Bexon Bureau Issue 17

THERAPIST SIDE QUEST

A quick geeze at the forecast (umm, pumping) and a couple of phone calls was all it took to organise a boat and a new Therapist quad for Big Red, and just like that, we were on the way to Lombok, doing 40knots in an inflatable boat, an hour after landing in Denpasar. Having scored what Big Red says were some of the best waves of his life, we returned to Bali two days later, cooked from the sun, cut up from the reef, googly-eyed from the tube ride, and yeah, all-round chuffed. Chur Chur to Tai Buddha for the boat and Mr. Thomas for the Therapist - they both go hard. And big ups to Bill Kazmarek, who celebrated his 68th birthday in style with a couple longggg lefts.

THOMAS T.T. PARTY

Back in Bali - in celebration of 3 years of Thomas Surfboards involvement in the Twinkle Toes, we threw a free punk show for the competitors and their friends. Narrm based band, Dr. Sure’s Unusual Practice, who we’ve hosted at the Factory in the past, took things to their usual, ultra-high-octane level, but it’s fair to say that the energy around the gig was especially electric. It’s been a long time since we’ve thrown an event that felt so tight-knit, and it’s not because we all knew each other well, it’s because everyone comes to the Twinkle Toes to share in the good times. You should come next year - we share wit you 2 :) Shout out to Dyl and Zan from Thomas Indo for making it possible.

T.T. OPENING CEREMONY

The formal Twinkle Toes event kicked off on Friday afternoon with a trad Balinese ceremony, where we prayed to the gods and spirits of the ocean, right there at Batu Bolong. There’s a lot to be said for taking a quiet moment pre-event with the local community and your fellow attendees - we all felt it the better for it. The opening ceremony is alive and well at the Twinkle Toes. That night we played E-Cat Elliot Paerata-Reid’s new vid on the beach at Times Beach Warung. Keep an eye out for Mana Waves - it’s mean az - well done Elliot!

"CONTEST" TIME

A’ight, “contest” time. Like all good longboard events, the Twinkle Toes is a social event masquerading as a surf competition. ⅞ths of the weekend is catching up with people from around the world who share a love for longboarding. The last 8th happens on the Sunday afternoon where semi-finals and finals kick into gear - this is where it actually feels like a contest. And we’ve gotta make some noise about the two Balinese surfers took down a gnarly international field to win. Big ups to Dhea Natasya, who was gifted a fresh 9’4” New Faithful for her efforts, and the big dog, Ayok, who after coming second for two years in a row, finally took the W at his local event. Ayok’s win is another feather in the cap of the New Faithful, which continues to work for everyone, everywhere. WOoHooo.

T.T. SPIRIT ANIMALS

Other epic winners at the Twinkle Toes are the MVP’s - a loosely determined best on field, most deserving, event spirit-animal, whatever-ya-wanna-call-it award. Round of applause to the man, the myth, the legend, Mr. Thank You Transport, ATENG. Ateng's moves on the surfboard, in the mosh pit, under the umbrella, on the mic, basically everywhere, were 2nd to none. And congrats to our other winner, Seitaro Nakano, who if you ever have the chance to meet you’ll walk away feeling better for it. The MVP takes home the event host’s i.e. Harrison Roach’s i.e. this author’s personal longboard. Not gonna lie, it was hard to part with my magic New Faithful but that was the board, and it was the only one we had, and it went to Ateng, who needed it more than Seitaro (and me). Respect.

OH YEAH...

Outside of that, there were of course a lot of fun times that went down at the Twinkle Toes. Free tickets to a music show at the Lawn. Late nights and early mornings. Qadeja from Malaysia surfed with her almost 2 year old on the sand and her next one in the belly. We had a female surfer from India in the event. An all Indonesian women’s heat for the first time. Crowd surfing. Party surfing. The TS production manager had a lil' fling. And all of the back of a side quest to one of Indonesia’s best tubing left handers. Good timez!

AND THAT'S NOT QUITE ALL, FOLKS.

Plz xcuse the lack of punctuality, this issue shoulda been written up on the Monday after. Please also excuse the lack of punctuation - the brain cells were lost forever.

This article was written by 2022 World Longboard Champion, and Twinkle Toes event host, Harrison Roach. Shit yeah.