>> FIVE DAYS TO EID MUBARAK

thursday, nov. 20

i have a date with "the white stripes" tonite at roseland ballroom. it's a extended date because i was supposed to see them on july when they postponed the concert and extend it till tonite. woohoo.. pengen liat gimana mereka manggung 'live' nya. gue pergi ama adis. sebenernya gak boleh masuk bawa kamera dan tukang geledah tas juga dah nemuin kamera gue. tapi berhubung malem itu dingin banget dan gue pake jaket tebel, jadilah gue selipin ke dalem jaket tanpa ketauan. padahal ama orang bule gede itu gue disuruh ngantri buat nitipin batre kameranya.. hihi.. *bandel* ternyata banyak yang gak tau band ini. jadi "the white stripes" itu band yang cuman terdiri dari dua orang, jack & meg white. meg yang maen drum dan jack yang maen gitar & piano sambil nyanyi juga. waktu mereka baru mulai ngetop duluu.. gue gak terlalu pay attention although i have to admit they make such catchy songs. trus di album kedua.. tau dong lagunya "seven nation army" yang beat nya catchy abis itu?? disitu lah gue mulai ngelirik mereka dan mulai sering dengerin lagu²nya sampe beli albumnya segala.

dari pertama gue dengerin mereka, gue selalu penasaran... i wonder if i see them live, they'd bring a third person to perform their songs. soalnya kayaknya minim banget punya band cuman dua orang dan mereka bisa bikin lagu yang mayan catchy dan musinya mayan rame. gak yang cuman akustik doang gitu. coming from me who's not a music player, only music listeners... gue penasaran aja, although i was so sure that they'd bring a third person along to play the bass. tapi ternyataaa.. the entire concert was only them two. jack is definitely the brain of the band and meg is only a 'sister' who happens to play drums with limited skills. but on their latest album, she sings. and she has quite a nice voice, but jack is da man!! jago banget deh maen gitarnya.. bener² two thumbs up! during the entire concert, i kept looking on the VIP rows on the balcony.. gue pengen nyariin renee zellweger soalnya jack white kan pacaran ama dia.. walopun gue gak tau kalo mereka masih pacaran apa enggak. besides, the white stripes is a well-known band among the celebrities and has many celebritiy fans, including kelly osborne, but i didn't really find anyone i recognize among the crowd.. although i took many good pictures of the concert. it should be uploaded soon in my album.

friday, nov. 21

opening night for gothika. from the first time i saw the trailer, i knew i wanted to see it. jadilah gue rame² bertujuh nonton film ini after work. how was it? sereeemmm bo! liat aja review nya.

abis nonton, kita mampir dulu ke congee house. makan bubur ayam. enak deh, tobbh banget!! sambelnya juga pedes banget lagi. abis dari situ udah jam 2-an. gue udah capek banget jadinya ikutan pulang aja. sebelom pulang gue ngerayuin adek gue buat pulang bareng soalnya gue takut di rumah sendirian gara² abis nonton "gothika". hueahah.. parno deh gue takut sendirian. padahal gue sebenernya orangnya gak penakut² amat.. tapi sekarang suka takut gitu, apalagi kalo abis nonton film serem.. iiihhhh... tapi sayang rayuan gue gagal, soalnya adek gue baru pulang jam 7 pagi, itu pun gue juga gak nyadar karena dah tidur dari jam 3.

saturday, nov. 22

jam 11 pagi gue udah bangun. masih ngantuk banget. tapi gue udah janjian ama adis mau nonton "love actually", the second time for adis.. so we watched it on matinee at 12.30pm. filmnya baguuusss bangeeeettt... such a romantic movie. yang maen cakeeepppp.. *slurp* including hugh grant. kalo mau tau filmnya ttg apa.. liat aja review nya di sini. soundtrack film ini juga bagus², jadi pengen beli cd nya. love music as well as the holiday carols. such a feel good movie banget. it really makes my day.

abis nonton adis mau ke manhattan buat potong rambut, but i can't go cuz i have to run some errands at home. bersiin rumah, vacuum, nyapu, ngepel, bersiin dapur, laundry, ngelipet² baju, beres² tas gue yang berantakan, kamar mandi, dll. pas buka jadinya gue masih sibuk ini itu akhirnya udah males masak. eh taunya adek gue mau masakin "mie goreng". gue yang kecapekan malah ketiduran di couch padahal lagi nonton "hollywood homicide" hihi.. eh tapi abis makan mi goreng masih laper.. pas jef & yul dateng ke rumah, kita malah mesen makanan dari taco king. mereka tadinya pada mau pergi ke manhattan tapi malah maen game dulu, nonton saturday night live dulu. end upnya baru pergi jam 12 malem, padahal gue males ikuutt... jadinya gue parno lagi di rumah sendirian. ahhh.. sebel deh!

