>>HAPPY.. HAPPY..JOY JOY..

happy birthday, mr. d!! how old are u now? hahah.. *hush, don't ask him that.. he's too sensitive about it!! hihih..* btw, if u wonder how he looks like.. that's him on the left.. so who says he has obesity?? kurus gitu kok.. anyways niel, semoga panjang umur, cepet dapet 'jodoh' *cewek maksudnya.. anyone interested?*, mudah rejeki dan mendapatkan apa yang elo cita²kan selama ini.. *apa sih cita² loe?* dan jadi producer film ngetop.. saahhh...

unfortunately, i won't be in town to celebrate ur birthday, mr. d!! *i missed it last year too.. hiks* yup, it's thanksgiving on thursday and i'm leaving to south carolina to visit ac's mom until sunday night. wooohooo.. turkey time everybody!! it's been our tradition to visit her since she moved there.. cuz ac's step dad is french american and he cooks good food.. i mean GOOD food.. i probably will gain a couple of pounds by the time i get back. thank God i'm fasting, so i'll take as many food by thanksgiving dinner. hihihi..

i have many things to tell cuz a good friend of mine came to town since saturday, and as it has been in the past, it's always a blast to have him around... but, u gotta wait for that entry till i come back along with the turkey thanksgiving dinner stories, hopefully with pictures.. especially after i just bought that attachment camera for my sony ericsson's phone.. hihih..

so, happy holidays everyone!! new york city has already prepared for the upcoming holidays and it's just getting prettier with all the lights, the christmas tree, and all the blink blink in every corner of the streets.

enjoy your turkey!!

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 11/27/2002 01:15:00 PM | [ ]

>> LOVE & MARRIAGE ACCORDING TO PLATO

been really busy lately, as always. can't even update my blog. my pic of da week has been the same for the past two weeks, my quote of the day has not changed since last week.... oh well, as soon as i find the time i will, but it looks like my weekend's going to be crazy. so don't expect any crazy posting from me, although i have so many things i want to write about *as always..* just somehow can't sit down and do it while i have more important things to do... jadinya malah posting daily dos aja deh.. hihih..

anyways.. a friend emailed me this story about the great philospher, plato in his search to find what love and marriage is. makes you think, doesn't it?

*******************

one day, plato asks his teacher

[plato]: what is love? how do i find love?
[teacher]: there is a field full of apple trees in front of us. walk through it without having a step back, and pick the most delicious incredible apple there is. if you think you have picked the most delicious incredible apple there is, then you have found what love is.

so plato starts walking through the apple field, and after a while, he comes back to his teacher.. empty handed. upon seeing his pupil return without any apple on his hand, the teacher asks...

[teacher]: why don't you bring any apple at all?
[plato]: i was only allowed to bring one apple back and i cannot make any step back during my walk through the field. actually i have found the most delicious incredible apple i think there is, but i wonder if i might find a better apple from the rest of my walk forward, so i didn't pick that apple. when i continue my walk further, i realized that out of all the apples i have found, there is nothing compared to the one i have found earlier, that's why i didn't pick anything at all.
[teacher]: so that, my student, is love.

in another day, plato asks his teacher again...

[plato]: my dear teacher, what is marriage? how do i find it?
[teacher]: hmm.. there is a forest full of trees ahead. walk forward without taking any step back once and you can only cut one tree. and when you decide to cut down that tree, make sure it's the tallest of them all, because that means you have found what a marriage is.

so, following his teacher's instructions, plato starts walking toward the forest. after a while, he comes back with a tree. the tree is not a fresh/organic one, and it is not even that tall. it's just an average tree. so the teacher asks plato..

[teacher]: why did you cut down an average tree?
[plato]: because.. based on my experience before, after i walked through the whole field, i came back empty handed. so this time, when i saw this tree, i thought... this is not so bad so i decided to cut it down and bring it here. i don't want to miss any opportunity to take it with me.

and the teacher's answer is...

