>> MARKETING 101

ok.. enough talking about war, it's too depressing. altho we have been engaging in an interesting debate *and a bit of 'curhat'* on my previous posting, i'm sure we would never get to one mutual point. so let me humor you...

let's talk about marketing. what is marketing? as a marketing major graduate *for my undergrad*, i sometimes find that the terminology is somewhat unclear. it has too wide scope of a study. it could be advertising, sales, product development, public relations, etc. i remember my professor told me that most CEOs are usually coming from marketing background.. because they know how to handle people.. they have what's called 'the people skill' ... michael dell is one of a good example. all his career deals in marketing and he knows nothing about IT, yet he builds one of the biggest company that provides service to IT industry, namely computers and its accessories. and he does it merely with the use of marketing principal of catalogs, assembly, international business, etc. ok, enough about him.. that'd be another subject.

so, a friend of a friend works for an advertising/multi-media company and people have asked her many times what marketing really means. and using an analogy of simple everyday-life-occassions... here's the explanations:

you see a handsome guy at a party. you go up to him and say, "i'm fantastic in bed." -- that's direct marketing.

you're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a handsome guy. one of your friends goes up to him and pointing at you says, "she's fantastic in bed." -- that's advertising.

you see a handsome guy at a party. you go up to him and get his telephone number. the next day you call and say,"hi.. i'm fantastic in bed." -- that's telemarketing.

you're at a party and see a handsome guy. you get up and straighten your dress. ou walk up to him and pour him a drink. you say, "may i?" and reach up to straighten his tie brushing your breast lightly against his arm, and then say, "by the way, i'm fantastic in bed." -- that's public relations.

you're at a party and see a handsome guy. he walks up to you and says, "i hear you're fantastic in bed." -- that's brand recognition.

you're at a party and see a handsome guy. you talk him into going home with your friend. -- that's a sales rep.

your friend can't satisfy him so he calls you. -- that's tech support.

you're on your way to a party when you realize that there could be handsome men in all these houses you're passing. so you climb onto the roof of one situated toward the center and shout at the top of your lungs, "i'm fantastic in bed!" -- that's spam.

are we clear now?

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 1/31/2003 12:12:00 AM | [ ]

>> HOW TO REGISTER AT INS OFFICE

as you all may heard, indonesians in america has to go to its local INS (immigration and naturalization service) to register yourself and to get fingerprinted. this rule does not apply to women or boys under the age of 16 or those who has greencard *permanent resident*. as we all know, it is a common knowledge that there are many illegal indonesians who live here in the united states. and this new rule affects so many of them that they only have a choice of pack up their bags and leave the country or continue to live here with a high risk of getting caught, got deported and eventually blacklisted from the country. everyone has their own reasons to choose between the two. i feel bad for them, but i think there's no point of getting mad to the US government. it's their country *although i think the rule is still not right and very discriminating* and indonesia is not the only one who suffers from this rule. let's just hope that something good will come out of it *which i don't know what!!!* like having bush fired as a president, for example... who knows??

anyways.. i got an email this morning from a friend of mine that lists all the steps that those need to register have to go through... he got this from his friend who had gone through the registration process at his local INS office. if you are one of the people that belong to the category have to register please pay attention to each step cuz it may ease the process when your term comes.

i went to my local INS office and reached there at around 9:50 a.m. it was a mistake as one should be there around 8 a.m. so that you could be done with this process bit earlier. anyway after i reached there i had to stand in a line and btw, it's a NO-APPOINTMENT line.

after few minutes i was allowed to get into the office building, but right after i entered, i had to pass by security. if
you are aware of the way security guys check you at airport, trust me it was exactly like that. the only difference is that at airport you may not be asked to take off your shoes, but here its a must. [not true, cuz right now you DO have to take off your shoes when you enter the immigration at the airport]

after passing security, i went to an information counter, where i was asked my name, country name and then a pass was issued to me. i was directed to a specific room where i was supposed to show the pass at a special window.

on my way to this specific room, i had to stop at another counter, where a gentleman checked my pass and then let me go.

at the particular window i found a questionnaire, which i had to fill in. it's better to take the questionnaire form from there and then fill it. following is the information you are asked to fill in:

a) personal Information: (last, first names and middle initial, date of birth, current address, & phone number)

b) father's information: (his last, first names and middle initial, date of birth, current address, & phone number)

c) mother's information: same information needed as asked on father's column.

d) work information (company name where you work, address, telephone, designation)

e) IDs (I put my driving license and passport number)

f) information about two local friends/relatives (in US) and one foreign person.

g) all financial information (debit/credit card numbers). The truth is that I didn't like to fill anything here so I left it blank.

h) there are two other sections one is for students and other one is for travelers (I believe they use same form at airports where they ask travel information), if you have work permit then you can ignore these.

i) so when i filled the form, i put my pass in a tray next to the particular window. after few minutes my name was called and i was asked to hand over my passport with the filled form.

i had to wait for about five hours when a gentleman came there with my passport in his hands and asked me to follow him. i found him a nice person. he took me to a separate room, where another lady was also sitting and i believe she was learning the whole process.

first of all he asked me to take oath and thanks to american romantic movies where i found that i had to say "I do" ;).

he asked many questions which are there in the questionnaire details. but following are the few things i would like to mention about interview:

a) he asked my social security number, i tried to show him my SSN card, but he didn't pay attention to it.

b) he asked questions about my work, like company's name, telephone number, address. i believe he was trying to double-check this information.

c) he also liked to see my H-1/B INS notice (which my lawyer had sent to me), as well as to know from where my visa got stamped on my passport.

d) although information like city where you were born, city where passport was issued, passport expiry date and date when passport was issued are already mentioned on your passport but it may be asked from you while that person is holding your passport in his hands. maybe confirmation thing .....

i was kind of surprised to hear that he wanted my checking account number, so please either keep one of your check or at least ATM card. you must have to share this information with INS as everybody who went for interview today had to give this information to the INS officer.

while he was entering my data, he made some spelling mistakes, so i requested him to fix those. i would say everybody who goes there should also keep his eyes on it and if that person does some mistake then feel free to request him/her for correction.

when he was done with data entry then he asked me to first put my right hand's index finger on a device and then left hand's finger for finger printing.

finally he took my picture with a web camera connected with his PC and this whole process got its end.

my passport was given me back with few following instructions:

a) i can leave country from specific airports, not from all nternational airports.

b) in case i leave the country then when i come back, i will have to report to INS within forty days.

c) every year on registration anniversary, i will have to report to INS.

so there.. hope it helps... good luck you guys!!