sunday, nov. 23

woke up around 11am. itu pun setelah stay in bed gak jelas gitu. heran deh kalo weekend kok gue bangunnya pagi² terus ya? jam 9 gitu udah melek, walopun gue paksain tidur lagi tetep aja gak bisa. nelpon adis yang udah di manhattan. rencananya kita janjian mau nonton film "shattered glass", an independent movie that's only playing at angelika theater (theater khusus film² indie di soHo). film ini based on true story about a teacher gitu deh. gue juga belom tau banget ceritanya ttg apa, tapi menurut review nya sih bagus. yang maen hayden christiansen yang jadi anakin skywalker di "star wars 2: attack of the clones". berhubung gue emang suka banget ama dia gara² liat dia di "life as a house" gue bener² pengen banget nonton. tapi end upnya janjian ama cewek² yang laen.. jadi girls day out gitu deh.

janjian mau ketemuan jam 2 akhirnya gue baru berangkat dari rumah jam 3 lewat. soalnya gue tadinya mau pergi sendiri naek subway, eh tapi di mau ikut dan mau jemput gue naek mobil aja. ya udah gue tungguin deh.. lama ye! heheh.. tapi gak keburu² juga sih walopun gue dah gak enak ama lou yang dah nungguin di manhattan. nyampe di soHo nyari² parkir lama banget. pas dapet gue mesti buka dulu deh. jadilah gue beli kopi ama cup cakes di dean & deluca, padahal gue ama adis lagi pengen buka puasa di magnolia bakery. end upnya baru ketemuan jam 6-an. trus berhubung dah laper jadinya kita makan ke kelley & ping ber-delapan.. dan cewek² semuaaa... seru banget! for those who don't know.. kelly & ping ini pernah dipake buat film "great expectations" pas scene waktu ethan hawke dateng buat ngajak gwyneth dance on the rain, tau gak? dan resto ini suka banyak orang ngetop. the last time i went there gue ketemu ama joaquin phoenix. kemaren itu sih pada bisik² katanya ada yang maen di "the sopranos" tapi gue gak terlalu ngeliat jadi kurang heboh. hihihi..

abis makan, kita baru decide mau nonton, tapi udah telat. yaaa.. gak jadi deh ketemu ama hayden.. huhuu.. ya udah kita akhirnya ke magnolia bakery aja. yang laen pada heboh beli cupcakes, gue beli banana puddingnya aja. abisan menurut gue banana puddingnya tuh yang paling enak disitu. cupcakes nya juga sih, tapi gue kurang terlalu suka karena icingnya maniiiiss banget.. dan gue gak terlalu suka makan yang manis² gitu. dari situ kita pulang, soalnya besok hari senen, jadi gak mau pulang malem² deh.

monday, nov. 24

i realized kalo today is the last day of ramadhan. berarti besok lebaran. berarti ntar malem tuh dah malem takbiran. aduuh gak berasa deh puasa nyaa.. gue lagi seneng² nya puasa, udah harus berhenti lagi. nunggu lagi ampe taun depan, insya Allah. tadinya gue gak niat mau bikin apa² buat lebaran, tapi akhirnya gue decide buat bikin lontong sayur ama rendang. so i stopped by the grocery store after work. sampe rumah langsung masak. and it's all done by midnight. gue langsung tidur soalnya mesti bangun pagi besok.

tuesday, nov. 25

selamat hari raya idul fitrii... mohon maaf lahir & bathin. minal aidin wal faidzin. ah senangnya lebaran. pagi² gue udah bangun. sambil dandan & siap², adek gue udah makan ketupat sayurnya. dan dia suka banget, katanya gurih banget gitu. alhamdulillah. jadi juga deh lebaran makan lontong sayur. hehehe..

jam 8 gue udah jalan ke subway menuju mesjid. ketemuan ama adis di roosevelt ave. station. sampe mesjid udah mayan penuh, tapi masih banyak tempat. wah pas deh. soalnya kita suka dateng telat gitu jadi mesti nunggu buat shalat yang gelombang kedua. sebelom sholat id nya di mulai gue sempet naek dulu buat bayar zakat fitrah. malam sebelomnya sempet argue ama nyokap soalnya menurut nyokap, selama gue belom nikah, gue masih tanggungan nyokap. padahal setau gue, zakat fitrah itu kan zakat yang mesti elo keluarkan dari penghasilan dan makanan yang elo makan (or something like that, yang pasti beda dengan zakat mal yang pengeluaran -- somewhat similar like tax -- for money you earned and still have extras). dan berhubung gue udah memberi makan buat diri gue sendiri selama 5 tahun terakhir, ya gue selalu bayar zakat fitrah sendiri. tapi nyokap masih kekeuh kalo dia juga bayar zakat buat gue. tapi kan gue udah gak dikasih duit lagi ama nyokap. either way, gue gak tau mana yang bener, but i still do think i should pay, so i did.

