>> THE ART OF COOKING, MEANS OF SURVIVAL

udah beberapa posting terakhir banyak yang comment dengan menu makanan yang gue bikin di sini, walopun gue sebutin tanpa maksud showing-off.. heheh. some were surprised, some were amazed that i know how to cook. *lirik blub* hhehehe.. and about a week ago i just had a chatting session with one of my best friends from high school. his mom makes good cookies, especially those for lebaran. even though his mom was declared to have breast cancer several years back, she is slowly gaining her health and now she is busy with the bunch of orders for lebaran. so then we got to talk about cooking.

i told him that i've been cooking a lot these days, merely because i'm watching my spending. i have spent quite a lot during the move to my new apartment, and now that i'm getting ready for this greencard process, i have to supply quite a bit of money here and there. so i figured.. i have all the time in the world to cook after work, so why don't i? it's not like during those times i was still busy to go to school after work and got home tired for spending so much time outside. so i got the time to make food and brought some for lunch to work, sometimes to the point that i feel like i'm eating food as if i were in indonesia. one time my lunch menu consists of: tempe goreng tepung, ayam belado, kangkung belacan, with teh sosro kotak. hihi.. lengkap banget kan? besides i've always thought that homemade meal is healthier, cheaper to make and for me, it satisfies me, it relaxes me to cook.

i never learned how to cook back home. although i was born in a family who loves good food. my mom is the best cook i know. i mean, i'd try my mom's recipes and compare them to others, i always feel that hers fit my tongue best. i once read that everyone developed a sense of taste in their tongue since they were young so that any food your mom made, since it was your first time tasting it, it's always going to be the best for you. well, maybe that's the case, but i do know that my mom always gets lots of compliments from others, including my friends, for all the food she cooks. she likes to try new recipes, modify them so it'll taste better and most of the time she is successfull of doing so. too bad, my bro and i still couldn't convince her to open up a restaurant.

anyways, back to my learning how to cook. yeah so.. i never learned how to cook cuz i remembered how my mom used to told me to get out of the kitchen. she said that my existence in the kitchen only to make her kitchen messier. i never understood what she said, and i never said anything although i always tried to do something, contribute something while she cooks. be it cutting the vegetables, wrapping some rice in banana leaves, or just watching her do it all.. i even learned to wrap ketupat just so she can use me in her kitchen. but i never really cooked anything, i just don't think she has the patience to teach me. now that i know how to cook myself.. i totally totally understand why she did that, although i wish she didn't. you see, it turns out i got all these talents from her, the talent to taste, to create something and figure something out while cooking. i also got the habit of making sure everything clean. i hate it when someone is in the kitchen with me while i'm cooking. i want the kitchen entirely to myself, and when i'm done, the kitchen will look exactly the same as i started.. meaning it's totally clean. my mom used to say that a good cook knows how to handle the kitchen and can finish a meal without making the kitchen looks like it's been used. i always remember that and that's how i cook. i always leave my kitchen with an empty sink.

i've learned how to handle ingredients, ways of cooking and familarize myself with different fruits and vegetables, even meats, poultry, fish and seafood. not to forget my mom now is giving me a lot of tips on cooking. i love being in the kitchen and cook. these days, i cook from my own recipe unless if it's a specific food like rendang, gulai, tauco, belado and so on and so forth. the fact that i come from padang would probably helps me of knowing what types of food out there that i can try to cook. i mean, just like the other day i cooked tauco, funnily, not everyone know what it is.. but it's always been my family favorite. noone even knows what a tauco is, let alone thinking of cooking it.

my conversation with that friend of mine continues about how the world changes and how people's views on modern women and the art of cooking. living and working in modern society, i know how people perceives to cooking as something not only women should do. and i totally agree, cuz i think in this day and age, both men and women should know how to cook. it's just not fair to let the wives, the women, to clean the house and to cook while she also has to go to work. i remember someone close to me said that if he ever gets married, he won't let the wife works. and that... my friend, i have to say.. it's bullshit and sexist!! if the woman has a high academic degree and has a professional career or just plain good at what she does outside of her house, why can't she build her career?? i know he said that because he wants to be the provider in the marriage, but that is so old school. i think the term of the provider now is not only to provide the family financially. but also to work with the wife hand-in-hand.. don't you think? well i'm not married yet, but i know that's what i want when i am. and girls.. there's nothing sexier than watching a man.. cooking in a kitchen!!

but on the other hand, i don't think that even though a woman has a bright professional career in her shoulder, it gives her the right to not know how to cook. that.. i'd say, is laziness!! i know that cooking may not comes as easily to some people, but at least you try, cuz believe me.. it's not that hard!! practice makes perfect is the key. i am totally disagree that a woman knows how to cook is a woman who should stay at home and just cook all day.. oh my, NO WAY!! or that a woman who knows how to cook has to be those who are already married. no no no..!! i think a woman should know how to cook just like a man should know how to cook, cuz it's the basic nature of our being. we need to eat, and we need to know how to make the food so we can eat. i know that some people would rather spend money and eat outside.. totally nothing wrong with that.. but you should know what you eat. cuz let's face it, sometimes they charge an arm and a leg just for something you can make yourself far more cheaper.

there is no excuse of a career woman not to learn how to cook, although i understand that everyone is different. i plan to cook no matter where i am and how successfull i am, cuz i love doing it. if i think back.. if i were in indonesia during my adulthood years, i would never learn how to cook because i'd be spoiled with the pampered life and ready-to-eat-cuz-your-maid-cooked-it-for-you lifestyle. i admit, my learning how to cook here was just a way of survival, trying to taste the traditional indonesian meal that i missed so much, but now i get the hang of it, i probably know how to make it.. well not all, but enough not to miss it so much anymore. it's not my way to survive anymore, it's my way of living.

