Skate Blog Intern Blog

Just when you thought it couldn’t get crazier around here, it got crazier. Sorry, didn’t really have anything witty to say there…it really just got pretty crazy around the warehouse.

So, as you’ve probably noticed from other posts, we got invited to the Ki up in San Francisco’s Treasure Island this weekend. Along with other crazy bamboo displays, BambooSK8 is supposed to bring and set up a little skatepark for our skaters to have fun and demo boards and whatnot. All we had, though, was a box, a manny pad, a rail, and a quarter pipe, which needed some fixing. Sounds OK, but we could do better and scrounge something up on our budget. We only had about 2 weeks to get something together, so we were scrambling like crazy to find materials. We actually hit up our neighbors at the warehouse and used their scrapped wooden boxes and crates to create an eight-foot long box with a ledge on it. We also hit up some dude by the name of Jeff King and went to Shred Ranch (which will sadly be no more in the near future) to buy some more supplies. Once all the random scarps of wood were lying around the warehouse, it was time to go to work. Andrew and the homie Phil busted their backs on Sunday attaching the ledge to the box and putting together two ramps that connect to the box. The rest of the week was spent cutting some wood, laying down some plywood, and finding more scraps we could use around town. Jeff Wright and I even ended up driving around for a couple hours and finding some steel plates to make a smooth transition onto the ramps. Amidst all this building madness, I also had to find us a moving truck to pack all the supplies for the trip, drive around some more to pick up supplies, package up some shipments, and get my assignments done on the side.

All in all, it was a fun week. It definitely forced me to set up a better schedule for myself. Luckily, everything fit inside the truck I ordered (we were a little skeptical) and the guys were able to take off to SF according to plan. I should’ve taken pictures of the ramps and box, our friend Mark threw down some sweet spray paint work. My bad…anyways, I’ll just leave you guys with these pictures I took from the product toss at the end of the 8th Annual Haunted Skate contest at Laguna Niguel that we went to last Saturday.

Word! The internship is halfway done and it is a bitter sweet moment in time for me. I love my fellow interns and have learned a bit from my management that will come in handy in the future. I have learned how to set goals realistically and to follow through with them, which is probably the biggest lesson I’ve learned throughout this internship.

Anyway, what are you guys dressing up as for Halloween? I was thinking of dressing up as Cheech from Up in Smoke.  Here is an example of what I would look like:

Pretty awesome, right?

This weather has been crazy and semi cold which means SNOW IS COMING! I’m stoked!!!! I hope y’all come and visit me up in Bear cause its going to be an insanely awesome time. Alright take it easy and have a happy and safe Halloween!

Over and out.

Hey all… So the last few days have been SO cloudy, cold and rainy.  I love it but I must admit that i am getting tired and lazy and miss the sunshine and warm weather.  But aside from that, we’ve jut been busy busy working.  That and trying to come up with a Halloween costume since Halloween is fast approaching. I have about 12 ideas on costumes, but no idea how to execute them…. I can’t believe we are almost into our 9th week here.  Time flies.  Geoff warned us of that.  Soon enough we will be in our final weeks and still not be able to believe it.  So we’re going to live it up while we can.  We have upcoming stops on the skatepark tour, the guys are in San Francisco at the KI this weekend, and a warehouse BBQ.  It’s all exciting and whizzing past! More to come…

Here are some pictures i took in Bali.  Thinking of warmer days……..

We are halfway there! Every week I cannot believe that we have hit the milestone that we are at, and now that we are at the halfway mark, I am even more surprised!  Time sure is flying by….faster than I can blink and an eye.  Definitely in the rhyming mood today so don’t mind me.  Things are kind of hectic in the cave and the office this week because as us interns are wrapping up week 8 and moving forward with our skate tour, the rest of the BambooSK8 crew is running around mad getting ready to take over the KI in San Francisco @ Treasure Island this weekend.  SO jealous that they are going!

Anywho…so last weekend we kicked off the official BambooSK8 Tour!  We are gonna be hitting stops all around the SoCal area.  We are gonna blow this thing up and make it epic!  Last weekend we went to the Poway Skate Park, and it was pretty legit.  For the first time trial, we had a pretty good crowd.  Jeff Wright, a rider for BambooSK8, came out with all his buddies from the Ocean Current skate team.  We were handing out prizes from Rockstar for those skaters who were doing some pretty legit tricks.  Nika water came out and handed out water to all of our very thirsty skaters.  Overall, I would say Poway was a pretty great success for our first time!

This weekend while our BambooSK8 Team is in San Francisco, the SK8 Tour is going to make a stop at the Coronado Skate Park!  Of course free prizes and definitely some new games!  We wanna see all the tricks you got so bring it!  Each week we improve the skate tour more and more, so follow us wherever we go!  We are planning to hit up Coronado, Encinitas, Orange County, Venice Beach, and then we are gonna end with a BIG BANG in Palm Springs! Whoop Whoop!

SEE YOU AT CORONADO ON SATURDAY!

Already week 8…geeeezz! And I finally can say that I got to attend one of the many events that have been happening throughout the last couple of weeks! The event was a surf competition in Pacific Beach off of Tourmaline and I have to say for the day being really cold and kind of rainy I had a great time with Sarah and her friend Chad. It was also pretty cool seeing how popular our boards were with some of the older crowd it nice seeing people really into our decks. As for everything else at the office everyone is really busy trying to start up projects as well as make sure future events go smoothly. I’m excited to see how our upcoming skate tour stop goes and see what new things we can add to the event. I never really thought I would have too much fun talking to some of our skaters but I have to admit that some of the kids I’ve had the chance to talk to are pretty rad. It makes me excited to talk to kids that are so stoked to be a part of what we do here at Bamboo sk8. I think the biggest lesson I have learned here at the office so far is time management, I’ve been known to procrastinate every now and then but I’m now trying to make an effort to change that and make sure I can use this time I have here to really make a difference. At the end of the day I’m just extremely stoked that I have a great group of interns here that have my back. When I get stressed for time or just overwhelmed with things we have to do they remind me to stay positive and just have fun. And for that I am lucky to have this time here to grow as a person!
This is Nika signing out till next time… peace easy suckas!

Hey fellows!

Long time, or it seems long cause so many things happened. Since Costa Rica it took me while to get to my Turkish uni. After 25 hours being between planes and airports, I finally arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital completely exhausted and jet-lag. The cab driver sadly noticed it, and took advantage of it, touring around the city making me pay 4 times the expected amount.. Next time I will order a cab from the airport instead of those illegal one. Stayed in a art hostel, which have a really good bar down stair. Few beers, straight to bed. After 5 hours of sleep, I took a bus from Sofia to Istanbul around 8 hours trip. The buses are great, cheap (30 Euros), lot of space, you even have a stewardess on board serving you coffees and snacks! When we arrived at the border, that took a while. The boarder patrol searched the luggage and the bus, after you have to get your visa. If you are from a European country, no problem for it. But I met an American girl, Janira in the bus and it was a hell for her. She had to go to Ankara (capital city) from Istanbul (6 hours by bus) to hand her visa, wait for 5 days and back there to pick it up!

In the bus I also met a Bulgarian girl who had been an exchange student in Istanbul, so she found us (Janira and I) a hostel and took us around. We met her Turkish friends and had a blast during that night! At first we were suppose to go to an art exhibition and met her friends there, but a riot happen at the art gallery, with cocktail Molotov, fights, the cops came but the attackers escaped before they could get caught. The main reason was the art exhibition topic, some radical attackers didn’t agreed with it (Turkey is a Muslim country facing some freedom of expression problems but DO NOT GET ME WRONG, its just a LITTLE radical community NOT the entire country) , so they attack the gallery and the artist went straight to hospital. Luckily no fire disaster. Well, after this incident, we went for Janira’s and my first real Turkish dinner, delicious and so many different type of food, on top of it a good Efes (Turkish beer). Istanbul is a beautiful city, with plenty of walking street full of nice cafés, bar, pub and yes mosques too!
The next day Janira and I went around, the main bazaar, the blue mosque, got lost around too, was good fun. Later on I met 2 New Zealanders, living in Kuwait, an Indian guy in exchange. We went for some beers, passed by mistake through the prostitute street, and end up in a cool little bar. After few beers, the owners tried to communicate with us, that was a great laugh! We were using the bar’s computer Turkish English translator and hand signs.. Worked out well!
Next day I took my bus to Eskisehir, one of the hostel employee wanted to help me out and carried my board for a good 30 minutes till the bus stop, nice! But again communication was limited.. He gave me his address asking me to send him a postcard from Finland, sure!
Now here in Eskisehir, the city is just packed by students, little cafés and bars. The uni is damn big, like a village with restaurants, cafés, even a supermarket! (selling beers..). I met some Turkish skaters on the campus. So, I asked them if there is any skating community around, and yes, a limited one but still. The only problem is, there is just no skateshop in this city, they have to order online or going to Istanbul. They start complaining about the lack of a skate park, I said them, let’s build one! We found an parking area on the campus and next by, a dump full of waste planks and metal parts. Long story short, we are now a group of 10 composed by 6 Turkish students, from the art department to the economic one, one Norwegian guy as a television and media student, 2 Check Republic guys as architect students and me.  The project is focus on a eco-friendly environment made out of waste material. This environment is subdivided by different areas such as  a skate area, a free art expression and exhibition area and a social area all connected to each others. We are working with no budget, just using student skills and talent to make it happen!
By the way, here are some pics from Istanbul and Eskisehir, enjoy!

What’s really good?! So I haven’t really gotten around to skating the box and manny pad at the office…SAD! Did a little cruising around here and there, but nothing crazy. We’ve just been super busy in the cave handling our jobs and planning out different contests and events. We’ve got a t-shirt design contest coming up that’s going to be announced on our social media sites. So stay up on your facebook, twitter, hookit to keep your eyes peeled for that. And we’re also launching a local skate tour starting this weekend. We’re gonna be at the Poway skatepark this Sunday (10/10) at Noon. We’ll be hangin out for a few hours, so come by, skate with us, say what’s up, and get some SWAG if you’re in the area!

In other news, I’ll have to swallow my pride and admit that I got beat in S.K.A.T.E. over at the Cardiff Surf Classic and Green Beach Fair by some kids that were probably entering the 6th grade when I was graduating college last year. I’m a little rusty alrite! One kid had to leave mid-game, so I’ll consider that a stalemate. Another kid tried to hustle me for some money, but once he started doing nollie everything I knew it was over and I told him I didn’t have any cash on me. Needless to say, I had an awesome time at this event. We got to hang out, meet, and talk to some really cool people, including the dudes from The Beautiful Girls. If you haven’t heard of them, you need to check them out at www.thebeautifulgirls.com. We also had people reppin’ our tattoos and stickers all over the place. Oh yea, this guy Rob Machado was there taking part in the contest too. I watched him for a little bit, he’s kinda good at that surfing thing. Here are a few pictures from the event that I got on my phone:

What a couple of weeks! So my internship here at Bamboo Sk8 is in full effect. I can’t even believe that I survived all the way to week 6! Contrary to the previous weeks here I began to find my footing and I am really enjoying to atmosphere…literally (thank you office flies!) Yes, the job is not easy at times but I’m learning a lot of course while having lots of fun. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to be a part of some of our first couple fall events due to work BUT I am looking forward to participate in some of our upcoming events. I actually ended up having the opportunity to attend an event myself this last weekend called the Vans Downtown Showdown. The coolest thing about it was that the actual event was held in LA at Paramount Studios on the New York back lot. Different skate companies created various skate set ups for different team skaters to ride on and try to win money. Obstacle had different heat times and skaters were asked in that time period to bust out their best stuff to walk away with a lot of cash. It was a rad experience to be able to walk around and see the skaters you have watched practically your whole life as well as new up and comers with a lot of talent. I had a great time and ALMOST got to meet my future skater husband Brandon Biebel…I attempted to meet him and never got the chance! Oh well until next time… here are some pics of my adventures

Hey Guys!!

