The Year of the Water Snake

According to the Chinese Calendar, the new year will fall on 10 February 2013, and the Year of the Water Snake will begin.

Unlike the present Year of the Water Dragon which Feng Shui experts said is good for romance, in the Year of the Water Snake people's commitments and promises will be tested.

A Feng Shui expert Gunadi Wijaya was quoted by The Jakarta Post as saying that this new year will not be very good for romance. Couples need to be very careful if they want to maintain their relationship.
He said that the snake is fast and quick as it moves while the water is robust. Couples need to watch for backstabbers, avoid any fights and excessive emotions.

Another Feng Shui expert Yohan Suyangga said that  in the coming year we will see major scandals and affairs that we have not seen before. He said that snakes have poisons with great effect, but people can use those effects negatively or positively.
He further said that the Year of the Water Snake would be good for Politics and would serve as a prelude for the elections in 2014. New leaders will emerge, those who use to compete with each other will work together and form a coalition.

I am not a believer in Feng Shui, I just like to know what people have in their minds about the future. So I hope that everything would be okay, people would be happier and luckier than in the previous year.

Picture :  Courtesy of MotherSky.

Happy Nyepi Saka 1933

Nyepi is a "Day of Silence" carried out by the Hindu people in the Island of Bali to commemorate every Saka New Year which this year is on 5 March. It is a Day of Silence, Fasting and Meditation from 6 a.m that day until 6 a.m the following morning.

Nyepi is reserved for self-reflection and as such, anything that might interfere with that purpose is prohibited. The main prohibitions are: no lighting fires (and lights must be kept low); no working; no entertainment or pleasure; no traveling; and for some, no talking or eating at all. The effect of these prohibitions is that Bali’s usually bustling streets and roads are empty, there is little or no noise from TVs and radios, and few signs of activity are seen even inside homes. The only people to be seen outdoors are the Pecalang, traditional security men who patrol the streets to ensure the prohibitions are being followed.

Although Nyepi is a Hindu holiday, but non-Hindu residents of Bali followed the Day of Silence as well, to  respect for their fellow citizens. Even tourists are not exempted; although free to do as they wish inside their hotels, no one is allowed onto the beaches or streets, and the only airport in Bali remains closed for the entire day. The only exceptions granted are for emergency vehicles carrying those with life-threatening conditions and women about to give birth.

One day after Nyepi, known as Ngembak Geni, social activity picks up again quickly, as families and friends gather to ask forgiveness from one another, and to perform certain religious rituals together.

Source : Wikipedia.

Happy New Year Lyrics - ABBA

No more champagne
And the fireworks are through
Here we are, me and you
Feeling lost and feeling blue
It's the end of the party
And the morning seems so gray
So unlike yesterday
Now's the time for us to say...

Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbor is a friend
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try
If we don't we might as well lay down and die
You and I

Sometimes I see
How the brave new world arrives
And I see how it thrives
In the ashes of our lives
Oh yes, man is a fool
And he thinks he'll be okay
Dragging on, feet of clay
Never knowing he's astray
Keeps on going anyway...

Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbor is a friend
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try
If we don't we might as well lay down and die
You and I

Seems to me now
That the dreams we had before
Are all dead, nothing more
Than confetti on the floor
It's the end of a decade
In another ten years time
Who can say what we'll find
What lies waiting down the line
In the end of eighty-nine...

Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbor is a friend
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try
If we don't we might as well lay down and die
You and I

A New Year ......................

William Arthur Ward 

Another fresh new year is here …

Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
  To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me
 To live each day with zest …
To daily grow and try to be

  My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity
     Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
  And sing more joyful songs!