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 10/30/2003 04:56:00 AM | [ ]

>> WEEKEND & FIRST DAY OF RAMADHAN

hmm.. gue masih pengen nulis daily do ah.. abis lagi terlalu sibuk untuk nulis yang lebih serius. weekend gue ngapain aja yah? let's see..

>> MARS VOLTA CONCERT

well, hari jumat gue tadinya mo nonton school of rock ama dis, tapi karena dah keburu janji mo ikutan nonton mars volta yang walopun udah sold-out tapi ternyata mar punya 2 extra tickets gara˛ jef dan temennya mar gak jadi ikut .. ya udah jadi lah kita ngantri dingin˛ masuk ke roseland ballroom. sampe di dalem udah ada yang maen, opening act nya gitu. setelah selse kita sempet muter˛ dulu, soalnya di roseland semua berdiri, lama˛ ternyata pegel juga. eh pas band berikutnya maen.. kita rada bingung.. kok opening act lagi yah? but what the hell, kita coba enjoy. yang nyanyi orang jepang gitu with a high cute voice. tapi lama˛ kok jadi aneh dan gue jadi sebel dengerin mereka.. thank God they finally said goodbye. trus sambil nunggu orang˛ udah pada mulai desek˛an.. yaelah.. tenggelem aja deh gue di antara bule˛ berbadan gede. asli stage yang cuman 15 feet gitu udah gak keliatan gara˛ kealangan ama orang˛ giant. ya udah akhirnya kita coba nyari tempat duduk di pinggiran. sambil nunggu, gue udah ngantuk banget. si den aja malah dah tidur di tempat duduk panjang. trus kedengeran ada musik mulai lagi.. eh eh.. kok bukan mars volta juga sih?. ya ampun, ternyata mereka masih belom maen juga.. and yet another opening act. untungnya kali ini mayan bagus. walopun gue udah capek banget. kira˛ jam 10an gitu baru deh mars volta keluar. untungnya kita duduk di bangku panjang, jadi bisa naek dan ngeliat ke stage langsung tanpa kuatir dihalangin ama orang˛ giant. malah kayaknya view nya bagus banget, lebih jelas. untung juga sih gue gak di tengah˛ lantai soalnya ternyata di depan pada moshing gituh.. whuaahh..

mars volta maennya sih mayan bagus. aksi panggung nya keren. energetic sekali, tapiiii... gue sebel banget mereka maennya cuman bentar. after all these times i waited.. tired and sleepy but still waited.. eh keluarnya cuman sebentar.. ih, menyebalkan sekali deh. abis itu kita mampir dulu ke gyro yang walopun udara di luar dingin banget, ngantrinya amit˛ panjang abis .. tapi berhubung bokek dan cuman itu yang murah dan enak.. kita tungguin deh hampir sejam-an di kedinginan malam *sah* .. heheh..

>> SAHUR PERTAMA

spent all day at home, trus ke tempatnya may soalnya diundang makan gratis buat ultah adeknya. abis itu lanjut buat nonton. anak˛ pada semangat nonton scary movie 3, tapi gue sumpah .. males abis nonton film itu!! tapi karena gue gak mau kesannya misah banget, jadinya gue ikutan aja.. while looking around for other movies yang mulainya bersamaan. eh taunya di theater sebelah lagi maenin mystic river (2003). wah kalo itu gue mau. setelah kompromi dikit ternyata dis mau nonton itu juga.. daripada nonton scary movie 3. ya udah.. nonton lah kitaa.. ternyata pilihan kita emang tobbh!! filmnya bagus banget.. cek aja review nya di movies411

abis nonton, kita lanjut ke manhattan soalnya mau ketemuan ama temen lama gue yang temennya ibu ini juga di st. louis. ketemuan di wet bar di midtown W hotel. setelah itu kita pada sepakat buat sahur bareng, soalnya tadi sore udah ngecek ke mesjid dan mereka confirmed kalo puasanya mulai hari minggu, walopun menurut islamic society of northern america (isna) ramadhan doesn't start until monday. sempet bingung bentar, but then i figured since i'll go to this mesjid for the id prayer, yaa gue ngikutin mesjid aja lah.

trus kita sahur bareng di chinatown, unfortunately, the service sucks!! soalnya kita kesana jam 5, tapi karena daylight savings time, jamnya udah dimundurin sejam, jadi masih jam 4.. eh tapi mereka kan in reality udah kerja kelewat sejam.. jadinya mereka dah mo tutup deh.. jadi diburu˛ gitu makannya. yah yang penting niat untuk sahur lah..

