Malang, which is noted as one of the most fascinating town in east java lies in 90 km away to the south of the capital province, Surabaya. It considerably becomes one of clean and cool cities in east java. It is stretching out from 112′ 17′ 10,90″ to 112 57′ 0,00 East Longitude and ranging from 744′55, 11 to 8 26′ 35,45 South Latitude. Malang has border of Blitar and Kediri Regencies on the west; Jombang, Mojokerto and Pasuruan Regencies on the north; Probolinggo and Lumajang Regencies on the east and Indonesia Ocean on the south.

Without any doubt, Malang has distinctively been marvelous since a long time ago. Historical remnants scattered around Malang showing that it had played many important roles.

Malang is now officially divided into three administrative districts namely Malang Regency, Malang City and Batu City. Each of the three area has its own specialty of tourism attractions that you might stay in minimally 3 days to enjoy them.

The Special Region of Yogyakarta is the smallest province of Indonesia (excluding Jakarta). It is located on the island of Java. Yogyakarta is the only province in Indonesia that is still governed by that area's precolonial monarchy; The Sultan of Yogyakarta serves as the elected governor of the province. In English it is pronounced which derives from its Dutch spelling Jogjakarta. It is also referred to more casually as Jogja.


Geography

Yogyakarta is located in south-central Java. It is surrounded by the province of Central Java (Jawa Tengah) and the Indian Ocean in the south. The population of DIY in 2003 was approximately 3,000,000. The province of Yogyakarta has a total area of 3,185.80 km2. Yogyakarta has the second-smallest area of the provinces in Indonesia, after the Jakarta Capital Region. However it has, along with adjacent areas in Central Java, some of the highest population densities of Java.
Administrative divisions
Yogyakarta province is subdivided into four regencies (kabupaten) and one city (kota):
• Bantul Regency (506.86 km2)
• Gunung Kidul Regency (1,485.36 km2)
• Kulon Progo Regency (586.27 km2)
• Sleman Regency (574.82 km2)
• Yogyakarta City (32.5 km2)
Yogyakarta city
Located within the Yogyakarta province, Yogyakarta city is known as a center of classical Javanese fine art and culture such as batik, ballet, drama, music, poetry and puppet shows. It is also famous as a center for Indonesian higher education. At Yogyakarta's center is the kraton, or Sultan's palace. While the city sprawls in all directions from the kraton, the core of the modern city is to the north.
History
The Yogyakarta Sultanate, formally the Sultanate of Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat, was formed in 1755 when the existing Sultanate of Mataram was divided by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in two under the Treaty of Giyanti. This treaty states that the Sultanate of Mataram was to be divided into the Sultanate of Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat with Yogyakarta as the capital and Mangkubumi who became Sultan Hamengkubuwono I as its Sultan and the Sultanate of Surakarta Hadiningrat with Surakarta as the capital and Pakubuwono III who was the ruler of the Sultanate of Mataram as its Sultan. The Sultan Hamengkubuwono I spent the next 37 years building the new capital, with the Kraton as the centerpiece and the court at Surakarta as the blueprint model. By the time he died in 1792, his territory exceeded Surakarta's.
The ruler Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX (April 12, 1912 - 1988) held a degree from the Dutch Leiden University, and held for a time the largely ceremonial position of Vice-President of Indonesia, in recognition of his status, as well as Minister of Finance and Minister of Defense.
In support of Indonesia declaring independence from the Dutch and Japanese occupation, in September 5, 1945, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX of Yogya and Sri Paku Alam VIII in Yogya declared their sultanates to be part of the Republic of Indonesia. In return for this support, a law was passed in 1950 in which Yogyakarta was granted the status of province Daerah Istimewa (Special Region Province), with special status that recognizes the power of the Sultan in his own region's domestic affairs.
By this act, Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX was appointed as governor for life. During the Indonesian National Revolution against the Dutch after World War II (1945-1950), the capital of the newly-declared Indonesian republic was temporarily moved to Yogyakarta when the Dutch reoccupied Jakarta from January 1946 until August 1950.
The current ruler of Yogyakarta is his son, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, who holds a law degree from Universitas Gadjah Mada. Upon the elder sultan's death, the position of governor, according to the agreement with Indonesia, was to pass to his heir. However, the central government at that time insisted on an election. In 1998, Sultan Hamengkubuwono X was elected as governor by the provincial House of Representatives (DPRD) of Yogyakarta, defying the will of the central government. "I may be a sultan," he has been quoted in Asia Week as saying, "but is it not possible for me to also be a democrat?"
2006 Earthquake
The province of Yogyakarta bore the brunt of a 6.3-magnitude earthquake on 27 May 2006 which killed 5,782 people and left some 36,299 persons injured. More than 135,000 houses are damaged, and 600,000 people are homeless. The earthquake extensively damaged the local region of Bantul, and its surrounding hinterland. The most significant number of deaths occurred in this region.
The coincidence of the recent eruption of Mount Merapi, and the earthquake would not be lost on the older and more superstitious Javanese - as such natural phenomena are given considerable import within their understanding of the spiritual aspect of such events.
Transportation
Yogyakarta is served by Adisucipto International Airport. There're two train stations named Lempuyangan and Tugu. At south side, in Bantul region, there is a biggest bus station in Indonesia, called Giwangan.

NGABEN IN BALI

Bali is famous through the world for its beauty of nature and also its ancient culture that makes many people curious. One of the assets to increase the income is from that part and Ngaben becomes one of the famous culture in Bali. Ngaben is a traditional burial ceremony. It is the part of ancient belief of Balinese. They believe that one’s soul will be accepted by God if their body were burned. They believe that their soul “fly” to the sky with the smoke from the burned body/corpse. And the family and relatives will be blessed by God due to this ceremony.

Unfortunately, Ngaben is an expensive culture. Not all people can afford to do it when one of their family passed away. To do Ngaben is not easy, it need along difficult preparation. Many things need to be provided, and it costs a lot of money. As a matter of fact, most rich Balinese people did not feel it as a trouble. But for most poor people it is hard to do. Consequently, they usually join another one to make this ceremony in order to make intensive expense.

There are some steps in the process of Ngaben ceremony. The corpse will be laid down in a burning place then it will be put in buried place. The priest make a ritual program of ceremony and many people follow. Many foreigners sometimes like to see the unique process of this ceremony. It seems that Ngaben is a wonderful burial ceremony. Many tourists in Bali think that it is an interesting event to see because they never see in another island in Indonesia.

Finally, not many of us know what Ngaben is like, even we do not know the process of it. Ngaben is one of valuable traditional ceremony in Indonesia. In Bali, Ngaben is one of the tourism attraction that can invite many tourist. Therefore, it is necessary to keep this tradition in order to enrich our culture.