>> NO MORE SCHOOL... WOOHOOO...





thank God it's all over..
so now.. those three "expensive" letters will follow my name till the rest of my life...


:: sLesTa

>> posted on 5/23/2003 10:30:00 PM | [ ]

>> JJS = JALAN² SENENG...

hihihi... enaknya kalo ada orang tua ato pengunjung dari kota laen *apalagi yang dari jakarta* yaa, gue bisa ikutan jalan². apalagi yang dateng orang tua jadinya jalan²nya puas lengkap tanpa perlu kuatir bakalan bokek apa enggak.. hihi.. kapan lagi minta duit ama orang tua.. ya gak??

anyways.. sejak kedatengan bokap nyokap gue dari tanggal 3 may lalu, tiap hari kita pasti bikin plan mau kemana aja. tapi lucunya.. nyokap gue itu tukang jalan *psst.. shopping!* sementara bokap gue itu gak demen jalan. sekalipun jalan, dia pengennya hanya ke tempat tertentu dengan tujuan yang sudah direncanakan dan gak bisa pake belok² buat mampir ini itu dulu. yaa.. mungkin juga namanya cowok yaa.. susah deh diajakin jalan². belom lagi di new york kan kalo mau kemana² emang musti jalan kaki. kalo pake mobil tuh siang² ribet.. apalagi waktu kerja. tapi kalo diajakin naek subway, semuanya pada males.. karena keburu capek di jalan. yaa kasian juga sih.. i mean they're not getting any younger.. jadi yaa semua rencana² yang udah kita plan jadinya kita ganti sesuai dengan kemampuan mereka buat berjalan². tapi satu hal lucu yang bikin gue suka tersenyum sendiri.. banyak hal yang menurut gue udah wajar disini ternyata bikin mereka sampai terkagum². dan ini gak pernah gue notice sebelomnya.. mungkin karena gue juga waktu itu masih belom ngeh banget. padahal kali ini bukan pertama kalinya mereka dateng ke new york.. although this is the first time they come for a visit since i live in new york city. hal² lucu ini macem². dari yang mereka jadi terkagum² ngeliat bunga² yang demikian bagusnya di musim semi ini, atau nyokap gue yang sampe sekarang masih gak abis pikir gimana caranya jalanan bisa dibangun di bawah sungai *tunnel*. walopun dia udah pernah ke-expose ama pengetahuan ini dari dulu.. i guess she never really thought about it until we pointed it out and she realized how it happened. atau pas mereka jalan² ke manhattan pas waktu orang kerja.. dan begitu paniknya ngeliat orang banyak berlalu lalang. ya gak panik² amat sih.. bokap gue juga bilang kalo ini masih belom ada apa²nya sama orang² yang lalu lalang di jepang, hongkong, atau korea, dll. belom lagi gue ama adek gue yang jadi capek gara² musti jalan lebih pelan dari biasanya. abis kan disini semua orang jalannya cepet dan kita juga udah terbiasa jalan cepet... nah, pas musti jalan pelan.. kita malah capek.. hihihih...

anyways.. anyhoo...
sejak adek gue lulus²an, hampir setiap weekend kita jadinya jalan² keluar kota.. karena cuman pas weekend lah gue bisa hangout dan ikutan jalan² ama bokap nyokap gue. during workdays kan gue di kantor, dan paling cuman ikutan jalan²nya setelah kantor selsei dan biasanya mereka diajak adek gue jalan² di manhattan atau di daerah queens *ini sih biasanya jalan² nyari bahan makanan buat masak.. hihiiihi.. * dua weekend yang lalu, kita sempet jalan² to my 'old home' providence, rhode island. pulang pergi sih, it's only 3 hours anyways. it was fun, sempet piknik di taman soalnya nyokap gue bawa makanan dari rumah.. mau tau apa aja? hihi.. ada sambel, ada lalap, ada udang belado, ada empal.. pokoknya banyak deh sampe bingung mau milih yang mana.. seperti kata adek gue.. "wah jarang² nih kita makan menu nya lebih dari dua" heuahahah.. that is so true!!



