Swoosh Country...

I finally had the chance to get into NIKE HQ in Beaverton,Oregon.

Meeting up with some NIKE SB peeps and some good friends from NIKETALK.

I was gonna take a 2 hour plane ride but for some reason sticked it up with a 15 hour drive. Might be a good chance to see the California countryside. And found about 20 SUBWAY outlets along the way.

8 hour mark... should have made a stop!

Finally.... 14:30 hour mark.... Got some sleep and some burgers and took a loooong nap.

Welcome to SWOOSH LAND...

Our boy PACMAN greeting me with a punch.

Where in the world can you find an office lot with their own soccer field... I mean tell me.. Named after the great RONALDO. Lunch breaks are fun here... They got everything from a pool,gym, basketball court, tennis court, and even a freakn' wall climbing wall...And did I say a "NACHO BAR" at the SB office...?

P-ROD doing the nose blunt... backside that is...
Went inside to check out NIKE's history...

One of the first waffle mold.

The mexico a.k.a cortez shoe...
Can't go no O.G.'er than this...
It's all about the PREFONTAIN's... (Im sorry I'm not here to educate you since this blog entry got like 30 pictures in it... Please wikipedia things... thanks).
The only Bldg. I really wanna get on...

My heart did pound when I saw the name...

Thanks Kevin for showing me around, Kevin is the main PR guy for SB and 6.0 and I would say one of the most important person for the NIKE SB BRAND.

My hands started to sweat...
Shaking...
and can't gasp for air...

These right here were all signed by the man himself.

How to make your own Jordan 1's...
Them 1's...
The only sig I see is Phil Jackson's... can you spot the other one's..?
Fiya...
I tried not to spend more time in there... I just took a peek and got out... I had my heart pounding fast... hahahahaha all these J's man... Gets you crazy...

Nike's TIME CAPSULE... it's gonna be opened next year... WHAT's INSIDE...? We don't really know for now.
Had some quick nacho (thanks NIKE SB)... tour ended got some good talks with kevin and it was time to get out.... And I thought it was over...

Saw this parking space earlier, and it was EMPTY...

By the time I came back...

an AUDI R8 awaits...

Talk about a dilemma. Now, I really don't know who this was... Some peeps say it was Mike or Phil Knight... Hope some people out there can clear this out... I waited 20 mins. on the curb to know... and nothing...

Met up with Krux's friend and a fellow Nt'er Ian Williams, got into downtown portland and went to this place.

Got some crab cakes and them potato/sweet potato fries...
And for our main dish... LOBSTER MAC n' CHEESE... there were three of us and ordered the same food. It turned out it was a CRAWFISH Mac n' Cheese...

And that's Ian right there... the guy responsible for the WETFLOOR NIKE SB DUNK Hi's...

Finished up and decided to walk around...

This chinese joint got a little sketchy...

Lights up...
Got tired and ready for some more food and drinks.. and they say this place has the best wing joint in the area.

Dead chickens...
And of course FRIED TWINKIES....! The twinkie alone has like 8 oz. of oil in it. I looked sketchier after.

Ian high with the twinkie oil... That's Amir right there, he works at the NIKE kitchen, where a few has gone and never talked about it or they die.

If your in Portland I would really recommend this place for you to get drunk and get your chicken wings on.
Day ONE is a wrap... I had a freakn great time.

I wanna thank Jiggs for basically making this trip possible, Dennis for hooking people up.

Kevin for the great time...

Ian and Amir for the great laughs... ( I hope Amir already saw a link to the OTIS song, he had great troubles that night in getting one...). if not... here's the vid AMIR.

Hats Off...

Radyo! cap, Emerica, Deathwish, Shakejunt.... you want 'em, we got 'em...!

For more info and prices CLICK: www.welegendary.com

FRENZY XTREME...

Found these picture set on the archive on my phone... I thought I lost it...

Last May 20-21,2011.... Rubber Player FRENZY CONDOMS held a big skate/bike/wall climbing event at the SM MOA grounds. 2 days of intense heat and skating.

Free skate session in between events and a rock concert after the awarding...
Hosted by Andi Manzano....

And the winners are.

3rd Place... Day Old Urethane's Kenneth Reyes.

2nd Place (I heard he got into an accident a few weeks after this comp, hope you are feeling better my friend...).

And of course "SKATER of the YEAR".... 1st Place Marvin Basinal.
and yes that's 25k right there...