[teacher]: so, that.. my dear student... yeah, that is marriage!

moral of the story:
love, the more you look for it, the more you can't find it. love is in the bottom of your heart, when you can control what you want and control your hope for something more.
when you want and hope for something more from love, then all you get just emptiness... nothing you will possess, and nothing can be turned back. you cannot turn back time. so just accept love as the way it presents itself to you.

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 11/22/2002 02:25:00 AM | [ ]

>> MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

finally i have a week off without having any prior engagements on doing anything else. and.. there's really nothing much i did, plus the weather sucks. the storm hits new york city and the surrounded area so it was pretty much cloudy and raining all weekend, plus it's so freakin' cold... i had three layers of clothes and still shaking of coldness while staying outside for less than 15 minutes.

FRIDAY NITE
yeah, got to see 8 mile with arman, adis, ac, and my bro. bro almost ruined the night cuz he started screaming at me for changing the plans several times. i know he's tired from his new job but i tried to make plans to have fun.. for all of us. after a week not seeing him, i can really tell he lost so much weight, even his jeans are really loose on him. i guess fasting really a good way of diet for him.. that, or the fact that he hardly eats *cuz he breaks his fast just with a bottle of water during his class* and he works his ass off at his new job nowadays. as my dad said.. "let him feel how hard it is to earn a living.. " my bro is growing up!! hahah..

the movie didn't turn out as good as i expected. many of the scenes are really unnecessary, although the free style rap battle was cool. it feels like it's just another personal advertisement for eminem. i think he better sticks to his day job...

SATURDAY
the strorm starts kickin' in.. but i managed to go and did some errands. dropped off my laundry *too lazy to do it my own... for once!!*, went to home depot to get some cleaning supplies for my house and then went to takrai thai for iftar with my bro. i've been planning to go there for iftar cuz i know they have cendol and some desserts that are actually similar to indonesian. turned out they had a weekend special dessert of sweet sticky rice *ketan* with red bean and coconut milk. kinda like kolak except with sticky rice. it tastes really good. yummmyy... btw, speaking of kolak, i did make some last week and it came out good. i was gonna post the picture i took, but couldn't find the cable to upload the pic from my camera. so next time..!!

stayed at home and watched dvd for the rest of the night. the weather is just too perfect to spend at home underneath a warm blanket. watched bad company and divine secrets of the ya-ya sisterhood. bad company was ok. i think anthony hopkins shouldn't work with chris rock. wasn't a good casting job, i think. the story line is standard. about a CIA agent *chris rock* who got killed on a mission and turned out he had a twin brother who's been living a ghetto life. CIA paid him to stand in for his brother's position because the important deal he was making before he died. mr. hopkins played as the head of the mission, portrayed as cold-hearted yet very caring towards his agents. nothing fancy..

divine secrets of the ya-ya sisterhood was also ok. not as good as i had expected from the book. cuz the book was superb but i couldn't get the same feelings coming from the movie. maybe because i already fixated with certain imaginations of how it should be when it was described in the book and it was just totally different in the movie. and since the movie follows many of the scenes from the book... i kinda feel like i don't miss much if i don't see it.. since i already know most of the stories offhand anyways.

SUNDAY
still raining the whole day. didn't plan to go anywhere, but we did make some plans and reservations for our little trip to orlando for end-of-year holiday *yeah i know it's still a long way to go... but gotta prepare it now before everything's sold out, right?*. i'm so excited.. can't wait for my trip. we plan to do a road trip down south and we'd stop by at some big cities along the way and spend most of the time in orlando *disney world?* and then new year's eve there too. haven't had a road trip for a long time.. and it seems i am going to spend my birthday on the road. yay!

mar called and wanted to have a get together for iftar.. and i should cook for the occassion. but it was too late to prepare for anything so i talked her out of cancelling it and do it next week instead. but me, mar, and my bro still went to get some groceries and i prepared something for iftar. made siomay complete with beef tendon balls, eggs, potato, firm tofu, and.. the fish dumplings of course. good dinner.. lots of leftover.. maybe i'll have it again for sahur.

so, that's it.. nothing exciting... i'm glad i have a weekend off... cuz i got a feeling that next week is going to be CRAZY for me!

