Skechers and Accent Group

As many of you know, I took on a retail position at a Skechers outlet store located in South Wharf, near the city. I never thought in a million years I would be working in retail, but to be honest in the four short months I worked there, I had really great time. First and foremost, my co-workers were awesome!!! Couldn't have asked for a nicer group of people to work with.

Having no previous retail experience, my manager, Tom, along with my co-workers [Emma (not Tony's wife), Brent, Linda, Shao, Natalie, Jess, and Iva…if I have missed anyone, I apologize] helped me out in so many ways. From answering ALL of my questions (and I had tons of them), to explaining how certain shoes work, to helping me with customers as well as some unhappy customers, and so on. It was a great eye opening experience. This is not something I would like to continue full time, but it made aware of what people in retail deal with on a day-to-day basis.

Here is one example, it is amazing to me how many people when they walk into the store and you say "Hi, how are you?", either shy away, look at you but pretend like you don't exist and keep walking, are annoyed, seem scared that you are even talking to them, or say "I'm just looking." when all I said was "Hi". Now, I don't expect each and everyone person to give a cheerful, exciting response, however a little smile, a head nod, and/or one second eye contact goes a long way. 

Below are some pictures I wanted to share with you that I took along my commute to work. I usually ended up having to take two trains to get to work, but it only took about 20 minutes by train, and 20 minutes walking from the second train station. The best part is is not having to drive and enjoy the lovely scenery along the way.

My lunch spot.

See that! I was number 10 on the "Top 10 Sales People." Not to shabby.

Since I was one of the top sales people, my manager gave me a budget (sales target) of $2,1800.00 for that day. Geez...I always have to do all the work.

All my Skechers shoes.

And here is Henry's commute to work. He rode a bike just about everyday of the year rain or shine except for the our last month when he commuted by tram and train.

Williamstown, Australia

On a sunny weekend afternoon, Henry and I hopped on a train to Williamstown, which is one of Melbourne's oldest suburbs. In 1835, the first settlers arrived by a sailing ship. It wasn't too long after more people settled here because of the sheltered harbour. Today there are tons of boats docked here. In the early days, Williamstown was the port for Melbourne where ships unloaded the goods and then were transferred by barges up the Yara River. The suburb is about 8km from the city, and from the shore of Williamstown you get a spectacular view of the city. We took a short walk along the beach, then headed towards the downtown area filled with shops and restaurants. 

 

Along the way, we came across the Timeball Tower at Point Gellibrand. It was built by convict labour around 1849, and was first used as a lighthouse, and then as a timeball tower. This is where ships could set their chronometers (an instrument for accurately measuring time) since accuracy was extremely important for navigation on ocean voyages. At 1pm everyday, the ball at the top would descend slowly down its shaft.

From here we headed towards the downtown area. It was a nice area with shops and restaurants on one side and a park on the other. We ate at restaurant called El Burro (http://www.elburro.com.au/). It was delicious! We had tapas and sangria (probably the best sangria I've had). With our tummies full, we headed out to the pier to get a clearer view of the city and snap a couple of pictures. Then we decided to go back to the beach to read and nap before heading home.

View of Melbourne from the pier.

Same here.

Tree Huggin' Henry.

90 Mile Beach, Australia

Carl, Rachel, Henry, and I went camping along Ninety Mile Beach, a 2.5 hour drive from Melbourne. The 90 mile stretch separates the Gippsland Lakes from the Bass Strait. There were numerous free camping spots along the beach, and we found a perfect spot. The only draw back was that there weren't ANY toilets, not even a pit toilet, so we had to hide behind trees and bushes. Welcome to the great outdoors! On the positive side were a minutes walk to the beach. It was a hot weekend so it was nice to have the clean ocean water to jump into (it was our shower). On top of that, the beach was empty, so it was like our own secluded beach. Our relaxing weekend consisted of doing nothing, playing cards, and playing beach Cricket! Quite the Australian tradition. Henry won and I came in third place, but really who cares who won, all that matters is we had fun. During the Cricket game a baby seal came up on shore. SO CUTE! He/she was just hanging out on the sand, rolling around, and enjoying the warm weather. By Sunday, we were all looking forward to showering! Another enjoyable camping weekend with friends.

Good looking bathroom.

The Ultimate Camping Machine

Henry doing the Bo Derek after his ocean shower.

To da beach.

Carl's thong (sandal for the Americans) was eaten in the middle of the night.

New Years Day

We spent New Year's Eve with my co-worker, Brent, and his girlfriend, Denise at their place, along with a few of their other friends. We spent the evening eating, drinking, and even playing a drinking game…twice. We headed down to the beach to see the fireworks, but didn't make it in time. So we headed back and left there place around 2am. We hailed a taxi, but he wouldn't take us back to our apartment. Most likely the reason he said no was because he wasn't going to make much money off of us since it was only about a 5-10 minute drive. What an a**, neither one of us were happy about that, but we caught a free tram ride home. So I guess things happen for a reason. As we were walking home from the tram, there was a guy on all fours puking his guts out while his friend stood their waiting patiently. I'm happy to say, Henry and I woke up the next day feeling great. We made lunch, hopped on our bikes, and spent the day at the beach. Happy New Year Everyone! Love You All!!!!!! See you soon.

Christmas in Australia

Spending Christmas in Australia was a different experience since it's actually summer here! Although it was difficult to be away from family at this time, the warm weather did help a bit I must say =). We had a great Christmas with our friends Carl and Rachel. First, we set off to the beach! It was windy, but the weather was excellent. We went for a nice walk and worked up an appetite. When we returned to their house, we snacked a little as we prepared dinner. We had barbecued salmon, strawberry salad, and a bean salad. That was by far our healthiest Christmas dinner ever, and it was delicious. We watched some episodes of a British TV show called Little Britain as we let our food digest. For dessert, Rachel made individual pavlovas (which are a meringue type dessert), and for some reason didn't bake all that well and were really soft and chewy, however they were still good to eat. On top of the pavlovas we added a topping similar to cool whip, but even better, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, and passion fruit. After that we exchanged gifts, and parted ways a short time later since I had to get up early the next day to work on Boxing Day. Boxing Day is similar to Black Friday shopping in the US. I was paid extra to work that day, so I can't complain too much. Holy crap, there were tons and tons of people everywhere. I was running around like a crazy person trying to help people, and was a bit exhausting. Overall, it was a successful day for Skechers. We passed our budget from the previous year by a lot! Henry didn't have to work, so when I got home we headed out for dinner and drinks. I had a nice cold glass of dark beer and Henry had some type of vodka based drink.

Alos below is our (awkward) family holiday photo.

Bah humbug...

No comment.

Henry's Melbourne style shorts. Not a good look.

Vegemite

The video says it all.

Lunch Time!

One of the main attractions in Melbourne is The Colonial Tramcar Restaurant, which takes you around the streets of Melbourne for 2 hours while you eat a delicious meal. They offer lunch or dinner, but the four of us opted for the lunch. It was really HOT day, along with a very warm wind, on top of Emma and I both being sick, it was nice to be inside with air conditioning. Lunch included an appetizer, followed by the main course, and finished off with a cheese plate. The best part...FREE refills on all beverages including alcohol. We had a good time and then headed home so Emma and I could sleep. It doesn't get any more exciting than that.

Our photo shoot while waiting for the tramcar.

Henry creeping in the background.

Token.

 Here it comes!

Happy and full!