>> ONE FULL WEEKEND MEANS LACK OF SLEEP

gue lagi bingung mau nulis apa.. gak tau kenapa jadi kena virus M nih *muaaless bo!*. ide di otak buat nulis sih banyak, apalagi akhir² ini lagi banyak kejadian² asik/seru/sedih yang bisa jadi bahan buat thoughts gue. tapi kok males ya buat ngerangkai kata.. *sah* .. jadi gue nulis daily do gue deh.. nih beneran daily do nih.. *lirik aprian kuya*..

jadi weekend kemaren gue sibuk super sibuk buk.. soalnya kedatengan tamu dari dc, si ibu raver nih. dari hari jumat pagi, dia udah msg gue di YM kalo dia bakal dateng bareng temen²nya.. dan mau nginep di rumah.. sik asiiikk.. katanya bakal nyampe di new york sekitar jam 12-an, jadi pas deh soalnya gue mo nonton underworld dulu ama lucas. gue sih film bertema vampires gini gak terlalu suka² amat, but lucas is really into this type of movies.. since all i do is to show up, i'm all for this movie *wink*.. soalnya tiket dah dibeliin online dan yang biasanya gue yang sibuk sana sini buat ngecek jam berapa bakalan maen dan di bioskop mana.. semuanya diurusin ama lucas. asik deh, sekali² nih gue tinggal show up aja ginih..

so the movie starts at 9.40pm and we got out around midnight (check the movie review here) telpon gue udah rang-ring-rang-ring sejak dari dalem bioskop *sampe sempet jatoh kebawah kursi saking hebohnya ngangkat telpon yang getar² di kantong*, taunya emang temen² gue pada mau lounging gitu. si nad ultah. ya udah, berhubung si finia belom nelpon, jadinya gue ikutan nyusul deh lounging di daerah chelsea *lupa nama tempatnya apa*. padahal gue ama lucas udah capek berat. makan malem pun belom, perut gue dah keroncongan.. tapi kalo nyari makan dulu takutnya keburu telat, dan pasti gue akhirnya minta pulang, karena udah kekenyangan, males mau kemana² lagi kecuali tiduuurr.. hihi.. ya udah, gue susulin aja dulu lah temen² gue tercinta. nyampenya pas barengan ama yang laen. dah lumayan rame. tempatnya seru juga.. dan gue sih enjoy² aja berkat "smoking ban" nya bloomberg. jadinya gue di dalem tempat² begini bisa enjoy tanpa musti sebel kena asep rokok. sip dah!! *kasian tapi yang pada ngerokok musti bolak balik keluar.. duh ribet ya*

tempatnya asik juga.. baru pertama kali sih gue disitu. di belakang bar nya.. ada aquarium guaadeeeee banget!! dan ikan nya nyebrang kesana kesini. lagunya juga asik.. loungy, reggae & hip hop musik.. tapi berhubung gue capek.. gue tepar aja duduk ngeliatin ikan² yang bolak balik di aquarium segede² bagong.. hihi.. eh gak berapa lama, gue ngeliat kaki putiih banget mulai gerak² di atas aquarium nya.. gue kirain itu kaki boongan, eh taunya kaki orang beneran, dan lama² keliatan deh tuh cewek bule nari² di DALEM aquarium nya. whoaaa seru banget!! mana dia pake kostum gitu.. sempet dua kali ganti.. pertama pake bikini yang warna ngejreng.. gold & green kalo gak salah.. dan kedua pake bikini putih yang bikin dia mirip kayak mermaid.. mana badannya putih banget, luwes dan berambut pirang terang. gerak² deh dia dari ujung ke ujung *bisa ngebayang dong betapa gedenya tu aquarium* semua mata pada ngeliatin setiap gerak gerik cewek blonde itu yang muter² dah serasa putri duyung beneran deh!!

