related is blocked. I'm thinking about making a temporary new website/blog to broadcast my travels while I'm over here and once I do, I'll be sure to post the link here.

Hello HongKong

2009-10-19T18:15:00.003-04:00

I'm off to HongKong and ShenZhen before making my way back to Shanghai. See you guys next summer!

10,000 Kilometers

2009-10-17T10:41:00.002-04:00

New video from Patrik Wallner coming out. It's a video about their trip from Russia to Hong Kong. These dudes crashed at my place during their stay in Shanghai, good people and good skaters. Check out the trailer:

What the fuck??!

2009-10-14T22:07:00.001-04:00

I never saw this one before.

Today's your lucky day...

2009-10-14T00:21:00.001-04:00

Extremely Sorry.

BATB Bracket

2009-10-13T13:35:00.002-04:00

I'm not even close.

Top 25

2009-10-13T13:20:00.003-04:00

Nedd Flip Trick Tip Trailer

2009-10-11T22:34:00.001-04:00

We've got 2 new trick tips coming up once I get back to China. One of them is a infamous Nedd Flip brought to you only by Nigel Nedd. Here's a preview.

Random Recent Photos

2009-10-11T21:04:00.007-04:00

Nigel Nedd.

Blue's clues.

Smoked a leg of pig for 8 hours. What a beauty.

Danny getting his destruction on.

Feasting.

Coker in town.

Daniel Lucas was so hyped on this flatbar and talked it up, claiming all kinds of tricks. He drives us out there and of course, it's a downhill ollie to a preeeetty high rail. Boardslide is the name of the game. Footage coming as soon as I get back to my firewire, in Shanghai.

York Skatepark. Suvie x Sckibicki collab.

"Wrenching" is the new skating.

Carmine Silveroli

2009-10-11T16:40:00.000-04:00

No comment.

Danielle Lucas

2009-10-08T17:39:00.000-04:00

Ladyboys are everywhere in China.

Willy 'Holy BombDrop" Akers

2009-10-08T14:45:00.001-04:00

Night at the Museum 3, bitches.

THROWBACK TUESDAY

2009-10-06T12:59:00.004-04:00

We filmed this video back in 2005-2006 and I never finished editing it, thus the no titles. I think we were trying to film for a new Switch video which never happened and I just wanted to get the footage out there so I just put all the footage together to one song but never put it out. It's got footage from Ed the Shredder, Brian Peacock, Kyle Schroeder, Chipper, Bubba and others. I'm pretty psyched on it, I wish I used a different song though. There's a bunch of footage that no one's probably ever seen... like Bubba's crook?? That shit's like 6 years old at least.

NANO VISION!!!!

2009-10-04T17:52:00.003-04:00

Nanovision from the Shoptoberfest Contest at York Skatepark yesterday.

The Jizz of the Silver Dragon

2009-10-02T10:29:00.004-04:00

Mega surf and skate contest in Hangzhou coming up: Oct. 5-7. For more info, check out KickerClub. A beer garden and an artificial surfing pool?? Damn, I'm bummed I'm going to be missing this one. Fuck, is it still warm in Shanghai?

I find the flyer quite misleading, it's such an epic photo of that LA Hubba, but yet the actual best trick contest is down a 4 stair hubba?!??!.... that's marketing I guess.

Here's the park layout here. Remind you of ... Chichester? I wonder if they will just leave the park there for kids to skate afterwards..... doubt it. What a Maloof.

Wreck Section

2009-10-01T13:55:00.001-04:00

Brian Peacock posted up some footage that he's collected. Did Ed really ollie those stairs to flat??

NANO VISION!!!

2009-10-01T13:18:00.004-04:00

HAWKMANIA!!!!!!

Switch Sale!

2009-10-01T11:34:00.002-04:00

Should be the illest sale ever.

It's Always Sunny

2009-09-26T16:07:00.003-04:00

If you're like me and missed the first episode of the first season..... go to HULU and watch it now.

Nano Vision!

2009-09-26T15:54:00.004-04:00

Here's some footage we got at York Skatepark yesterday, full of ho ho's and screaming laughs in the background. Watch it in HQ.

