Saturday, December 31, 2016

Airline review: Qantas business class, Sydney to Denpasar, Bali


 

Our rating

 4.5 out of 5

THE PLANE

Boeing 737-800, there are 75 in the fleet

THE ROUTE

Sydney to Denpasar (Bali)

THE LOYALTY SCHEME

Qantas Frequent Flyer, part of the Oneworld alliance.

CLASS

Business class, seat 3A

DURATION

Six hours, 10 minutes 

FREQUENCY 

This service is a seasonal flight operating daily until March 25, 2017. The full-service route was reintroduced after a  successful launch last year and the flight (QF43) departs Sydney at 5.10pm daily, arriving in Denpasar in time for cocktails at 8.50pm. From March 26, 2017, the service becomes year round with four flights a week.

SEAT

There are three rows of the 2:2 seat configuration in business class with the stylish and comfortable Marc Newson-designed Recaro seats in claret-coloured leather. The seat is 55.8-centimetres (22 inches) wide with a 94-centimetre (37-inch) pitch. There is an extendable leg rest and fold-out footrest. 

BAGGAGE

A generous 46 kilograms. Carry-on is two pieces at seven kilograms each.

COMFORT

The oversized pillow and comforter add to the comfort factor, as does the Kate Spade amenity kit – which doubles as a handy clutch back on land.  Men receive the Jack Spade amenity kit; both are packed with the Aurora Spa ASPAR range. There is one bathroom available for the 12 business class passengers with Aurora products for use inside. 
Design lovers will appreciate the Marc Newson tableware at mealtimes.

ENTERTAINMENT

The seatback touch screen (though in the first row of seats it extends from the armrest) features a good selection of 33 new release movies as well as full seasons of TV favourites. The documentary selection should be noted as being exceptional with recent releases screened at the Sydney Film Festival. Trivia, music, radio, podcasts and news are also available. The tray table is wide enough for a large laptop and seats have power and a USB adapter should you wish to watch your own pre-loaded entertainment, or do some work.

SERVICE

Service is the standout on this flight. Flight crew member Susan is welcoming and intuitive – how did she know that I would welcome a third Valrhona chocolate after dinner, snuck from under her hand like magic? Addressing each passenger by name, she has a  glint in her eye and seems to be able to read every passenger's mood. I needn't have asked for more champagne, it just appears. 

FOOD

Also excellent is the Rockpool-inspired menu designed by Neil Perry.
"Small plates" (instead of entrees) included a choice of tomato soup or Vietnamese prawn salad with green mango, lemongrass and vermicelli noodles. The prawns were the freshest this reviewer has tasted in the air. My main course choice of roast lamb rump with potato gratin and ratatouille is generous and delicious. For dessert, a fruit platter was favoured over the vanilla cheesecake or cheese selection only because this reviewer was lucky enough to sample Neil Perry's famous pavlova in the lounge before  boarding. Snacks offered before landing include pastizzis and stir-fried duck. 

ONE MORE THING

This service is a popular option for Frequent Flyer redemptions. Qantas' fares to Bali include a checked baggage allowance, inflight entertainment and food and drinks as standard with prices starting from $299 one way for economy and $885 one way for business class. The visa on arrival in Bali has now been scrapped so getting through Denpasar's Ngurah Rai International Airport is now speedier.

THE VERDICT

While it's true that the seat does not lie flat, the late afternoon timing of this flight – just in time for dinner and a couple of movies – means it was comfortable and enjoyable for a relatively short international flight. 
Tested by Andrea Black, who travelled as a guest of Qantas.

Bali’s Most Popular Blog replaced with New Improved Blog and Facebook.

There's an old saying in business ether lead, follow or get out of the way.
“Ether lead, follow or get out of the way”

Bali News and Views Discontinued and Replaced:


As we have always been a leader in Bali Real Estate, Villa management and Bali blog publishing for the past 15 years we have made a radical decision to discontinue what is arguably the most successful blog ever in Bali which has had over 1,400,000 pageviews of over 7,000 posts.

We are discontinuing it because we realize that over the past six years of a trial and error learning experience we discovered what readers want to read and what will benefit them most.

So today we have launched our new improved Bali & World News & Views Blog and Facebook which will focus on not just Bali but worldwide events that can affect your future travel and investments.

There will be a lot less personal blogs and posts and more posts focusing on “news and views that you can use for pleasure and profit”.

“News and views that you can use for pleasure and profit”.

As we approach New Year's Eve here in Bali we want to wish you and yours a very happy and prosperous new year.

One way you can start out the new year right is discover exactly what is going on in Bali real estate, especially pertaining to Bali real estate laws which have been clarified and improved dramatically in just the last three months.