setelah hampir dua jam lebih di lounge ini.. gue udah capek abis!! padahal gue gak ikutan dance, tepar aja di sofa sambil ngobrol ngalor ngidul ama orang² yang duduk di sebelah gue *sambil teriak teriak tapi ngobrolnya.. hihhih.. namanya juga di lounge* trus si finia nelpon.. ngasih tau kalo dia udah nyampe di manhattan tapi lagi mau ke brooklyn dulu ngedrop-in temennya 2 orang. ya udah.. gue masih nungguin deh. gak berapa lama, anak² pada decide mau pulang.. tapi yaa namanya anak indonesia.. mau keluar dari lounge, dari restoran, dari rumah orang.. pasti bikin lingkaran besar lingkaran kecil di depan.. trus ngobrol gak jelas.. yang ada malah foto² *duh!* trus akhirnya decide mau makan aja di WO HOP *the infamous 24-hours chinese restaurant in chinatown* by this time, finia udah nelpon lagi dan minta ngasih tau jalan karena dia ama temennya nyasar di brooklyn. hihih.. ya udah, akhirnya minta lucas ngasih tau jalan.. sementara kita cabut ke WO HOP. si finia kita suruh stay di downtown dan ke chinatown buat ketemuan disana aja.

nyampe di chinatown taunya finia udah nyampe.. dadah²an trus cipika cipiki.. yaayy.. akhirnya ketemu lagi ama finia yang ditemenin ama fer. ternyata mereka bdua juga laper berat dan langsung setuju buat ikutan makan. selse makan udah jam 4 pagi. huahah.. kenyang banget!! sampe di rumah langsung ganti baju.. gue udah capek banget.. tapiiii.. .tetep semangat lah kalo buat ngegosip. hehhe.. akhirnya malah ngobrol² dulu di living room sampe nyadar kalo bentar lagi matahari nongol. ya udah gue akhirnya pamit buat tidur.. and that was 6am.

by 10am... az nelpon ngajakin dim sum. duileehh.. mata gue masih berat banget.. gue cuman bilang kalo gue bakal telpon lagi, trus balik tidur.. dan gak bisa.. akhirnya malah maen komputer. trus ke living room soalnya telponnya finia bunyi.. eh taunya dia udah bangun. ya udah ngajak dimsum, taunya pada mau.. eh tapi pada belom bangun juga sih. by the time we were ready to leave.. it was 1.30pm. abis dimsum, kita ke manhattan, jalan² sana sini.. eh sempet mampir ke brooklyn dulu, jemput ona ama tun yang nginep disana. hihi.. sambil nungguin mereka turun, sempet foto² dulu di pinggir jalan.. karena apartment nya deket museum dan pas di deketnya prospect park.. pinggiran jalan tuh mirip banget kayak kebun raya bogor!! huehehe.. jadilah kita foto².. anggep aja beneran di bogor..

sampe di manhattan, kita jalan² di st. marks.. bolak balik trus akhirnya ke soho. ampe rada malem. finia heboh ngeliat barang² paul frank, tapi gak sempet beli apa². jam 10-an dah pada kelaperan akhirnya kita ngantri yakitori di st. marks. mata gue udah merah, ngantuk abis gara² waktu tidur gue dikit banget. abis dari yakitori kita pulang.. sampe di rumah sempet ngobrol² dulu trus nonton "finding nemo".. tapi gue baru nonton separo, mata gue udah gak bisa dibuka.. akhirnya gue pamit masuk ke kamar.

the next morning, finia left pretty early *around 11am* tapi karena gue bener² capek banget, gue baru bangun pas finia mau pamit, itupun dibangunin *soriiii fin!*.. sempet ngasih tau jalan buat balik ke highway.. walopun nyawa gue masih belom nyatu. setelah mereka cabut, gue gak bisa balik tidur lagi.. walopun pala gue pusing abis. tapi gue ada janji buat ke acara "memorial service" adeknya az di columbia university. his brother, an alumni of columbia u, passed away in the beginning of this month over the tragic accident in his home country, brunei. may God bless his soul, he seemed to know how to taste life to the fullest. pulang dari memorial, temen² gue masih pada mau ke kafe di sekitar columbia, tapi kepala gue bener² pusing abis. mana gue belom makan seharian. ya udah gue cabut duluan. sampe rumah tidur.. gue bener² lemes. perut gue laper, pengen makan, tapi badan gue bener² lemes buat bikin sesuatu di dapur. lucas yang ngeliat gue udah lemes abis.. langsung ngoprak ngaprik di dapur and made chicken adobo *semacem semur ayam, filipino style* aahh.. so sweet! abis makan, gue balik tidur.. i stayed in bed pretty much the rest of the night. and guess what.. by monday, i was still having my migraine, i ended up calling sick and stayed in bed all day. oh well...