Quiksilver Roam Videoclip

2009-09-26T12:30:00.002-04:00

A must see videoclip of where all the recent Quiksilver ads came from.

"Dude He Just Got Here"

2009-09-23T23:46:00.000-04:00

I'm stealing SCDD's thunder.

NANO VISION!

2009-09-23T15:23:00.003-04:00

Since I left my firewire cable in China, I can only edit video captured off my iPod Nano for now. But it's dopppppeeeee. Here's a nonsense clip featuring frontside flips from Joel and Brian and a Nedd trizzle flip. The quality is pretty weak b/c I had to compress it.

HuZhou Hunnies

2009-09-22T12:59:00.004-04:00

Congrats to Chelin, Jeremy Hu, and Boss for taking 1,2,3rd place at the HuZhou contest. Check out the honey in the background.

For more photos, check out www.kickerclub.com.

Szeto Updates

2009-09-22T00:10:00.001-04:00

yeeeaaa boi

Nano Vision

2009-09-21T12:43:00.002-04:00

fuck a VX, i'm going to strap a death onto my nano. this is for my homies in china.. chinatown in philly.

New Switch Shirts

2009-09-20T21:41:00.002-04:00

Printed on American Apparel. Coming soon. It's that fire.

Vans Partayyyyy

2009-09-20T21:24:00.001-04:00

Check out the flier if you're in Shanghai on September 25th.

Skate Gypsies

2009-09-17T22:46:00.007-04:00

These dudes are rad. Check out my homie Troy West's skateboard travel site: Skate Gypsies.

They rolled through and spent a week in Shanghai at the end of August. Troy's got pics and a write up on his site and Patrik Wallner (the man behind Translations) is putting out a new documentary skate video behind the whole trip. Should be a good watch so look out for it in the next year.

Brian Peacock for President

2009-09-17T11:04:00.003-04:00

"From coast to coast, amateur skaters have been putting their two wheels to the test, competing in the Red Bull Manny Mania Am series all summer long across 15 cities. Now the best skater from each stop will compete in the digital Manny Rumble Royale, vying for your vote as the grand prize winner, with the chance to take home $7,000 in prizes and take their shooting, and their recognition, to the next level.

At the end of September, the skater with the most popular manual maneuvers will be sporting a prize back with the best of digital video equipment - winning a JVC HD Everio GZ - HD40 camera, a Macbook Pro 15”widescreen computer and programs to edit their future footage with including Final Cut Studio and Mac OS X Lepoard - and last but not least, a handy pelican case to carry their gear to all the hot skate spots around town." -SkateDaily

Click here to vote!

Shanghai Scraps

2009-09-08T13:34:00.002-04:00

Here's a lot of shitty footage that is just clogging up my harddrive.

Walmart x Crazy Chinese People Collaboration

2009-09-08T11:41:00.003-04:00

Want to know how crazy Chinese people are?

Read this article: CLICK HERE

Walmart's new slogan: "If you steal, I'll send 5 Chinese people to kill you... deal?"

Shoot Em Up

2009-09-07T18:31:00.000-04:00

Have you seen this movie?! WTF, best movie ever made.

Check out what I just bought....

2009-09-07T15:47:00.002-04:00

My iPod broke last winter while in Shanghai and now that I'm back in the States for a bit, I can finally buy a new one; something smaller that I can put in my pocket and skate around with:

And thennnn I was thinking to myself.... those apple earbuds break in a month so I might as well buy some aftermarket earbuds.... and after some online research... got these:

YUIN PK3 earbuds for $39 shipped. Apparently the best in its class. They may look ordinary but if Look up the reviews online, do yourself a favor and order them too. You can thank me by buying me a slice of pizza from Margherita's.

Are you a fan of Switch yet?

2009-09-04T12:14:00.001-04:00

Check the Switch facebook page for new stuff, updates, and hidden camera security footage of lurkers

Switch on Facebook

Happy Birthday Brooklyn Ass Nedd!

2009-09-04T11:58:00.002-04:00

Brooklyn Ass Nedd aka Nigel Nedd is 19 today! Come see him and Switch and wish him a Happy Birthday!

Pusher Wheels Co. Promo

2009-09-04T10:17:00.001-04:00

Promo video from Philadelphia company, Pusher Wheels. Filmed/Edited by Chris Mulhern.