tapi yang paling seru waktu kita jalan² ke luar kota weekend kemaren. jalan² yang bikin bokap seneng, dan nyokap gembira *apa sih?*. yep, we went to see one of the world's wonders... niagara falls. perjalanan kesitu naek mobil sekitar 6-7 jam an. aduuuhh.. bagus sekali pemandangannya.. kita jalan² ngeliat semua attraksi, dari maid of the mist yang naek boat ngedeketin falls nyaa.. cave of the winds yang kita turun sampe ke pangkal tempat jatohnya air dan ngeliat dari deket betapa kerasnya air yang jatoh.. and you can just hear it roar just as you stepped in the park. belom lagi kalo malem ada light show yang memancar ke arah air terjunnya dan bikin pemandangan jadi bener² menakjubkan. niagara falls state park is in the american side and it's the oldest state park in the US. it's so beautiful inside.. nyokap gue sampe terkagum² ngeliat tulips and all the beautiful flowers inside the park. and of course pemandangan di depan mata amat sangat menakjubkan.. sayangnya kita gak bisa nyebrang ke canada yang cuman dibatesin ama jembatan. canada keliatan amat jelas di sebrang river... so close, yet so far.. tapi sayang gue ama adek gue gak punya visa yang buat masuk amerika.. karena visa kita sama² udah abis.. oh well, maybe next time..



foto² sebenernya banyak banget tapi sayang gue masih belom sempet untuk ngerapiin jadinya belom bisa di publish deh. tungguin aja lah tanggal maennya, pasti gue kasih tau dan yang pasti gak perlu pake password.. hehheh..
oiyaa.. ngomong² ttg niagara falls.. tempatnya kan di upstate new york, yang denger² katanya di sebelah rumahnya dian pras *brisik dong di.. hihihi?* so of course sampe di sana gue telpon nih si dian.. sayang cuman dapet voice mail dan dia baru dapet msg nya keesokan harinya pas gue udah balik lagi ke new york city.. yaaa, gak jadi lah kita "susu laut" nyaa... (btw, congrats for your graduation ya di.. )..

BETA GAMMA SIGMA
ngomong² graduation.. kemaren, di sekolah gue.. tepatnya the lubin school of business at pace university had an award ceremony and induction for the new beta gamma sigma members. gue sih gak dapet award apa² dari department cuz i hardly involved in the campus activities, but i was invited to be a member of beta gamma sigma, a prestige business community for those who are the best graduates, graduating at the top of their class and recognized within the business community around the world. heheh.. kesannya bergengsi banget yaa.. ?? well, it was indeed. and i was honored to be invited because i am graduating with the GPA at the top 20% of my class. every year, pace university invites the business graduates who are at the top 20% of the class.. dan tergantung dengan overall GPA in each class.. the cut off GPA bisa ganti². kalo taun lalu only those who has an average GPA over 3.62 were invited.. this year the cut off was higher at 3.75. and i'm so lucky i was among them. so yesterday, we had the ceremony for the beta gamma sigma inductees, we pledged and given a pin and a blue-and-yellow cord to mark our membership to this community. so during the commencement, we would be recognized as the beta gamma sigma member cuz we will wear the pin and the cord. again.. sayang foto² nya belom gue upload.. so next time. my graduation will be held tomorrow at radio city music hall and that will end my journey in the master's program and hopefully not in my academic experience walopun gue udah males sekolah lagi. but who knows kalo gue niatan pengen ngambil sekolah laen.. hehhe.. and hopefully, the end of this 'journey' will be the beginning for the better road to the future... amen..!!

ps: happy birthday to my darling 'friend', hanzky. best wishes for you..haann...!!