but that was one hella weekend.. it's been awhile that i have a full weekend of fun like that.. thanks to miss finia. i've uploaded some pictures on my album, including some pics on my new apartment and some from the weekend. so check 'em out, peeps!! especially if you're still wondering how that blonde girl inside the aquarium looks like.. *wink*

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 9/25/2003 06:59:00 AM | [ ]

>> ON THE STREETS OF NEW YORK CITY

salah satu ciri² tinggal di kota gede adalah segala²nya mahal. new york city is definitely one, apalagi udah termasuk top 10 lah sebagai kota dengan biaya hidup yang mayan mahal. tapi alhamdulillah, gue bisa survive disini. gue bersukur punya pekerjaan tetap yang walopun gue ngerasa masih underpaid, tapi cukup lah buat gue hidup tentram, tempat tinggal nyaman, dan bisa makan enak. paling gak, cukup buat memenuhi kehidupan gue disini dan ngebiayai semua kebutuhan gue sehari² dan bisa financially independent dan lepas dari bantuan orang tua. alhamdulillaahh....

dan seperti halnya dengan kota² gede laennya.. new york city itu penuh dengan segala macam kendaraan, yang kadang² suka bikin macet dimana², apalagi kalo rush hour. emang sih gak separah di jakarta, atau negara² metropolitan di daerah asia laennya, tapi kalo dibandingin ama kota² laen di amerika.. kemacetan new york city tuh termasuk lumayan parah. tapi kalo dibandingin ama kota² gede di amerika laennya, khususnya di daerah california yang emang jalanannya gede² tapi tetep suka macet.. ya parahan mereka kali yaa?? kalo di new york.. jalan raya nya emang kecil dan kebanyakan satu arah, paling gede tuh mungkin 5th avenue yang bisa muat 4-5 mobil sejajaran. jalanan laennya kebanyakan hanya 1-3 lanes ajah. dengan keadaan jalan raya seperti ini.. nyari parkir juga salah satu yang bisa dibilang mission impossible di daerah new york city, apalagi di waktu jam kerja. wah.. good luck aja deh nyari parkir.. sekalipun ada yang boleh parkir legally, either susah dapetinnya atau meteran yang mahal banget.. it's virtually impossible deh pokoknya nyari parkir di jalan. satu²nya cara yaa musti naro mobil di parking garage. tapi harga buat parkir di garasi gini tuh bisa mahalnya amit². nyewa parking garage buat sebulan aja harganya hampir sama ama buat bayar rent 1 kamar di queens atau brooklyn. pokoknya amit² deh!!

kalo weekend.. nyari parkir masih tolerable.. walopun masih suka susah juga. makanya buat newyorkers, tinggal di kota ini gak memustikan kita untuk punya mobil. selain harga asuransi mobilnya juga mahal banget (karena kebanyakan mobil di parkir di jalan, soalnya nyewa garasi selain mahal .. susah didapetinnya.. ), harga bensin yang akhir² ini makin ngelunjak, dan bukan sebagai investment yang bagus.. soalnya value mobil itu semakin turun kalo semakin sering dipake.. selain itu, new york city boleh bangga karena sistem transportasi disini tuh bener² gampang banget dan available 24 hrs a day. naek subway bisa kemana², dari ujung brooklyn ke ujung queens, sampe ke ujung the bronx, semuanya terjangkau dengan subway. kalo pun daerah nya jauh dari subway, pasti ada bus yang bisa transfer gratisan. dan satu lagi method transportasi paling efektif.. naek taksi!! walopun taksi tuh nyetirnya gila²an dan suka nyebelin kalo misalnya saling berebutan jalan.. tapi kalo jadi penumpang taksi tuh udah pasti enak karena tinggal duduk, dan nyampe.. gak repot berurusan dengan segala macem kegilaan cara nyetir mobil² laennya yang gak kalah heboh ama supir² mobil di jakarta. but of course, the most efficient way to travel in manhattan is... walking! walking you say? yes.. walking! kalo di manhattan doang sih, kalo mau jalan kaki 10-20 blok masih gak berasa.. asal make sepatu ato sandal yang enak, makanya disini tuh jarang² ngeliat orang pake hak tinggi, kecuali kalo emang niat gak jalan jauh. everyone wears sneakers here, even to work with the formal business suits. kayak tadi pagi aja.. gue udah rapi² nih.. trus pengen pake sepatu yang ada heels nya dikit biar keliatan lebih business-like.. tapi end up nya gue tetep make flats gue karena lebih comfy dan gue udah ngebayang aja bakal uncomfortable kalo make heels.. and i just don't wanna be uncomfortable today!