For example you can discover how now a Foreigner can own properties for 80 years or more with bank financing for the first time in history.

We want to wish you and your family a Very Happy New Year for 2017


From my Family and 155 Staff at PT. B.A.L.I., PT. Bali Luxury Villas and Bali Real Estates Brokers . 


We hope that you "Live your Dream in 2017" and prosper.

We also hope that you are financially successful in 2017.

We remind you that there are basically only five methods that you can become financially successful next year.

Five Methods to Financial Success

  1. You can work hard and study to become a professional .
  2. You can inherit Money
  3. You can marry money.
  4. You can do illegal activities 
  5. You can invest.
Assuming that you do not or will not benefit from steps one to four above that only leave investments.

Your success at investments will depend on your knowledge obtained from what you read and who you listen to the next 12 months.

I would like to personally invite you to my forthcoming, beginning of year seminars to discover why I believe this is the second best time to buy Bali real estate this century.

Earn Huge Profits – Free Bali Real Estate Seminars - New Foreign Ownership Laws:


Bali's leading real estate expert over the past 12 years with over 155 employees believes now may be the second best time to profit from Bali Real Estate this century.

A brand new real estate law allowing foreigners  to buy and obtain up to 70% bank financing for 80 years or more without leases, plus the first real estate correction in modern history has set the stage for *increases of 20% to 100 % the next 3- 5 years.

PT. B.A.L.I’s President will discuss the Past, Present, and future of Bali Real Estate at two no obligation, Free Seminar, on  Saturday Jan 7th.




Free Bali Real Estate Investment Seminars:


Sponsored by 12 Yr old 155 Employee Strong PT. B.A.L.I.

At these seminars you will learn about:

- The Past, present and future of Bali real estate.
- Why this is the second best time to buy this century. 
- Where are the best locations to buy in Bali?
- What type of properties will offer the best investment potential of 10% to 20 % per year.
- How foreigners can legally control properties for more than a lifetime under Indonesia laws.
- How to avoid legal problems and make sure the property is solid.
- First Class Beachfront property at almost 50% discount.
- A Quality Bali Hotel with 5,000 m2 ,12 bungalow, 3 pools, Restaurant for only $690,000.
- Low cost properties with Luxury Villas starting as low as $99,000 for a three bedroom 650 m² 3 bedroom 4 bath with private 9 mtr. swimming pool.
Ridiculously low price ocean view building lots starting as low as $25,000 for 500 m².
- Why a new clarification of exciting law allows foreigners to totally control Bali properties for up to 80 years without leases.
- Why Indonesian banks will lend money on Bali Real Estate to foreigners  for the first Time in History


Free Bali Real Estate Schedule:

(3) Saturday Jan. 7 th . 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM


Location:

Emerald Villas, Jl. Karangsari # 5 , Sanur, Bali - Free Parking.

Limited Seating: Seating is very limited for these free seminars so please make reservations.
Tel: Office: 62-361 – 284069 or Mobile: 62 – 812-381-4014 or  Email: seminarsptbali@gmail.com

Last Seminar attendees
"Hi Lawrence, It has been a pleasure to do business with you over the years and it is a further pleasure in this day and age to do business with such a trust worthy man. Lets keep in touch and I will call to see you as and if I drop to Bali". Very kindest regards. K.H.


 Lawrence B. M. Bellefontaine, Owner, President, General Manager, of 12 year old PT. B.A.L.I. ( Pt. Bali Affordable Lifestyles International ).

A resident of Bali for over 20 years and one of Bali’s best known travel, hotel and real estate investment experts. They publish the daily Bali News & Views Blog with almost 1,400,000 pageviews plus Bali News and Views Facebook, Twitter and Newsletter.

PT. B.A.L.I. offers Bali’s best properties for sale, lease or rent through their Bali Real Estate Brokers division.

They manage PT. Bali Luxury Villa Rentals starting at $99 ++ per room and © Bali Luxury Villa Sales. Starting at $225,000.

They are the proud recipient of Tripadvisors ‘Hall of Fame’ award for receiving their Certificate of Excellence award for the previous six years. This accolade is awarded to less than 10 % of the companies listed on Tripadvisor worldwide.

Their latest project is the exotic © Bali Paradise Beach Estates with rentals starting at $125 ++ per night for modern first class estates in a luxurious beachfront complex. Sales start at as low as $350,000.

Their Emerald Restaurant in Sanur at Bali Emerald Villas provides delicious Mediterranean cuisine at affordable prices.