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 1/29/2003 05:39:00 AM | [ ]

>> BIRTHDAY BACK-TO-BACK WEEKEND

for some reason, akhir² ini gue lagi rada males online. well, connected to the internet sih all the time, ngecek email sih selalu.. tapi maen ke blog² orang atau mau update blog sendiri aja kok kayaknya males banget ya? lagi writer's block nih... *saahhh.. kayak yang penulis professional ajah lagaknya.. hehehh* jadi maafkan daku lah kalo postingan kali ini rada2 garing. i don't even know what i'm gonna write... so i just pour whatever i have on my head.. that explains the mix languange i'm using.

anyways.. what have i done lately? oh yeah.. this weekend has been a back-to-back birthday celebration. on friday night around 11pm, a bunch of boys with only me and defits as the girls of the night.. we went out to have dinner at yakitori in st. marks. the plan was to have a late supper celebration for my brother's bday. for the past two years, we always celebrate everybody's birthday with a surprise party. of course, the first year, the celebration was always a success although after a while we'd kinda suspect it. so we have to be more creative in throwing these types of parties. about a week ago, we threw a surprise party for jeffry, my bro's best friend. so we figured if we throw a surprise party for my brother on the midnight of january 25, he'd definitely suspect it. instead we had dinner and everybody congratulated him for his bday by midnite. casually, we just want to hangout cuz it's his birthday.

the next day (tgl 25 siang) i invited a couple of more people to join us to have dimsum. padahal in the meantime, ada beberapa orang yang gak ikut dimsum pada ngumpul di apartment nya mar/az/rez buat nyiapin kueh, dll. the reason kenapa kita bawa dia supper dulu trus dimsum dulu.. yaa biar dia gak curiga kalo kita bakal ngadain surprise. soalnya kesannya anak² udah tau dia ultah dan semuanya udah pada hadir buat makan bareng². abis dimsum gue bakalan sok² mau ke rumahnya mar *yang letaknya pas di belakang tempat kita pada dimsum* buat ngambil tas *yang emang ketinggalan disitu* baru deh di-surprise-in. nah, berhubung tempat dimsum nya tuh di sebelahnya sam ash *toko peralatan musik*, my bro yang emang anak band langsung mampir dulu kesana. good idea sih, soalnya kita jadi bisa siap² gitu lah. tapi setelah ditunggu² hampir setengah jam.. deske gak muncul². pas ditelpon dia malah marah² karena lagi asik maenin drum *he's a drummer*. mau nyuruh buruan nyamperin gue, takut ketauan. ya udah terpaksa ditunggu deh!!

setelah anak² udah pada bosen, sampe lilin² di atas kue nya juga udah mau abis... dan adek gue masih belom nongol² juga... akhirnya gue sms dan bilang kalo gue udah mau cabut ke soHo. jadi dia musti secepatnya nyamperin gue kalo enggak gue tinggal. ya udah so within a couple of minutes dia udah nyampe di apartment nya mar. kita semua langsung pada ngumpet di dalam kamarnya rez di lantai bawah kecuali si may yang sok²an nonton tipi di atas. eh.. udah beberapa menit kemudian kita pada bingung.. kok dia gak kebawah ya? soalnya adek gue tuh kalo ke rumahnya mar pasti langsung ke kamarnya rez buat maen ps2. gak taunya dia malah tiduran di sofa. ya udah gue sok²an ke atas, ngambil kopi trus ngajakin dia ke bawah. pas gue turun, dia ngikutin gue... and when he walked half down the stairs.. everybody screamed... "SURPRIIISSEEE...!!!" hahahhh.... it was a success!! cuz he doesn't have a slightest idea that we're throwing him a surprise party. his friend, rif even said that he was so depressed that noone throwing him any party that he started singing happy birthday to mee... on his way to mar's apartment.

after that we had the ice cream birthday cake. he had a big smile on his face. hung around at mar's apartment until around 8.30pm then ac & i left to get ready for another birthday bash in manhattan. by 11pm we're already on our way to freight club around chelsea for ice's birthday. the music was nice but the place was packed from wall to wall so after about less than an hour we left. on our way to the car, ac realized that he might have lost his keys. so he went inside the club and looked for it while i was waiting outside in the freakin' cold. not to mention that i didn't wear any sweater, just a long sleeve top *the kind you wear to a party or a club*. then after waiting for a while.. he came out and said he couldn't find them anywhere. even the dj made the announcement *good thing ice's party was right around the dj booth*. i asked him if he's absolutely sure that the keys weren't in the car, so he went and check... and IT WAS INSIDE THE DAMN CAR!! dooohhh... ya udah, the rest of the night, he tried to open the door using a piece of cable, which he successfully did after another half an hour *can you imagine how frozen i am by then? i can't even feel my toes no more!*

ya udah abis itu masih pengen nyamperin han & may tapi most of the lounges they went either has cover charge or just too packed. at the end, we settled with underbar in union square. cuman sebentar karena udah rada malem & basi banget. so we just went home

hari minggu nya gue di rumah seharian. another birthday shout out for jesse, my co-worker and camille, adrian's cousin. i didn't go anywhere cuz i wanna watch superbowl. seru juga sih.. gilaa score nya banyak banget.. udah kayak maen basket. raiders menang.. yaayy!! well honestly i'm not a sport fan, the only reason i watched it is to watch the commercial... too bad the commercials aren't that interesting. at least i didn't see anything that strikes out...

oh well.. udah ah.. i gotta go to school now. ciaoo.. everybody!! *katanya males nulis.. kok panjang juga ya?* btw, pics will be posted later.

RALAT: i just realized i put raiders as the winner of superbowl.. hahah.. sorry for my unintended mistake soalnya gue buru² posting sebelom kelas *telat*. tampa bay buccaneers was the winner at the final score of 48-21. thanks to emon who pointed this mistake. *bener kok gue nonton!! sumpah!! tapi gak sampe abis soalnya pas fourth quarter udah ketauan raiders bakal kalah!!* heheh....