>> SUNDAY, 1st DAY OF RAMADHAN

udah mulai puasa nih. tapi gak berasa kayak puasa gitu deh, soalnya kalo weekend gue biasanya baru makan telat banget. tetep aja gue mulai mikir mo bikin apa buat buka. so, gue belanja bahan˛ buat buka and i ended up making kolak pisang buat buka dengan teh manis hangat dan ikan tauco buat dinner. yummeehh... mar, jef & az came just in time for dinner. it was a good first day of ramadhan!!

malemnya gue sahur ama mi goreng dan teh hangat manis. sempet bingung soalnya den bilang kalo imsak nya jam 4.15, sementara gue jam 4.30 masih makan. trus gue pikir˛ lagi kayaknya gak mungkin jam segitu imsaknya.. lah jam 5 lewat aja belom sunrise, gitu loohh.... lagian gue juga gak tau jadwal puasa jadi kan yang penting niatnya yaa...

>> MONDAY, 2nd DAY

udah hari kedua nih, walopun banyak yang baru mulai puasa hari ini. di kantor mayan sibuk. baru hari ini berasa kayak puasa. mana godaan udah mulai nongol dari pagi. pas gue lagi di subway, gue baca buku AKAR nya dee.. eh pas hari itu dapetnya cerita yang bagian erotiknya.. *duh*.. sampe kantor ada telpon bolak balik dari orang yang sama untuk hal yang sama berkali˛.. mending dari 1 orang.. ini dari 3 orang!! sumpah itu bawaannya jadi keseeeelll mulu. alhamdulillah gue coba nahan ajah dan pas jam 5, gue buka ama chai latte dari starbucks dan 2 pcs of samosa (sejenis pastel tapi isinya kentang, makanan india gitu deh.. enak!). sampe rumah, gue istirahat bentar. trus masak buat dinner. bikin stir fried spinach with quaill eggs, teriyaki beef short ribs, dan udang goreng tepung. simple but yummyyy...

sahurnya gue rada telat bangun.. dan males manasin makanan, jadi gue cuman nyemil udang goreng tepung ama teh hangat manis sambil maen komputer. trus dilanjutin shalat subuh.. abis itu kok gak ngantuk lagi ya?? ... ya udah gue mulai ngaji aja. mayan dapet 2 lembar.. mana tulisannya kecil˛ bener.

>> TUESDAY, 3RD DAY

sekarang gue lagi di kantor. masih rada sibuk, tapi lagi break bentar. sekalian mikirin ntar mau buka ama apa yaa?? hmm... ke K-town enak nih.. so, ciaoo..

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 10/29/2003 03:46:00 AM | [ ]

>> RAMADHAN MUBARAK

aduuhh... udah beberapa hari ini kok di new york dingin mulu yah? asli deh! tadi pagi aja udah 35F gituh.. that's like almost at freezing point, malah denger˛ harusnya in some parts of new york state gitu udah ngerasain snow flurries.. ohmigod!! i can't believe they're already talking about snow in weather channels and it's only freakin' october!! males banget deh halloween dingin˛ ginih.. gak enak banget, gak bisa ikutan parade di greenwich village. tapi lucunya, in other parts of america, there's still some area that's still in 3 digits temperature *lirik arb3i* hm... mendingan panas apa dingin yah? actually i prefer cold weather, cuman duuhh.. not this early!! what happen to fall season, the best season when the weather is not so cold and not so hot... *sigh* tapi denger˛ sih it's getting warmer again.. although this constant-up-and-down temperature would only make people sick. literally...!!

anyways.. gue masih rada males nulis anything serious in my blog. so please mind my rampage and daily dos.. hehe.. i haven't even had a chance to update movies411. i figure.. since i left it at kill bill vol. 1 (2003), people should still read it, so if you haven't, please do.. it's such a wonderful movie! besides, for the past week, i haven't seen any new movies. well, i saw original movies in cable or some b-rated movies, but nothing worth reviewing. but hopefully, i'd get a chance to watch the two movies i got from netflix or even maybe watch another new upcoming movies, so i guess there wouldn't be any review until the next 3-4 days *cross my fingers*, maybe even with new and more interesting posting...

until then.. lemme take this moment to wish all muslims a ramadhan mubarak. ramadhan is right around the corner and as always, i'm waiting excitedly. i've always loved ramadhan month.





minal aidin wal faidzin. since i haven't seen many of you in the real world, i guess saying mohon maaf lahir & bathin is not quite right, karena kita belom pernah ketemu secara lahiriah.. but i'd say it anyways.. karena lebih afdol.. ya gak sih?

so MOHON MAAF LAHIR & BATHIN.. if i have written anything that might make you upset, mad, or even hurt your feelings directly, please forgive me. i'm only human. tak luput dari kesalahan. i want to embrace the month of ramadhan with clean plate ..

bulan ramadhan adalah bulan yang penuh rahmat dan berkah serta bulan penyucian jiwa dan hati. perlu hati yang bersih dan jiwa yang tenang untuk menjalani ibadah di bulan yang suci ini. semoga ibadah dan amal kita diterima olehNya.

amiinnn...