satu hal lagi alesan kenapa mendingan gak punya mobil di new york city tuhhh.. karena parkirannya dimana² musti paralel. no wonder kalo misalnya pengen ngedapetin SIM di nyc, elo musti di test buat bisa paralel parking (eh, test ini buat di semua tempat sih kayaknya.. ya gak?). kalo di kota² laen mungkin skill buat parkir paralel ini gak terlalu dipake.. di new york city.. you really have to know!! kalo elo berani punya mobil di nyc, elo musti bisa paralel parking kecuali kalo mampu bayar $20-$40 sekali parkir di garasi. males gak sih?

walopun gue suka mikir.. ngapain ya gue punya mobil di new york? well.. let's just face it that it's convenient. jadi yaa, i still manage to keep my car around. apalagi mobil gue udah di 'abuse' sana sinih. dari kacanya yang dipecahin udah beberapa kali, di senggol pas lagi di parkir.. (pagi²udah banyak yang penyok² ajah!), atau bumper nya yang gak mungkin pernah mulus. nah ini adalah salah satu kode rahasia newyorker buat parkir paralel di nuyok. saking sedikitnya jalanan tempat buat parkir (baca: parkir paralel), sudah jadi rahasia umum kalo markir tuh kita bisa nge-bump bumper mobil di depan & belakang. di tabrak pelan aja sih gapapa selama gak penyok. dan biasanya yang punya mobil juga ngerti² ajah. i mean, there's no other way to do it when the parking space is so tight and you just to get in. kadang² kalo ada mobil yang maruk dan parkirnya jauh² dari mobil depan belakang, sementara kalo dipaksain bisa masuk satu mobil lagii.. tu mobil kadang² suka dikerjain.. males juga kan?

dan ini biasanya jadi patokan kita² kalo ngeliat ada mobil yang mau parkir paralel di nuyok. kayak beberapa waktu yang lalu gue ngeliat ada mobil yang mau parkir di daerah deket "reruntuhannya wtc". sebenernya parking space nya tuh gak kecil² amat. i mean, buat kita² yang biasa parkir paralel paling butuh 2-3 kali maju-mundur, but it took them a while. udah gitu, sampe² temennya yang nyetir turun dan ngeliatin mobil² depan ama belakang, make sure that the car won't touch them. gue yang waktu itu lagi ama adek gue.. langsung nebak.. "pasti dari luar kota..." dan bener ajah.. pas kita coba liat plat nomer nya... ternyata mereka dari luar state!! ya pantes aja lah.. kita pun langsung ngegodain mereka sambil teriak.. "just hit it.. bump it.. don't worry about it, they won't get mad!" heheheh..

sometimes.. in new york city.. just watching how people park or walk.. you can tell if that person is a tourist or a newyorker.. makanya kalo misalnya ke new york dan gak mau disangka turis.. jalannya jangan suka berenti² di tengah jalan.. tapi susah juga yaa.. kan kalo mau foto² gimana? heheh susah deh anak indonesia tuh gak bisa kalo liat kamera dikit.. mau anak indo di jakarta, di bandung, di bali, di new york, di california.. semuanya sama ajah!!