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 1/28/2003 05:02:00 AM | [ ]

>> TECHNOLOGY DEPENDENCIES

so finally school has started again for me *sigh*. first day of school this semester for me started on wednesday night for my information system class, subject in business telecommunications. sounds interesting, eh? well it is indeed. i'm glad the professor was nice and he looks like someone who's pretty interesting to listen to. especially knowing that he's the director/project leader of global business communications at pfizer *i wonder if he gets viagra for free.. hihih*

he didn't really lecture a lot on the first day. just explaining about the course, his life story, his work, the syllabus, etc. and then there was this guy who keeps asking stupid questions over and over and over again. either that, or he would cut off the professor's sentence and tried to explain things to the class. wtf? i don't need to hear anything from you, guy! i paid to listen to the professor, dammit! efe, one of my group members from last semester's class *lirik deksay hihih* was in the same class. at one point, everyone was so annoyed by him, even efe threw me a piece of paper that says should i kill him or throw him out of the class thru the window??!! hahahah... man, i hope this guy won't keep his annoying habit up till the rest of the semester *i think he just love the sound of his voice* or else everyone in the class will try to get a hand trying to throw him out of the window.

alas the lack of the lecture on the first day, we discussed a bit about telecommunications and how it had impact our lives. five years ago, people didn't have the dependencies toward having a phone in their house, let alone using a cell phone or the internet. but in the world today, some people *especially business people* can't get out of the house with their cell phone. i even know some people who feels as if they're not fully dressed if they don't have their cell phone with them everywhere. isn't that weird? i have to admit that i do have that dependencies too, especially being online on the internet. for those who have chatted with me, you'd know that i'm online most of the time. at work, at home, except when i sleep or at school or in between work and school. checking my email is something i do almost every hour *at work my outlook express is opened the whole time i'm in the office*. in the office, i have my cell phone with me and my regular phone on my desk. sometimes i'd be talking with two or more people at the same time for business purpose. so can you imagine how it is if for some reason the phone doesn't work???

uuhmm...guess what??? it DID happen today.. out of all the place in the world.. !!! it happened at 3 o'clock all over manhattan. the phone line got disconnected, can't call out can't call in. everyone in the office panicked, we thought the phone company cut off our service.. then we called verizon and they said that the service is currently not working all over the city. at the same time the fire alarm rang on our floor. i was on my way to lunch.. the elevator didn't work.. so i have to take the stairs 20 floors down!! damn.. talk about exercising in the middle of the day!! when i got downstairs to the lobby, i asked the building doorman about what happened. turned out that the sprinkler in the basement burst and the fire alarm went off, but they can't contact fire department cuz.. guess what?? the phone line was DOWN!! haaiiyaa...

thank God by the time i got back from lunch at 4 o'clock, everything has gone back to normal. but with the busiest business city like manhattan.. can you imagine how much business opportunities that companies all over the city might have lost from not having a working phone for an hour? could be millions, maybe more .... talk about being DEPENDENT to technology!

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 1/25/2003 06:30:00 AM | [ ]

>> COMPLAIN.. SCHMOPLAIN... *did i do this right?..*

just itsy bitsy of thoughts about things here and there...

* have you ever wonder how it feels like to be inside the refrigerator? wanna try? well then come ooonnn doowwn to new york fucken' city or northeast coast, in general..(i heard western europe is also experiencing the same thing.. bener gak lissa & henky?).. it has been two weeks that we've had this frozen weather. not just freezing.. udah below 0C, nek!! at one point it reached -12C the other day.. not to mention the wind chill yang bener² gila²an dan nambah berasa dingin banget. even my apartment is freezing cold. bener rasanya kayak tinggal dalem lemari es deh!! .. i had to put on heavy sweater, socks, and keep myself under the blanket all the time. my apartment has 4 big windows and a door that leads to the patio. so no matter how hot the heater blows.. the draft still makes my apartment freezing cold. i've had enough of this weather.. kapan yaa bakal panas lagi? panjie, ella, dian, & uga... i so envy you!! and from the weather channel i heard last nite.. the temperature may stay that way for at least another week.... dammit.. i'm cold enough!! on the other hand... i love that we got so much snow this year.. as soon as the weather warming up a little.. i'm gonna go up for snowboarding. woohooo... gonna try out some new tricks on my board *blagu.. kayak yang bisa aja.. hihi..* hehhe.. the truth is.. i'm still trying to figure out how to break when sliding on one of those boards. heheheh....!!

* officially, my school starts today. but since i don't have any class on tuesday, my first day of school starts tomorrow. aaarrrgghhh... i'm not so excited about it. i just wanna be done with it. look forward to the end of the semester in june to mark my graduation and no school ever!!!

* some people (contohnya aan, ajita, velas, & deksay) complain about my small font, especially when they are trying to read my previous entry, the one before last. duh, maap deh teman² .. gak bermaksud bikin juling... hehhe.. kok baru komplen sekarang ya? is that mean i need to get new layout? hohohoho.. bikinin dong!! heheh.. i don't have time to sit down and be creative...

* i uploaded new pictures on my pix gallery.. or for those who can't seem to open the page *lirik nita*.. you can see the pics here. i tried to upload my pics during my trip to florida, but after trying to pick and choose the best ones.. i decided that i won't post them. why? cuz there are too freaking many of them. just imagine... i was gone for 4 days.. there are two digicams between the four of us, each one produced almost 100 pics each day. so that means 200 pics each day and 800 in total. after pick and choose the best ones.. i still have hundreds of them. gileee.. bisa gempor gue nge-uplod nya.. belom lagi ngabis²in space di hosting file nya.. so, i'll figure out a way to do it freely and efficiently. in the meantime... i'm gonna put some of the good ones on my pic of da week. so stay tune for 'em...!

* ada apa dengan blog akhir² ini? pertama blogger sucks.. 4 hari gak bisa publish postingan gue, walopun bisa ke post di archive. trus sekarang udah bener... eehh.. tagboard nya semaput. trus barusan commentingnya tiba² lagi updating. piye toh? masak harus pindah seehhh?? pengen sih.. tapi males ah.. i'm too lazy for that.. besides it's not like it's the end of the world ...

hmm.. that's all my complains and random thoughts for today. thank you for your kindly attention. hihihihi....