[picture is courtesy of dgreetings.com]


:: sLesTa

>> posted on 10/24/2003 07:05:00 AM | [ ]

>> WEEKEND DOs

yah udah hari senen ajah.. udah seharian gue di kantor bolak balik kayak orang sibuk *yah emang sibuk sih* gara2 komputer gue masih belom beres juga nih. well, udah sih ... tapi gue temporarily dikasih sony vaio, cumaaann, masalahnya it sucks! karena set-upnya tuh masih ngaco, dan komp gue yang lama masih ada di meja yang sama. so lo bayangin aja betapa crowdednya meja gue. duh! dah gitu .. orang IT nya pake gak masuk hari ini, jadi gue gak bisa ngomel2 deh ke dia. soalnya hari jumat kemaren gue udah ngomel2 sampe akhirnya dia minta gue sabar karena dia sengaja naro komp gue yang lama sebagai backup, soalnya banyak data2 yang ada disitu *believe, they are important files* yang dia mau keep dulu, just to make sure everything goes well smoothly with the new computer before he threw out he old one. ah, kenapa sih lagian naro data di komp gue??

anywaysss... maaph, seperti biasa gue lagi i hate monday syndrome nih.

ngapain yah? karena komputer yang rada ngaco di kantor, gue jadi gak punya waktu buat nyari ide buat nulis blog dengan thoughts gue, walopun sebenernya ide sih banyak. cuman biasanya gue tuh nulis pas lagi lunch ato at the end of the day before i go home, sekalian kill time ajah. tapi gara2 komp gue rada2 ngaco jadinya gue kerjaannya bolak balik terus... boro2 mau nulis, mau ceting aja susah.. *loh?? ini kerja ato maen yah?* hihih..

jadi gue nulis daily do's aja deh, yang gampang.


FRIDAY

dari sore gue dah ditelpon ama anak2 pada ngajakin nonton texas chainsaw massacre. duuuhh.. pengen banget. tapi besok tuh mau ada acara tahlilan 40-harian buat adeknya az, dan gue janji mau bikin dendeng belado buat acaranya. masalahnya gue belom belanja, dan kalo gue belanja besok paginya.. wah alamat gue gak bakal masak! males bo! soalnya musti bangun pagi buat belanja daging. jadi dengan amat terpaksa gue nolak ajakan temen2 gue buat nonton *sigh*.

pulang kantor gue janjian ama adek gue buat jemput di toko tempat gue belanja makanan di daerah elmhurst. tapi gue malah mampir dulu ke macy's. rencananya sih mau beli eyebrow liner di chanel, tapi pas masuk eh, kok lagi ada clinique bonus time. wah tidak boleh disia2kan.. jadinya gue mampir lah di clinique. liat2 bentar.. nyari2 lip gloss, soalnya menurut gue lip gloss di clinique tuh mayan bagus2 dan mayan affordable lah. kebetulan lip gloss yang biasa gue pake *dari clinique juga* udah abis.. jadi pas lah. gue liat hadiahnya sih biasa ajah.. standar gitu deh.. dapet lipstick, dapat mascara, eyeliner & one eye shadow, body butter, skin care products, ama tas make-up warna biru. tapi yaa namanya hadiah gratis.. ya why not?? hihi..

trus pas lagi liat2 lip gloss gitu, salah satu consultant nya nanya can i help you?? biasanya sih gue jawab aja, "no thanks.. i'm just browsing around" tapi ah gue pikir, kenapa enggak.. minta tolong ajah, soalnya gue juga gak tau sih mau nyari apa. eh end upnya gue jadi dapet makeover.. hihi.. seru juga sih. diajarin make eye shadow yang bener, make eye liner dan eyebrow liner yang rapi.. and of course, gue nemu lip gloss dengan warna yang pas banget buat tipe gue!! natural color. not too light, not too dark. it's called berry flirt lip gloss. i love it! and akhirnya gue jadi beli eyebrow liner di situ ajah.. gak perlu ke chanel, soalnya sekalian.. lagian di chanel tuh mahal bo!

pas gue udah bayar, malah dikasih satu lip gloss lagi ama make-up consultant yang nolongin gue itu.. baek deh!! mungkin gara2 gue muji dia kalo that lip gloss really looks good on her, jadinya dia ngasih lip gloss yang sama ke gue.

keluar dari macy's rada2 ujan.. langsung naek subway dan untung masih sempet buat belanja daging. dijemput ama adek gue, trus sampe rumah mulai ngerebus dagingnya buat dibikin dendeng. rumah gue jadi bau rebusan daging. uuhh..