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 5/20/2003 04:59:00 AM | [ ]

>> JUST A LITTLE UPDATE

hey peeps... i'm still alive.. altho busier than ever!! rada² semi hiatus gini blog nya.. abisan gue emang bener² gak sempet buat update. my parents are here and my time has been occupied with taking them around in between my work and school. not to mention i still have a final paper that i need to submit before my graduation. yeah,.. that's right!! i'm graduating this year, finally!!

last friday was my brother's graduation. his graduation was held in continental airlines arena, in new jersey. the home of the nets. acaranya .. yaa seperti acara wisuda laennyaa... amat sangat boring.. although i'm happy for my bro. seru juga sih tapi ngeliatin anak² yang pada mau lulus²an semangat 45 dan mencoba segala macem trick supaya acara wisudanya rame... tapi tetep aja penuh dengan pidato ini itu. tapi yang paling berkesan the pre-commencement ceremony that was being held with the night before. ini sebenernya acara yang diadain khusus dari school of business. major nya adek gue sih sebenernya mis, tapi di sekolahnya major ini masuk dalam school of business, dan mereka ngadain acara award ceremony gitu tanggal 8-nya. it was a smaller ceremony with only the business majors students.. and some award ceremony for those who got the dean's award. and my brother was a recipient for the dean's award for his outstanding service in his major. seru sih.. dia dapet plaque gituu.. dan namanya dipanggil sebagai penerima penghargaan dan boleh duduk di stage dengan penerima award laennya... it's a good thing my parents were there so they can be proud to see him standing in front of the audience and received the award. on top of that, he was also graduated with cum laude. so, congratulations, den!!

the rest of the weekend, we went out of the city. the weather on sunday was so bad that i ended up sick on monday and stayed at home. this allergy thing is really killing me. my eyes are puffy and red and itchy all the time, i got cough, nose bleed and runny nose.. also continuous sneezing. even though i've been taking the seasonal allergy prescription every day.. it doesn't seem to matter.. that's it!! i'm going to see my allergist again soon... and he better prescribes something good. cuz right now.. i feel like hell ... and i want to enjoy my time with my parents without suffers...

ada yang tau gak obat yang paling bagus buat allergy apaan? i tried allegra before.. it works but it gives me nausea that i couldn't take it anymore.. so i stopped and switched to zyrtech. at first it was good, but now... nothing happened!! kinda tried out claritin for a couple of days... it only works for the itchiness in my eyes but my sneezing goes on uncontrollably... so i stopped.. now.. i switched back to zyrtech.. my sneezings stop, but my eyes hurts like hell.. aduuuhh.. nyebelin banget sih hidup di musim semi.. padahal spring is my favorite season.. tapi kalo gini terus.. i'd rather go back to winter.. whuaaaa... serba salah deh jadi manusia...

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 5/14/2003 03:03:00 AM | [ ]

>> CITY OF MUSEUMS

summer time is coming, it means it's time to go outside and enjoy the weather.. and of course, the city! one thing i like most about this city is its rich art & cultural activities. tiap minggu itu pasti ada acara art yang seru². sayangnya kesibukan gue selalu rada susah untuk tetep ngikutin. makanya gue paling seneng kalo summer udah dateng. workload seems to be pretty light and of course i got no school, no more!!

one of the activities i enjoy in this city is going to the museums. museum di new york city itu jumlahnya banyak banget and very entertaining, informative and so much fun to go to. coba diliat museum apa aja yang gue tertarik untuk datengin summer ini..

GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM located in upper east side, on fifth ave and 89th street to be exact. museum ini terkenal dengan arsitekturnya yang dibikin oleh frank lloyd wright. salah satu ciri khas dari gedung museum ini yaa.. spiral walkway nya itu.. yang kalo kita masuk, selama ngelewatin spiral itu, banyak dipajang hasil karya dari artis² ngetop dari 19th & 20th century, seperti brancusi, braque, calder, chagall, robert delaunay, giacometti, kandinsky, klee, leger, miro, picasso, dan van gogh.

kemaren ini gue pengen banget ke museum ini karena gue pengen ngeliat exhibitionsnya ttg "moving pictures". sounds interesting kan? tapi sayang gue bener² gak punya waktu, sekalinya sempet, gue udah terlalu capek dan gak mood buat keluar.. makanya this summer i really have to vent myself for those times i couldn't make and make my way to this youngest new york city landmark.