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 1/22/2003 01:11:00 AM | [ ]

>> IKUTAN KUIS AAAHHH... *indonesian only*

kali² lah gue posting pake bahasa ibu nih.. soalnya kuisnya begitu adanya... hihihi...

1. film terakhir yang kamu tonton di bioskop?
- can't you tell from my last movie review? itu tuh catch me if you can bagus deh!!
2. buku apa yang sedang kamu baca sekarang?
- alice sebold's lucky. memoir ttg experience alice waktu dia dulu di rape waktu di college dan how it changed her life and her view towards life.
3. permainan karton favorit?
- monopoly.. seru, gak abis².
4. majalah favorit?
- apa aja pasti gue baca. gak ada paporit²an.
5. wangi - wangian favorit?
- yang pasti bukan bau kentut.
6. makanan yang menenangkan?
- anything yang gak bikin gue guilty karena banyak fat-nya.. hehehheheh....
7. bunyi-bunyian favorit?
- yang pasti bukan bunyi kentut.
8. perasaan paling engga enak di dunia?
- pengen pup tapi lagi di highway trus macet gak bisa keluar ato kemana², jadi mau gak mau musti ditahan.
9. apa yang kamu pikirkan ketika kamu bangun tidur di pagi hari?
- damn.. i'm so fuckin' late...!!
10. tempat Fast Food favorit?
- apa ya? tukang jualan kebab di pinggir jalan gitu termasuk fast food gak? fast food kan gak harus burger ya gak? kalo iyaa.. wendy's deh
11. calon nama anak?
- gilee.. cari calon nama suami aja duluuuu...
12. terakhir jalan-jalan ke mana?
- ke florida
13. kalo dapet satu juta dollar Amerika ?
- if i had a million dollars... i'd buy you a house.. if i had a million dollars... i'd be rich!! *hihih.. *
14. kamu nyetirnya cepet engga?
- mayan.
15. bobo ama stuffed animal (boneka) engga?
- gak.
16. badai, serem apa keren?
- tergantung badai apa.. kalo badai nya ujan.. sebel!! kalo badainya salju.. seneenngg... bisa maenan snow *kalo kata finia ini gue masa kecil kurang bahagia... hihi.. iya lah.. waktu kecil gue gak liat snow!*
17. apa mobil pertamamu?
- mobil pertama yang dibeliin ortu buat gue pake - toyota starlet. mobil pertama yang gue beli dengan hasil keringet gue - 1997 honda civic.
18. minuman favorit?
- teh botol sosro, dong ! karena disini teh botol gak ada *gak ada yang di botol* yaa.. snapple yang iced lemon tea juga bisa.
19. selesaikan kalimat ini, "andaikan aku punya waktu,......
- gue pengen keliling dunia
20. apakah kamu suka makan tangkai brocolli?
- suka. gue lebih seneng makan tangkainya daripada broccoli nya.. soalnya kadang² suka serem ada yang sembunyi di dalem kribo nya brokoli *bukan edi brokoli loh*.
21. kalau kamu bisa mewarnai rambutmu dengan warna apa aja, apa yang akan kamu pilih?
- coklat muda tapi gak pirang.
22. kamu sudah pernah tinggal di berapa kota? apa saja?
- brapa kota ya? banyaaakk... coba diitung... pontianak (kalimantan barat), malinau (kalimantan timur), tarakan (kalimantan timur), balikpapan (kalimantan timur), jakarta, logan (utah), providence (rhode island), forest hills (queens, new york), rego park (queens, new york) .. 9 kota tuh!!
23. tempat favorit untuk relax?
- tempat tidur ato sofa.
24. tontonan olah raga favorit?
- gak suka nonton olah raga.
25. satu hal baik dari orang yang mengirimkan ini kepadamu?
- i stole this from aan *wave to aan..!*
26. apa yang ada di bawah ranjangmu?
- debu.
27. dari semua orang yang kamu kirimkan ini, siapa yang kira2 paling cepet jawabnya?
- yang ngasih komen pertama kali.

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 1/18/2003 05:19:00 AM | [ ]

>> IS IT GOOD TO BE SIMPLE?

what is a birthday? what does that mean when you add one year on your age? is that mean you're wise enough? old enough? or mature enough? if it is.. wise enough for what? old enough for what? ok.. ok.. don't answer that! everyone must have a different answer. i do too. but sometimes it doesn't matter what you think. it's what other people think that matters, at least that's how it is in our indonesian culture.

you see, on my birthday, my parents called to wish me happy birthday as many years before. i was still on the road.. on my way back from my vacation in florida so i didn't get to talk much with them. but one thing my mom keeps reminding me.. even following the next phone calls afterwards... she wanted me to start thinking of settling down. settling down means the M word. she said that i'm old enough to start thinking about it and not just focus on my career, education.. bla..bla..bla.. at one point, i agree with her.. but not necessarily to all of her points. yeah, i agree that i should think it more often about settling down but that doesn't mean that i wanna settle down anytime soon. if God wants me too, if it is my fate to get married within the next few months.. yeah, well, so it may *although i don't know how the hell that would happen* .. but i'm not planning anytime soon. do i consider i'm old enough for it? or ready for it? honestly, i'd say.. physically i may be ready.. but mentally or financially, i don't think i am. yeah,.. it's true i've been independent most of my life. i know how to take care of myself.. *even others* and i have a good job and steady income, altho still manage from paycheck to paycheck... *grin*. but i always think that marriage is far more than just that. it's much more bigger than just having the ability to take care of others or have enough income to support yourself. for my selfish reason, i think that i am totally not ready cuz i have other priorities that i want to achieve before i am committed to something bigger. yeah, some might say that i can still achieve those priorities while i'm building my family.. but can they really? can they be achieved without me sacrificing anything? up till now i can't give up anything in my life yet to pursue that so-called-the-next-level.