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 11/18/2002 12:11:00 PM | [ ]

>> DOWN.. DOWN.. AND HIT BOTTOM!!

just had an interesting conversation with my co-worker today about another budget cut from bloomberg. i know i've made several postings about his new laws before and how i hate his new policies and price increases left and right. today, they just announced the price increase on express buses coming from staten island *those who don't live in new york, state island is where statue of liberty stands* from $3 to $4. it doesn't really apply to me cuz i don't live there, but i can feel how aggravated people are. because the commuting alternative is so horrible, can take 3 hours each way. another new law passed yesterday is about commuter law applied to workers who live in other states. in the past this law was applied but then abandoned, now bloomberg wants to use it again for those people who commute to new york for work but live in new jersey. people chose to do that because living in new jersey is cheaper, but now if they live in new jersey but work in new york, their salary will be cut for commuter tax. my other co-worker who lives in jersey just mentioned now they have raised the monthly pass on the trains coming to new york also. goddamn!! have we hit rock bottom yet on our economy crisis??

if in the past i've cursed on bloomberg, i won't do it now. as i tried to understand what's going on... i think i begin to understand where he's coming from with all these new policies and budget cuts in every department in the government *education, transportation, etc..* with such a bad economy like this, and the city budget has been dropped significantly *especially after the 9/11 tragedy* bloomberg has no choice. he still needs to run the city on a budget. less than two years ago, before 9/11 tragedy happens, the city still have a budget surplus and has allocated the money for some programs or projects. with the economy going down and the tragedy of 9/11, new york city has to put up so much money to cover with all the expenses it has spent and tried to keep in the business. not to mention tourisms is falling down, noone feels safe coming to new york as it was before.. *padahal sih aman2 aja!! namanya crime kan dimana2..* but i don't blame them. so who's to blame? i don't think anybody could really nail that question. cuz it all comes in a circle. whoever started it may be the one who's suffering. get what i mean?

anyways.. i'll explore on that another time.. cuz it's friday and i suppose to have an R&R *rest & relaxation* weekend for once. i decided and convinced all my groups not to have any meetings, and not to have anything to do with school or work this weekend *padahal gue disuruh masuk kerja besok.. ih, males deh aw!!* it's too heavy talking about bloomberg's policies on a freakin' friday night.

hmm.. almost time for iftar!! writing for my blog is my way to ngabuburit today. i'm going to see 8 mile tonite. gotta buy the ticket online so i don't have to physically wait online for the tickets. thank God for technology!! i really wanted to see harry potter 2: the chamber of secrets too, but tonight's the nationwide opening for this movie, and that means.. a whole bunch of people are going to flood the theater. naahh.. i don't feel like waiting on -line just to get in to the theater and then run to get the seats. na-ah!! not tonite, dudes & dudettes...

last nite i had a girls' night out. last tuesday was adis' birthday and the girls *ayu, mar, me, ari, han, & nad.. and of course adis* went to have dinner at yokoco in st. marks. i had broiled eel over rice while the others had fried squid legs, fried soft shell crab, yakitori, and beef tongue. it was good. finally i got to spend some time with my friends again. after dinner we took some pics outside *dikit* but i haven't put it up yet.. soalnya gak banyak foto2nya.. then we just went home.

on the way home, we kept bumping to people who look like indonesians and seem to understand our conversation, but we didn't really pay attention. when i got off on my stop, there was this guy followed me and then he asked me in indonesian!!! and turned out he lived only a block away from me. jeezz.. indonesians in new york is not a rare thing to happen.. so better watch out when you're in town..!! don't curse or talk about people in front of you even in indonesian, cuz u'll never know they might understand.. even if you see a caucasian.. cuz it happened to me twice, that the bule in front of me, turned out to spend most of his life in indonesia or been to indonesia.. or just plain understand indonesian. so who says indonesia is unknown to the world?

