The excitement of Waisak day

Waisak day celebrations in Indonesia was held in the Borobudur Temple, Magelang province Central Java, on Saturday, May 25, 2013. Waisak day celebrations chose the location in the Borobudur Temple because of Borobudur is believed to be a holy place and as object tourism. As tradition has always done every year, the waisak was done by buddhist. Waisak ceremony begins at Mendut Temple to bring the fire blessings and holy water. Hundreds of monk and Buddhist walked from Mendut Temple, passing Pawon Temple and ends at the Great Temple of Borobudur with pray to God.

Waisak day is well attended by hundreds and even thousands of visitors to witness the rituals. Visitors who enthusiastic want to see the ritual from the beginning to the end of the waisak celebrations. The monk went straight to the main stage and continue to pray in front of statues of Gautama Buddha and the Great Temple of Borobudur. This ritual is a symbol of homage to the sublime nature as the sacred Buddhist and exemplified. The next procession is meditation. Meditation aims to increase self-awareness in achieving happiness. Many visitors also joined to meditate although most of them are not Buddhists.

At the time of waisak, a lot of Buddhists who are worshiped around the stupa looks less calm because of around them many visitors. Even more depressing visitors climb the stupa although around them there are monks who were praying. Announcement to not climb the stupa and officers are also deployed to supervise but many visitors who break the rules. Buddhists are forced to pray in a crowd of visitors with different behavior. Buddhists may already be aware that the holy and glorious temple is not only ownership but it is also to the people of Indonesia and the world so that they look very tolerant with this situation.

In the Waisak celebrations are rituals Pradaksina the ritual surrounding the Borobudur temple three times while carrying a candle. The ritual is followed by visitors who non Budhist. According to the visitor, it is a series of culture. At night, a thousand lanterns flown. For visitors who want to fly the lanterns, visitors can buy a lantern at a price of Rp.80.000 until Rp.100,000. According to the 1000 visitors flying lanterns are the most beautiful part of the whole ritual.

Traditional Clothing of Central Java

Traditional Clothing of West Java

Traditional Clothing of East Java

Traditional Clothing of Yogyakarta

Cornmeal Strawberry Cake

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 inch round cake pan. Sift together the cornmeal, flour, salt and baking powder, set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the yogurt, stirring after each addition. Finally, fold in the strawberries. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick or knife inserted, comes out clean. Cool cake in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes then invert onto a serving plate. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Strawberry-Cake-from-Scratch/

Tips to Keep Health Care Costs Down

Expenses on health care increase every year and thus many American families face financial hardships because these costs make up a sufficient percentage of the average household’s monthly budget. It is true that sometimes it may seem impossible to navigate the health care industry as it is immense. But you are not powerless. Follow the expert advice given below and keep your health care expenses manageable.

1. Make an agreement with health care providers. In case you don’t have insurance, think about making an agreement with your medical provider for a kind of discount in the sum that insurance would have requested them to write off.
2. Keep yourself informed. You are more likely to get better care if you are aware of your options. Besides, you may even save some money. Thus, do a simple research before receiving any additional medical services. Some expensive tests and exams may be medically unnecessary.
3. Pay full amount. Consider a “pay in full” discount offered by many providers. If you pay in full at the date of the service, providers save time and effort, therefore it can be in their interest to encourage up-front payments. If you find it difficult to make full payments from time to time, keep in mind that cash advance online can be very helpful when you need some extra cash.
4. Be aware of your benefits. If you have health insurance, review your explanation of benefits carefully once you get them. Sometimes insurance providers make mistakes, thus check information on deductibles, made payments or denied claims. Don’t be shy to call your company if you have any questions. Keep in mind that denied claims can cost you hundreds of dollars.
5. Be an inquisitive and active patient. You definitely know your body better than anybody else. Thus, when you visit your medical provider, be prepared with your concerns and questions. This way you will save much time and money because there will be fewer follow-up visits and besides you will be able to cut the potential for wrong diagnosis.
6. Consider free programs for prescription drugs. If it is troublesome for you to cover the cost of prescription drugs, investigate the programs offering free prescription drugs. Write a letter to the pharmaceutical company manufacturing your medications and ask whether they have any such programs you may qualify.
7. Take advantage of a flexible spending account, if your employer offers such option. A flexible spending account is a benefit that may be offered by employers to help their employees to save money on medical costs. With FSA you can deduct particular amount of pre-tax income for medical expenses every pay period. Thus, you will reduce the amount you pay in federal income taxes.
8. Shop around. When you are searching for medical services, call to different providers and ask for their fee schedules. Most of them are likely to provide you with the list of the offered procedures and their costs. Thus, you may compare the prices before making your final choice.
9. Take caution when considering saving schemes. Be wary of “Medical Discount Plans”. Some of these plans state that you will save up to 60% on medical costs if you choose their providers. But many such plans may be just out for your money. So, prior to signing up for a plan call to the providers of these plans and ask for their price quotes.
10. Think about switching providers. Bear in mind that all insurance plans are different and employers may offer various plans. Consider negotiating with insurers about the premiums while reassessing the medical needs of your family on an annual basis.