now, enough about me.. i don't wanna talk about my personal life. what i was curious about is our cultural perspective that a girl has to get married at certain age. a perspective that i still fail to understand it clearly. all my life, i'm always the youngest in my class.. cuz i got in to school early. so, in defense to my mom's perspective of i-should-start-thinking- about-settling-down-soon, i always said that many of my friends are not married yet.. and they're older than me! it can shut her up for a while, but then as the year passes by.. more and more of my friends are getting married.. and eventually it'll just leave me without any defense!! what a peer pressure!! is it just me or is it known that many indonesian girls are obsessed with the thought of getting married at a certain age. *i said many not all, please pay attention!* i have many friends who are already married, are getting married soon, or already married and got divorced with kid. those who are already married or getting married.. as far as i know.. either they don't work and totally dependent to their husband 100% or they work but not so eager to pursue their career any further. they just happy to be where they are. the one who are already married and then got divorced with a kid.. well, without pointing any fingers.. don't you just feel that there's something wrong with that picture? divorced with a kid, and still on your mid-twenties. i understand that divorce is not really something that you can control.. but for some reason, i feel that the youngsters today *saah.. kayak gue dah tua aja!* feel that divorce is just an option when everything doesn't work anymore. just get married soon enough, so that nobody will stare as you as an old maid .. if everything fails.. then there's always a divorce. how wrong could it be?

ok.. before anyone pointing finger at me for negative thinking.. please don't. this is just my opinion and how i see it works and i'm trying to understand the whole deal myself *this is me trying to figure something out, not to offend anybody*. of course, i may be totally wrong. what i'm trying to say is that.. i have no problem at all, when somebody who's absolutely ready to start a new life and see fit to go to the next level with the other half (kayak bapak dan ibu ini or who just recently married like this girl). when they truly believe that the other half is 'the one'. and both are willing to try and work out their commitment to the next level and understand what it takes to build a good family... i agree that it's the next best thing they have to achieve. what i don't understand is the perspective of the girls to get married while they haven't contributed anything to this world. kerja juga belom, tau tentang dunia ini juga cuman seupil.. yang dipikirin cuman kawin.. cuz that's a safety net. i think that's just degrading to women all over the world, unless they don't have a choice *like family problem, but even this i still kinda wonder, cuz kita kan udah gak idup di jaman siti nurbaya lagi...* not to mention, i know some people who got married just because that's the good thing to do, not the right thing to do. for example, i have a friend who got married because she doesn't want the guy to be far away from her. although they're in love.. why rush things? why not settle down at one point then decide that they wanna get married because it's the right thing to do. belom lagi some people got married, sementara si cowok belom kerja.. masih sekolah. ato si cowok udah kerja tapi belom mapan dan masih gak jelas gimana caranya ngasih makan istri sementara yang cewek terbiasa dengan hidup hura². i'm sure you've known these types around you..!! i know i'm gonna get smack for putting all of this in my blog.. but please... respect my opinion.. !! again.. this is only my opinion and my defense mechanism to myself that i can still get away with it.. hiihih. besides, i know that i may be totally wrong!! cuz on the other hand, i totally admire their bravery for doing so. for having a commitment and work on it through the bad things.

now, put all those aside.. i had a conversation recently with my best friend, ap. we were wondering why people around us starting to get married and we - for some reason - do not have a slightest idea why they would wanna do that. i'm sure they have their own reasons that we don't know. and both of us are probably still too ignorant to know what it is. most of our friends that got married are girls. as my example above, none of them works or ever worked before. or they work but their husband doesn't. but they are so eager when they wanted to get married cuz they have this fairy tale idea that a girl should get married to a guy and let the guy take care of the girl. honestly, i have nothing against that idea...!! *enak lagi gue bisa ongkang² kaki.. but why would i?* but as we live in the new century, as evertyhing changes around us .. why do we still have the same perspective as people from centuries ago? women rights has changed. women are not just expected to stay at home and take care of the house and have kids. we have jobs that used to belong to guys. women got higher education. there are women presidents, women directors, women CEOs... etc, and so on and so forth. but why my mom told me not to focus too much on my education and career cuz i might forget about having my own family?

from our conversation between me and ap.. we realized that the difference between us and our friends who got married at young age *kita kan masih mudaaa...! hihi* is that we set a high goal for ourselves. we have seen out there that there are opportunities for women to grow and own the world *hypothetically*. we have the privilige to see what the world can offer us. and cuz we have seen it.. we want it.. and we set our high standards and goals to achieve it. and along the way, we revise the idea of having our own family, cuz we think that there are things in life we want to do first. and this discussion lead to our way of thinking. is it goo to be simple?. we have a friend who's probably the only person we know has such a simple mind. as long as we've known her, we notice that she tends to follow people, does not have her own opinion and just acceptive to what she has and accomplished. she just never set any standards for herself, even if she does, it's not high enough *at least not for us..!! how selfish ya kita? hihi*. i mean she's a smart girl.. and she can go far, but she holds herself back to that society and perspective that if she doesn't get married soon enough, she'd be old maid. so recently, she got married to her longtime boyfriend. we are happy for her. then we found out that financially, she is the backbone of her marriage. her husband doesn't work and just stay at home cuz he hasn't finished his schooling yet. and now she's thinking of having a baby. when asked, how would you feed the baby? she said that they'll manage. i tip my hat off for her courage.. but at the end of our conversation.. ap and i concluded.. maybe it is good to be simple cuz you just don't ask for more and just happy for what you have. maybe because she was just happy or maybe because she doesn't know that there are a whole world out there that she hasn't seen.

again... i may be totally, ignorantly wrong!! you can curse me, hate me, bitchin at me.. it's ur rights.. but please understand, i'm writing this not to offend anyone.. these are just my ignorant-and-still-try-to-figure-out-things thoughts!!

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 1/15/2003 01:29:00 AM | [ ]

>> CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

yep.. i got to see this movie this weekend. after several days trying to catch the still-sold-out shows, i finally caught it on sunday afternoon. ternyata gak enak nonton on sunday afternoon.. too many grumpy old people.. hihihi..
so how was the movie? BRILLIANT!!. i love it so!! this is based on true story about a kid named frank abagnale, jr who conned people in the 60s by doing an impostor of a pilot at pan-am, a sub teacher at his school, a doctor, a lawyer, etc.. etc... all the while he also fraud checks and collected money for more than $4 million.. and he didn't even graduated from high school yet. the fbi *played by tom hanks* chased him all over the cities but he couldn't find him in the system cuz during his con activities, he wasn't even 18 yet. i love the ending, i love the writing... and i gotta admit.. at the end of the movie, i love the frank abagnale's character too *and not because it was played by leonardo di caprio!*. he was charming, charismatic, and really really smart. at one point when he was trying to be a lawyer in new orleans, he had to take a bar exam. many of the real lawyer had a hard time passing this exam *jfk, jr. had to do it three times before he finally able to pass it*, but frank was able to pass it the first time. the question remains during the entire movie.. "how did you cheat the exam, frank?". the answer... you just gotta watch the movie!!!

two thumbs up for spielberg. i'd say this movie is very brilliant *didn't i say that already?*. acting wise.. leonardo plays good to bring the character alive, but nothing extraordinary. the tip of the hat should go to the writers who can create such interesting conversations and bring the characters to live and likeable, despite of the criminal activities he was doing. a must-see movie!!

oh and another thing... the soundtrack was really nice and playful. different from the other movies.. it is based on jazzy notes since this happened in the 60s.. the jazz influence and the oldies was enjoyable during the entire movie.

