A Chance Encounter, and the Quiet Poetry of Skateboarding
There are moments in life that don’t announce themselves. Just two people crossing paths in a crowd and without warning something clicks.
I met Leif in 2022 at the Purveyr Fair, a two day gathering with a title so sincere it could only have come from people who actually meant it: “A Gathering on Creativity and Culture.” Manila was warm and busy that day, the way it always is chaotic and alive. It was his first time in the Philippines, yet he carried himself with the strange ease of someone who’d been here in a past life. Maybe that was the Filipino blood in him. Or maybe it was the simple fact that skateboarders, no matter where, recognize each other instantly. Because that was the spark, skateboarding. That shared language.
A few days later, he showed up at WIP Caps office with his mom. She is Filipino. Though she hadn’t set foot in the country in thirty years. You could see something happen to a person when they return to the place that once shaped them, it’s quiet, but it runs deep. You could see there was something tender in that moment, as if both of them were rediscovering something they’d forgotten they lost. We talked. We caught up.
And then as expected, we skated around Makati at night with some of my friends. I was working on the P90 video at the time, and that night stands out in my memory. That night, Makati wasn’t a place, it was a feeling.
Leif mentioned that he’d been designing shoes for New Balance Numeric. Just a passing detail. Later on, a box arrived from him filled with colorways of shoes he’d worked on. A small gesture, but a meaningful one.
We kept in touch and I began to understand more. The guy wasn’t just a skateboarder. He was a footwear designer and a fixture in his scene. How he manages to keep the all those wheels turning, I still don’t know. But whatever he touches, he seems to elevate. It’s annoying, really, if he weren’t such a genuinely good guy.
Earlier this year he mentioned he’d be taking a work trip through Asia, with a few days to spare in Manila. The plan was simple: Skate. Explore. Follow the city where it wanted to take us. No production schedule. Just a couple of boards, and the curiosity to see what the streets would give us.
Then the story widened. We met up with our friend Ciro, another skateboarder, though this was our first time really hanging out together. He took us around his spots in Laguna. Out of the city for a bit, letting intuition guide us. A place to remind you that nature still has something to say.
We trekked down to a river, exchanged small talk with trees and stones, soaked in that quiet hum of the outdoors that resets you whether you want it to or not. Then, we hunted down some unique skate spots around the campus. These were raw, unexpected, and deeply Filipino. Perfect in their own crooked way.
It was short. Barely two days. But this trip carried the weight of something meaningful. The kind of trip that reminds you why friendships spark in unlikely places, why skateboarding remains a lifelong compass, and why the Philippines—messy, loud, endlessly generous, is a country that gets under your skin and stays there.
This, whatever shape it takes now, is the result of those two days. A quiet ode to movement, culture, friendship, and the unspoken beauty found in simply letting things unfold. The kind of days that remind you why skateboarding captures people for life, why creativity thrives in unlikely places, the strange way the world sometimes brings the right people together at the right time, and why the best stories are the ones you don’t try so hard to script.
What advice would you give to the younger generation of skateboarders in the Philippines? This could be in general or for those who want to pursue a career in the industry.
Leif : If you really love it, you gotta learn how to be involved. Being a ripping skater is only one way, but always play a role in building community in some way.
Buckshots
Skateboarding
the way to see the city differently
Spots (Manila & Laguna)
untapped potential
Architecture
third eye open
Security
hijinx
Food
currency
Sisig
need more
Kinilaw
next dish to learn to make
Taho
My moms favorite❤️
Streetwear
Get back to the streets
Weather
Moist
Makati
Great flat ground
WIP Caps
small but mighty
Quezon City
family roots
Commuting
I need to get my jeepney hours up
Graffiti
respect
Laguna
Need to explore more
Spider Webs
big nah