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 11/16/2002 04:38:00 AM | [ ]

>> MOVIES.. MOVIES.. READ ALL ABOUT IT!!

with my recent hectic schedules, i'm missing out on many new movies to watch, including eminem's 8 mile, the ring, white oleander, frida and many others that i have not yet had the time to go and watch. i promised myself to get a weekend off this week and i'm gonna try to watch movies.. movies.. movies...

now, i mentioned before that fall time is the best time to catch good movies. lucky me living in new york city, harry potter 2 has already playing since yesterday.. but of course i have not yet seen. and i promise when i do, i'll make a post for review..

but i gotta hurry cuz new cool movies are coming up and i DO not wanna miss 'em too. here are some upcoming movies i would have on my christmas to-do list...

for those who are leonardo dicaprio's fan, you'll be so happy this christmas *especially if you live in the united states* cuz it's gonna be leo's christmas time again. he's coming up with not only one.. but two movies in december. one of them is gangs of new york and the other one is catch me if you can. i'm not really a big fan of leo, but both movies are very interesting. 'gangs of new york' is made by martin scorsese *i'm sure u all know him and his works*. the cast filled with actors who are known for its superb acting quality like daniel day-lewis and liam neeson *love 'em both!!*. in this tale, the story is about the rise of irish and italian gangsters in 1860s new york. while elsewhere in the country the civil war ensued, residents of manhattan's five points *the boroughs* also were engaged in fierce battles. leo plays amsterdam vallon, the son of a murdered gangleader who swears vengeance upon william cutting, a k a bill the butcher (daniel day-lewis), the gang leader who killed his father. a must-see nih!! i love watching movies with history collaborated in it.. so you can learn something while getting entertained... right?? the same with books.. that's why i rather read classics or a memoir or anything as long it has some history built in within the story..

produced and directed by steven spielberg, catch me if you can is based on true story about "frank abagnale, jr", known as the most successful bank robber in the US history. played by leo, of course, frank is one of the biggest scammer, he can work his ways to post as a doctor, a co-pilot for a major airline, even a lawyer. unfortunately FBI could not identify him or even find a way ahead of him, because they don't know who he is. his name is not in the database, as if he doesn't exist.. but turns out... he's not even graduated from high school yet!!.... interesting and smart, another must-see..

so which one would you pick?



another good movie!! i know this is an old one but if you haven't seen it or wonder if it's a good one.. then, no more wondering!! it is a good movie... i was so tired last nite and came across this movie hedwig and the angry inch as i was flipping through the channels before i go to bed. it was just starting up and although i have been wanting to watch it since it came out on theater last year.. i thought i wasn't going to be interesting. but i was totally wrong and the movie just pulled me to stay and watch it till the end! this movie was based on an off-broadway play. it is the story of hedwig schmidt, as told by hedwig, a german immigrant living in a trailer in kansas, with a problem. back in east berlin, s/he was the victim of a botched sex change operation, leaving hedwig in a state of transition (from her life as hansel). s/he met a boy named johnny gnossis who was her protege and ran with all the songs they have created. johnny became a rock star but denied any relationship with hedwig. so hedwig filed a lawsuit and followed johnny everywhere he goes. backed by her band, the angry inch, hedwig takes the audience -- in tacky restaurants -- through her life and her experience. filled with kick ass songs.. this movie is very entertaining.. and did i say the songs were just really really really goood??? kinda remind you of moulin' rouge but not as grand.. it's a rock n' roll with a twist!! i think i'm gonna run to the music store and get the soundtrack...

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 11/13/2002 02:07:00 AM | [ ]

>> GADJAH MADA IN NEW YORK

this weekend i got to spend a little time outside of my house. i have reserved a ticket to see an indonesian play *yeah, that's right* titled gadjah mada in tully hall, lincoln center though i came in quite late and ruined my entire mood for the night and almost missed the first half *which i heard was the better part out of the two parts of the play* i still managed to enjoy myself after seeing so many indonesians filling up the hall. unfortunately i didn't get to meet with roby who i have referred about the event about two weeks ago nor rita who was in town and who i promised to call after the show *sorry rit, i really gotta get back to my homework!! but please next time ur in town give me a call again.. sowwwyy..btw, belanja apa loe rit? shoppin like crazy, i assume? hahahah*

but all and all i was very proud to have seen this event being held in one of the most respectable place of art program in new york city *lincoln center is quite a home for the julliard school of performing arts* everybody was pretty much impressed with the event and suggested that we should hold these types of even more often.