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 1/13/2003 10:05:00 PM | [ ]

>> STARSUCKS

on one of my late lunch binge yesterday, i stopped by starbucks to get a cup of chai latte. when i opened the door i saw a long line, so i hesitated. but i really want to get a cup of chai latte *namanya juga binge, jadi nya semua juga pengen!!* so i went inside and wait on the line. when it's my turn to order... i noticed that the cashier was this girl who i never saw before *belive me, i'm a regular at this place!*

[me]: can i have a grande of chai latte, please?
[she]: sure. that'll be $3.90.

so i took out my starbucks card and handed it to her.

[she]: that'll be $1.47.
[me]: huh?
[she]: your card only has $2.43 left. so i need $1.47 to complete the order.
[me]: then can you refill my card for $20? *i handed her my bankcard so she can charge it to refill my starbucks card*
[she]: i still need that $1.47.
[me]: well, then refill my card first then charge my latte with the starbucks card.
[she]: can't do that. you have to complete the order. once i refill it, i can't charge it to the starbucks card.
[me]: huh? *gue bingung* why not?
[she]: cuz the cash register won't let me do that. *then she pressed some button here and there.. swiped my bankcard, then the starbucks card. gave me a receipt to be signed*
[me]: hey, how come you charged my backcard for $23.90? i only want it to be charged for $20. i told you that..
[she]: it's for the $20 refill and for the latte.
[me]: but i asked you to refill my card first, then use it to pay the latte.
[she]: i told you..!! the cash register won't let me do that... i have to complete that order first. once i refill it, it can't be used to pay for the latte.
[me]: *sumpah gue bingung abis.. wtf is she talking about?* why not? how the hell can't you use a starbucks card to pay for my drink after i refill it?
[she]: i told you.. it can't.. *grumble grumble with pissed off face* you talk to dan *then she called him.. literally yelled for him* daaannn.. can you come here for a second? NEXT CUSTOMER PLEASE!!

what the fuck is her problem? she totally ignored me afterwards, helped another customer, asked me to move over.. and i'm standing there trying to figure out what just happened. i tried not to make a scene, so i waited for a couple of minutes, but she still didn't help me.. and called out another customer. when i asked her, rudely, she said that dan, the store manager will help me. so finally a young guy who apparently was dan came over. she pulled him away from the cash register and explained what's going on.

[dan]: sorry miss. she's right! once she used the card to pay for the latte and then tried to refill it, the card won't work for the balance of that transaction.
[me]: *masih confuse* but.. but.. i asked her to refill my card first. can't she just voided the transaction, refill my card, then do the transaction again and use my card to pay it.
[dan]: oh then of course we can do that.
[she]: *still rudely* you didn't tell me you want to refill your card. you ordered the latte right away.
[me]: cuz i don't know how much balance i have in my card.
*in the mean time dan was looking at all the transaction receipt*
[dan]: ma'am *sialan gue dipanggil ma'am!! tambah kesel lah gue* we're sorry that it happened. but she already charged your credit card. i can void it if you want, but it'll take up to 10 days until it's being credited to your account. or you can just sign this transaction *which means i'll have the $20 refill on my starbucks card and the latte is being charged to my credit card also* and i'll give you some coupons for this inconvenience.
[me]: gosh.. how the hell did this happen? i'm so pissed right now.. i know it's only $3.90 but ...
[she]: you're pissed? i'm pissed too...

*wah gue langsung tambah panas...udah nyelak omongan gue.. malah marah² lagi* so i looked at her ...

[me]: excuse me? do you see me wearing a fuckin' apron? or standing behind that cash register? you work for this place and i'm the fucking customer. your job is to serve a customer and obviously you didn't know how!! how the fuck can you put me aside and called up another customer without straightening up what's going on.. and now you tell ME you're pissed too? what the fuck is that?

she was going to say something back to me.. but dan stopped her and said..

[dan]: we're sorry.. miss.. so what would you wanna do then?
[me]: fine. i'll sign it and i'll take the coupons. *signed the receipt and saw dan handed out the coupons.. i just snatched it from his hand and walked to the pick up line* bitch!!

i saw dan talked to her about something.. he should fire her ass!! doesn't she get a training that in any ways.. customer is always king!! namanya juga pembeli yaa.. diikutin lah maunya. what a fuckin' idiot. that's obviously no way to treat a customer. then i saw dan came over to me and handed me a receipt. again, he said sorry for what happened and offered me if i want anything else.. free of charge!! i said no and rushed out of as soon as i have my hand on my latte. i just didn't want to be in that place anymore.

after i walked out of the store.. i looked at the coupons. i got three of them and it's free for any beverage i want from starbucks!! woohooo... seneng juga!! you suck... suckeeerrrss...!!!

so the point of the story.. in new york city, everybody's rude. for you to get advantage of it.. speak up and be rude back!! hahahahahha... hahahhaha.. hahahahh.. *dr. evil style*

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 1/11/2003 05:08:00 AM | [ ]

