Surprisingly peaceful.

Only for a short while but that offer was too good to miss..  and not only do we have quite a few projects to complete, it's promising to be an historic couple of weeks as the G20 meeting is due to finalise with a meeting of the top 20 heads of state here in Bali. At the time of writing Mr Putin is hinting he might not attend..  Jokowi the rock-star president of Indonesia has said the unique peaceful culture of Bali could form a backdrop for successful peace talks.. Seems unlikely but the power of positive thinking is amazing. 

Actually when things are too cheap there is often a reason.. and my arrival here was anything but smooth. I flew with Korean Airways.. Manchester to Amsterdam, then to Seoul with a connection to Denpasar, Bali. On closer inspection the connection had only a time of 55 minutes.. 

It's a bit strange how you can leave the UK without passing border control - you can't leave the EU without being checked in and out.. every Asian country checks you in and out.. Now, from the UK you arrive in an Amsterdam Schiphol airport terminal that is already outside the EU zone, they don't care, no need to check you at all. And no security checks either. In fact the only security check I had was in Manchester.. all the way to Asia. 

I'm waiting to board the flight to Seoul and an announcement is made that due to technical issues boarding will be delayed one hour, "Thank you for your understanding".. Oh I thought - that's it.. connection missed.. Then after about five minutes... "We'd like to invite business travellers and people traveling with children to board the aircraft".. that's strange I thought.. Then they ask me if they can see my luggage ticket.. this Korean guy is photo'ing with his phone.. what's the problem I ask.. we can't actually track your luggage.. but don't worry he tells me, thank you for your understanding.

On the plane a series of announcements.. The plane will be delayed..

Due to a paperwork issue

Waiting for a few late passengers..

The captain has requested a safety check (slightly alarming)

There is a problem with the air conditioning, we assure you it will be cooler once we are airborne. I realise I'm sweating.

after each announcement.. "Thank you for your understanding".

I'm beginning to worry.. By the time we leave to a K-Pop version of the safety routine - we are almost two hours late. 

The staff all Korean are delightful behind their masks, they do a kind of bowing of the head in supplication on every interaction. 

It's 11 hours and I console myself with the thought that they might catch up the time on the way.. 

I switch on the flight map tracker to see if there is any hope - the route passes over Kiev towards Moscow... this can't be right..  

We arrive in Seoul airport flying alarmingly low from the sea over clumps of rocky islands as the sun is setting.. I have just been reading about North Korean missile tests over the South Korean sea. 

The horrible news of the Halloween crush with awful loss of life in Seoul city centre has cast a dark depressing shadow, this all ends up feeling fatalistic.

I'm thinking I'm going to me stuck in Seoul with no entry visa, no luggage and no escape. for sure all the seats on to Bali are sold out because of the G20.

But as I embark the aircraft a nice Korean ground staff girl is holding a sign with my name and bowing slightly.. 

"I'm sorry you flight has already left.. thank you for understanding.. here is a ticket to Singapore it is boarding now so you have to run, and here is a connection to Bali on Singapore Airways"

The connection time in Singapore was 6 hours.. but the flight to Singapore was in first class - spectacularly nice. The flight to Bali short and nice. Things were looking up.. I had expected huge queues in Denpasar airport, but in fact we was the first flight to land and I was off the plane first.. No queuing at all - delightful helpful passport control.. and a big surprise.. my luggage appeared like magic one of the first bags.

Ringo and Bondan waiting outside - hugs, smiles and a big welcome. 

I left on Tuesday morning from AW Sheffield and arrived in Bali Thursday morning.. looking a little bit bedraggled  and worse for wear. 

I'm sorry if this newsletter is a bit long.. Thank you for your understanding ...

Meanwhile in the UK a container arrived with some new items from China.

I went to the warehouse to check.. the Crystal Infused water bottles have arrived. They landed in our Slovakia warehouse a few weeks ago and created a storm.. almost sold out in days. 

Coco our China agent (and my wife) has done an amazing job.. checking every producer she could find, working with Bryant head of buying in the UK and Sandra our UK designer has done a fantastic job on the packaging. AW team work at it's best. Well done team.. I think we have the best quality and value on the market. See below..

Have a safe and fun Bonfire night weekend.

More news next week.