Skate Photography #6: Back in Abu Dhabi, Skating the Skateparks Again!

Hello everyone!

Here are some photographs of me and friends skating the skateparks here in Abu Dhabi after going back from the Philippines. I mostly skated with TJ and Czar during these clips, and we skated only skateparks, hence the title.

Skateboarding in the Philippines is far different from skating here. First are the spots. In the Philippines, it is mostly DIY ledges and rail, and the ground is rough. I was so used to skating parks that I lost sense in skating rough ground and ending up complaining every time. Hahahah. I almost forgot I skated there from 2005 up to 2013.and the main difference is there is no accessible skatepark in my hometown. You had to go ride an hour (assuming there is no traffic) or commute to be able to skate a legit skatepark in the Philippines, and these skateparks were just opened recently, so back in 2005, it was pure street skating and DiY ledges and rails.
Maybe if I skated more and stayed for a longer time, I would be able to adjust and assimilate my skating there.

Me and @Toffer ollie at sentral spot around 2011...

Now going back to AUH, everything was smooth. Even the asphalt in the street spots was smooth. The first skatepark we skated was the one in Al Reem island. The last time I went in this skatepark was last November 18, 2018. Almost 4 years! I don’t usually go to this park because the bus ride is long and for me it is time consuming since I only have 2 and a half hours weekly to skate. Finally, we had the car, and it is only a 15-minute ride. The ledges here were just the right height and it really have a wide range of obstacles. This is Czar’s first time to skate here, and he killed it with his nose slides!

Czar noseslide...

Czar 50-50..

Czar big ollie...

Czar ledge boardslides...

Fakie noseslide on the ledge...

The next one we skated was the Yas south skatepark. So far it is my favorite park and at the same time it is the farthest with a 30-minute drive by car going there and 30 minutes going back, and I could not go here every time. Gas prices are killing me. Hahahah. I skated here with TJ and Czar. It was great to skate and the only problem we had was the heat. I really want to skate this park and the only issue is the scheduling, due to the total travel time of 1hour, it is not practical for me to skate here every time. But those times I do, I really enjoyed it!

The shade do help... kept the skating longer and tolerable of the summer sun

Czar gap ollie...

Then there was the Fatima skatepark, the newest and the most popular park right now. It is only one bus ride away form our house. With the bike is faster and with a car is only 7-10 minutes away. This park is hype and I love the rail here, not so high, and not so low. The ledges here and the manual pad are built together so an extra ollie is required if you want to do a line that involves the ledge. Winter is the best time to skate here because out of all the skateparks, this one does not have a shade, even for resting! The summer is extreme here in the UAE so skating this park during summer without a shade is a literal health risk! Haha. Winter days here are the best!

Nosegrind on the edge of the manual pad...

50-50 as always...

Frontside crooked...

Peace! I arrived here and I ate my packed breakfast, needed energy to skate!

Don’t forget the Hamdan skatepark! this is a small park and this is only 5minutes away from my house so this one is good if you want a quick session. The ledges here are extra high and takes a lot of effort for me to do tricks in. this is the nearest park so when I am time limited, I only go here to have a solo session. The good news is that TJ recently moved near this park so maybe we will skate here more often now.

Pushing along the building background...

Kickflip!

lowest Frontcrook! hahah...

Lastly, the old park which is heavily featured in all my blog post. This is the “go to” skatepark. Not so far, old, sunny, the ledges work, and the rail is good. I end up here every time the plans to go to the reem park and the Yas park fell through. I could not describe this skatepark more as I have in my previous blogs. Haha, all I know is that this is the most accessible and practical skatepark to go. It has been around in the 2000’s and many skaters came and went to Abu Dhabi have known this park. As a matter of fact, when I came here in December 2013, this is the only existing skatepark in Abu Dhabi!

Fakie noseslides...

Boardslide on the fat flatbar...

Times are different now and more skate parks are popping up here, and the kids’ level of skate boarding is far beyond, the tricks they learn easily and their progression is fast. All because of the availability of spots and parks, unlike when we were starting as kids, we would have a hard time scouting for spots and getting kicked out all the time. I am just lucky to still be skating and experienced these skateparks. Haha. Here is @Toffer skating our flatbar mounted on a sidewalk back in 2011, this is probably the closest we got from a skatepark. If there is no park DiY is the only way. hahah.

Thanks for viewing my photos and reading my blog!

Cheers!
@mark0318

P.S., It is hard to believe that going back home and skating feels different. sure the friends are there but getting used to smooth parks then suddenly going back to rough ground made me feel like I lost a lot of steps. Just a thought.

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