>> DEJA VU

only a week passed in the new year, i already have a problem to face. financial problem. no.. it's not that i don't have money or suddenly gone bankrupt or anything *especially after my recent outings* but it's more of a matter of tuition!! i'm not even back to school yet, goddammit. so you see i just found out that my tuition for spring semester is due tomorrow and i still can't figure out how to pay my tuition without decreasing the amount of money i have in my savings. my strategy was to pay my tuition with my bonus money. last year i got a bonus of somewhat close to a semester's tuition so i figured to just use this year's bonus money to pay the tuition. unfortunately, i don't think i'm getting the same amount of bonus this year. it's less!! *sialan* but then i think i'm lucky enough to have my bonus when many companies i know are either has filed for chapter 11 *bankruptcy* or just didn't have good enough profit to give out bonus this year. not to mention in the midst of the bad year, my boss actually gave me a raise *after i insisted that i really deserved it and bite his head off about it everytime i go to his office.. hiihi..am i persistent or what?*.. so i guess i can't complain of getting less bonus. but the problem is... he gave out the check -- including a little speech of what he expects of us and what we had accomplished *or not* last year -- when i wasn't around *masih di florida*. and now i'm waiting for him to call me up. tapi gak dipanggil² sementara the time is running out and he left early today cuz he's leaving to italy. sialan. terpaksa pake duit tabungan deh. nyicil pake ams.

been pretty busy at work that i didn't start having my lunch until around 4pm. ampe rasa laper gue udah ilang. this afternoon i went down to get a breeze of fresh air and maybe looking for my late lunch. by the time i got out of the building i saw so many people walking on fifth ave. it's not really an extraordinary scene cuz tourists are always flooding the streets on fifth avenue in front of the empire state building but this time it feels different. cuz with the freezing weather, i don't think anyone would walk around. it felt like a deja vu.. like how it was during the morning of september 11. gue udah panik aja so i looked to my right where empire state stands and holy macaroni!! there were tons of cops and cop cars parking in front of empire state building. people are looking toward the same direction as i was and many stopped by. so i went a little closer and saw that there was a police line blocking the area and within the radius of 2 blocks from the building. i asked the cop what happened *thinking it's probably one of those bomb threats thing again*. and he said that there was a block of ice *due to the incredible amount of snow we got this year* on top of the empire state building and they're doing that to prevent any casualties from the ice that are falling off. so automatically... i looked up and .. i didn't freakin' see anything. what ice? hmm.. i think the cop was lying so it won't scare off people. cuz if it is only ice ... why would they close almost 4-6 blocks uptown on fifth ave. along with the roads on the east & west sides of the building? it obviously wouldn't affect those areas.. plus all the businesses are closed and being evacuated ... hmm.. gue curiga banget! but of course there's nothing i can do. so i left and got my lunch. even by the time i got out from work around 7pm, the area was still closed.

another update on my life today.. i finally got in touch with my professor to find out about my grade from last semester. i so wanna get away from school that i didn't even bother to check my grades since the school's out. then i realized they haven't posted it on the website so i contacted my professor. and guess what?? i got an A on both of my classes... so my GPA was four-fuckin'-point-oh last semester ... woohooo... after working my ass off for those classes... THAT'S what i call getting what i deserved!!!

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 1/09/2003 09:00:00 AM | [ ]

>> LET IT SNOW .. LET IT SNOW.. LET IT SNOOOWWWW...

it's been snowing for the past three days *on and off, of course.. kalo gak udah serumah kali tuh snow-nya!* makes me wanna just scrammed in my cozy apartment. after the whole weekend just being a lazy ass at the house, finally came monday morning and that means... back to a boring routine! *sigh*.

'twas pretty busy at work cuz we just moved to a 'new' office. for the past month, the office has been under renovation due to an expansion of space and i finally got my new space. so the theme of the day was reorganizing. tiring but i'm glad with the results. my desk is now facing a big window that looks out to downtown manhattan.. see the building from the window? *click the picture on the left* doesn't it look like empire state building?? hehehhe.. but it's not.. empire state is on the other side of the office.. *oh well*

after work, met up with mar then went to NYONYA for dinner. hitched a ride with ac *who happened to be in the area* in front of madison square garden. mas ky, den, az joined us and turned out they were treating me in honor of my bday. aww.. so sweet of them. you guys, thank youuu!! after dinner, az & mar insisted me to stop by to their apartment for.... blowing my candle on my birthday cake. awww.. i'm so speechless. it was very nice of them. again.. so very thank you..!!

i didn't really make a wish on my birthday or making any new year resolution for this year. heck, i always celebrate my bday as any other day *cuz the way i see it, getting old sucks!! hheheheh.. although i am getting wiser by the year* i wanted my days to pass by as regular as it can be .. and i want to really enjoy every minute of them. i'm not making any plans as of yet of what i wanna do this year although i'm looking forward to a once-and-a-lifetime occassion in may. i'm so touched that i'm surrounded with good friends *although most of my best friends are not around* and i feel blessed to receive their kindness & sincerity. and of course i'd do everything that i could to reply it. mar, az, & rez *the residents of apt. 1f* gave me a sleeveless baseball shirt with the number 12 in the front and the number 03 in the back. these numbers means for my birthday date january 2, 2003. isn't that a clever gift? it was nice. it's alittle thing that i love. it's not based on how big the present is but it's the effort and how it symbolizes their caring and attention. again... thank you so much, my friends!!!

for those who has given me birthday wishes by email, phone, sms, msgs on my taggie & comment box.. i appreciate it so much!!! again... there aren't enough thanks i can say to express my gratitude. thank you...thank you... thank you...

...and the snow still continues on falling outside the window of my cozy apartment as i'm writing this.....
... as i look forward to a 'whiter' new day...



:: sLesTa

>> posted on 1/07/2003 12:44:00 PM | [ ]

>> ROAD TRIP TO FLORIDA

i had a really good time on this trip. it was pretty tiring cuz besides having to be on the road for 40 hours in total, we pretty much on our feet when we're not on the road. but we had so much fun that we didn't notice how tired we were until we got back. just a little flash back on my trip...

SATURDAY | DEC. 28, 2002
after about 12 hrs driving after we left manhattan *and the traffic sucks big time!!* ac, me, den & dim checked in to a hotel at around 3 o'clock in the morning in florence, south carolina. there were so much traffic along I-95 route that we ended up taking the alternative route crossing the cities along the way which was actually much more fun than staying in a boring lane in I-95. got up around 10 o'clock in the morning. checked out from the hotel at 11am and off we go to have an oriental buffet for brunch *we went to different buffets during our trip, and amazingly we always found a good one with such a low price*. after another 8 hours of driving, we got in to orlando and checked in to the hotel around 9pm. unpacked and relaxed a bit then we went to steak & ale's for a steak dinner. although the steak was kinda dry, the dining environment was very cozy, and the side dishes were very good. after dinner, we went back to the hotel to rest. dim & den decided to walk around the city since our hotel was located in the tourist area so there are many places to see. they walked around for about 5 miles when they realized they got lost and took a cab home.... snooopiiiidddd...!!

