Almost exactly a month ago, my office held a little event with ASICS Sportstyle, in the event of launching their brand new GEL-NYC™ 2.0. This marks the 5th event we held together with the brand—the first being when we took over ROW 9 in 2024, the second being their exclusive preview at Atmos’s Otaku Room in January 2025, the third being when we set up their Foot Locker Friday special in February 2025 and the fourth being our zen space at Plaza Senayan in August 2025. I’m so honoured to be part of the project again—I have, thus far, been involved in 2 previous events and they have always been very fun for me. This one was especially special for me, since my first ASICS pair is the original GEL-NYC™. Needless to say, I was excited.
Almost exactly a month ago, my office held a little event with ASICS Sportstyle, in the event of launching their brand new GEL-NYC™ 2.0. This marks the 5th event we held together with the brand—the first being when we took over ROW 9 in 2024, the second being their exclusive preview at Atmos’s Otaku Room in January 2025, the third being when we set up their Foot Locker Friday special in February 2025 and the fourth being our zen space at Plaza Senayan in August 2025. I’m so honoured to be part of the project again—I have, thus far, been involved in 2 previous events and they have always been very fun for me. This one was especially special for me, since my first ASICS pair is the original GEL-NYC™. Needless to say, I was excited.
📷 DJI Osmo Pocket 3
Experience Spikes in Your Joy Meter
The concept of the event was Urban Laboratory, spaces where people get to explore, experiment and experience various creative activities in collaboration with local communities, allowing them to find joy in their movements. This idea is based on the research done by the ASICS team, which finds that the comfort of the shoes give people more energy to move and, as they move, their joy meter spikes exponentially. That, and the local phenomenon of ‘tongkrongan’ as the spaces where urbanites of Jakarta tend to explore and experiment with ideas, finding new breakthroughs in a less sterile environment.
The concept of the event was Urban Laboratory, spaces where people get to explore, experiment and experience various creative activities in collaboration with local communities, allowing them to find joy in their movements. This idea is based on the research done by the ASICS team, which finds that the comfort of the shoes give people more energy to move and, as they move, their joy meter spikes exponentially. That, and the local phenomenon of ‘tongkrongan’ as the spaces where urbanites of Jakarta tend to explore and experiment with ideas, finding new breakthroughs in a less sterile environment.
To deliver the aforementioned concept, we set up a three-part pop up experience at Urban Forest, in the heart of Cipete—consisting of three different zones with wildly different experiences, all of which you can experience by registering to OneASICS™. The first zone—as you see in the first photo of this post—consists of a Shoe Lab Installation. Located right at the courtyard surrounded by the mall, here you can see the GEL-NYC™ 2.0 shoes move around and show off its various colourway when you press the button with your foot.
The big white space in front of it is meant for speeches by the ASICS team, product introduction and for the B-boys (a.k.a. breakdancers) to perform during the opening night. Representing the model for our campaign, they performed their dance while wearing janitor costumes with a mop as their prop. It was pretty cool to watch. I don’t have the photos, but feel free to witness it here.
To deliver the aforementioned concept, we set up a three-part pop up experience at Urban Forest, in the heart of Cipete—consisting of three different zones with wildly different experiences, all of which you can experience by registering to OneASICS™. The first zone—as you see in the first photo of this post—consists of a Shoe Lab Installation. Located right at the courtyard surrounded by the mall, here you can see the GEL-NYC™ 2.0 shoes move around and show off its various colourway when you press the button with your foot.
The big white space in front of it is meant for speeches by the ASICS team, product introduction and for the B-boys (a.k.a. breakdancers) to perform during the opening night. Representing the model for our campaign, they performed their dance while wearing janitor costumes with a mop as their prop. It was pretty cool to watch. I don’t have the photos, but feel free to witness it here.