dan satu hal lagi yang paling parah adalah kriminalitas yang tinggi buat di daerah residential. temen² gue suka argue kalo misalnya daerahnya itu bagus.. suka di patrol ama polisi, kriminalitas kayak vandalism gitu harusnya gak ada. tapi gue gak percaya itu. menurut gue.. anywhere in new york city.. no matter how good the neighborhood you live in, there's always crime. mobil gue aja udah berapa kali di vandal sampe gue akhirnya give up buat avoid. ya abis mau gimana lagi.. i can only afford to park on the streets! dari waktu gue tinggal di forest hills (salah satu neighborhood bagus di queens) trus ke rego park (tetangga nya forest hills) sampe parkir di daerah manhattan pasti ada aja yang kena iseng. pernah waktu itu satu row di jalan deket apartment gue kena vandal, semua kaca mobil dipecahin, termasuk mobil gue.. for no particular reason. dan pas gue baca koran tadi pagi.. the same thing happened in brooklyn.

a residential area in brooklyn kena vandal. semua ban mobil² in that block di slashed sampe akhirnya mereka musti ganti ban mobilnya semua.. and it costs $85 a pop *that's per tire* kebayang kan isengnya dan how nyebelin that is? sampe² pada ngira kalo ini either kerjaan anak² gang yang iseng ato kerjaan orang yang punya toko ban biar bisnisnya laku.. ah ada² ajah.. but it's nothing uncommon.. it happens all the time on the streets of new york city..

only in new york kids.. only in new york!

ps: although these things happen all the time, i'm not saying that crimes are high in nyc. i believe that nyc is quite a decent safe place. so don't think that living here is like living in a jungle, it's not.. cuz whatever it is, nyc is metropolitan city, just like other big cities around the world that always attrack crimes. over the years the statistics of crimes have been down and vandalisms is only a misdemeanor, it may not cost lives and everything, but it sure is a hassle to fix!

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 9/17/2003 10:01:00 PM | [ ]

>> RACE WITH THE RAIN (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS IN CONCERT)

hmm.. jarang² kan elo dateng ke blog ini trus ngeliat gue nulis "my daily-dos".. karena emang gue emang gak suka nulis daily-dos. abis site ini emang pada dasarnya sebagai tempat gue naro thoughts and ideas, or sometimes just plainly because i just wanna write about something.

tapi kali ini gue pengen nulis daily-do gue.. walopun gak sedetil yang mungkin elo liat di blog² laen, yah.. sebenernya sih karena gue pengen nulis tentang weekend gue kemaren, highlighting trip gue ke jones beach amphitheatre to watch the amazing "red hot chili peppers" in concert.

on friday after work, i already gave my word to beck, lucas' cousin, to join her and her beau, mike, to do a little sport at the shea stadium complex. shea stadium is the home of new york "mets" and the complex also include the tennis stadium that just recently held the US OPEN. we went there to do a pitch and putt which located behind the tennis stadium. if you don't know what pitch and putt is.. it's kinda like a mini-golf but it's not. it's basically an 18-hole golf course, but a mini one. you play just like in a regular golf course, including with its sand beach and pool to distract the players. the only different is that it's all par 3, and the hole is only averaging 50-80 yards, instead of the regular 200-300 yards. but the fun is just the same. actually, i'm not really fond of golf even though my parents are crazy about them, but this 'mini' golf experience has been a wonderful one.. cuz you won't get too tired and you get to do the driving, the putting, and the stress of getting that ball in a hole!

it was quite windy and a little bit cold that night. we started pitching by around 9.30pm. i had my jeans and sneakers with black long sleeve t-shirt and my old softball jersey from my high school years that has a "delapan dua" writing on it. nevertheless, i can feel the coldness. as we walked in to the sixth hole, the coldness was almost disappeared since we have actively moved around *especially when i have to run back and forth finding the ball that i hit god-knows-where .. heheh.. *

we were gonna go to this infamous "WO HOP" -- a chinese restaurant down in china town manhattan -- after the game, but we didn't finish until around 12.00am just as we felt the drizzle coming down on us. we had to cancel the plan and settled for another chinese place nearby. but of course, it sure ain't WO HOP. the food sucks *well the beef steak and the roast duck was okay*, the service was even worst and they hurried us up as they were closing down. totally suck!! we ended up staying in the parking lot making fun of the waiter as we saw him ran to his car and took off. man, he really wants to go home!! no wonder he hurried us up to finish our food and before we even took off from the parking lot, he was already jetted off.

