Lung Buster

I spent teh weekend laid up, becuase of back pain, and it didnt improve. I had sort of skeptically been planning to skate this morning, but by the time I went to sleep at 6 am, I knew it was a no go. When I actually woke up, I had just enough time to get to work and grind through the misery of making people do things taht make them miserable.

I got off and went to the kind of restaurant taht only korean tourists go to. what kind of food do they serve? only the most korean of korean food, that 80 year old korean tourists want to eat. taht's right, people pay to fly to taiwan and eat their own ethnic food. and rightfully so. this food was so fucking good that I have flown to korea, flown back, and flown over again, just to eat it. to start off, we had raw crab (wtfk?) and some rice drank, and then some hot grilled pork and a smorgasborg of other perfect things. it was extra weird to be totally surrounded by koreans the whole time. it was like being in gwinnett county. i felt homesick.

then we went to a bar that costs too much but makes cocktails just right. we had a few and planned our financial future. it was a nice mix of adulthood and how i lived my midtwenties. our plan is one a bar napkin. keep it simple stupid.

i dropped her off and picked up my skateboard. it was a late start, and i didn't have much in mind, maybe just a push up to the temple and back.

I went that way and popped a lot of ******s over crack and crevice, and slappied a variety of lil shits on teh way. I was still a little buzzed when i got there, but i had already bought a beer, so i had to pop the top and dive into the spot.

It's a truly magnificent one, and it hits you in layers. At first, you notice the mirror perfect stone surface. The next point of interest is the ebony black ledge. Then the 100 m long 3 stair that grinds without wax.  For these reasons alone, this is one of the premier skatespots in Taipei. But then the spot starts to grow outward, like a fungal infection. After the black ledge is a tile section, with low yellow metal flat rails. Up from there is a triple series of tiled sidewalk kickers; theyre small, but unique. starting from there, you can ideally get three tricks, one on each pink dolphin, then something on the rail, and then something else on the ledge. Then there are two sets of long granite benches, and the opposite facing stairs.

A miracle happened and I realized that I have been a dumbass for years, and could keep going. After the stairs, you have ot ***** some rough broken tile, then go up a level. Then you have another long stone curb, but I skipped it all night to get enough speed for the waist high kicker to flat to kicker. I never made it across, but I'm sure someone with the talent can do it. Then, it's down the other side, and into the street, with a two stair up on the other side. then it's another long three stair for grinding, and then another. and then another two stair for grinding.

I never got a good line through it all, but my chest was exploding at the end of each run. It's probably 500 m from one side ot the other. There are so many things to skate in between taht even i have to skip possibilities. filming is silly, but if i could ever plan something to film, it would be a 60 second line down all that.

I went home because i realized i hadnt given my old vans a sky burial. I took them to the bridge but it was all locked up, so i threw them on top of the guard's box. If he was in there, I guess he probably woke up. then i skated home, with a new beer, and got a first try *-* on the stone near home.

There is something to be said for a trick done while cruising. It's more meaningful than a trick done any other way. It has to be done first try, and it has to be done without really scouting the spot. this usually requires lots of local experience. I got another *-* and security flooded out to jabber at me to leave. Maybe I was drunk by that point, im not totally sure, but i couldnt understand anythign the old man was dribbling out of his mouth. I was sitting on the stair, saying, "I cant understand, I don't know, I'm not from Taiwan", but he didn't stop until I got up and pushed on into the night. I regret it. Sorry old man. You were right, and successful, in defending your stoop. I won't violate it again.

I also did a bank to **** ****, which was the first time ever. And some ** stuff that I hadn't done on a particular spot. And it all started on a trilogy of **** *****, ***** **, and ***** ***** ****** at the three stair, first try each. Taipei was beautiful tonight.