abis shalat, seperti biasa ngumpul dulu di depan. maaf²an, salaman, silahturrahmi ama yang laen. banyak orang² yang udah lama gak ketemu nongol semua di mesjid. tapi gue gak lama² soalnya hari itu dingin banget. mana gue cuman pake sepatu fantofel tipis dan jaket gue juga tipis banget. gak bawa glove juga. beku layaw! gue pulang dulu, mau ganti sepatu, ganti coat dan makan lontong sayuuuurr... heheh.. abis itu ketemuan ama yang laen di rumah defits buat ngider ke rumah dubes PTRI (perutusan tetap RI untuk PBB). ruaammee bo! yang pasti makanannya banyak dan enak². abis dari situ pada mau lanjut ke rumahnya konjen. tapi jauh di scarsdale (45 minutes from queens). duh males ah. lagian paling ketemu orang yang sama dan makanan yang gak jauh beda. akhirnya gue misah. sendiri soalnya janjian ama lou juga sih di manhattan. tapi sebelom cabut gue nelpon dulu ke kantor ternyata gue mesti dateng ke kantor sebentar. ya udah gue mampir ke kantor dulu. stayed for about 2 hours trus gue cabut. ketemuan ama lou di depan macy's soalnya kita mau ngejar kate spade sample sale di metropolitan pavillion. sebenernya sample sale nya udah dari kemaren tapi gue gak sempet mampir. mumpung masih di manhattan, mampir deh. ternyata barang²nya udah banyak yang abis tapi tetep aja gue nemu 2 tas. hihihi... kayaknya gue tiap lebaran dapet belanja sample sale deh. beberapa taun yang lalu gue sempet dapet good deal di prada boutique soalnya pas lagi sale gitu. taun ini dapet dua tas kate spade, yang dari harganya hampir 300-an cuman jadi 135bux. mayan kan? walopun masih tetep mahal.. tapi kapan lagi dapet tas kate spade seharga segitu. hihi.. itung² hadiah lebaran buat gue aja deh.

abis dari situ, ketemuan ama yang laen lagi. sempet bingung & bete²an mau kemana, tapi akhirnya pada pulang. adis, ari & defits mampir ke rumah gue dulu. makan lontong sayur (lagi) dan ngobrol² aja. han juga dateng sebentar. akhirnya pada nonton "andai ia tahu" walopun kebanyakan kita² pada rame ngomentarin. hihi..

jam 11.30 malem, bas jemput cewe² dan akhirnya pada pulang. gue sempet ngerapin dapur dulu sebelom tidur. wah, seneng juga sih lebaran kali ini. spend time ama temen² walopun gue capek banget seharian keluar. mana hari rabu gue ngantor walopun hari kamis nya libur lagi buat "thanksgiving". such a weird week cuz i'm working again on friday.

so maybe it's overdue by the time i post this, but i still do want to wish EID MUBARAK to all of you who are celebrating this holy day. minal aidin wal faidzin, mohon maaf kalo ada kesalahan dari kata² di blog gue baik yang disengaja ataupun tidak. wassalam.

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 11/27/2003 12:55:00 AM | [ ]

>> INTERNET ON THE PAY PHONES

a new generation of self-service machines and advance technology is slipping into the daily lives of many americans. rejected for decades as too complicated, the machines are being embraced by a public whose faith in technology has grown as its satisfaction with more traditional forms of payphones and customer service has diminished. more and more machines are taking over our daily tasks and more.

today, new yorkers can now access the internet from select pay phones across manhattan. some 25 internet phones with color touch screens and free access to city government websites were activated yesterday, making the big apple the first american city with the high-tech devices. the phones function as high-speed web terminals and pay phones rolled into one regular phone kiosk. users can check e-mail and take pictures of themselves to attach to messages for 50 cents. general web browsing goes for 25 cents per minute.

roughly 4 million people continue to use new york's 33,000 pay phones daily, generating $15 million income for the city, despite the increasing use of cell phones that cut pay-phone usage by 50 percent in recent years (according to dennis novick, president of TCC teleplex - the pay phone operator)

personally i have not tried these phones yet because it was just up and running last night. so far, the existence of these phones are only in midtown manhattan but the city will watch their performance and give a possibility to have them installed in outerboroughs in the future. for a city like new york, the existence of this phone is definitely a big deal. it is said that the phones has lots of free links to websites that would give information for tourists such as links to the broadway shows, ferry schedules, and stuff like that. although many people who has cellphones here can access internet anywhere they want, the pay phones still helps because there are many international tourists come here who does not necessarily have the luxury to have phones around.