on saturday morning, i woke up hearing the rain was coming down hard. i heard from the weather news that it was going to rain all day today. that's suck!! cuz we're going to watch red hot chili peppers in concert tonight and the venue is not indoor, and it's near the beach. by 3.30pm, den and i were already on our way to pick up jef and off we went to long island. we wanted to stop by at ikea first before we go to the concert. i still have a little stuff to pick up for my new apartment and jef was also looking for something too. by that time, the rain was already slowing down although thick clouds were following around.

cabut dari ikea sekitar jam 6.15pm. mampir sebentar ke mcd, beli makanan buat ngeganjel perut, soalnya kalo udah masuk ke dalam venue pasti mahal. belom lagi beli minum yang harganya bisa sampe 4x lipat. jadi kita puas²in dulu deh makan & minum.

sampe di jones beach, udara keliatan rada² foggy, dan angin bertiup kenceng banget. tapi kita tetep semangat buat nonton red hot, dan gitu juga dengan penonton² laennya. setelah ngantri masuk yang cuman butuh sekitar 15 menit dari parking lot, kita udah di dalem arena konser. sempet beli kopi dulu, trus liat² kaos yang di jual. kita bertiga akhirnya beli kaos dengan design yang berbeda. sempet ketemuan ama beck & mike yang juga nonton konser ini, trus kita dadah²an setelah denger queen of stone age udah mulai maen sebagai opening act nya. that was 8pm.

sebenernya sebelom queen of stone age ada band laennya yang mulai pas jam 7pm, namanya french toast. waktu kita mulai masuk ke arena, kita udah denger suara musik mereka, tapi kita kurang tau band ini, jadi cuek aja. laen hal nya dengan queen of stone age yang menurut gue punya potensi jadi band gede nantinya. permaenan mereka bagus banget, sayang yang maen drum bukan si dave grohl lagi, walopun kita expect the drummer would play as good. emang bagus sih maennya.. bener² ciri khas permaenan si dave, tapi gak sejago dave with his double beat. tapi asli, permaenannya solid banget!! gue aja sampe terkagum².

by 9.30pm more or less, red hot chili peppers nongol. by that time, angin mulai kenceng banget.. as i looked up, the clouds were moving so fast, i was so damn sure that it's going to rain soon. but it held up. and the weather was just perfect. i jumped up and down and sang along with all the songs.. i mean, ALL the songs, that i didn't feel the cold anymore. i only had my jeans, my gola shoes, my nooks t-shirt (short sleeves) and nike zip-up sweats. red hot opened up with "by the way" followed by "scar tissue". too bad they only did one encore and they didn't even play "californication". ah.. padahal salah satu lagu favorit gue. i grew up with red hot chili peppers songs. ketika temen² gue pada dengerin new kids on the block *well gue juga dengerin NKOTB siiihh*, gue juga selalu ngebawa kaset RHCP kemana². saking cintanya, gue hapal seluruh lirik lagu²nya, apalagi yang di album blood sugar sex magik which i think one of their best albums. album² barunya juga gue suka semua. seperti album "californication" which reminds me the best summer of 1999, when i got to see them live the first time at woodstock. album pertama mereka setelah john frusciante akhirnya bebas dari ketergantungan heroin nya, dan album come backnya john. album ini juga menurut gue shows the mature red hot chili peppers, more mature and mellower.. sedangkan album terbaru nya, by the way.. it's the old red hot, still with its punk tunes, better lyrics, and more wise, walopun john mulai nyoba² maen pake effect. tapi pokoknya tetep tobbh deh!! and it was one of my best concerts.. bener² puas *except that i wanted it longer* and it just confirmed i am a big fan. you'll know you're a big fan when you can sing along the entire concert lyrics by lyrics.. and that's what i did!! aahhhh...

pulang dari concert, sempet mampir ke manhattan dulu. tadinya mau nyusulin temen² kita yang pada lounging, tapi berhubung kita pada casual abis.. jadinya udah pasti gak mungkin masuk lah.. so we stirred back to china town, makan bubur di wonton garden. nikmatnyaaa... sampe rumah sekitar jam setengah 2 pagi. ganti baju, nonton tv.. eh ada "dancer in the dark" nya bjork on IFC (independent film channel). i fell asleep somewhere between the movie and the song.. with the rain starting to pour down..

ps: with all the rains we had this weekend, new yorkers may have to watch out for hurricane isabel that may hit nyc by thursday afternoon. last weekend, and all week this week, was the signs of this 150mph hurricane that classify as level 4 (out of 5 levels, 5 being the highest). people are prepared cuz it may cause a lot of damages and losses if it will hit. let's pray that it won't!! it would've been another disaster!! check updates on weather channel. god bless us all!!