SATURDAY

ngapain ya? oiya.. gue mo bikin dendeng belado. sempet nonton2 tipi dulu.. online bentar.. trus baru mulai masak jam 2-an. by 3.30pm, dendengnya dah jadi. rumah gue jadi bau minyak ama bau belado. wah bakalan lama ilangnya, gue buka kaca aja gede2. trus sisa2 belado yang di panci gue campur ama udang goreng, menu makan siang gue ama adek gue. yummeeehhh...

by 6pm, gue udah siap2 buat ke acara. cuman pake jeans ama atasan warna coklat, gue, den, ama man, berangkat ke rumahnya defit & bas. ternyata belom ada siapa2 kecuali kita bertiga ama dis yang ketemu di depan building dan the 2 hosts, padahal kan mau jamaah maghrib. dan maghribnya jam 6.15. ya udah, kita tungguin ampe jam setengah tujuh, masih belom ada yang dateng.. trus kita akhirnya decide untuk shalat magrib duluan, sebelom waktunya abis.

setelah maghrib beres.. yang punya hajatan dateng.. nungguin mereka shalat maghrib dulu, baru akhirnya kita decide untuk mulai makan. abisan masih banyak yang belom dateng, dan kalo kita nunggu ampe semua dateng, trus baca yaasin bareng.. wah bisa keburu laper banget! dendeng belado gue laku keras.. sampe akhirnya disembunyiin ama defit yang pengen disimpen sendiri ama dia buat ntar2.. hihi.. kebetulan si az beli makanannya dari ibu tukang nasi bungkus padang.. jadi menunya pas. selaen dendeng belado gue, ada gule kikil, ikan *gak tau ini ikannya diapain*, sate padang, rendang, dan gule sayur, ama es duren yang dibawa ama rif. wah nikmat deh. malah terakhir, im dateng bawa sop buntut, sayang gue udah kenyang banget buat bisa ngerasain.

abis makan, kita shalat isya bareng trus tahlilan dengan baca surat yaasin rame2, trus baru dilanjutin dengan dinner ronde ke-2. hehehhe..


SUNDAY

bangun2 gue langsung sebel ngeliat tv di kamar gue lagi2 rusak. nyala sih,.. tapi jadi biru ungu gituh. akhirnya gue ngajak lucas buat nemenin gue ke best buy. sempet mampir dulu ke circuit city di sebrang rumah, tapi gak nemu yang murah. abis buat naro di kamar doang, yaa mendingan cari yang murah aja lah.

akhirnya nemu di best buy. mereknya gak jelas gitu sih.. KLH digital kalo gak salah. it's a 20" digital tv and it's about 100bux. untung baru dapet rejeki, jadi masih bisa lah kebeli. lagian gak perlu yang bagus2 amat.

abis masang tv baru, lucas cabut soalnya musti ke brooklyn, gue di rumah gak ada kerjaan akhirnya iseng bikin combro. hihihi... mumpung baru nemu tuh singkong yang udah diparut dijual di toko asia, jadi gak perlu capek2 marut. berhubung disini gak ada oncom, jadinya gue pakein tempe ajah. ini resep nyokap gue waktu kita masih di kalimantan duluuu banget! kan di kalimantan tuh susah nyari oncom, jadi dulu nyokap suka bikin combro tapi pake tempe yang digoreng kering.. yaa mirip2 dikit lah.. daripada gak ada. hihi..

setelah itu di rumah aja gak ngapa2in.. sempet uplod2 pictures, lanjutin nonton tv, trus tidur deh!

yaaa sekian saja cerita weekend gue yang boring banget ini.. kok lo mau sih baca ampe abis?? huehehehhe...

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 10/21/2003 03:21:00 AM | [ ]

>> HIDUP ITU INDAH.. ENJOY IT!

about 3˝ years ago, i was lucky enough to have my name listed as one of the employees to be sponsored for a green card by my company. although excited i knew what i was getting into. i knew how long it'll take until i get that permanent resident status. and in the mean time i have to stay at the same company, which was one of the reason for my hesitance then. but i went ahead with it. i figured, i had nothing to lose anyways. since i am being sponsored by the company i work for, the process is somewhat different than the regular one. for 3˝ years i waited just to get my position at work is being approved by the department of labor. after the 9/11 tragedy, america's economy had hit bottom, resulting the rising of unemployement figures. and this reflects on my application too. my lawyer and my company worked back and forth to build a case and rebut the rejection after rejections by the department of labor to issue a certification of labor for me. from the high unemployment rate, incorrect salary figures, to qualification.. they were all the issues the labor department used to turn down the application or at least to move the case to a regular track which takes forever to finish. and through all those issue we were able to rebut them and get an approval for the next step.

the last time we sent the rebuttal letter for my case was at the end of july. i haven't heard anything since.. until last monday, this casual conversation took place....

my boss (k): "you know that labor application we file for you.. "
sLesTa (sL): "yeah.. what about it?"
k: "they rejected it."
sL: *lemes, tapi belagu cuek* "oh the labor certification? so they rejected huh?
k: "yeah"

then i kinda saw a little grin on his face

sL: "so that's it, huh? so what am i gonna do?"
k: "yeah so what are we gonna do about you?"
sL: "oh well.. i guess i'll just go back home.. " *grin*

then he told me to come with him to his office, in which he finally told me that my labor certification has been approved. so the next step is to proceed the case to the INS which shouldn't take longer than a year *cross my fingers*. oh what a relief, but yet still too fucking long.. at least i'm among the lucky one!!

right after the good news, the next day i went to the office, my computer crashed! *d'oh* well not exactly crashed but apparently the microsoft system registry was non-existent, which is weird cuz i never deleted it. so the setup on my computer was gone, and all the new software i installed for the past 6 months couldn't run. the good thing is none of the information was gone except my email accounts. but the weird thing is my default email address was still in my outlook program along with the most recent emails i've received, except that the account setup is all messed up. it couldn't go to the network which means it was not connected to the internal server and the internet, as well as the company's database. oh and the worse part, i lost my southpark desktop theme .. huuhuhuuu... untung gue sempet foto kemaren ini.