http://www.stepawayfromthemall.com/tips-to-keep-health-care-costs-down/

 Traditional music instrument especially for Java will continue to be preserved

The art of wayang (puppet) entertainment culture preservation

Cangget dance that will continue to exist on custom of Lampung

Wayang Lightening Hearts

On Saturday, May 11, 2013, there is a seminar organized that was held in Museum Education Indonesia (MPI) UNY. Theme of the seminar is " Wayang (puppet) as Media enlightenment of humanity". In the seminar was attended by Prof. Dr. Suminto A Suyuti, Professor of the State University of Yogyakarta (UNY) and it is attended by two speakers. They are Ir Yowono Sri Suwito MM, (cultural) and HM Shakirun (cultural actors) he is known as Cak Kirun (actor of comedy) from East Java. Besides the seminar was attended by approximately 200 participants of the seminar. In the seminar, Dr. Suminto said that the wayang could play the fuction as communicative. Through the wayang can be propagated by a variety of things in line with the capability and authority of the wayang as art.

In the seminar, Yuwono also explained that enlightenment is not just a wayang in the teachings of the play but also can pass the piece and puppets. Enlightenment teachings of the wayang contained in pathet 6, pathet 9, and pathet Manyura. Everyone in attendance looked calm in understanding and look at what has been described by Dr. Yowono and Suminto. One of the seminar participants also participated on the theme. He is an Alumnus of the Faculty of Engineering UGM say that the function wayang, initially as a tribute to the ancestors. But ultimately more focused into a spectacle. Even in this era of globalization is more traditional art and has led to the traditional pseudo art.

Similarly, the artist known as Kirun (actor of comedy) also explained his opinion with a humorous style. He said that the wayang is not going to become extinct. It is growing in accordance with the times. Wayang can actually support the people who intersect with wayang, ranging from people who have related with wayang such as musicians, waranggana, crafters, and others. According to one of the participants of the seminar, seminar which is theme Wayang (puppet) gave knowledge about the values of life are reflected in the Wayang (puppet) play. With a variety of opinions expressed by the two sources make the participants understand that the wayang is something that has good value for life.

The Ceremony of Midodareni in Central Java

       In each region, they have a ceremony organized by the respective customs. This time there is a traditional ceremony that was quite interesting and a bit complicated. It is a traditional ceremony of Midodareni in Central Java. Some of you surely know the ceremony. The ceremony was held before the marriage ceremony. Midodareni is done at night, it aims to make the bride's face looks like an angel and expected to live in harmony and peace as it navigates a household. Before the show Midodareni implemented, the ceremony begins with the ritual cleansing or bath according to the custom.

In the spray ceremony (take a bath in the special place and it is showed by others)  and it used a decorated actor as good as possible and spray are the ones that start with the parents and followed by other elders. And than the bride are asked to wash their face with water in a jug ​​that was brought by her mother, and then the jug is slammed. This means that virginity of the bride will soon lost or the periode of virginity will be end as the jug.

