dannytalk ™ A Danny Ng Blog http://www.dannytalk.com Danny Ng blogs about Web Development, Christianity, Guitars and Life in General Sun, 04 Jan 2009 15:55:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 en hourly 1 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/2184577http://www.feedburner.com Air Asia to Malaysia is fail http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/dannytalk/~3/502604319/ http://www.dannytalk.com/2009/01/05/air-asia-to-malaysia-is-fail/#comments Sun, 04 Jan 2009 15:55:59 +0000 danny http://www.dannytalk.com/?p=300 I’m finally in Malaysia on holidays for about 3 weeks. However, the journey here wasn’t very pleasant though.

The night before my flight, I received an sms from Air Asia, the carrier I was flying with, stating that my flight was delayed by 8 hours due to aircraft technical issues.

Great. Flight delayed by 8 hours, and I have a flight from Sydney to Melbourne at 7.15am with the new take off time at 8.50pm now. What on earth am I going to do for like 11 hours in Melbourne?

I was contemplating on meeting up with people in Melbourne but unfortunately I ran out of phone credit and also I couldn’t be half-arsed going out to the city lugging my big luggage around.

So yes, I actually spent 11 hours in Melbourne Tullamarine terminal, sitting around wondering what on earth should I do to kill time. I started by going to the nearest news agent to read some magazines. Some 8 magazines later, I discovered my neck was starting to hurt so I gave that up.

I then decided perhaps I should buy a book to read. Unfortunately, the news agent didn’t have the book I wanted so I gave that up too. So I had lunch and took really slow bites, extending the time I needed to chow down a chicken parmigiana sandwich.

Then I walked around to all the shops, looking at every single item on sale, reading product descriptions and played around with electronic gadgets. After that, I went to get coffee at Hudsons which tasted a bit funny and took my time between sips.

Crap. 3 hours have passed. I still have 8 more to go. Repeat from step 1. Misery.

Come boarding time at 8.30pm, I then discovered that Air Asia’s plane was late and thus, the flight was delayed by another hour. OH MY GOODNESS! You must understand that I’ve been awake since 5am to hop onto my flight to Melbourne.

Air Asia’s plane is pretty budget. Very crammed seats which does not decline backwards. Whenever I tried to watch videos or listen to their music, the screen kept prompting me to enter my credit card. They wouldn’t even upgrade my seat to a larger one, but this Malay guy did get his seat upgraded with a big smile from the air steward.

I would’ve thought that after all the issues, they would’ve given everyone free movies/tvs to watch. I guess not. Truly budget airline. I wonder whether the oxygen masks are free if they come down due to the lack of oxygen. Perhaps it’ll prompt you for your credit card before allowing oxygen to flow through.

I then spent about a couple of hours chit chatting with an Aussie girl in front of me and an Aussie guy across the aisle from me. It’s interesting to note how their travel plans are to places like Bali, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand but none of them intended on visiting Malaysia.

Then I spent the next 5-6 hours tossing and turning trying to get some rest where I could with the super uncomfortable seats. Also, lucky I met a nice lady sitting on the same row as me next to the windows. Turns out that she lives near me and offered to take me back to my place.

How awesome is that? I didn’t have to spend like RM70 on a taxi. So yes, when I finally arrived back at my place it was like 5.30am. Once I got back, we immediately went to Taman Megah to grab some dim sum.

Ahhh…cheap and nice food in your tummy. What a treat. Ate there till 7.30am and went to bed at 8am local time. That meant that I was awake for like almost 30 hours.

I think unless Air Asia flies from Sydney, I’ll just fly with Jetstar to Singapore and catch a local flight to KL. Even then, that would require much consideration. No way am I going to fly Air Asia from Melbourne again.

With the super crammed seats, I wouldn’t recommend getting on flights more than 4 hours. It is simply outrageous how the seats don’t decline but slide outwards a little bit, giving you like a 10 degree decline. Try getting sleep with that.

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]]> http://www.dannytalk.com/2009/01/05/air-asia-to-malaysia-is-fail/feed/ http://www.dannytalk.com/2009/01/05/air-asia-to-malaysia-is-fail/ Faith Hill - A Baby Changes Everything http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/dannytalk/~3/500219177/ http://www.dannytalk.com/2009/01/02/faith-hill-a-baby-changes-everything/#comments Thu, 01 Jan 2009 14:16:13 +0000 danny http://www.dannytalk.com/?p=297

A song by Faith Hill about the birth of Jesus, the strife and troubles that Mary & Joseph had to go through.