Daniel x Diamond Clothes

2009-09-03T17:47:00.003-04:00

Intense modeling session went down at Switch. Get them while they're hot!

DC Shoes Demo at SMP Skatepark

2009-09-03T16:30:00.002-04:00

The DC team came thru on 4th of July this summer and I don't know why I had never posted it online earlier. Wes Kramer killed it.

big mac nagaswami

2009-09-02T21:31:00.000-04:00

mac daddy

DAMNNNnnnnnnnnn

2009-08-30T10:11:00.001-04:00

Epic battle.

I'm back in the States for a bit, hit me up!

Superman

2009-08-17T00:49:00.001-04:00

Clark Kent from Tommy Zhao on Vimeo.

I tried to talk Kent into gapping to flat 5050 and then gap out. He got fucked up.

French Nike SB Team China Tour Video

2009-08-13T20:55:00.002-04:00

These dudes came through back in May and I took them around Shanghai for a couple days. That Maxime kid is insanely good.

Cannonball

2009-08-13T20:34:00.004-04:00

I got this in my inbox from ERGO's daily reports.

I think I seen the footage to this somewhere like Transworld's Check Out videos?

Bluntslide machine.

You know what's rad is that all three of these ads are on the funnest thing to skate on... banks! I got to move to AZ. This dude is ripping, I wonder if World Industries is going to make a new video.

Right Foot Forward

2009-08-13T01:24:00.006-04:00

right foot forward from igor kajpust on Vimeo.

Not sure how much longer this video will be up for so watch it while you have the chance.

Tony Tave's fakie bigflip down the Mike Mo doubleset is pretty fucking ridiculous. Kellen James ripped and I think this was Joey Brez.'s best part ever.

Video for the ES Game of Skate in Wilmington, DE is up. CLICK HERE.

Thrasher Under the Bridge Video

2009-08-13T01:06:00.002-04:00

Thrasher's got a new video coming out called Under the Bridge, focusing on DIY skateparks around the US. You can check out their promo HERE.

I'll bet a hundred bucks that Adam Benson's all up in this jawnz.

ADIDAS Three Stripe Skate Hype 3

2009-08-11T10:36:00.003-04:00

Adidas is throwing their 3rd ever Skate Hype contest in Shanghai. I saw pictures of last years' and it looked wild. Full on street course and free flow bevs! But ... it looks like this year it's going to be a Game of Skate ..?!??!?! Fuckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk. For those of you interested in coming out, check out the ad here:

Direct Link: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTExNjAxMzg0.html

Hahaaaa, the commercial is pretty hilarious.

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rainnnnn

2009-08-10T23:21:00.003-04:00

I'm stuck in a typhoon over here and I hear the weather in DE isn't that much better. But that's even better for you guys b/c now you can check out the sale that Switch has going on:

Event: MAKE IT RAIN SALE!
      "When it rains, you save."
Host: Switch
Start Time: August 10 at 10:00am
End Time: Sunday, August 16 at 6:00pm
Where: Switch Skateboard Shop


P.S. I even hear Carmine is for sale... girls, interested?!??!

Trife Life

2009-08-04T20:41:00.003-04:00

See footage from the likes of Anthony Tomasetti, Ian Coughlin, and Chipper at Matt Steindl's new blog: Trife Life

Skatespot Wednesday

2009-08-04T20:08:00.003-04:00

Nanpu Bridge. This spot is epic: fatty flatbars, wallrides, wallies, 6 stair. Link em up how you wish. All this, under a bridge. No bust and best of all.... there aren't a million people walking around getting in your way.

Johnny and his brother doing some sweepage.

The scenery is sick too. The Nanpu bridge connects Shanghai east and west parts: Puxi and Pudong.

walllll rides

Jay - wallie gap over sidewalk.

Monsoon Season

2009-08-04T19:06:00.004-04:00

This is what it looks like when you transfer from Line 1 to Line 4 to Line 9 and ride it to the last stop... a 45 minute journey (to that spot where Alex Olson does the gap to manny to kickflip up 6 stair), only to find out it's been raining heavily outside the whole time since you got on the metro. Tortured, I rewarded myself with 3 cookies from Subway after sitting on the metro for 2 fucking hours. Cookies and American snacks are expensive in SH. But they don't keep them warm like they do in the States, betta recogniz SUBWAY!

And Jeremy likes to touch his inner thigh. Notice the way he wears his Nike Bruins? You can go skate and then play soccer right after wearing the same shoes! That's important, being in other countries other than the states..

Brian Peacock is Spreading His Wings

2009-08-04T01:51:00.003-04:00

Is the title too gay?

Congrats to Brian Peacock for winning the ES Game of Skate that went down yesterday at the Frawley Stadium yesterday. Good luck in California! After winning the RedBull Manny Mania in Baltimore and then taking the win here, maybe somebody will give him a real sponsor finally. Enjoi? Dwindle? Ralphie, where you at??

2 New Homies

2009-08-01T21:17:00.004-04:00

I've added 2 new links on the right column that you guys should check out on the regular.

Brooklyn Ass Nedd: aka Urban Exploring aka the dude who does shit at night that we wish we were doing instead of drinking and eating takeout and watching skate videos. He walks around NY late at night and just takes flicks of sights you've never see less you were standing next to him. DOPE!

Stickiest of the Icky: This is my friend Matt Pancer's site, he was in Shanghai for a while doing some projects but he's a skater from Canada ... (toronto?), and does a lot of rad filming jobs. Be sure to check out his Dork Trick Tips and Fly Monday's clips.

Luis Aponte or Luis Aponte

2009-08-01T02:43:00.003-04:00

As you all know, we have this Puerto Rican friend that everyone knows as Luis Aponte. He hangs around the shop and goes to school in Philly (do you still?) and tries to pull off having a girlfriend by the name of Mellissa, but everyone knows it's his sister. Rad dude, good skater, better hater, and funny as fuck.

Anyway, I was on Slap yesterday and saw this:

Could that be him?! Or is there another skater going by the same name in the same game?! I know Luis is goofy so that could only mean a switch flip nose slide... OR could it be a fs flip tailslide?!? And since the article focuses on Costa Rica, which rhymes with Puerto Rica, could he have an unkown twin brother? Aka.. Melissa's older brother?! Luis, we need these answers buddy. Hook it up.

Here's a recent video Luis posted on youtube. I just watched it and I think it's an ad for Vans Half Cabs... if you wear them, you can do a million bluntslides and noseslide shuvs. Good luck!

Shoes You Snooze On

2009-07-28T13:01:00.004-04:00

I am in no way a sneakerhead of any sort and usually don't put shit up of shoes but here are some kicks i've got lying around my room that I've accumulated over the past year and thought you guys would like to check them out, especially brands like Adidas and Converse which are fairly new.

These are a pair of Nike SB Classics that Johnny Tang gave me when I first started wearing Nikes. They got a pretty rad imprint pattern going on and I dunno, I feel kind of bad if I fucked them up skating.

Jay has a hook up at Converse and we went over there one day and they hooked us up with 2 pairs, this one and the ERX (below). I don't know how the fuck you can ever skate in these... looks like some sort of Supra ripoff mainly geared towards those in the "fashion" side of skateboarding. These are called the Weapons by the way. They are sick, if you're into these styles.

Vans Chukka Lows - good shoes that hurt your heels. Change the insole. These are part of the fall 09 collection. You can never go wrong w/ Vans.

I traded my roommate upstairs a pair of Janoski's for these. Since he rides for and is paid by Adidas, he got a LOT of shit for just attending parties and going to the clubs in the Nikes. I on the other hand havn't had a chance to wear these but god DAMN they look good to skate in. I don't know why Adidas' aren't bigger in the States... come on', look at Busenitz.

My imperial slippers I got when Tyler was in town in Old Shanghai. Fuck they are so sick, but I never wear them. Good thing they were like $1 US.

These shoes are so rad. They have some sort of memory foam/tempurpedic technoogy in the insoles and tongue. Super comfy. But probably shitty to skate in is what I've heard. Too soft. I've never been so keen on shoes w/ straps though... what's the deal? Anyway, if you get a chance, these shoes would be worth it to try out. Called the ERX 300