directed by budy mangesti the program starts with the kingdom of madjapahit. filled with traditional dances from all over the place in indonesia, from java to irian, from kalimantan to sulawesi, from sumatera to bali, it was truly refreshing to see and remind ourselves how great our country's cultures and resources. the story derived from the legend when the kingdom of madjapahit who had a loved revered king named jayanegara. always at his side stood the powerful knight gadjah mada. as legend has it, ra kuti, a bishop in the kingdom betrayed jayanegara and took over the throne. gadjah mada rebuilt the fallen army under jayanegara's command in nearby town called bedander. the newly formed army overthrew ra kuti's forces and restored jayanegara to power.

after jayanegara's death at the hand of his physician, ra tanca, jayanegara's older sister gayatri promoted gadjah mada to be prime minister and commander in chief. during this time, gadjah mada took the opportunity to unite all the islands of archipelago. with his famous words of allegiance, gadjah mada was able to unite thirteen thousand islands that made union of Nusantara in southeast asia. until his death in 1364, gadjah mada governed nusantara, which extended beyond the boundaries of the present day of indonesia. the diversity of indonesia is extraordinary. its hundreds of cultures in races, religions, and languages centrues old, the story of gadjah mada pertinent to today's society.

just makes me proud to be in indonesian even more...

the dances were superb, especially the beautiful costumes. the dancers are very good.. and turned out i know some of them.. and i did see some americans on the stage dancing our traditonal dances, isn't that wild? the irian's dancers was a big hit, especially because they dance with bare tummy and one of the guys was a black guy who dances just as he was indonesian himself. at the end of the show, in gadjah mada's effort to unite the cultures, everybody ended up fighting and died.. and guess what song they put.. "satu nusa satu bangsa..." *is that the title? i forgot.. * my GOD!! bikin gue mau nangis dengernya.. how solemn the song is... at the end everybody was giving the show a standing applause, a job well done!!

i'm glad i went out a little *only for 3 hours* this weekend.. although afterwards i have to run back home and continue my homework while all my friends were enjoying each other's company at a lounge downtown. oh well.. the sacrifice i have to put in.. hhehhe...

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 11/12/2002 12:27:00 AM | [ ]

>> JUST ANOTHER HECTIC DAY IN.... NYC

i know i've been complaining a lot these days. complaining how busy i am, how tired i am, and how my works seem never to ever finish. but i guess it comes with the territory. but it's been really overwhelming that i don't even have time to take a good care of myself. now it's ramadhan, instead of doing the ibadah happily like i've always been all my life, it becomes another task that i have to do. it's already the third day and i haven't even had the time to go to the mosque for tarawih yet *i usually go at least the first week.. and try to keep it up till the end of the month, kalo gak sempet ya paling di rumah sendiri* it's not that i don't want to but i can't. i know it sounds cliche, but i gotta admit.. that's how it is being a muslim in western country. although everybody seems to be understanding of our practice, the work's not. at least not for me this time.

after my first day experience of having the iftar without anything but chai latte & bundt cake while doing my midterm, i would've thought the second day would be better, yes? NOOO!! it's probably the worst day ever..!! the second day i didn't wake up for sahur. i'm so tired, i just couldn't wake up even though i already turned my alarm on. i actually aknowledged that the alarm was wildly beeping but i just couldn't get myself off the bed. i guess my lack of sleep, my tiredness, everything just started to come down.. i feel sick, but tried not to get sick!! by the time i realized that i have to get up and eat something.. it's already 6 o'clock. oh well... but of course i still continue my fasting. had an interesting discussion at work about this.. one of my co-workers, a woman who most of us refers as the 'mother' cuz she always wanna know about everything.. *doesn't it sound just like ur mom?* she came to me and we had this conversation:

[she]: when you're doing fasting during ramadhan, are u really strict?
[me]: of course i am. i've been doing it since i was really small and i never missed a day unless it's during my period.
[she]: so you're going to do this the whole month? isn't it hard? *she actually asks this everytime even last year and the year before*
[me]: well, i guess if you think about it, it is. but if you already get used to it.. it's not really. and we belive that during ramadhan Allah is giving us strength to do this. like two weeks ago when i was fasting, it feels totally different, i feel the hunger, the thirst.. the weakness. but yesterday, on the first day of ramadhan, i don't feel those stuff.
[she]: so you believe that there's a miracle that your God gives you the strength?
[me]: yeah i think so
[she]: so wouldn't your God can be understanding if you can't do it...
[me]: huh? what do you mean? if you can't do it because certain reasons, like you're old, or if a woman who is pregnant or just delivered a baby.. of course you can't, and Allah understands that.
[she]: yeah, but what about you?
[me]: what do you mean.. what about me?
[she]: i know you've been under a lot of pressures with work and school lately, and i can totally see it in your face. and now you have to do this fasting thing, i can see how weak and stressfull you are. you look like you're about to faint.. i mean can you just not fasting?
[me]: thanks for your concern, but i feel okay. unless i just can't bear it no more... btw, do i really look that terrible?
[she]: yeah.. i was worried, but i didn't wanna tell you earlier. i mean the way i see it, you're a single person, you do all your work, you take care of yourself, no one else is taking care of you, how can you maintain to be in the track? and now you have to fast, you wake up in the morning and cook for yourself. i'm sure you don't even wanna do that. i know i wouldn't.. it's different in talha's case *my other co-worker who's a muslim too* he has a wife, all he has to think about is just come to work, while when he gets home the wife cooks for him.. bla..bla..bla..

hmm.. good point!! power to the women!!

iftar time came, i broke my fast with a cup of hot sweet tea with milk and a donut *dapet gretongan dari temen gue di dunkin' donuts* had a little break and went back to work again. i wish i can just go home and sleep. i was just drowsy the whole day, but instead.. after work i went to school. my group set up a meeting to discuss a case that we have to do for monday *individual work but we decided to meet up and discuss it together.. which really helps!* my mind was off but i tried to follow the discussion. at first we went to the cafetaria in the basement of the main building. after an hour and a half, a fire alarm went off and we were forced to leave. on our way out of the building, i heard some people mentioned something about 'bom threat'.. wtf? *my university is located in the heart of financial district in downtown manhattan.. and it's very close to where the twin towers were, right next to brooklyn bridge.. and it's right across the city hall, so go figure!* we didn't even bother to find out what was going on... so our group decided to go to this small cafe a couple of blocks away from the main building. the fire trucks kept coming back and forth and the cafe was really not a good place for study *it's cold and no bathroom*, so we decided to move to another building across the street.. and it was so freakin' cold last nite!! so thank God we didn't have to move anywhere by the time we got upstairs and finished our discussion by 9.45pm. that's also due to the fact i told them i can't go on anymore, i haven't had food all day and i'm really really tired. so we left, i took the train home.

i fell asleep along the way, and guess what..?? i freakin' missed my stop!! aarrgghhh.. just what i needed!! so i have to go all the way till the last stop and transfer to the other train going back *untung cuman 3 stop doang!!* by the time i got home around 11.30pm, i'm so dead tired all i wanna do was go straight to bed. but i haven't had dinner and i KNOW i wouldn't be able to wake up at 4 in the morning. good thing ac stopped by and cooked me dinner *yeah that's what i'm talking about, buooyy..!! heheh* i actually woke up around 4.30am and just had a glass of water and went back to sleep.

thank God, it's friday *is it really?*. too much going on at work today. steven fought with lin. he yelled the word "fu©k you" to her. she got mad, and they were yelling to each other. i know everyone has been frustrated with the tension from work lately too, i guess at one point that's how they let it out. lin threatened to quit so now they're having an emergency meeting about it. ken *my boss* is not around cuz he has to visit one of our clients in pennsylvania. talha has to leave early cuz he has a doctor's appointment and worried sick that they might amputate his broken finger *steve & me teased him that the doctor might as well cut his broken finger off instead since it keeps hurting him*. so much going on in the office today. all i did was just stick to my computer. i can't wait to go home and sleep. yeah that's my plan for friday night!! oh wait, i can't... have to hold that off too.. i gotta start working on my analysis report that's due on monday. damn!! these days there's no more 'TGIF' for me, it has become an 'OSIF' .... OH SH*T IT'S FRIDAY!!

