Once Upon a Time in Singapore (2017)

Déjà vu, that’s what Andreas and I felt that night. Just like last year on D-1 departure to Singapore, again…we had to stay up all night packing ±300 T-shirts and stickers for Lion City Gathering (LCG). We should ignore this sleepiness and exhausted feeling in order to finish it as soon as possible. But apart from that, it is a pride for us being trusted again for the second time by Parkour Singapore to produce LCG 2017 T-shirts, stickers, and also wristbands.

By sunrise, Rijalul, my friend from Low Profile Parkour Surabaya, came to our house with all of his stuff. He’s ready for his first abroad trip, so that means indirectly I had to become his guide during in Singapore. This departure would be divided into two groups. The first one consisted of me and Rijalul, who went on Wednesday, June 14^th 2017. The second one consisted of Andreas, Rizqi, and Achmad who went on the following day.

Once landed at Changi Airport, after completing the immigration process, we immediately met CP (Koh Chen Pin) who’d been waiting at arrival terminal. There were also Christian Wallman from Australia who accompanied CP there. Then, the four of us went to CP’s apartment to put LCG shirts and rested for a while. In the afternoon, we continued our trip to Kraken Gym in Bishan area.

There were other LCG participants from Vietnam, Philippines, and also Christian’s friends from Australia who’d been training. Together, we trained until night there. And in the middle of jamming, Phosky came to the gym, and suddenly he made the training atmosphere became more and more exciting. Most people stopped training for a while only to take pictures with him. Just for the info, Phosky is one of the famous parkour practitioners from Galizian Urban Project (GUP) team, who definitely has a worldwide reputation.

Around 11.00 PM, Rijalul and I should leave Kraken immediately to Freerunner Lodge, the gym where we would stay. Just info, Singapore MRT usually stops operating at ±12.00 AM, so that means we had to hurry unless we’d miss the last train. Soon at Lavender MRT station (final stop to Freerunner Lodge) we met Tan Chi Ying, the owner of the gym. After a little discussion, the two of us finally decided to just sleep in Tan Chi Ying's house that night. All of his family were on vacation at that time. So we would start staying in the gym on the following day.

The next day, Rijalul and I went to Changi Airport again, along with CP. This time we waited for Andreas, Achmad, and Rizqi who brought the rest of LCG T-shirts + wristbands. While still waiting, we coincidentally met Boy Spinboy and เอกพลคนกันเอง from Thailand, along with Tbom Pongphone from Laos, they had just landed in Singapore. And soon after the Indonesian trio had arrived, CP called a taxi to bring all the stuff into his apartment. However, since the taxi had not enough space to carry everyone; then I, Rijalul, Rizqi, and Achmad decided to take MRT.

While CP and the others still putting LCG T-shirts and wristbands in his apartment, the four of us waited at Simei MRT station, which wasn’t really far from there. And soon after they caught up with us, we continued the trip to Bedok Maze, one of the most favourite parkour spots in Singapore. Then we met the other LCG participants from various countries there. For the next 1-2 hours we jammed together.

When Bedok jamming was done, most of us moved to Eunos park. There were Australian, Hong Konger, and some other crews from various countries who'd been training there, plus Phosky and Joel Eggiman too. The training obviously became so zestful with them.

Everyone split up to their each destination right after the Eunos jamming. All Indonesian crews looked for some dinner first in a food court not far from the training place, before going to Kraken Gym. Not too many people in the gym, so the jamming atmosphere became more relaxed. But that thing created a “little disaster” to us several hours later.

We were too preoccupied with jamming and chatting until forgot the time. Suddenly it had already been 11.30 PM, and we supposed to leave Kraken since 30 minutes or one hour before. The MRT route from Kraken (Bishan) to Freerunner Lodge (Lavender) was quite far and we had to change lane (From Bishan to Paya Lebar use the yellow lane, then switch to green lane in Paya Lebar before going to Lavender).

We still could catch the yellow lane MRT, but unfortunately we missed the last green lane train in Paya Lebar (it was ±12.20 AM). As a result; Rizqi, Rijalul, Achmad, and I had to walk to Lavender (± through 4 MRT stations). By the way, Andreas had left earlier to CP’s apartment, he stayed there during in Singapore.