so right now, i have to migrate to another computer in which i can't function fully cuz all my files are in my old computer and i couldn't connect to it since it's not connected to the network. the IT guy is waiting for another software so he can re-install everything as well as saving the files i have in there *which is mostly the most important files in the office*. so till then, i can't touch it.. just for precautious measure..

eh tapi enak juga sih, jadi gue rada˛ nyantai dengan alesan.. "well, i shoulda done that but i can't get to the file until my computer's back.. so you have to wait.. " hihi.. that seems to be my favorite lines these days!

moral of the story: "hidup itu indah.. menunggu itu menyebalkan.. daripada kesel mendingan enjoy ajah!"

*hihi gak nyambung yah?*

update @ 10.00pm:
i just went to see my lawyer after work and received another bad news. due to my current application process, i would have to wait until the INS received all the paperwork, including my visa revalidation & advanced parole paper before i can even think of travelling outside the states. and this will take about 3-4 months. and this means.. i cannot go to celebrate new year's eve in bali as i have been planning for the past 3 months. goddammit!! oh well.. so i guess i won't be coming home till next year and so i need to find another place to celebrate new year's eve.. kemana yah? hmm..

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 10/16/2003 04:28:00 AM | [ ]

>> THERE THERE ... (RADIOHEAD IN CONCERT)

i woke up pretty early that day. didn't want to be late at work. besides i was excited to go through the day until it's time to meet thom.. hihi.. by 7pm i was on the elevator, out from my building. stopped by at cvs across my office building to browse around and kill them waiting for my bro to come from home. around 7.30 i was already walking two blocks down from the office, to madison square garden. i saw a big sign on top of the MSG showing that it was a sold-out show. since i still haven't be able to reach my bro who's still on the way by subway, i headed to starbucks and ordered myself an iced vanilla latte. i sat down on one of the tables and tried to finish a couple chapters of remy silado's kerudung merah kirmizi until my brother arrived. a little after 8pm, we were on our way inside the MSG.

after a brief hassle of bag-search, in which i hid my camera all the way down inside, we passed through the merchandise store where they sold the authentic radiohead items. we stopped and looked for a nice design.. deciding which one is good, hopefully bought one. most of them were sold for about 30 bux, a regular t-shirt price on these types of events.. quite expensive, actually. my bro was fixated with one shirt with only writings of the lyrics from "we suck young blood" song, while i was contemplating of getting the t-shirt with radiohead in south park character in it. what a perfect t-shirt for me. so we asked for the size.. and they didn't fucking have the size for me. they do have a small size, but men's size.. so it would still too big for me. but my brother got his. i was still thinking about the shirt, even after we went up to go inside.. but hey, i know it'd be just a wasted 30 bux. oh well..

as we went inside, we heard the opening act LOW was already performing. we didnt' really know who they are, so we weren't rushing to go in. and the band was OK, nothing extraordinary anyways. we got to our seats and it was just a perfect view. just one level above the floor, looking straight to the stage. this is probably the best seats i've had for concerts in MSG. this was actually my bro's second time watching a concert at MSG, his first was also radiohead's, two years ago.

around 9.30pm, the band came out with a bang, singing 2+2=5 from their newest album. it was great. people started jumping up and down on their seats.. thom came out with his jacket on, hyped out along the stage. after a couple of songs, he took off his jacket and still no words from them. they just keep on playing their songs. the only words i heard from thom in between the songs were.. "new york city..." followed by the roar of clapping hands from the audience.

i couldn't describe exactly how the night was. it was just fantastic. they performed really good.. thom just couldn't stand still. he'd be dancing *raver style* before the song, while singing, then he'd run to his piano, then jumped again.. sing more then off to get his guitar. the energy was tremendous. he was dancing and moving even without the music on. jonny would showed off his amazing abusive guitar skill, phil would stand up and started dancing when the drums sound wasn't needed for a mere several minutes.. ed would sing along with thom in between his polite guitar plays.. and colin? well.. he was mostly hiding behind the three men and just stood in front of phil's drums playing his bass.

honestly, not until recently i listened to their songs again. again? yes.. again! i used to listened to them when they came out with pablo honey album. then i just didn't follow them as much. however, their new album was quite different, at least for me. i love hearing the different background beats they have on this album.. it was kinda remind me of beck a little (which i later found out that the album's producer was the same person as two of beck's albums, nigel godrich). and the beats brought the garden raving. in many split seconds, i thought i was in a rave party instead of a radiohead concert.. but then thom's voice would snapped me back. it was not a bad thing, actually because it was really really refreshing. the sounds of electronics in the beginning of the songs, the beats and all.. i even saw someone who was playing with the glow stick in the middle of the concert. so it wasn't just me who thought so.

according to my brother, who is a big fan of radiohead and saw their concerts twice so far, radiohead hardly plays any songs from the old albums. they don't even play their hits that made them famous in america, like creep. they only sing their new songs. i even thought that their playlist was almost as similar as the list on their new album. but hey, i got no complains. i had a very good time, indeed.

