Flying to Europe via Asia with Finnair Business Class

We flew Melbourne-Singapore-Helsinki-London-Helsinki-Hong Kong-Melbourne on a multi-destination ticket. This fare allowed 3 stops so we opted for Helsinki (with St Petersburg only 3.5 hours away on high speed train), London and Hong Kong.
Watch for Business Class sales with Finnair. Unbeatable price. Finnair has other Asian destinations for stopovers. The flight to Hong Hong was a remarkable 9.5 hours. We had a tight connection LHR-HEL-HKG but the Finnair gates were close together.
Helsinki Airport (Vantaa) is expanding. You may have to use a bus rather than a sky bridge to board your plane (e.g. HEL - LHR).
A train station is underneath Terminal 1. Fare to Helsinki Central Station ("Helsingfors" on noticeboard) is 5 euros. Travel time 28 minutes.
On the LHR-HEL leg, the Business cabin was just a curtained-off section with Economy seats, but the middle seats were left vacant so you could stretch out. Service was definitely Business.
On the long haul flights, if you are a tall or large person,you might find the lie-flat beds a wee bit cramped (especially the foot well).

Food in Business Class is plentiful - wholesome/comfort food rather than fancy/fiddly.

 Baked salmon for dinner Singapore-Helsinki

Cameras in the tail and under aircraft make great viewing in A350-900 planes, particularly if you have a middle seat in the plane.

Huge breakfast - but there are other options if you want something light.

Suburban train links directly with airport. Central Station Helsinki is 28 minutes away.

Information screen on board Helsinki-Vantaa train

Finnair Lounges - there are two, one for flights within EU zone, the other for flights beyond

Lunch HEL-LHR

Love the slippers (Large size too) provided on Airbus 350-900

Tallinn Airport, Estonia Best little airport in Europe?

Tallinn Airport was a pleasant surprise.  Can you name another domestic and international airport that is 3 km from the centre of a capital city? Pay 2 euros to travel on a modern tram that takes you from the CBD right to the terminal door.

The airport bag security area is smoothly run; thanks to a nifty system where carry-on luggage/laptops/coats, etc. are placed in trays that are a magically returned (by underground conveyor system) to the front of the queue for next passenger.

Many terminal gates are sponsored by a particular company. One gate has comfy sofas, book shelves, armchairs as it is sponsored by a book store. Another gate has gym equipment and machines as it is sponsored by a fitness company. You are never bored or idle while waiting for your flight. Fast free wifi also.

Imagine a mini-Changi. 

Gate 1 - a relaxing library

Tram link, direct to terminal

"Airport" (1970) From the video vault

This is a real guilty pleasure movie. Part inspiration for the 1980 spoof "Airplane!", this cheesy disaster movie is a fun way to waste two hours.

The good stuff

• The musical score by Alfred Newman* is a standout. This was his final work. He composed sublime film music (e.g. "How Green was my Valley", "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", "How the West was Won"). An amazing body of work (40 years).
• Universal's glamour-producer Ross Hunter makes the film look lush: Edith Head costumes, location filming, "Pillow Talk" inspired split screens.
• Jean Seberg (despite her real life traumas) looks amazing. 
• Dean Martin (channelling Matt Helm) as the pilot.
• cigar-chomping George Kennedy steals ever scene.
• Maureen Stapleton, playing the mad-bomber's wife, should have received best supporting actress, rather than Helen Hayes (annoying stowaway-granny).

* An incredible musical family. Sons,  David and Thomas, are prolific movie composers of this generation. Nephew is Randy Newman.

The cheapest transport in Cairns - Sunbus to Palm Cove

Background: My Australian family visits Queensland each year.

Palm Cove is closer to Cairns than the over-rated Port Douglas, with lots more charm.

Leaving from Lake Street (CBD), you can catch a 110/111 bus to Palm Cove (26 km) for $5.50 for one adult, one way ($2.70 Seniors/Concession).
You might want to use the day pass option, so you can hop on and off the bus, tour all the Northern Beaches, Cairns Zoo, Botanical Gardens/rainforest walks, shop at Smithfield Shopping Mall on the way to Northern Beaches (Palm Cove,Clifton Beach, Trinity Beach, Kewarra Beach, Yorkey's Knob).

Punctual service, friendly drivers, download timetable: Sunbus.com.au website.

If arriving at the airport (6km from CBD) and there is at least 2 of you, I'd grab a taxi to Cairns. Only 10 minutes, taxi fare $20-$30.

Cairns Botanical Gardens/Red Arrow Track

What A$10 can buy you in Bali... Kuta Currency

A$10 in Kuta gets you....

a dinner for 2 (see below)  or

4 large Bintang beers  or

a full body massage for one hour for you and a friend  or

a metered taxi (e.g. from Hard Rock Hotel) to the airport (including generous tip)

Notes

• Beer - Bintang, Bali Hai, Anchor is roughly the same price whether you buy it at Matahari Supermarket, convenience stores or at cheap restaurants/warung
• 2 large Bintang = 1 body massage for 1 hour in Kuta = 50 000 rupiah
• 4 main meals at Gong Corner, a popular cafe off Poppies Lane 1 (e.g. Cap Cay, Nasi Goreng, Gado Gado, Satay + 1 large beer + 1 banana juice + 15% tip = 100 000 rupiah
• 100 000 rupiah = 2 body massages for 1 hour
• Australian currency conversion (March 2014) roughly drop 4 zeroes to get rupiah                  e.g. 10 000 IDR = $1