MoMa it stands for museum of modern art. quite obvious that it contains of any modern art exhibitions. it currently has 3 locations. moma queens located in long island city (a temporary location while the one in 53rd street manhattan is being renovated), the museum is open with a full exhibition schedule. the rich and varied collection of the museum of modern art constitutes one of the most comprehensive and panoramic views into modern art in the world. from an initial gift of eight prints and one drawing, the Museum of Modern Art's collection has grown to include over 100,000 paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, architectural models and drawings, and design objects. moma film located at the gramercy theater in lexington avenue and 23rd street. in this location, they usually have screenings on contemporary art films. hence, it owns some 19,000 films and four million film stills, and MoMA's library and archives, the premier research facilities of their kind in the world, hold over 160,000 books, artist books, and periodicals, extensive individual files on more than 70,000 artists, and archival materials related to modern and contemporary art.

PS1 CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER located also in long island city, PS1 is one of the world's oldest and largest organizations devoted solely to the advancement of contemporary art. housed in a hundred-year-old romanesque revival school building in Long Island City, PS1 presents an extensive program of exhibitions and events in its nearly 125,000 square foot facility. it also operates the clocktower gallery in lower manhattan, maintains a vibrant national and international studio program, and offers a diverse range of educational programs. ini salah satu must-see visit gue summer ini soalnya gue masih belom sempet² juga kesini, padahal sama² di queens dan sering gue lewatin. apalagi PS1 juga punya hubungan kerja sama dengan MoMa sejak january 2000 (damn, has it been that long? kemana aja gue slama ini yaa?? perasaan baru kemaren...) the first significant collaboration between PS1 and MoMa was widely acclaimed and showcased the work of more than 140 emerging new york-area artists, reflecting the diversity and dynamism of the metropolitan area's artistic community. seru banget yaa kedengerannya?? menurut yang udah pada pergi sih emang seru banget.. dan gue bener² penasaran pengen kesana.. so this summer is definitely a must!!

wah, pokoknya kalo ngomongin ttg museum kayaknya banyak banget yang bisa dikunjungin di new york. kalo mau .. liat aja nih listnya. banyak kan?
sampe sex museum pun ada, walopun kata temen gue yang udah kesana, katanya sih kurang seru, and honestly gue juga kurang terlalu tertarik sih untuk mampir kesana.

dua museum lain yang gue suka banget adalah american museum of natural history yang isinya ttg segala macem exhibisi ttg kehidupan di dunia, particularly in america. dari history baseball di amerika, sampe evolution character language, kayak chinese characters or japanese characters, etc. di museum ini juga ada hayden planetarium yang juga dikenal dengan nama rose center. seru banget karna bisa ngeliat berbagai macem eksibisi ttg space. dari space center, screening the big bang theory, the black hole, etc. juga ada space theater nya yang selalu nyuguhin macem² atraksi seru, seakan² elo ikutan journey ke luar angkasa.

museum terakhir yang gue juga selalu seneng pergi metropolitan museum of art atau yang biasa dipanggil the met. eksibisi disini seru² banget. dari yang ttg pearl, chinese antique crafts, sampe waktu itu pernah ttg rock history yang isinya barang² nya rock star yang dipajang. seru banget. lukisan² dari monet, dan artis² laennya juga banyak dipajang disini. yang seru tuh mereka juga ada eksibisi kayak rumah² dari tiap negara di tiap jaman, seru banget ngeliatnya.. eh, ada juga loh eksibisi dari indonesia. oh and last but not least, met juga punya extension exhibition at the cloisters. this one's a must see. the place is located way uptown but it's worth to visit. disini dipajangin art collection from medieval europe. one of the most important thing that most people don't know, building ini diresconstructed piece by piece from its original sites in southern france. makanya it feels old and gak tau kenapa yaa.. pas gue kesitu berasa rada² 'hunted', mungkin karena saking tuanya...

wah gak ada abisnya deh kalo ngomongin museum. sayang banyak anak indonesia masih banyak yang kurang suka dengan aktifitas ini. sejak kita kecil di indonesia sepertinya selalu punya impression kalo jalan² ke museum itu boring and definitely not fun. well, wait till you go to the museums in nyc.. nah, mumpung summer.. kalo pada mau mampir ke nyc, jangan lupa mampir ke museum nya yaa..

*have a good weekend, peeps!*

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 5/03/2003 12:30:00 AM | [ ]