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 9/16/2003 12:16:00 AM | [ ]

>> REMEMBRANCE: TODAY, 2 YEARS AGO

waktu cepat berlalu, tak terasa sudah 2 tahun sejak kejadian mengerikan di daerah downtown manhattan, ketika 2 gedung pencakar langit itu jatuh rata dengan tanah. ketika tubuh² manusia bergeletakan dimana² yang sampai sekarang masih banyak yang tidak ketauan jasadnya. dua hari yang lalu diadakan funeral buat the last victim of the tragedy. keluarga korban tidak diberikan kepuasan untuk menguburkan tubuh orang yang dicintainya, tapi hanya sebotol kecil darah korban yang disimpan oleh suatu lembaga ketika dia memberikan darahnya sebagai donor.

hari ini 2 tahun sudah kejadian itu terjadi. it seems it was just yesterday i saw the thick smoke came out of the two towers. dead silent on the street as everyone looking to the south of manhattan, wondering what's going on. gue masih inget semua perasaan gue waktu ngeliat kejadian ini dengan mata kepala gue sendiri dari lantai 20 kantor gue. gue inget betapa merindingnya gue ketika melihat gedung sebesar itu yang di kait dengan gedung² di sekitarnya bisa jatoh dan menyisakan lubang besar di tengah² rimba gedung² tinggi di daerah financial district. gue masih bisa menyaksikan itu semua setiap gue menutup mata, setengah tak percaya itu benar² telah terjadi. gue inget ketika gue khawatir apa yang akan terjadi, bagaimana nasib teman gue yang kerja di lantai 98 di tower 2? gue inget gue harus menenteng buku² sekolah yang berat dan berjalan dari daerah midtown ke uptown, yang kemudian gue lanjutkan jalan kaki ke queens melewati queensboro bridge. gue inget hari itu adalah hari pertama gue masuk kuliah lagi setelah 3 bulan lebih gue liburan summer. kampus gue yang hanya 2 blok dari wtc, harus ditutup selama 2 minggu akibat debris yang bertebaran. gue inget betapa horrifying it was when i visited what's left of world trade center, a week after the attack. i remember the funny smell in the sky, smell of burned dead bodies. i remember seeing cars burried under debris in the parking lot 3 blocks away. i remember how new yorkers are bigger than what they have negatively praised about. new yorkers found its soft side during the tragedy. saling membantu saling berduka dan saling berbagi rasa.

is life really that much different after the tragedy? i think it is. people are more aware of what's going on.. but is it really different?? kemaren pagi, i found this article on the post about someone's opinion regarding the tragedy. it was a wonderful writing, too bad i forgot to preserve the newspaper and threw it out into the garbage can on my way home from work. she criticized the government for having one eye shut and spit on the dead with the other. when we are remembering the tragedy, the government was sad, hurt and tried to do anything to fight the terrorism. but when the ceremony of the memorial ended, everybody goes back to how it was. the government still have a close-minded, ignorant foreign policy and it doesn't seem they will change their mind.

it's two years later. new yorkers are taking more antidepressants. they fear they will be the target of another terrorist attack. they are still staggering from the jobs and money lost after the last one. (from new york times.)

it does not come as a surprise that a statistical snapshot of the city after the wtc attack produces more grim numbers: bankruptcies up, broadway attendance down, the fact that of all the nation's securities job lost in the past two years, four-fifths of them came out of manhattan. these numbers are mere hints of the incalculable pain caused by the human losses.

remembering the victims and the new york's bravest who lost their lives during the attack ... may god bless us all...