The cheapest way to get from Sydney Airport to the CBD

If you are arriving at Domestic Terminal 2 or 3, take the 400 bus (outside Terminal 3) to Mascot Station (the next but cheaper underground station) $2.30 Adult fare. It's the first stop after the bus turns right off Bourke Street. You can buy your ticket from the driver but have the correct money. Or PrePay, buy tickets at shops displaying PrePay signs.
The 400 bus stops at International Terminal (T1) before T3.
At Mascot Station the fare is $3.80 (as of February 2014) to St James (Hyde Park) or Circular Quay (Sydney Harbour).
If you take the train from Domestic underground station (under the terminal) it will cost $16.40 Adult one way.
International Terminal (Airport Link) costs $17.20 for same destination (but if you are jetlagged or you are travelling with 2+ people), I'd taxi it or take that train from International underground station (if travelling solo).
In summary: $15.90 train or $6.10 bus+train.
The same 400 bus continues onto Bondi Junction from Terminal 3. Bargain.

Why Melbourne is the best place to live in Australia

• The maritime climate means four definite seasons. My favourite season in Melbourne is Autumn, though.
• we dress better (not necessarily me), the cooler weather means, cooler clothes
• CBD streetscape - architecture, arcades, laneways, public spaces like Federation Square, wide streets, easy grid pattern to find your way around
• sense of humour (Melbourne is the home of Barry Humphries), Melbourne Comedy Festival
• live music scene
• trams 
• sporting venues and events - AFL Grand Final, Australian Open, The Melbourne Cup
• best theatre venues - grand old theatres have been restored, not demolished
• restaurants - multicultural mix
• Southbank Arts precinct
• parks and gardens
• fabulous post-Gold Rush Victorian architecture - Treasury Buidling, Parliament House, State Library, Exhibition Buildings
• edgy shopping precincts in inner suburbs - Fitzroy, South Yarra, Richmond, South Melbourne
• Melbourne International Airport (Tullamarine) is the best in the country. Domestic and international terminals are combined. Compare the chaos of connecting from international to domestic terminals in Sydney.
• Melbourne (like Brisbane) is a city where freeways actually go somewhere, not terminate in suburbia like Sydney's M2.

Guilty pleasures - Universal Studios films

This is an old family photo, but I got sick of citing Copyright

I am starting at 1960 (I was 4 years old, old enough to remember a movie, I reckon).

• 1960 Midnight Lace; Spartacus (chalk and cheese)
• 1961 Curse of the Werewolf (Hammer horror, with a young, but still creepy, Oliver Reed) 
• 1962 Cape Fear; That Touch of Mink (bleak black&white nail-biter meets glossy Eastmancolor fluff)
• 1963 40 Pounds of Trouble (as a kid I loved the Disneyland locations); The Birds (knockout phone booth scene)
• 1964 The Chalk Garden (had a crush on Hayley Mills); Charade (great Mancini score)
• 1965 The Warlord (Chuck Heston); I Saw What You Did (creepy little William Castle B flick)
• 1966 Gambit (lots of caper movies in the mid 60's), Blindfold (liked the bayou setting)
• 1967 Thoroughly Modern Millie (fun, but too long)
• 1968 Coogan's Bluff (Clint Eastwood, on the verge of superstardom)
• 1969 Colossus, The Forbin Project (taut sci-fi sleeper about a supercomputer - years before War Games)
• 1970 Airport (cheesy but compelling)
• 1971 The Andromeda Strain (great start, stunning production design, but God, it is so talky; Play Misty For Me (Clint's first time as director - has he ever directed a crap movie, even Hereafter?)
• 1972 Frenzy (Hitchcock back in London and a return to form - rape screen in dating agency office is a worry "....Lovely.....Lovely" - chills the bones)
• 1973 American Graffiti;  Day of the Jackal; The Sting (what a year)
• 1974 Earthquake (saw it in "Sensurround", basically big speakers under the seats so they seemed to shudder in seismic scenes.
• 1975 Jaws (of course)
• 1976 The Seven-Per-Cent-Solution (what a cast, love to see it again)
• 1977 The Last Remake of Beau Geste (very patchy, some good sight gags)
• 1978 National Lampoon's Animal House ("To-ga, To-ga, To-ga!")
• 1979 Dracula; The Seduction of Joe Tynan
• 1980 Coal Miner's Daughter; The Blues Brothers
• 1981 Ghost Story (the book's better, but look at the stars: Fred Astaire, Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Melvyn Douglas, John Houseman, Patricia Neal - like Cocoon does Horror)                                        On Golden Pond (another movie full of old fogeys - Fonda and Hepburn)
• 1982 The Thing (holds up very well compared with recent remake, mind-blowing Rob Bottin make-up)
• 1983 Scarface (boffo finale, but 170 minutes ????)
• 1984 Sixteen Candles (this film and Ferris Bueller's Day Off are John Hughes' best films - delightful throughout, great ensemble cast, great score - as you would expect in a John Hughes flick)
• 1985 The Breakfast Club (this is No3, Simple Minds music helps)