Head Office: Jl. Karangsari # 5, Sanur, Bali, Indonesia 80228

Tel: 62-361-284069 Fax: 62-361-270143,

Mobile or Whatsapp: 62-8123814014 Email: lawrenceptbali@gmail.com Skype: baliagents

Disclaimer: All information presented above is considered true and reliable to the best of our knowledge at the time that it was produced. Information and prices may change without notice. The owners of PT. BALI AFFORDABLE LIFESTYLES INTERNATIONALand PT. BALI LUXURY VILLAS accept no responsibility for incorrect information listed herein. All recommendations may lose value in the future due to economic, political influences or any other reason.

Most Read Bali News and Views Blog - Almost 140,000 Pageviews

Update: Dec 31. 2016 - 

Lawrence Bellefontaine Publisher
Since this is the last day of what is probably Bali's largest blog, former Bali News and Views blog which received over 1,400,000 page views over a six-year period I thought I would share with you the blog that had the most page views during the blogs existence.


Below is an exact copy of the blog in regards to my theory that offshore earthquakes may be triggered by close proximity of the moon which in turn generates higher than normal tides. 

Update: Nov 26 th. 2016 - 
This Blog  has gone viral. Now over 132,251 pageviews
More»

Posts

EntryPageviews
132251

A normal Bali News and Views Blog only has around 100 pageviews.

Captain Lawrence Bellefontaine

Lawrence Bellefontaine Owner, Director of PT. Bali Affordable Lifestyles Int. who manage 160 staff and PT. Bali Luxury Villas went to extensive time and trouble last June to follow through on his theory that he developed shortly after the 6.2 earthquake hit offshore of Bali around noon on June 5th, 2016.
June 11th. 2016 - Lawrence Bellefontaine Posted  

"Last Thursday at 12:13 a 6.2 earthquake went off 300 km off of Bali and shook my office building violently.

I immediately called my maid and had my sons evacuated to higher ground from our beachfront residence in case there was a tsunami. 


I learned after 10 years of being a captain on a yacht it is always "Better safe than sorry". Turns out there was no tsunami, thank God. 

Later that day it dawned on me and I shared this with my 12 yr old son that we had a a King tide or spring tide at approximately the same time that the earthquake went off. Are they related?

Many people experienced flooding on both coasts of Bali during that time. 

At approximate the same time Bali experienced a  2.5 meter tide that hit all the coasts.


Using his several years of engineering education and 40 years of sailing he reasoned, " that large volumes of water moving from one part of the ocean to another part of the ocean exerts extra pressure on various areas of the Technonic plates that surround Bali and other places around the world".

He went on the Internet and found studies that confirm his theory that higher than normal tides can trigger earthquakes.

He concluded "I am now pretty convinced Spring tides or tides substantially higher than normal can cause earthquakes in areas that have active offshore Technonic plates". 
He googled it and sure enough, "in black-and-white his theory could be right based on a study conducted utilizing a Harvard University database.

What worried him, "if my theory is right, "we could be in for more earthquakes in the coming months and definitely some more Rob Tides until September when these super King tides go back to normal. Let's hope I'm wrong".

High Tides Trigger Earthquakes ??

By Sarah Davidson | October 26, 2004 05:00am ET






Map of the major plates of Earth.Credit: USGS



According to his research The weight added by water at high tide can trigger movement close to land in earthquake faults that are already active, according to new global analysis.


"The importance of this work is to understand what stresses are needed to trigger a fault and this is one step of many that are needed to do that," Elizabeth Cochran, the lead author of the study told LiveScience. 

The study looked at data, taken from a Harvard database, of 2,000 earthquakes with magnitudes of 5.5 or higher in places where one piece of Earth's crust dives beneath another.

The surface of the Earth is not unbroken; rather it is divided into several large plates that move around on top of the planet. Wherever these plates come together there are faults. When a piece of ocean crust runs into a piece of continental crust, it is pushed beneath the lighter continent. Pressure builds. The release of pressure along a fault is what makes earthquakes.

The faults examined for the study, detailed recently in the online version of the journal Science, were near the surface and not far offshore, so that tides provide an increase and decrease in pressure due to the amount of water covering them.

"Large tides have a significant effect in triggering earthquakes," Cochran said. "The earthquakes would have happened anyway, but they can be pushed sooner or later by the stress fluctuations of the tides."

Because of gravity, the side of the Earth closest to the moon has a bulge of water. As our planet rotates the water on the opposite side, furthest from the gravity of the moon, essentially attempts to escape Earth's surface and creates a second high tide.



Another example of this force, called inertia, is how you feel when a car speeds around a corner. Although the car is going in a different direction, you are thrown against the door because your body is trying to continue in the same direction as before. On the remaining two sides, the forces of gravity and inertia even out and the water is neither trying to escape nor being pulled toward the moon, resulting in low tides.

A computer program developed by co-researcher Professor Sachiko Tanaka models how the Earth responds to the Moon and the addition of water weight, as well as a model of the ocean floor.