Absolutely beautiful. I especially love it at 3.35 when she sings hallelujah!

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]]> http://www.dannytalk.com/2009/01/02/faith-hill-a-baby-changes-everything/feed/ http://www.dannytalk.com/2009/01/02/faith-hill-a-baby-changes-everything/ The Day The Earth Stood Still Review http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/dannytalk/~3/499022096/ http://www.dannytalk.com/2008/12/31/the-day-the-earth-stood-still-review/#comments Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:23:48 +0000 danny http://www.dannytalk.com/?p=292 Last night I went to watch the movie “The Day The Earth Stood Still”, starring Keanu Reaves.

I’ve heard people mentioning about it but I’ve never actually taken the effort to read more about it prior to watching the movie. So you can say that when I was in the cinemas, I was clueless on what I was up for.

The story begins with a random ice climber (Keanu Reaves)  stumbling upon an alien spherical object which the object obtains a DNA sample of him. You probably won’t realise this until later on in the movie. It’s quite random and not really well explained.

Then moving forward to the present time, a similar spherical object but probably 100x larger accelerates as a speed of 3×107 ms-1 from outer spaces heading towards earth. As the Americans prepare for an imminent collision, the object suddenly slows down and lands on a park.

An alien then reveals itself publicly and the US military shoots in with the justification, “Shoot first, find out later”. The alien was then treated for the gunshot wound but then later discovered that the alien was actually wearing some high tech armor suit with a human inside of it.

Well, the alien takes in the form of a human, with the random ice climber’s DNA sample. And of course, the US military tries to defend itself by trying to figure out what it’s motives and intentions are and are also willing to use force if necessary.

It only makes sense when Klaatu, the alien, reveals it’s purpose on earth: to save earth from destruction from humans. The interesting thing about this movie is that there are biblical principals in it.

Klaatu notices how the human race is violent, destructive and selfish in nature and how the earth is dying as a cause of that. It intends to gather as many life samples as it can before eradicating the humans from the face of the earth and start afresh.

This is similar to the story of Noah’s Ark on how God was displeased with mankind on how sinful they are and was planning to wipe them all out except for Noah, his family and the animals, and start anew. (Genesis 5-9:17)

Throughout the movie, Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelley), a microbiologist professor, helps Klaatu by driving him around and also convincing it that while humans have the sinful, destructive and violent aspects, there are also the aspects of love and kindness.

Klaatu’s original plan was to negotiate with the leaders of the world (United Nations) but due to the American’s hostility, Klaatu decided on destroying mankind.

However, Klaatu also discovers the loving and kind nature of mankind through the relationship between Helen and her step son. Faced with the brink of destruction, humans are able to change.

This once again ties in with how God sometimes punishes man due to their sinful nature and urges them to turn away from sin and to go back to God. When faced with a grim situation, the sinful man turns and runs back to God’s open arms. The Old Testament of the Bible is filled with stories like this.

In the end, Klaatu decides not to eradicate mankind but to give them another chance and leaves Earth. That’s how the movie ends. Yes, pretty stupid ending but I could see how the storyline was ok.

I probably wouldn’t recommend paying money to watch this movie as I always hate stupid endings. But I liked the biblical principles behind it though.

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]]> http://www.dannytalk.com/2008/12/31/the-day-the-earth-stood-still-review/feed/ http://www.dannytalk.com/2008/12/31/the-day-the-earth-stood-still-review/ Merry Christmas Everyone! http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/dannytalk/~3/494004446/ http://www.dannytalk.com/2008/12/24/merry-christmas-everyone/#comments Wed, 24 Dec 2008 12:24:10 +0000 danny http://www.dannytalk.com/2008/12/24/merry-christmas-everyone/ I’d just like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

May everyone be reminded of the day that salvation came into our lives and tore down the barriers between man and God.

And no, it’s really not about Santa Clause, shopping and getting pissed hehe. Although the spirit of giving is indeed biblical.

Argh, 7.30am start tomorrow. Playing for church. Wish me luck in waking up!

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]]> http://www.dannytalk.com/2008/12/24/merry-christmas-everyone/feed/ http://www.dannytalk.com/2008/12/24/merry-christmas-everyone/ Child Like Faith http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/dannytalk/~3/486548999/ http://www.dannytalk.com/2008/12/16/child-like-faith/#comments Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:09:13 +0000 danny http://www.dannytalk.com/?p=285 I was jogging along the sandy shore near where I live this evening, enjoying the blend of scarlet and indigo sunset. The waves gently lapping the shoreline and the wind against my face, I felt my burden lightened and at peace with each stride succeeding the other.