Such a busy last few weeks at BambooSK8.  First of all, what is going on with these weather patterns? I mean, 100 degree, to raining, to windy, to hot again? EEK.  Whatever, at least there was no earthquake like the one predicted.  Haha, we got a good nervous laugh about that in the office.  So last week, i discovered Pandora Radio thanks to Nika and Javier… i mean, I’ve heard of it before, but I had never used it.  What rock was i living under?  I use it all the time now, I am totally addicted.  So after being sick for almost 2 week, I went to the doctor on Tues, and found out I have bronchitis. YAY, psych. This sucks, but whatever, I guess my body needs the rest.  I can’t wait to get back into work next week and get back on track again.  Anyways, thi Sunday we are beginning our Skate Tour.  I’m pretty excited to see how it goes and how it grows in the upcoming weeks.  It’s always amazing to watch something grow from something small to something big, and I hope that is what happens with this.  Stay tuned to find out how things go with that.  Other than that, things have been good.  The Cardiff Surf Classic was a hit, unfortunately, I was unable to attend and missed out on seeing Rob Machado again… but i think i’ll live.  I can’t wait for the next events.  Things in the cave have been pretty good.  We’re staying buy and giving each other a hard time, but we’re all getting along great and having a blast and learning a lot.  Well, that’ all I have for now.  More to come….

-jz

P.S. I know this not BambooSK8 related, but it is close to my heart….. Newport Beach is trying to shut down one of the oldest and most iconic surf  shops  in orange county.  It has been around for 50 years, and now due to some bogus zoning restrictions, they want to shut it down.  If you have a minute, check out their facebook page and if you can, write a letter to the planning director so we can stop this.   Thanks guys!!

http://www.facebook.com/savethefroghouse

and the Newport Beach Plnning Director’s email is: jcampbell@newportbeachca.gov

So days at the office seem to get more amusing and the out of office events are freaking awesome. We were at the Seaside classic this weekend, aka the Rob Machado surf classic and it was sick. Kaila brought out the JJ which made the event all the more merrier and we tatted up a buncha little kids. I love how community based the event was. I learned that Taylor Steele (super freakin awesome surf film maker) grew up in Cardiff, I think, or maybe Encinitas? and that his parents own a real estate agency in that area. I also learned that Sanuk is based out of Irvine? haha I really hope Im getting my information right. I also learned Nika water is absolutely non profit cause 100% of their profits go out to the countries that need it, which means theyve got awesomely generous investors. This event made me really rethink the type of career I want to get into.. ……….. lotsa lotsa thinkinn to dooo.. anywho

Things I learned at the office: you never want to be called a dirty hamster! haha cause apparently thats really mean, yet hilarious at the same time. And also, everyone should google “beenerkeekee” or youtube him. Cause he’s awesome. Our first skate park tour is coming up and everything seems set, except that we need a freaking VENUE! aaahhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! hopefully our golden child has pulled through with something? sweet talked his way into gettin a park of some sort with no permit needed? *cough*cough* javier?? hahaha

here are some pictures. Hope youre all enjoying your life. I would say day, but really you should enjoy everyday.

Time is sure flying by.  I know I said in my last post that I couldn’t believe a month had gone by, but I really can’t believe that we are already coming up on the half way point.  Boy oh boy have I learned a ton though.  BambooSK8 is really teaching me awesome skills like prioritizing my time, paying attention to detail, and basically learning how to run a business from the inside out.  I think its starting to get a little bit more challenging because in the beginning we had tons to do so we were constantly busy with not enough time to do everything, but now we have so much time that I have to figure out how to fill my time with productive things.  I think this is where the major life lesson comes in because there is when I need to be proactive and take the initiative to get working hard on my projects, finish them, and turn them into successes!  I have be reading this book for my internship class at Cal State and I found a pretty motivating quote: Here it is: Live by it: Love it: Embrace it: “Make small commitments and keep them. Be a light, not a judge. Be a model, not a critic. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”

I have to say though all the hard work definitely pays off and shows its rewards when we get to go to all the eco-friendly events that are usually right on the beach!  This past weekend we went to the Cardiff Surf Classic.  I didn’t go Saturday because I had to work–very unfortunate.  So I did make it out all day Sunday though and I had a blast!  Although I heard it wasn’t as beautiful and sunny as Saturday, but I kinda liked how it was a little misty and drizzling but still warm enough to have a good time.  There were so many different awesome booths!  It is always interesting to go to the events because you get to see all the different things that people do with recycling.  My favorite part though is how we really start relationships with the youngsters.  They really love the BambooSK8 booth because we have tons of stickers for them and they get to ride all around on the skate boards…It’s like a SK8board play ground for them!  Check out my pics below!