"The program is an important part and why only in the last few years have we been able to do this (research)," Cochran said. "This is the first study that has been able to take into account the amplitude of the tides."

Cochran said larger tides have a higher chance of triggering an earthquake on an active shallow fault near land, compared with regions where tides are less severe.- See more at: http://www.livescience.com/41-high-tides-trigger-earthquakes.html#sthash.leXmc2NB.dpuf



Bellefontaine even had a French magazine contact him and asked for permission to rewrite the blog in their magazine.

As Bellefontaine says, "I had no idea that so many people would pick up on this, but I'm glad they did.  If can save one restaurant owner or shop owner that has a beachfront location to prevent their valuable chairs, tables, and other items from being swept away with the coming high tides late in June or early July then it was all worth the effort".

As he says "If you I can help prevent serious injury or possibly even death from people being swept away unknowingly during these exceptional King tides then it was all worth the effort".

On June 12th he posted "Beware of coming Bali super spring tides and possible earthquakes".

He went on to say The highest spring tides reached under normal meteorological conditions (the spring tides) take place when the Moon and Sun are directly aligned with respect to Earth.

Assuming that I and researchers who did a study utilizing Harvard university data on spring tides are correct that higher than normal tides can cause earthquakes last Thursday's 6.2 earthquake was triggered by an exceptionally high spring tide.


The question is are there any more spring tides expected in the near future?


The answer, unfortunately, is yes and even bigger than the one last week.


As a former yacht Capt. with my his yacht and charter service for five years in Bali when he first arrived here, he has years of experience and knowledge of Bali's waters and wanted to warn the public "that Bali's channels can be some of the most dangerous in the world, if you don't understand what's going on".

He Explains: "Every day the tide changes twice a day and vast amounts of water flow up and down the Bandung Strait between Bali and Lombok. As the huge amounts of water get squeezed between Lombok and Bali  it increases the velocity making for some of the strongest currents in the world.


When you think of the quantity of water moving and then you add another 60 or 70 cm height it is easy to understand why when these tides are exceptionally high they can put pressure on the tectonic plates that surround Bali and Indonesia to trigger massive earthquakes".


"Beachfront shop and restaurant owners should close for a few hours and have to be careful to protect their belongings when higher than normal tides are predicted".
Ku De Ta  June 9th 2016
He also warns "Those who are involved in ocean sports should be exceptionally careful because along with these high tides comes very strong currents of 6 to 8 knots or approximately 14 to 20 km/h, which are impossible to swim against."

Reminiscing he recalls "I remember sailing off of Lombok with the engine on full power and not moving as the tide shifted and I knew that my hull speed was at least 8 knt. or perhaps even more with the engine and no current".

Bellefontaine continues "I hope the Bali government not only posts warning signs during these high tides on the beach, but also has their lifeguards are out in force to insist that no one enter the water, especially during the two or three hours when tides are there highest.

Rip currents during this time can suck somebody out and they'll never be able to swim back in. 
So don't be a hero and don't push the envelope".

So perhaps individuals should trust Capt. Lawrence and follow his philosophy . "Better safe than sorry".

He also warns " More important. I hope that these high tides don't trigger another earthquake which could cause a tsunami. 

Frankly, understanding physics and pressures I believe there is a good chance that the last last King tide, on June 9th., probably triggered the 6.2 earthquake offshore thus releasing the pressure.


Therefore, there is probably less of a chance of another earthquake than before because the pressure has been released. 


Let's pray that I'm right. But if an earthquake is generated and you feel it here in Bali, although it may seem small here you must remember it could be 50 to 300 km away and if you feel a 4 pointer here it could be 6-7 point offshore.


We could have a tsunami as we did that wiped out and killed over a hundred thousand people last decade in Sumatra and Thailand. 


He finally warns "So be aware and beware"

Please share this information with anyone you know, especially if they live and work here in Bali or are visiting to be careful, especially during tides above 2.2 meters

When asked if  tourists should change their travel plans to Bali based on these warnings ? He replies "Absolutely not".

He also add's "Tourists coming to Bali during the next two months should not be concerned about super tides as history shows Bali is pretty immune to major earthquakes and tsunamis. 

Tourists should be warned by hotel  management and travel agencies to stay from the beaches a few hours each day of the 6-8 days that we do have high tides the next couple months.



Stay Safe" Captain Lawrence
___________________________________________________________Updates : 

June 17, 2016 :

June 17, 2016 :

June 20, 2016 :

June 21, 2016 :

June 21, 2016: 

Sept 14, 2016: 

Sept 26, 2016: 

Sept 28, 2016: 

Nov. 14th, 2016:

Nov. 15th, 2016:

Nov. 19th, 2016: