BUSAN
Interview by Yuji
WBW:
So! Its a great honour to have you here on wbw sop, but first
things first, tell us how did you get picked to become a judge at
the treX-games in Busan?
Sop:
(laughs) No man, i guess you all should know already what! I
was a judge by accident/had no choice. Because Barry messed
up his ankle - pretty badly too i heard!(check out loveskatepark.
com) so yeah, ended up i became the judge..
WBW:
Yeah, we saw the pictures dude..It was GNARLY! but we
digthat.(get well soon barry!!)
Anyway, back to the topic. How was it like being a judge? I
mean..for the sake of the skate com judge wannabes here-how
DO you judge anyway?
Sop:
Hmm its a 1 minute run for each skater..so it went pretty smooth
and easy man! And well basically, the more tricks a skater lands
without bailing, the higher points they get. Also, your perception
of what is steez and technical board wizardry sure counts when
you consider giving higher points to a skater!
Qi An:
No good for me man. We were told it was gonna be a skate jam
at first. Then when i found out i was gonna have a 1 minute run
all to myself with all these pros looking at me i almost peed
my pants. Not landing anything during the half hour of practice
didn’t help at all. So much for steez and technical board wiz-
ardry eh Sop.
Photos by Qi’an
WBW:
I see.Pardon me for asking a potentially confrontational ques-
tion, but we just want to know, what about the issue about being
biased? ya know, local pride, higher points for favourite skaters
and shit like that..
Sop:
Ah man..thats a hard one..(laughs) yeah but seriously, nobody is
perfect ya see. These things happen all the time in competitons.
Take it from me. I’ve had first hand experience in this, appar-
ently..Not that i’m biased!!
WBW:
We know you wouldnt do something like that. You’re sop man!
Sop:
(laughs) Well the rest of the judges were friendly, i can tell ya
that..The head judge was a cool bloke. Though i wonder if he
had mild amnesia or something. Just after the competition, he
forgot who i was. The panel and me spent a few hours with him
judging the competition and he was friendly as hell before that!
WBW:
Maybe he was acting shy dude. I mean, you ARE sop! Just kid-
ding, i’m sorry. Okay, so tell us more about the vibe down at the
treX-games man.How was the atmosphere?
Sop:
Well personally - from what i saw, the angmohs(westerners)
were all chill about the whole competiton.I think they already
knew they had the upper hand for sure..Guess they were there
just to impress the asians? The asians were kinda demoralized..
But a particular japanese group were hardcore man! They go re-
ally big on the QPs and transfers.
Qi An:
All we Asians were scared shitless. (can i say shit?) I know my
goal was “NOT LAST”.
WBW:
I’ve heard japanese skaters are hardcore.Half-japanese skaters
are good-looking ya know.Any skater/group in particular that
would make you buy a video of the competition just to see their
run again?
Qi An:
I liked the Jap wallace guy. Hes so fun to watch. Benihana from
the QP over the wall dawg!! And crazy wallrides. Hes got so
much hype and he’s flying everywhere. Seriously we just called
him Wallace throughout the entire trip. The thai skaters are pret-
ty amazing too. You can ask Sop. One of them blew our minds
just by skating flatland. Nollie full cab flips 5 out of 5 tries man.
Right sop!
Sop:
I kinda liked the malaysian and thai groups. And there was this
mad malaysian whiz kid “fuad”.I’m not too sure about his full
name, check out the go sports blog for the results details.Any-
way, that kid had mad skills! He even got into 4th place during
the qualifying rounds. His run was hella mad.
Qi An:
Yeah Fuad was killing it too. He is the definition of STEEZ.
WBW:
That sounds cool. We’ll keep on a lookout for him. Ah, and one more
thing. How did our singapore rep, Juan Qi An perform, in your opinion?
Qi An:
Well i didn’t get last. I somehow landed more tricks during my 1 minute
than 10 minutes of practice. Simple tricks that didn’t land me in last place.
And thanks to my good buddy Sop who gave me 70 pts (or 60?)
Sop: QI AN:
Sop: The food sucked.No, really(laughs).They only look good in tel-
Yes but from our hotel window we could see spencer hamilton
I think he can really do much better..I cant say anything much, coz SG evision, in those food shows, but they really do not taste good! riding all the way up to the top no problem. Even more demor-
doesnt have many big skateparks like the huge-ass treX-games one to But i guess i’m not the one to judge the food, since i only tried
alization. Oh we saw lamonzo coleman Jr. kickflip up a huge five
practice our runs and lines..So yeah i thought he could’ve done better.. a few..and the ‘few’ were either sour or salty.Well thats to me
stair that none of us even thought of ollieing down. UPPP.
just my personal opinon though!
WBW:
Qi An: WBW:
Any other spots you found that dont have an appetite for
Maybe all i need is Raynie there laying 10dollar bills around and shouting Sounds very much like my cooking! Anything else to add?
boards?
out insanely difficult tricks.
Sop: Sop:
WBW: From what i saw, the koreans are super hygienic! It was marble curb heaven baby! Marble curbs are everywhere
Hear that barry & gary! We’re gonna get mad coverage by breeding tal-
in Busan! Though the only downside is that the pavements are
ents that practise at your skatepark once its built! WBW:
kinda rough..like those red bricks usually on old walls..Makes it
Okay, that does not sound like my cleanliness at all. I realise super difficult to skate.
WBW: you went there during the fasting month right? How was fasting
Okay, so did you try skating at the skatepark? how was the overall feel of
there? Qi An:
the obstacles and runs?
Its all skateable man all you need is speeeeeddd.
Sop:
Sop: (laughs hard) TAK PUASA !!! WBW:
....I didnt even skate in there dude(laughs)
WBW: Hmm well how were the locals there then?
WBW: Okay, okay, i wont go any more personal about that. What about
(nothing to say) skatespots? We saw a cool feature on the korean skate plaza in Sop:
loveskatepark.com, would love to hear what you discovered The local skaters were friendly..what else am i supposed to say??
Qi An: man. (laughs)
Sop skated flatland near the course does that count?
Sop: Qi An:
WBW: Hmm there’s not much in Busan, where i was staying at man. Yeah especially that one Korean skater girl that talked to us that
I gues that’d do.hahaha! The plaza at loveskatepark was at Seoul i guess. Well we kinda night ehh. She was VERY friendly (am i supposed to type laughs
had this huge wallride juz down at the hotel we were staying. or can i just say hahaha)
Didnt really rip it cos i didnt wanna wreck my new board..The
bank/wall is really badass rough dude! It’ll eat your board in no
time.
WBW:
What about the local chicks mannnnn? Tell us more!!

Sop:
Girls were allright lah..There were some nice ones..But
a couple were like super powzz dawg! But one thing’s
for sure, the girls there are tall man.The average height
of the girls there is around my height dude!

Qi An:
Just nice for me.

WBW:
You’re tall ????

Sop:
For girls thats tall man! Imagine if YOU were there
dude.You’d look like a f***ing midget!!
WBW:
That was very bad of you, sop

Sop:
I’m sorry man..just kidding..(laughs)

WBW:
Allright i understand.Okay sop, any last words to wrap
the whole trip up?

Sop:
I didnt hang out with Uncle Eddie until he got drunk!!
damn....(laughs)

Qi An:
I wish i bought back some korean beer.