After almost 2 hours walking, finally we arrived at Freerunner Lodge with very, very stiff and tired legs. It felt like our feet were gonna break up. By the way, it turned out that we weren’t the only one who stayed in the gym, there were some Malaysian crews who had arrived earlier, and of course Tan Chi Ying himself. We chatted to each other up to very late night, and then slept on the gym carpet.

The 3^rd day in Singapore, I had a dilemma. On one side, I really wanted to train with the other LCG participants who spread around various spots such as Bishan, Punggol, Clementi, etc. But on the other hand, I understood Achmad and Rizqi’s strong desire to visit Merlion statue, because that’s the only free day for them. It’s almost impossible to do this on 17^th and 18^th June due to the conflicting schedule with the main event, and also they had to go back to Indonesia on 18^th night (with Andreas too), so...I had no choice. After some considerations, finally I just went along with them, plus Rijalul and the Batam duo who just came to Freerunner Lodge that morning: Ihsan and Arief.

For the next 30 minutes – 1 hour we strolled around Merlion area, then Arief and Ihsan separated from us afterward. From Merlion, the rest of the group then going to Bugis with Andreas for buying some souvenirs. And finally at night the five of us did our last trip of the day to Gardens by the Bay. Overall, I was satisfied for that day...as a tourist, but not as a parkour practitioner.

                                                                                                                                              

                            DAY 1 LCG, JUNE 17^th 2017

Different from the last year edition which was spread in various spots, LCG 2017 was just concentrated in two locations: Singapore Sports Hub and The Yard. It was because the LCG committees didn’t want last year case happening again, when police dismissed the jamming because too many people gathered in one location.

                                       

The first day LCG consisted of three times beginner-parkour-workshop (11.00-11.45 AM, 01.00-01.45 PM, and 03.00-03.45 PM), plus the intermediate one at 05.00-07.00 PM. Participants could do free jamming between those times. I only attended intermediate workshop led by Fagan Cheong, one of the founders of Parkour Singapore. And that’s one of the best decisions in my life, the presented material was so useful for all of the participants. Everyone was so glad on that day.

          

          

          

In the evening, we moved to The Yard, a gymnasium used for ‘best trick competition’ session. I didn’t join the competition, because my flip skill isn’t really good. Beside that I just don’t like to compete. I preferred to stay in the 2^nd floor balcony selling Avolution T-shirts, collaborating with Malingkondank and TOFU WEAR.

After The Yard session, there were two more French guys who joined staying in Freerunner Lodge: Mikaël and Aubin. Of course we welcomed them gladly...the more people, the merrier. Then finally, most of the Freerunner Lodge crews spent the night with swimming in the building’s pool until almost dawn (Just for the info, Freerunner Lodge rents a room in a commercial building in Lavender area).

             

                                                                                                                                              

                           DAY 2 LCG, JUNE 18^th 2017

Most of us woke up late, due to the tiring jamming on the previous day plus an exciting night swimming...imagine how tired we were. But that didn’t lessen our spirit for going through the 2^nd day of LCG. By midday, we went to Singapore Sports Hub on foot because it’s not really far from Freerunner Lodge.

But, unfortunately the speed contest that supposed to be held at 01.00 PM was postponed ±2 hours due to the heavy rain. After the sky turned bright and speed contest was finished, the heavy rain fell again and made the freestyle competition sadly had to be canceled in the middle of the show. Nevertheless, all the LCG participants were still happy and enthusiastic about the event itself. Whatever happened, the togetherness and kinship between each of parkour practitioners remained the top priority.

Another memorable thing on that day was the moment of shirt exchange between Avolution and TOFU WEAR. Just info, TOFU is a parkour community from Penang, Malaysia. And the previous night was the first time I got acquainted with them in The Yard while selling our T-shirts/merchandise. This exchange was just a small symbol of our newly friendship.

Meanwhile, because the rain was still falling and it’s almost evening, the LCG committee switched the location of speed contest winner announcement and prize distribution to Kraken Gym. So, the winner of LCG 2017 speed contest was Levin Pellkover from Germany, his incredible performance made him became the fastest. Then after prize distribution, finally the closing moment of LCG 2017 had come. Although we had to jostle one another because of too many people there, but the kinship really gave deep memories for all participants.