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 9/12/2003 03:19:00 AM | [ ]

>> ONE MONDAY MORNING COMMUTE

my heavy eyes slowly opened as i listened to the sound of the rain outside of my new apartment. i don't know if it was the rain or the alarm that woke me up. or maybe the coldness i felt from the breeze through the window, even though my body was wrapped around a thick comforter i usually use during cold winter nights. hmm.. i guess summer is finally over and autumn has knocking on the window with its wet rains and foggy days.

i jumped out of my bed.. uuhhh.. my body is sore all over from the hardwork of cleaning my new apartment over the weekend. nonetheless, i brought myself up. i felt the breeze again through the door as i got out of my cozy bed. i stopped by the window to see if the rain has came through and i saw a pile of water is now under the window. i closed the window and tried to wipe the pool of water with whatever i have around swiftly then off i went to the bathroom to take care of business.

by 8.15, i'm all ready and refreshed. i had my black shirt tucked in the gray pants with my new puma shoes. i don't feel like wearing heels today as it would get messy through the rain. i had my hair pulled back with light make-up and a touch of lip balm on my lips. i walked out from my apartment and waited for the elevator that would bring me six floors down to the lobby. within 7 minutes, i was already in front of the subway station. as i grabbed my morning paper and a metrocard for this week, i saw a friend of mine coming towards me. we said hello, asked what he did on the weekend, a morning chitchat that i usually tried to avoid. i guess i'm just not a morning person.

the train came as we walked down to the platform. after 4 stops, we got out to transfer to the express train. he told me that he'd take the E train while i had to take the F train. F train came by first on the express line so i had to say goodbye to him. the platform was packed and crowded with other commuters and soon after i said goodbye, i couldn't see him anymore as more people pushed and rushed to get inside the train. i just went with the flow and let the push that pressured me left and right led me to get on the train. some people are still pushing to get in eventhough there are hardly enough room for people to stand. i managed to stand in the middle of the train without any pole to hold on to so i had to position my feet for balance so i won't fall when the train moves. i can feel the crowdness but i can't see anything as i was gasping for air. i'm too short among the tall people around me.

then i heard people shouting back and forth, and i looked to my left side. there was this tall man whose bag was in a way of an old lady who was standing in front of him. they were having an argument about the push, how the bag shouldn't be on the floor cuz the room could be used for people to stand and so on and so forth. aahh.. just another argument between strangers. this would go on till one of them got to their stop and that wouldn't be pleasant. the old lady just kept on mumbling and cursing about how rude the guy was. then the surprising thing happened...

"you are right, i apologized" said the tall guy. and that simply shut her up, followed by a quick "thank you" from her part. we all relieved.

in front of the old lady, standing a woman in a full formal business outfit, a typical business woman in new york city. a suit, two bags -- one big bag with god-knows-what-inside and a carry-on purse --, the economist newspaper, and some financial statement of some company on the other hand. she was standing against the train door. next to her, stood an asian looking guy who had his eyes closed the entire time, i guess he was just trying to catch a sleep during his morning commute, something i usually tried but never can standing up. and an indian-looking man stood next to him with a blonde girl holding the same pole standing in front of me. then.. i heard..

plak... plak...

i looked to my right side and i saw one of the lucky girls who got a seat inside this crowded train was being slapped on the cheeks by an older-looking guy who sat next to her. i was surprised to see what's going on but noone seems to do anything although it did catch everyone's attention. everyone tried to look and see what happened. then the old guy wave his hand in front of the girl's face while wiping her face with tissue. then i realized that the young girl was fainting. her face was as pale as snow with cold sweat coming down her forehead. the old guy -- who i think is her dad -- was trying to keep her awake by slapping her cheeks. she needs fresh air. someone handed over newspaper so he could wave it for air towards the young girl, while others were whispering that they should get off the next stop or go to the nearest hospital.

by the next stops.. several minutes later, the girl opened her eyes and seemed to be fully aware although she still looked very weak. everyone had already back to minding their own business then.. and one by one had already gone out as it was their stop to go to whatever they have to be to start the day. by the rockefeller station, the business woman got her bags, looked over to the old lady and said.. "have a good day", she smiled and got out of the train. my stop is only two train station away and the crowdness was already gone, left with lots of empty seats..

i jumped out of the train as the door opened on my station.. walked out through the stairs, the rain has gone but the fogs are still around, but at least it won't be so humid.

aahhh... just another day of monday morning commute in new york city...

i'm ready to face the rest of my monday.

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 9/08/2003 09:02:00 PM | [ ]