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 11/09/2002 04:59:00 AM | [ ]

>> ONE DOWN

happy birthday, neng melda!!

+ on first day of ramadhan
one down, 29 days to go. it was actually pretty easy today, i didn't really feel hungry or thirsty.. just weak. i guess my body is just trying to adapt of not having anything to enter my stomach the whole day. i actually woke up for sahur only to find out later *after i get the official time table* that i was still had a glass of water after imsak. hahah... but hey i didn't know that imsak starts at 5:16 am. kan yang penting niatnya.. so it should be ok.

didn't have anything to break my fast. actually i was on my way to school and when the time to break the fast came, i was still inside the train station. it's a good thing i had a bottle of water in my bag... so i just had water to break the fast and ran to starbucks after i got off the train to have a grande chai latte and a slice of lemon bundt cake. i ate it while having my midterm in class. sedih banget gak sih idup gue?

+ on school matter
had midterm today. it was pretty okay. i actually didn't study much cuz i know i could get away good. i just hope i can get an A *hahah.. nyolot!*

+ on the job
emang cobaan kali yaa buat hari pertama puasa. udah badan gue lemes, everybody seems to want to have a fight with me. untung gue coba untuk bersabar. this guy came to my desk and started giving me things to do in a very rude manner and i'm like.. "wtf?" but instead of me started yelling at him.. i told him nicely that i will help him but the way he asked for help was totally rude.. bla..bla..bla.. end up nya dia malah jadi gak enak sendiri. i guess itu lah yang diuji dari kita kalo lagi puasa.

i just add a ramadhan time table for new york metro area on the left section .. it's reliable information kok!! straight from new york's muslim association. i put all the whole month's schedule, so i can make sure not to eat or drink after imsak no more...

so.. ta-ta for now!! gotta sleep early.. i need my beauty sleep. everyone keeps telling me how terrible i look these days.. how i look terribly tired.. oh well ... I AM!

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 11/07/2002 11:20:00 AM | [ ]

>> ENGAGED, CONCEIVED, BORN AND DIED....

the title sounds eerie, isn't it? but i just heard all these announcements almost simultaneously within the past couple of days...

ENGAGED
my best friend, aretha just got engaged to her boyfriend barjat on sunday, november 3, 2002 in jakarta. congratulations!! akhirnya cita² loe mau kawin yang tertunda sejak lulus sma.. kesampean juga, ta!! hihihi...

CONCEIVED
dyna & dendy sabaruddin *my friends who met and fell in love in new york and got engaged within 3 months* just found out that they are pregnant with their first child. they just got married in jakarta back in june after 6 months of engagement. they both are already back in jakarta since january of this year.

also intan & adi *who are both my high school friends.. they used to be close friends but ended up dating and got married.. aww..* they found out that they are pregnant.. again!! for their second child.

congratulations to both couple!! hopefully the baby will grow up to be a good kid and the heart of your marriage. healthy pregnancy, girls!!

BORN
my friend just gave birth to a healthy baby girl named kayla isabella maharani on monday, november 4, 2002 in jakarta. both the mother and the baby are in good health. congrats to the happy parents, mei and reza!

DIED
inna lillahi wa inna illaihi rojiuun my aunt's son just passed away in bogor due to sickness. i just heard about this last nite and it was a sudden death. he was my youngest cousin who was born less than 5 months ago. i got to see him when i went home for vacation two months ago. that was the first and the last time i saw him, and all i can remember was how cute he was with his chubby cheeks and a head full of black curly hair. may God be with you, my cute cousin!! semoga Allah memberikan ketabahan buat om & tante gue. it took them four years to have him and they could only keep him in their arms for such a short time. my condolences to both of you.