That night; Andreas, Rizqi, and Achmad returned to Indonesia. The Malaysian crews who stayed in Freerunner Lodge also had moved to hostel. But, Freerunner Lodge was never getting deserted, because after they left, two Hong Kongers came to stay: Kwan Wing Tai and Tony Ezio. Like the previous night, we swam in the pool until late at night. But, somehow the air was felt colder and breezier than before, so inevitably we had to finish this pool session earlier.



                                                                                                                                              

POST LCG

The next day, we had to say goodbye to Mikaël, Aubin, and also Arief. The French duo would continue their trip to China, meanwhile Arief returned to Batam by ferry. Kwan Wing Tai and Tony Ezio also had left earlier, leaving Rijalul alone in Freerunner Lodge. He decided to take a total rest due to his exhaustion. So, I just went out with Ihsan on that day.

We’d been waited by Alex Ring in Bedok Maze, our Australian friend. Just the three of us who were jamming there, while occasionally making a few short videos. The serene and quite condition in Bedok obviously made us more focused on training. And when it's finished, Alex came back to the hostel where he stayed, while Ihsan and I continued to Eunos.

It turned out that still many LCG participants who were jamming in Eunos, most of them still stayed in Singapore till the next few days. There were Filipino, Hong Konger, Taiwanese, and Australian crews. Ihsan and I immediately joined them training until late afternoon.

When the Eunos jamming was done, everyone split up to their own destination. Ihsan and I were also separated there. My next schedule was to meet my fellow Indonesian friends from Parkour Bali: Widio and Eric at the same food court like 5 days ago, while waiting Widio for breaking the fast. Then after finishing our dinner, we went to Ramadhan Bazaar which still took place in Eunos as well. Lots of merchandise and delicious food here, reminded me of Indonesian cuisine.

Around 09.00 PM the three of us headed to Faiz’s apartment, the place where Widio and Eric stayed during in Singapore. They had to take their stuff because soon they would continue their trip to Malaysia by bus. And we also met Richie there, a Singaporean parkour practitioner who has rarely trained now due to his busy job. It had been ±4.5 years since the last time I met him in 2012 Parkour Indonesia National Jamming in Surabaya.

After dropping Widio and Eric in the bus station, Richie and I looked for some Thai food around Lavender area. We chatted until late at night, and I just came back on foot to Freerunner Lodge around 01.30 AM. Even at that time Singapore streets were so safe, quiet, and obviously clean; no one should worry about crime/robbery, I was wondering when will Indonesia become like this. Hopefully it can be realized in the future.

Last day in Singapore; Rijalul, Ihsan, and I immediately packed up and brought all of our stuff from Freerunner Lodge. When we were about to leave, Jordan Reed and other Australian crews came almost at the same time. They still stayed in Singapore for the next few days, so...just like I told before, Freerunner Lodge was never getting deserted.

The three of us then split up for the last time, because Ihsan had to return to Batam by ferry, meanwhile Rijalul and I planned to meet Tan Chi Ying in Bugis for lunch together, as well accompanying Rijalul bought some souvenirs for his family afterwards.

Since our flight back to Indonesia was still at 09.00 PM, we still had a little more time to train. In order not too far from the airport, we chose to train in Bedok Maze (again), which had the same MRT direction to Changi. Some Hong Konger and Taiwanese crews were still jamming there. With a little energy left, Rijalul and I just did a light training, because we were too tired to do big jumps.

Finally, it’s farewell time. After saying goodbye to everyone in Bedok, Rijalul and I went to Changi Airport by MRT around 05.30 PM. We had to leave Singapore to Denpasar (Bali) that night. Just for the info, when we booked our flight ticket ±2 months before, the return ticket (Singapore-Surabaya) had already become much more expensive due to Eid Mubarak holiday week. After some considerations, we decided to stop at Denpasar first, then continued using a shuttle van service to Surabaya.

Overall, LCG 2017 was very impressive. Just like last year, I could meet old and new friends from various countries, and also could share experiences with each other. I’d really like to thank Parkour Singapore for their hospitality, especially Tan Chi Ying who had provided Freerunner Lodge for our accomodation. Maybe my parkour skill is nothing compared to most of other LCG participants, but I can see a strong kinship and brotherhood between all practitioners. No matter what our nationality, ethnic group, religion, language; we gathered together as a fellow human being. Hope in the next LCG we can see each other again. And lastly, although it’s too late, I just wanna say happy Eid Mubarak to all my Muslim friends.