Then the bride was carried by her father to change the clothes. After changing clothes, her hair will be cut. It is taken by her parents. And then the hair that has been cut is implanted in front of the house. Then the next ceremony is Cendol Dawet (Ice which contains grass jelly). The more interesting thing that a mother of the bride sell the dawet, and to buy the dawet is not money but the fragments jug who has been solved before that use to buy the dawet. After that, it was an event called midodareni ceremony. This ceremony was done on the night. The bride was made up and they are asked to stay up until ± 12.00 p.m o’clock.  It is aim to get revelation of God and their face can look like the angel. Seeing the complexity of a ceremony, but the ceremony reflects a culture that continue to be preserved.

Reference: http://users.skynet.be/dvran/E_midodareni.htm

The Story of An Hour ( by Kate Chopin )

Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death.

It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing. Her husband's friend Richards was there, too, near her. It was he who had been in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster was received, with Brently Mallard's name leading the list of "killed." He had only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a second telegram, and had hastened to forestall any less careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message.

She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her.

There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.

She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which someone was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves.

There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window.

She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams.

She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength. But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought.

There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air.

Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will--as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been. When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under the breath: "free, free, free!" The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.

She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her. A clear and exalted perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial. She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.

There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination.

And yet she had loved him--sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!

"Free! Body and soul free!" she kept whispering.

Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhole, imploring for admission. "Louise, open the door! I beg; open the door--you will make yourself ill. What are you doing, Louise? For heaven's sake open the door."

"Go away. I am not making myself ill." No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window.

Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long.

She arose at length and opened the door to her sister's importunities. There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory. She clasped her sister's waist, and together they descended the stairs. Richards stood waiting for them at the bottom.

Someone was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of the accident, and did not even know there had been one. He stood amazed at Josephine's piercing cry; at Richards' quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife.

When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease--of the joy that kills.

The Story of An Hour was featured as The Short Story of the Day on Wed, Dec 12, 201

http://www.americanliterature.com/author/kate-chopin/short-story/the-story-of-an-hour

The Horse and the Chicken

A horse and a chicken are playing in a meadow. The horse falls into a mud hole and is sinking. He calls to the chicken to go and get the farmer to help pull him out to safety. The chicken runs to the farm but the farmer can't be found. So he drives the farmer's BMW back to the mud hole and ties some rope around the bumper. He then throws the other end of the rope to his friend, the horse, and drives the car forward saving him from sinking!

A few days later, the chicken and horse were playing in the meadow again and the chicken fell into the mud hole. The chicken yelled to the horse to go and get some help from the farmer. The horse said, "I think I can stand over the hole!" So he stretched over the width of the hole and said, "Grab for my penis and pull yourself up." And the chicken did and pulled himself to safety.

Moral of the Story: If you're hung like a horse, you don't need a BMW to pick up chicks.

http://www.jokesnjokes.net/funny.jokes.amusing.humor.laughs/General/moralstory001.htm

Mirror (by Sylvia Plath)

I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.

Whatever I see I swallow immediately

Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.

I am not cruel, only truthful ‚

The eye of a little god, four-cornered.

Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.

It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long

I think it is part of my heart. But it flickers.

Faces and darkness separate us over and over.

Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me,

Searching my reaches for what she really is.

Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.

I see her back, and reflect it faithfully.

She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.

I am important to her. She comes and goes.

Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.

In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman

Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.

Ngaben The Cremation Ceremony in Bali

Ngaben is one of Hindu’s great ceremony in Bali where the corpse is burnt, accompanied by holly songs and offerings. Hindu’s believe that ngaben will return the soul of a dead person to their abode in heaven or send the dead through a transition to his next life. Ngaben is also a form of a respect to their parents by releasing the soul from worldly attachment. Families that conduct ngaben ceremony generally try not to cry at the grave yard since they believe that tears would only incommode the deceased journey to their eternal abode.

 How to counduct a Ngaben?

Few days before the climax ceremony, the family would consult the “dewasa” (good day) to a priest to determine the proper day to conduct this ceremony. The process began by built a stage as a place for nyiramin (bathing the corpse), made a lembu (a buffalo shaped sarcophagus where the corpse will be put into and burnt) and wadah (temple structure made of paper, bamboo and light wood). This lembu will be carried to the village grave yard in a procession.