As I was doing my dips and pull ups at a local playground, there was a family: mother, grandmother and two children. There were rib like bars where kids could happily climb up to the platform to then slide down the parallel bars, onto the bark laden floor.

There was this child, probably no older than 3 years old, wanting to climb the rib like bars. So the grandmother gently lifted him to the first bar, giving him just enough support for him to still reach out to the next bar with his feet, making sure that he doesn’t fall at the same time as the distance between each bar was probably near a full stride for the toddler.

I was then reminded of how Jesus’ disciples asked who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven and Jesus replies by saying that unless we have child like faith, we will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, those who humble themselves like a child is the greatest (Matthew 18:1-4).

This observation in the playground reminded and taught me a few things.

  1. God wants you to go through life step by step.

    No shortcuts as how the grandmother insists that the child starts from the first bar and not onto the platform immediately.

    It reminds me on how people (myself included) always want the easy way out without journeying through it.We want the end and not the means. If we are to share the glory of Christ, we too are to share Christ’s suffering (Roman 8:17-18).

  2. God wants you to do the work and not everything be done for you.

    Like how the grandmother will not move the child to the next bar until the child stretches out his legs and has a foothold onto the next bar.

  3. God is always there for you, to uphold you making sure that no harm comes upon you.

    There were times when the child lost his footing and was about to fall but the caring hands of his grandmother was always there to catch him. I’m not saying that if we place our trust and hope to God, our lives will always be smooth sailing. In fact, we are promised persecution as we continue to live our lives for Christ’s sake (Matthew 5:11-12).

    Just like the slight fall that the persecution we endure is compared to the glorious reward we have in Christ. How many times we have stressed and worried ourselves to death over things that when we look back at it now, seems insignificant?

I was amazed at the child’s faith in his grandmother to always uphold and keep him safe. Despite the challenges in front of him that he had to face, his focus was on the prize: getting onto the platform. He did not look behind, to the side and to the obstacles before him. He simply wanted to get onto the platform and trusted his grandmother to get him there (Phillipians 3:12-14).

So I pray that I trust God not through words only but through my actions (James 2:18). That the troubles and difficulties in my life, I face with perseverance to refine my character (James 1:12), to shape and mold me into the man God wants me to be.  That I would keep my eyes on the prize, pressing and straining towards it, and forgetting what is behind me.

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]]> http://www.dannytalk.com/2008/12/16/child-like-faith/feed/ http://www.dannytalk.com/2008/12/16/child-like-faith/ Oil prices continue to spiral downwards http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/dannytalk/~3/485470058/ http://www.dannytalk.com/2008/12/15/oil-prices-continue-to-spiral-downwards/#comments Mon, 15 Dec 2008 11:23:19 +0000 danny http://www.dannytalk.com/?p=282 For some reason I’m quite intrigued by the oil prices and how the economy reacts to it.

From my previous posts on oil price fluctuations, you can see that it was during mid July this year that prices peaked at US$147.50 per barrel. The current oil prices are below US$50 per barrel now, at US$48.77 per barrel.

That’s a great whopping one third drop in price in just under 6 months. I was filling up my car with petrol yesterday and I’m amazed to see the dollar meter going up at a much slower pace.

Heck, I’m even astounded that I got more liters than the dollars I’m paying for. I’ve noticed in Sydney, oil prices have cracked below the A$1 per liter mark. I think the last time we saw this was a few years ago.

It is speculated that the demand for oil will continue to fall as the economy is still crashing with unemployment rates rising and spend decreasing due to confidence levels.

Let’s hope the Arabs (OPEC) don’t cut production too much to the point that oil prices rise again despite the failing economy. Their black gold glory have come to an end.

For now anyways.

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]]> http://www.dannytalk.com/2008/12/15/oil-prices-continue-to-spiral-downwards/feed/ http://www.dannytalk.com/2008/12/15/oil-prices-continue-to-spiral-downwards/ You Deserve by Hillsong Guitar Tabs http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/dannytalk/~3/469283248/ http://www.dannytalk.com/2008/11/29/you-deserve-by-hillsong-guitar-tab/#comments Sat, 29 Nov 2008 11:48:42 +0000 danny http://www.dannytalk.com/?p=276 Well since I’m playing this song and practicing for it, I thought I might as well blog on it just in case I forget in the future or if someone else wants to know how to play the lead guitar part.

This tab is based on Hillsong’s youtube video played by Nigel, Hillsong’s lead guitarist. Listen to the video for beat and timing. The original key is in Ab.

