After 20 straight hours of transit, all we wanted was a soft landing and a dark, air-conditioned room to rest our weary bones. But Jakarta wouldn't wait. We were whisked straight to a welcome dinner with the Vans Asia Pacific skaters and an entourage of filmers, photographers, organisers, and media. There were about 30 of us in total – skaters from Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, The Philippines and various islands in Indonesia. The crew was great, the food was spicy and the beer was free-flowing – setting the tone for a whirlwind five days in Jakarta and Bali to celebrate the release of Lava, the latest video from Vans APAC.
Featuring full parts from two of Indonesia's most promising young talents, Rubianda Rachman and Basral Graito, along with cameos from Rome Collyer, Digby Luxton and the rest of the Vans APAC team, the video reveals a phenomenal and perhaps underappreciated skate scene in Southeast Asia. Our jaunt through Jakarta and Bali was to celebrate Lava's world premieres and the vibes were high. We got to witness two world-class demos, followed by two prems, a few sessions at super rough street spots, one hungover day at a hotel pool, and a glimpse at the sights, smells and sounds that make Indonesia such a special place. In the midst of the crazy schedule, I found a few spare moments to sit down with the visionaries behind and find out how this little masterpiece came to be. Introducing Joy Suryawan, Indonesian filmer and extremely laidback human, and Mark