The second zone is this whole building structure, consisting of two areas inside: the TRY!ASICS! Area and the Instax Photo Corner. The TRY!ASICS! area is a place where visitors will have a chance to try on the newly-launched shoes. This time, in the spirit of urban laboratory, the space is fitted with a Beatmaking Machine consisting of 4 different sides, each of which comes with different ‘instruments’ (so to speak) that can create sounds. To use the machine, you have to step on the two buttons in front of the machine. The left button is for recording, while the right button is for making the beats. Once you release the left button, the rhythm you created will start playing. The ‘instruments’ consisted of shoe lasts, glass beakers, a tambourine, and something else I don’t remember.
The second zone is this whole building structure, consisting of two areas inside: the TRY!ASICS! Area and the Instax Photo Corner. The TRY!ASICS! area is a place where visitors will have a chance to try on the newly-launched shoes. This time, in the spirit of urban laboratory, the space is fitted with a Beatmaking Machine consisting of 4 different sides, each of which comes with different ‘instruments’ (so to speak) that can create sounds. To use the machine, you have to step on the two buttons in front of the machine. The left button is for recording, while the right button is for making the beats. Once you release the left button, the rhythm you created will start playing. The ‘instruments’ consisted of shoe lasts, glass beakers, a tambourine, and something else I don’t remember.
The Instax Photo Corner is located in the other room within that same structure. Once you have tried on the GEL-NYC™ 2.0, you can ask the usher to take your photo—or take a selfie yourself—with the available phone, have it printed as a polaroid photo and get a plastic sleeve that comes with an ASICS keychain, so you can hang it anywhere you like. The area is equipped with convex mirrors for you to take photos, but it’s not mandatory to do it there.
Did I mention that you also receive a Keychain Booklet once you register to OneASICS? The Booklet is filled with all the information you need about the event, such as the available activities, special performances, and cool freebies you can redeem. After each activity, by the way, you would receive an event-exclusive sticker that you can collect, and if you show those stickers to the Gelato Bar, you will be able to claim your free gelato.
The Instax Photo Corner is located in the other room within that same structure. Once you have tried on the GEL-NYC™ 2.0, you can ask the usher to take your photo—or take a selfie yourself—with the available phone, have it printed as a polaroid photo and get a plastic sleeve that comes with an ASICS keychain, so you can hang it anywhere you like. The area is equipped with convex mirrors for you to take photos, but it’s not mandatory to do it there.
Did I mention that you also receive a Keychain Booklet once you register to OneASICS? The Booklet is filled with all the information you need about the event, such as the available activities, special performances, and cool freebies you can redeem. After each activity, by the way, you would receive an event-exclusive sticker that you can collect, and if you show those stickers to the Gelato Bar, you will be able to claim your free gelato.
Street Photo Tour with Labrana
Unlike the first and second zones that are filled with interactive installations, the third zone is dedicated to the community-driven creative workshops that capture the spirit of the GEL-NYC™ 2.0. Each day there is a different workshop available. There was a Graffiti Workshop with graffiti.id. You got to learn the various styles of street art and try your hand at it. There was also the Lyric Writing and Beat Making Workshop with LAZE and Mardial. You got to learn how to string your own words here, mix them with fun rhythms and turn them into your own kind of music. Last but not least, there was the Explore & Snap Tour where Labrana takes you through the streets of Cipete for a street photo-hunting session—this one was my favourite. My partner-in-crime Rama and I quickly signed up for this one.
Unlike the first and second zones that are filled with interactive installations, the third zone is dedicated to the community-driven creative workshops that capture the spirit of the GEL-NYC™ 2.0. Each day there is a different workshop available. There was a Graffiti Workshop with graffiti.id. You got to learn the various styles of street art and try your hand at it. There was also the Lyric Writing and Beat Making Workshop with LAZE and Mardial. You got to learn how to string your own words here, mix them with fun rhythms and turn them into your own kind of music. Last but not least, there was the Explore & Snap Tour where Labrana takes you through the streets of Cipete for a street photo-hunting session—this one was my favourite. My partner-in-crime Rama and I quickly signed up for this one.