the climax of the show was when they sang fake plastic trees, well at least that's how i thought. it was an emotional song and then they closed the deal with there there which they performed with jonny & ed abandoning their guitars and beating the drums. at the end of the song, thom said good nite. but we all know too well that we won't let them go home without an encore. and they did came out again and started singing some of their old ones *sorry, i'm just not good with song titles*. the first encore song was played with thom on a piano. and then we saw the screen just focusing on his face on the piano that he wasn't playing yet. he was singing with his face looking straight to the camera *which apparently was hidden in the piano* and giving this flirtatious look and winked his eyes and moved his finger in between his singing, coding to the audience to roar. he was just so adorable.. and it was a good setup, cuz on the screen we saw him as if we're watching him in a video clip, but it was live!!

the second encore he came out and performing more of their songs from previous album *again, can't remember the titles* and left after thom was singing on his keyboard while jonny & ed was playing with some small box on the floor. apparently they were recording the song thom was singing.. and then they mixed it and play it back while thom is finishing the song then finally got up and left .. though the music is still playing, coming from the mix jonny & ed were doing.. then finally, they got up, said goodbye and left the stage.

it was an awesome performance.. and i can't wait to see them again!!

pictures can be seen in my album. and if you want to hear them live, check out the 3 songs we got to record:

>> backdrifts
>> my iron lung
>> paranoid android

please be advised that the pictures are very dark and small because we have to resize it so it'll fit our memory disk in the digicam. enjoy!!

additional concert:
after the radiohead concert on thursday, me and a bunch of friends went to see dave weckl, performing live in small venue in downtown manhattan on friday. he is a progressive jazz drummer who is just amazing. he is quite famous among the jazz artists and his skill was just really really incredibly good. he was just awesome. since it was a small venue, we got to see him very close and my bro actually got a picture with one of his idol drummer. the pics will come soon.

don't forget to check out my concerts list to find my next concerts. ;)

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 10/12/2003 06:15:00 AM | [ ]

>> STUDY HARD OR PLAY HARD??

on one of our chatting session recently, one of sLesTa.com's regular who happens to be my junior in high school *hi kiddo*, asked me why i chose to get an education in the US and not in my own country. she is 3 years my junior so practically, we were never in the same school at the same time. when she asked this question, i knew what my answer would be although i still find a bit of a hard time to answer it. i knew i wanted to come to the US for my study because i wanted to get a better education. my reasoning was that i would be able to taste foreign education from the country that has one of the best education program. another big reason was that i want to be independent, although not yet financially. i have had been independent for almost two years when i graduated from high school and i want to feel that independence even further, in a foreign country with its foreign language and cultures despite of my mom's disagreement at the beginning.

the chatting session got me thinking, especially we were looking back about our days when we were still wearing those white & grey uniform. she has her own memories as i have mine. then we talked about our teachers, our school in general, the subjects we studied, and so on and so forth. one thing that i thought as funny now is that i was in science major when i was in high school. i remember my days was filled with numbers, be it in math class, chemistry class or physics class that was regular to my brain in daily basis. my classmates used to joke around having our face so stressed out from those numbers and formulas that by the time we have our break in between classes. i thought i'd be an engineer or a doctor and so on for all of these studies in chemistry and physics.

instead, i took finance in college. totally different than what i have been exposed to while i was in high school. i remember that when i took my first economy class in college, that was actually my first economy class ever in my life. but i managed to do good. so now i'm wondering.. what was the reason i took science major in high school and ended up in finance?? why didn't i study economy in high school?? or why didn't even go for engineering in college??

well it's funny how life takes you, isn't it? you just can't really take everything for granted. i've always loved chemistry and math and physics.. and i did want to be an engineer before. however.. when i got in college, i thought.. where would i go with my engineering degree?? like many other teenagers in my shoes then *maybe even until now*, i didn't know what i want to do. all i know i want to make money when i grow up and i want to be financially independent, maybe have my own business someday. so i chose the faster way... to get myself a business degree. do i like it or not? that's a different story..

but i always wonder... so what those major division in high school are for?? it's obvious that it doesn't really help much so they now changed it to a general science (IPA) and general social (IPS) majors 3 years after i graduated. but does that still help??

our society likes to label people, even from the beginning, even here. one kid is considered a 'good kid' when s/he finished class with flying colors. then all high hopes are abundant upon him/her. and when one kid always makes trouble, immediately s/he labeled as the 'trouble kid'. same goes all the way to high school. i remember that despite of my love in chemistry and physics and math, i love studying sociology. but i dare not to choose social major in high school because being in that class means that i'm not smart enough to be in the science major, which of course totally not right!! it's no longer about a division of major according to what the student likes to be or likes to do, but it's more of a prestigious and an image of it represents.