SUNDAY | DEC. 29, 2002
woke up early as in 7 o'clock in the sunday morning. i can't believe that i actually woke up that early on my vacation. but hey we're all excited that we were ready by 8am and on our way to universal studios. by 8.20am we're already on our way in to the gate. cuz we came in just in time when they opened, they are practically still empty. the weather was very very nice. it was kinda chilly in the morning but as we passed by the afternoon, the weather went up to upper 60s, which was just perfect. we went to different shows withouth having to stand in a long line. the longest we had to stay in line was about 15 minutes. but as the day goes by, the lines were actually getting really long, fortunately, we already saw all the shows with all the long lines. plus we took all the express passes we needed, so it was good. by afternoon time, we pretty much went to all the shows. it was awesome. but we stick around to take some pictures. besides the overpriced food and drinks, we had so much fun. favorite shows: jaws, back to the future, & terminator 2.

MONDAY | DEC. 30, 2002
went to islands of adventure which basically where all the rides are. just like yesterday the weather was really nice and getting hotter as the day goes by. unfortunately, the place is getting crowded. i guess all the tourists are already in town for the new year's eve celebration and they started crowding all the tourist resorts. but we managed to go to all the major rides. hulk was our first ride. it was the roller coaster over a long track *can't tell how long, but it took about 2-3 minutes to finish the ride*. the toon lagoon was awesome. love the comic strips and the caricatures. we skipped jurassic park rides because we don't wanna get wet *and they really make you WET all over*. the best ride? SPIDERMAN. it was a ride and a 3D. if you've watched the movie, remember those people in a sky track? we're basically them who's being saved by spiderman, and it was AWESOME!! felt so reaaalll. we wanted to go in again for another ride but the line was too long.

we left the park aroun 7pm and walked around the city walk then we went to downtown orlando and drove along international drive. we had so much fun that we were thinking to stay a little bit longer in town. but canceled it cuz we had to return the car by friday.

TUESDAY | DEC. 31, 2002
we actually have a 5-days pass to universal theme parks, but we wanted to go to disney world too. so we picked one, EPCOT center. we didn't really eager to to do disney world because we thought we're too old to go to the kids' rides. EPCOT *stands for experimental prototype for city of tomorrow* seems cool enough since it's where the technology and imagination rides are. unfortunately, we were pretty disappointed with the place. it was overcrowded *i guess because tonight is new year's eve*, the line was too long, we even changed the name from DISNEY LAND to DISNEY-LINE. the lines are not just for the rides but for food, for bathroom.. it was just terrible. plus it was a really hot day, so everyone is already in a bad mood. plus we were disappointed enought to find out that many places are more like a museum and there are only a couple of major rides. so we started to think strategically and just go for the major rides... but... the lines was freakin' too long.. the wait time for some of them were even up to 4 hours. the only 2 major rides we wanted to go to were honey, i shrunk the audience and test-track. the first one was a 3D show and the last one was a high-speed car in a track. we got a fast-pass for the first show *although we have to wait more than 3 hrs to get in* and the last one was already out of fast-pass and the wait time was more than 4 hours. we decided not to go in but as we passed by i saw a single riders line that would cut half of the wait time. the only bad thing was just we would go with different people, not with our group. we decided to go with it, so at least we wouldn't miss the ride. and how was it? not as good as we thought, although honey, i shrunk the audience was awesome. we got shrunked and during the show we almost got eaten by a snake, got mice on our feet *we actually felt as if they passed by on our feet.. which was gross!* and got sneezed on by an oversized dog.

after we're done with all the rides and had enough with getting on the line, we just walked around international showcase. this was actually fun and all of us got our excitement back. the international showcase was actually a showcase of different countries in the world with all its different types of buildings, food, and cultures. and it was really fun. so practically we went all over the world . as we got out from a show in france, the rain was pouring hard. good thing i already bought a poncho when i was in morocco so i can still walk through the rain. and we did, cuz we still have several countries to go to. but then we felt weird on our feet. it was soaking wet!! and it was only 8 o'clock. that means we have another 4 hours before the countdown. so we walked over to usa to watch a jazz show *plus it was dry*. we stayed and since we didn't move around, we felt the cold. but we tried to hang on as long as we can. by 11 o'clock we decided to just fuck it with the countdown and the freakin' fireworks and started to walk toward the exit. but as we passed italy we found ourselves a nice spot to see the fireworks and stayed. and it was worth it. the firework was awesome, the moving screen globe was a nice surprise. too bad it was still raining that we couldn't take a picture.

after the fireworks, we went home, got ourselves some supper and all we think about was some dry place under the blanket. can't believe we're already in the year of 2003.

WEDNESDAY | JAN. 01, 2003
checked out from the hotel at 11am but we drove around the city and even stopped by to universal. did some shopping for gifts and souvenirs. by 5pm we're on our way back on the road. checked in to a hotel in richmond, virginia for a night.

THURSDAY | JAN. 02, 2003
got in to new york city around 6pm. unload our stuff at my apartment. got a nice surprise. den and ac got me a new flat-screen TV for my birthday!! woohoooo...!! just what i needed cuz my old one keeps turning blue from time to time and i had to smack it till my hand hurts. hey, i got that TV for 7 years... so whaddaya expect?? after unloading, we decided to just return the van tonight. and maann.. the night was so fuckin' cold. it was freezing. turns out that we're expecting a snow storm and the roads were slippery and many of the highways were closed. so the road trip continues.. what a way to spend my birthday.. but hey, i had a good time!!!

i was so tired and doesn't feel very good because of that rain on new year's eve that i decided to skip work on friday. i never did this before but i just didn't feel like to call in. but i ended up feeling guilty so i called the office around 4pm and turned out they thought i was coming back on monday anyways. but i managed to ask if i can come in on saturday *smack my face.. why the hell did i do that?*. well, our office was expanding and they just moved me to a new room. so i figured i'd rather go to work and re-organize my new office so i wouldn't have to spend so much time doing it on monday.

wow, this was a long one.. but all and all.. i had a good time..!!! what a memorable new year's eve story.

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 1/05/2003 02:41:00 AM | [ ]