Honestly, the level of skating I saw in this event was truly amazing. Me and Akuma was tasked to Judge the event and had a hard time getting everyone scored right. I'm proud to say that the next generation of skaters here in the philippines is well taken care of.

Engr. Nice really killed it, clearing ramp to ramp kick flips.... Also that dude from Pampanga Kenneth was killing it at the rails, hard flip back lip..? I had fun judging this event. To all the skaters who joined props to you guys...

I would like to thank Arman Co for getting us to work with you.

Frenzy and the Agency who handled the event.

And also Mr. Aris Inis.....

And hey follow Andi9 on TWITTER.

SLAM KICKS...

Comes out once a year, with everything KICKS / SNEAKERS related.

AVAILABLE NOW ... for Php 200.

And yes it did say 400+ shoes in it.....

SWAG BAG...

It's always been a pleasure visiting EMERICA when I'm in town. Justin always hooks it up with some of the best stuff you can find.

This is the swag bag... courtesy of SOLETECH ( I love the employee store).

Justin you the man.

Got a pair of "THE SITUATON" designed by SPANKY LONG. A very laid back mids with light foams to get that comfort feel on your feet but doesn't come off heavy or bulky. I like it, it's one of those relax chill shoes you can just grab when you wake up and head out to get some tapsilog.

Next up is a 3-pack altamont shirt and these lovely CHINA FLATS x TOY MACHINE slip ons. These babies are hella dope...

Ok, so here's comes the best part of it all... We had a chance to go around and basically meet one of the main guy for footwear management... Talked about the history of emerica shoes, and the future..

We are so psyched about what they have coming these next few months and next year.

He even gave this very limited 1 of 1 BRANDON WESTGATE never released colorway.

Black shoe with purple hints. This is the only one made.

And hey since we are nice and all... WE MIGHT GIVE THIS OUT TO YOU weLegendary and EMERICA fanatics.(details soon...)

But this one right here is something we are very honored to see... what it is...? sorry guys not yet... we'll get you more info on these soon.
Thanks Brendan... you make one hell of a good job.

Also Happy Birthday JUSTIN (sorry we weren't able to get beer...)

Thanks to the EMERICA family... you guys always make it crazy down there.

THANK YOU.

SOLE TECH. Inc...

Had a chance to visit the Emerica HQ at SOLETECH at Lakeforest. Came to check out what's up and this gentleman right here, Joseph of RADYO! cared to join the candy land tour.

It's amazing how the offices are like a block apart.. that just shows how big the space they need to run the show. This Bldg. right here is basically where all the magic happens.
Natas Kaupas anyone..? I think if your a skateboard historian ( or just old school to be proper... this will bring back a lot of memories....). Am I right...? I had my first skatemag when I was in 2nd year high school. I remember it was a transworld photo issue... I bet a lot of you guys had that too. And this shoe right here dates back almost a decade before that. I wonder WONG would know more..? hehehehhehe
They did a lot of limited footwear over the years... this showcase right here featured a lot of those projects... O yeah Soletech houses brands like Emerica, Es (R.I.P for now), and etnies, also altamont and 32. Just incase you guys are confused on where I am and the pics we have.
If you ain't done with your janoski fix. Emerica will have their own version of their boat shoe... And I think it really looked DOPE.
This explains the whole STI fusion technology. STI fusion = the best thing that happened to a skate shoe.

I did say them boat shoe looks dope...

The Emerica showroom x crazy eyes RADYO!
This where it all began... To the founder Pierre-André Senizergues, we salute the great stuff you have made. THANK YOU.
Brian Deegan's MOTO...
This reminds me a lot of things. Wow vintage SLB, when was the last time you heard salba being called "SALVADOR"..? hahahaha, I remember my homeboy Vince Penas had a pair of the SLB 3's ( is that the one with the ankle support..?) or not, back like 11 years ago. Damn son we came a long way.
There we're more stuff we touched and felt, sorry guys not ready to be posted yet.

But hey, here's two of the most hardworking employees at SOLETECH. Justin hooking us up with everything we need and making things happen and poppn'. While Fred heads Altamont marketing now...

Sorry for the blur... not yet ready to be unveiled.

Thanks guys for showing us a really nice time. I will see you guys soon.

To get some EMERICA fixn'... CLICK the link to the SHOP. WELEGENDARY.COM