The workshop starts at the third zone, with the good people of Labrana going through the basic knowledge of film photography. After they hashed out all the much-need information, they gave out some custom disposable cameras for the participants to take on the walking tour and snap the streets with. This was what Rama and I were after. We completely skipped the workshop part, because we were hanging out at the committee area, so we only got 1 dispo camera to share between us during the walk. It’s fine~
The Labrana team took us into the alleyways of Cipete and we made our way round the back until we return to Urban Forest. Rama and I—accompanied by our friend Agung Hartamurti—took tons of photos on the dispo camera. Then we made our way back to the workshop area, where the Labrana team collected the films from our dispo cameras to be developed—but we got to keep and bring home the cameras themselves (Yaay!). You can see the results here.
The workshop starts at the third zone, with the good people of Labrana going through the basic knowledge of film photography. After they hashed out all the much-need information, they gave out some custom disposable cameras for the participants to take on the walking tour and snap the streets with. This was what Rama and I were after. We completely skipped the workshop part, because we were hanging out at the committee area, so we only got 1 dispo camera to share between us during the walk. It’s fine~
The Labrana team took us into the alleyways of Cipete and we made our way round the back until we return to Urban Forest. Rama and I—accompanied by our friend Agung Hartamurti—took tons of photos on the dispo camera. Then we made our way back to the workshop area, where the Labrana team collected the films from our dispo cameras to be developed—but we got to keep and bring home the cameras themselves (Yaay!). You can see the results here.
Live Concerts Galore
Aside from the zones and the workshops, the event was also filled with special performances by awesome local musicians. The legendary White Shoes & the Couples Company came on stage to close the Valentine’s night and took the crowd jumping and dancing to the rhythm of their music. What was meant to be our sole musical guest ended up getting company as 3 more musicians make surprise appearances the next day.
On the last day, the afternoon was filled with the power couple, The Cottons, who took the stage wearing GEL-NYC™ 2.0. This one was especially emotional for me, since the last time I watched them perform, I was in tears on the way to healing from my heartbreak—fun fact: I was wearing the same clothes both times. The night closed with back-to-back performances by Basboi and Grrrl Gang. It was my first time watching both of them—separate performances, of course. I fell instantly in love with Grrrl Gang. What a performance to close the event!
Aside from the zones and the workshops, the event was also filled with special performances by awesome local musicians. The legendary White Shoes & the Couples Company came on stage to close the Valentine’s night and took the crowd jumping and dancing to the rhythm of their music. What was meant to be our sole musical guest ended up getting company as 3 more musicians make surprise appearances the next day.
On the last day, the afternoon was filled with the power couple, The Cottons, who took the stage wearing GEL-NYC™ 2.0. This one was especially emotional for me, since the last time I watched them perform, I was in tears on the way to healing from my heartbreak—fun fact: I was wearing the same clothes both times. The night closed with back-to-back performances by Basboi and Grrrl Gang. It was my first time watching both of them—separate performances, of course. I fell instantly in love with Grrrl Gang. What a performance to close the event!
Not going to lie, there were a lot of obstacles with planning this event. We were pretty high strung for most of it. However, despite all that, I personally found it to be pretty enjoyable—and I would say a lot of the visitors felt the same way. By the end of the event, I was pretty pooped though. Around 1-2 last songs from Grrrl Gang, I retreated to the back of the crowd to sit down. It was pretty exhausting, although I did have a lot of fun. Despite the less-than-perfect weather, despite the many mishaps, despite the need to stay vigilant—I loved being there. I’ve always loved working with ASICS and would look forward to the next thing we get to do together. Well, until next time!
If you haven’t, feel free to watch the vlog below
to see more details of the stuff we had at the event!
Not going to lie, there were a lot of obstacles with planning this event. We were pretty high strung for most of it. However, despite all that, I personally found it to be pretty enjoyable—and I would say a lot of the visitors felt the same way. By the end of the event, I was pretty pooped though. Around 1-2 last songs from Grrrl Gang, I retreated to the back of the crowd to sit down. It was pretty exhausting, although I did have a lot of fun. Despite the less-than-perfect weather, despite the many mishaps, despite the need to stay vigilant—I loved being there. I’ve always loved working with ASICS and would look forward to the next thing we get to do together. Well, until next time!
If you haven’t, feel free to watch the vlog below to see more details of the stuff we had at the event!