"ah gue males masuk fis (IPA) abisan pasti stress.. kasian banget mereka udah belajarnya paling repot, pulang paling lama, istirahat paling terakhir.. bla.. bla.. bla.. "

i totally understand that.. iya, kenapa kita musti pulang telat dan kerja lebih keras?? kenapa yang anak˛ sos (IPS) bisa nyantai˛ sekolah?? kok jadinya anak fis sepertinya gak enjoy ama dunia sma ya?? hmm... and mostly those who are considered the 'trouble kid' always been placed in those social classes. emangnya karena mereka bandel jadinya mereka gak bisa mikir?? kenapa gak dimotivasi buat belajar instead of getting punishment to stay out of school *suspended* because they were late or make trouble??

ah dunia pendidikan di indonesia memang belom mampu menilai ini semua. wajar saja karena menjadi guru hanya menghasilkan gaji yang tidak dapat memenuhi keluarga, if not hanya pas˛an. padahal guru adalah pekerjaan yang paling mulia. in the US, there were always a concerned about overcapacity classes. teachers were expected to have 30-35 students in each class.. and they said that it's overcrowded!! gimana dengan murid˛ di indonesia?? i remember i used to be in a classroom with almost 50 students in it. talk about overcrowded then!!

belom lagi situasi di kelas. di indonesia.. semua murid harus patuh kepada guru, and teachers are always right. so no matter what s/he says, you just agree with it. we weren't taught or at least encouraged, to speak up, ask questions or open a discussion if we thought the teacher's point didn't make sense to our young minds. i remember those days when my teacher used to hate me for correcting her pronounciation in english class. she used to yell at me and told me to stand up in front of the class if i keep correcting her. even though i was just asking whether that particular word should be pronounce differently. i'm not saying that my english was good back then *even now.. hehehe* .. but i got the opportunity to take courses outside of school that taught me a better pronounciation than what was taught in class.

in the US, students are encouraged to speak their minds, ask analytical questions, engaged in discussions as part of the learning process. we are encouraged to understand about a subject, not just to memorize the theories and formulas. this way we learn and remember what we were taught about and it stuck with us longer... if not ever. we are required to write research paper in most of the classes in college, some are even with presentations.

despite all of that, i do still believe that indonesian kids are smarter than kids in america. the problem is that indonesian kids didn't get a better approach on education. i see kids today are more engaged to find out what's the trend this season than what it translates to the consumer market, etcetera and so on and so forth. peer pressure is higher back home. those who are the popular kids are the ones who enjoy to live their life than stuck in front of the books, at least for the most part. as a young person, we should enjoy our life, responsibly. meaning study hard, play hard.. it shouldn't be just one or the other.. don't you agree?? :D

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 10/07/2003 04:47:00 AM | [ ]

>> WHEN OUR EYES GO BLIND..

for centuries, we've all heard about the never-ending discrepancy in the middle east, particularly between the jews and the muslims, israel & palestine. as far as i can remember, the issues were never resolved. being a muslim that i am, i tried to understand the issues although as far as i can think it would never get resolved unless the hate and 'holding-on-to-the-past' still on the table. but the issues are just far more deeper than that.. and honestly i don't have the power to think of how it could be stopped..

... but i do wonder

jews and muslims seem to be hating each other in their own ways. being a muslims in one of the most jewish-populated city, i do find myself a bit careful when talking about my beliefs to people. it's not because i am ashamed of who i am, it's because i know people would judge you just for what you believe... something that should never happened. on the other hand, i work with these people everyday. in my office, just like any other offices in this melting pot city, there are jewish people, hindus, other muslims, and of course christians. amazingly, we never have discrepancies on our beliefs. maybe because our belief is not exactly the focus of our everyday beings, but we do work together hand-in-hand. in fact, my jewish co-worker would actually tell me about his jewish practice, the different between the orthodox and conservative jews, and what things to be done during yum kippur, when he have to light the candle before chanukkah, or when he has to leave early to celebrate the rosh hashanah with his family.

at the same time, he'd ask about why muslims have to fast the entire month of ramadhan, he'd respect my practice when i have to stop my work and spend as little as 15 minutes to break my fast, in the middle of a busy end-of-day activities. or even when we have a company's party, our christian director would order a non-pork dish, just for the muslims (and jews, except that my co-worker is conservative that he'd prefer to be sinned that not eat bacon or pork chop, as he'd claimed!), non-beef dish for the hindus, etc, and so on and so forth.

.. i sometimes wonder why can't this happen in the bigger picture??

well, i can't be naive. there are people out there who misunderstood religion altogether. people who'd fight in the name of the religion, or the fanatics, and so on and so forth. or those who just think their race, their religion is better than others. i'm not here to judge. it's not me, and it's not in my power to do so. to me, it is your choice, your decision to choose what you believe in, just respect mine as i respect yours.

but i always wonder.. this hating discrepancy between the two countries based on different religions.. it goes back centuries ago. when a bomb goes off on one side, they make sure someone would pay by throwing another bomb to the other side. it's an eye for an eye law. when will ever stop? it only leaves the world with one eye and eventually blind altogether. what a horrible picture!

over the weekend, when the jews are celebrating their new year called rosh hashanah, a palestinian killed a family who was celebrating, killing their infant baby. in the gunman's defense, it's for those times the israelis had made their life miserable.. and because of the killing, the israelis now have reason to do something back.. and goes on and goes on to a neverending war.. when will this ever stop? wallahu alaam..

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 10/01/2003 12:03:00 AM | [ ]