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 11/06/2002 04:21:00 AM | [ ]

>> MARHABAN YA RAMADHAN....

selamat datang bulan penuh barokah, bulan penuh maghfiroh. selamat menunaikan ibadah puasa. mohon maaf lahir dan bathin.... semoga amal ibadah kita diterima disisi-Nya. hopefully we finish the month as clean from sin as a newborn baby.. or at least, as a 5 year old

stay healthy and i hope it will be the most rewarding month to all of us.


regards

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 11/05/2002 11:40:00 AM | [ ]

>> BOO HOO!!

i'm such a party pooper!! instead of partying on halloween.. i chose to just go home and relax, watch "friends", "CSI", and "ER" as i usually spent my thursday nights. some people are going to this club. hmm.. not me!! not on work nights. lagian apa sih halloween?? just another reason to party? trick-or-treatin'? what is it? sama aja seperti hari biasa kan.. *ngeles dikit.. trying to make me feel good for not joining the crowds!*

yeah well, i've been feeling kinda 'down' lately. maybe 'down' is not the exact word to describe how i feel... more likely i feel lonely. it's been a month i don't make social contact with people *as in my friends*. it's either work, school, or strangers *aside from my bro and ac*. bukannya gak mau, tapi gak bisa. even if i have any spare time, i'd rather just stay home and relax. i tried not to go anywhere cuz if i'd get tired and i wouldn't wanna start at least doing a bit of my project. plus my work hours have been crazy lately. kemaren senen aja gue sampe harus bolos kelas cuz i'm staying in until 9 o'clock at work.

i've mentioned about my projects so much you'd probably wonder what kinda of project it is that takes up most of my time. well, the other one's i mentioned already.. it's case analysis, three of them, just like you're writing a thesis. the other one is for my information systems class. the project is to create an application, specifically a project management systems. lots of requirements, lots of details, lots of designing the data flows, diagrams, architectures, etc. not to mention group meetings... and chat sessions. soalnya prof. gue selalu online and sometimes he sets up a chat session at a certain time.. *mostly weekends* .. or sometimes it's just spontaneous... and everytime he sets up a chat session, he always gives out an additonal requirement for the projects. we were formed in a team of 8 people. there's a system analyst, a database administrator, two scribes, a QA person, a developer, a creative person, and a legal & financial person. guess which one i am?? the developer. of course the busiest one, cuz i have to work with dba on creating the architecture of the system then i have to work with the creative for the GUI. it's fun sih... such a learning experience. i learn a lot!! tapi capeknya ituuu looohhh!!! so far i'm done with the diagrams, tinggal ngurusin GUI nya aja.

so tadi malem gue gak kemana². and by around 8.30, my apartment bell was ringing. i thought it was ac, but then i heard the sounds of little kids' voice, who of course come by the doors for "trick or treat"-ing. and what did i do?? hahahah.. i stayed quiet, turned down the TV volume so it'd look like nobody's home. gosh, i feel so bad. i AM a party pooper!!! it's not that i don't want to open the door. of course i want to see those cute kids in their costume.. but i don't have any candies!!!. i forgot to buy any and i don't like candies in the first place, so i don't have them around. hahahah... sorry kids!!

a little after 9, ac came in and brought me dinner *how sweet*. after eating our dinner, he was working on something in the computer while i was watching ER. last nite's episode was about this new student doctor-in-training *played by SNL tim meadows*, who has parkinson's disease. it's an uncurable disease that makes certain's organs move uncontrollably, like twitches on the fingers or the legs just don't move although the brain has told them to. gitu deh. that's why it was ironic cuz this guy wants to be a doctor, in spite of these conditions. then.. i was commenting something about one of the scenes.. and then ...

[ac]: i think i have parkinson's disease... *with serious face*

[me]: huh? what are you talking about? *curiga*

[ac]: yeah.. people who has parkinsons can't fully control parts of their bodies, right? sometimes it just moves by itself.. right?

[me]: yeah.. i think so

[ac]: yeaahh.. you know.. sometimes my d*ck moves and wiggles and i can't control it as it's getting b.....

gubraaakkkkss... *that's me throwing him with whatever i can grab... fortunately, it was just a pillow on the couch*

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 11/02/2002 03:17:00 AM | [ ]