Intro

E|---------------------------
B|-9---11---13---11------14--
G|---------------------------
D|---------------------------
A|---------------------------
E|---------------------------

Verse

E|---------------------------
B|-9--------------------14--
G|---------------------------
D|---------------------------
A|---------------------------
E|---------------------------

Pre-Chorus
This part sounds mad. Took me a while to figure it out just from watching the video over and over again.

E|-----8-4---6-4---3-4---4------
B|-4-6-----6-----/4----6---6-4--
G|-------------------------------
D|-------------------------------
A|-------------------------------
E|-------------------------------

Pre-Chorus Ending

E|-4-4-4--6-6-6--8-8-8-----11-11-11--
B|-6-6-6--8-8-8--9-9-9-----13-13-13--
G|-6-6-6--8-8-8--10-10-10--13-13-13--
D|-----------------------------------
A|-----------------------------------
E|-----------------------------------

Bridge Intro

E|-11------------------------
B|---------------------------
G|---------------------------
D|---------------------------
A|---------------------------
E|---------------------------

Bridge Main

E|-8-------9---6-------------
B|---------------------------
G|---------------------------
D|---------------------------
A|---------------------------
E|---------------------------

Bridge Outro

E|-9--8--4--6----------------
B|---------------------------
G|---------------------------
D|---------------------------
A|---------------------------
E|---------------------------

Let me know if there’s anything wrong with it. Hope this helps.

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]]> http://www.dannytalk.com/2008/11/29/you-deserve-by-hillsong-guitar-tab/feed/ http://www.dannytalk.com/2008/11/29/you-deserve-by-hillsong-guitar-tab/ Facebook Notification Settings Failure? http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/dannytalk/~3/467299146/ http://www.dannytalk.com/2008/11/27/facebook-notification-settings-failure/#comments Thu, 27 Nov 2008 13:13:02 +0000 danny http://www.dannytalk.com/?p=274

Unfortunately, the settings that control which email notifications get sent to you were lost. We’re sorry for the inconvenience.

To reset your email notification settings, go to:

http://www.facebook.com/editaccount.php?notifications

Thanks,
The Facebook Team

Did anyone else get this? How annoying. They reset all my notification settings and now I’m spammed with Facebook notifications in my email. Grr! Facebook fail.

And this also happened just after Steph & Eric’s wedding which you can imagine all the photos being uploaded and comments being said. Facebook spam for the win.

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]]> http://www.dannytalk.com/2008/11/27/facebook-notification-settings-failure/feed/ http://www.dannytalk.com/2008/11/27/facebook-notification-settings-failure/ I have succumbed to the Wrath of the Lich King! http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/dannytalk/~3/461718427/ http://www.dannytalk.com/2008/11/22/i-have-succumbed-to-the-wrath-of-the-lich-king/#comments Sat, 22 Nov 2008 10:29:36 +0000 danny http://www.dannytalk.com/?p=271

Yes, I have finally started playing WoW again after quitting for 5 months upon discovery that Peter & Jlo is playing it together. Thus, I have created a Nightelf Druid on Proudmoore to join their quest for supremacy in Northrend.

A bit disappointed that warlocks aren’t as powerful anymore, so I’m kind of lazy to level my main which is a warlock on Frostmourne.

Starting from level 1 again sucks. Boy…a lot of walking, no mount and doing quests and quests can get a bit mind numbing. Oh well…the saga continues…

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]]> http://www.dannytalk.com/2008/11/22/i-have-succumbed-to-the-wrath-of-the-lich-king/feed/ http://www.dannytalk.com/2008/11/22/i-have-succumbed-to-the-wrath-of-the-lich-king/ Dumb spammer of the year http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/dannytalk/~3/455906090/ http://www.dannytalk.com/2008/11/17/dumb-spammer-of-the-year/#comments Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:01:40 +0000 danny http://www.dannytalk.com/?p=268

to: Admin - If You want to delete your site from my spam list, please sent url of your domain to my emai: stop.spam.today@gmail.com And I will remove your site from my base within 24 hours
webmastegz

I usually get pretty funny spam emails at work or spam comments caught by Wordpress’ Akismet, but I must say this is the dumbest spam I’ve ever seen from a spammer.

Yeah sure mate, I’ll just email you to unsubscribe from your spam mailing list. Mmm mmmmm…spam.

Funny how majority of spam involves mens insecurity about their penis sizes. These include viagra, pharmaceutical drugs, penis enlargement, random horny girls who want your photos and get rich schemes.

I guess in some ways, spam is a reflection of what society places priority on. There’s some truth to that.

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