Before climax ceremony, all family members will give their last respect and begun to pray in order the deceased will somehow get a better place in heaven. Afterward the corpse will be put into wadah and carried to graveyard, followed by flock of people and gamelan (Balinese traditional music) and “kidung suci” (holy mantra). In front of the wadah, there will be placed a long piece of  kasa (white cloth) heading the ways of the deceased soul to reach their eternal abode.

Ever past T-junction or crossroad, wadah will be turned clockwise three times in order the soul will not return to his or her home. Arrive at the graveyard, the corpse then will transferred to lembu, followed by mantra chanting by the priest and the lembu will be burnt and it ash carried to sea or river. When all ceremony had been completed, the deceased considered as ancestor, who believed will reincarnate into their family. 

Thank you for spending your valuable time to read my story. You can share this story with your family, friends and your clients if you wish.

Denpasar-BALI, 2 March 2009

http://floressatours.com/articles/2009/03/03/cremation-in-bali/

Batik Keris (Elegant With Traditional Style)

Hello CC Lovers...... You know batik, don’t you? Batik is one of cultural heritage which continue to be preserved in Indonesia. This modern era, you don’t worry about the traditional classified material such as batik. Batik has follow this modern era.  The models interest and it is not out of date. What is the good quality of batik? Batik consists of three parts, that is Batik Tulis, Batik Printing, Batik Cap, but don’t wrong to choose. Batik Tulis is the good quality than others. Batik Tulis is more unique, luxury, not easy to fade and so on.

In Island of Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Bali, Lombok and others has created their own batik. So wherever you go you can get the batik. In indonesia has also many brands but the good brand of batik is Batik Keris. The company of Batik Keris has also spread in Indonesia. The quality of Batik Keris is very interested in a lot of people. Most of them have choose Batik Keris. Batik Keris has typical color and the motif of Batik Keris is more beautiful. Batik tulis especialy Batik Keris has its own charm and Batik Keris is more smooth.

If you visit Jogyakarta, Jakarta, Sumatra, Bali, You can get information about Batik such as the company of Batik Keris, price of Batik Keris. Batik Keris is a high quality product. There are two motifs of Batik Keris. It is classic motif and modern motif . The Batik Keris created it because the customers are from many ages such as adult, adolescent, and children.

Beside that, Batik Keris provide fabrics and materials that have become clothing. The price of Batik keris is affordable between Rp 70.000 until Millions rupiah with motifs which follow of times and it has many types of the form. There is a mix between classic and modern style on Batik Keris. That's what makes the quality of Batik Keris looks beautiful and luxurious. with the Batik Keris, you will look fashionable and elegant with traditional style. So COMPLETE YOUR STYLE WITH BATIK KERIS J

Beautiful Culture of Yogyakarta

Indonesia has 34 provices. Each province has their own culture. The culture encompass all aspects of the area, such as dance, costume, musical intstrument, ceremony, food, and the others. Now I will tell you about culture of Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta is a province consists of five regencies. They are Gunung Kidul, Bantul, Kulon Progo, Sleman, and Yogyakarta city. Yogyakarta has also many tourism objects. Many people have visited Yogyakarta. They interested in Yogyakarta tourism objects. They come from others area even many foreign have visited Yogyakarta. Beside tourism objects, the culture as the most populer in Yogyakarta is not strange for us. Yogyakarta still follows tradition of hereditary, such as custom of ceremony. There is a place which is used to museum and event in Yogyakarta. That is Sultan Palace.

There are kinds of things which contains elements of culture. It is musical instrument, costume, art of batik and others. There are kinds of musical instrument over there. For example Kendang, Kenong, gong, gender, demong, saron, ketok, gambang, slentem, siter and rebab. Acording to organizer of the sultan palace, the musical instrument was used when there is events at that time and now the musical instrument has be come a preservation of culture, but the society still used musical instrument in a event, such as custom of ceremony.