do i think this is worth it? well, maybe. i don't see why not. i know that new york city has been upgrading their wireless infrastructure from the help of verizon. they have been, progressively, setting up wireless networks in public parks for people to use. i know this for sure cuz my brother likes to go to the parks with his laptop and chatting away or browsing the internet. one time he even goes to every park from downtown manhattan (battery park) to midtown (bryant park) and stopped by in between just to test it out, and it was indeed a success. some of the parks may not have the strongest connection, but for free.. it's still good!!

another technology that is also slipping to our daily task in america is the use of technology in customer service. don't you just hate lines? especially when you only get a bottle of water and you have to wait in such a looonngg lines to pay for it. i used to say that.. i wish they have this express self-service cashier that people can just go and type in their credit card number or maybe insert the cash. yeah, almost similar to the idea of a vending machines but to the extent as they would have it in the grocery store. and guess what? they have it now in some of the stores.

my first experience was the self-service check out from home depot a couple of months ago. the lines at this store is always long and sometimes if you only buy a bucket of paint or cables or whatnot.. it's such a hassle that you have to wait in long lines, eventhough they do have one of those express lines with "12 items or less". and this self-service kiosk did help ALOT. it was fast, it was easy, and definitely more convenient. these days more and more companies are trying to experience this self-service kiosk. from delta airlines to mcdonald's are experimenting with automated ordering stations that's been said might reduce lines and the need to order from a human being.

but their arrival is also prompting a retooling of people's reliance on machines, and each other. celebrated for their convenience, the devices appeal to an antisocial impluse that critics find troubling. it's been said long before, the idea of this dependency to machines take away the social contact on human beings. when people are afraid to the change of this advance technology before, new generation welcomes it with wide arms. the growth of self-service machines, experts & users say, is partly a result of improvements in the technology since the early days of ATM, which were much slower to catch on. most of today's kiosks have shed their hulking shells. grubby number padsa and monochrome displays have been replaced with brightly colored touch screns that responds instantly, and help foster a trust in the technology that mere mortals may never again command.

the pros and cons are always there.. so are we seeing a full-machine invasion and dependencies in the future? is this something that our generations would look forward to? we'll just have to wait and see...

(info was taken randomly from new york times and new york post newspapers)

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 11/18/2003 03:15:00 AM | [ ]

>> WHEN EVERYTHING IS STILL NOT ENOUGH

is paris hilton burning? no, but she sure is smokin.' for those who live in the united states (i'm not sure about anywhere else) you must have heard about the infamous heiress of the hilton empire (yes.. hilton as in the hotel), paris hilton and her recent encountered of the sexxx-rated videotape with shannen doherty's on-again/off-again hubby, rick solomon, taped about 3 years ago when she was only 19. before the video hits the newsroom and internet everywhere -- and become the most sought-after tape among the internet file-sharing users -- paris hilton has been known as the party girl princess, a socialite who would appear in every high-class party there is. her face has been all over the face, from the celebrity uncensored shows on E channel, to every pages of newspapers in town and maybe, nationwide.

once, i had this argument with some friends who then split the arguments between what guys think and what girls think of paris hilton (yeah, such a waste of time to argue about! haha..) the guys said that paris is such a hot chick. well, there's not doubt about it. she is indeed very pretty, with a body just like a model, a cute face with blonde hair, and in fact she's been asked to do modeling gigs for several of times and landed some small jobs in the movies. this season, she even has her own show with nicole ritchie (lionel ritchie's daughter), who happens to be paris' best friend. the show called "simple life" and the story is about these two bratpacks, the socialiate rich girls, bear it all down to live in a farm. and it's so fuckin' amazing to see how clueless they are. i'm not a fan of the show (i don't even know if it's on air yet or not) and i'm definitely not a fan of paris hilton and so did most of the girls. why? because she seems to be portraying herself as this rich kid, a spoiled brat, a dumb blonde who just likes to party all the time. half the time, the shots show her in her drunken state. and the funny thing is she's always ready to pose anywhere she is *with the same exact pose she always has* when there's camera clicking along. but hey there's actually nothing wrong with that.. accept that i can't quite figure that there is something sooo wrong about her.

while the girls couldn't quite figure out exactly what was wrong with her, the guys argue that girls tend to hate paris and the figure she brings, because girls would be so jealous of what she'd accomplished. ha! exactly what did she accomplish, guys? NOTHING!!

paris hilton, (the girl, not the hotel) was, in a sentence, raised to be famous for being famous for accomplishing exactly nothing. exciting. exploited. extreme. embarrassing. but never disappointing. like an f. scott fitzgerald socialite - all grease and no machinery. does that mean that society created her and the person she becomes? maybe. it's definitely the combination of anyone of them.

yes, the girl who put the "lite" in socialite looks like a willing, eager and hardly camera-shy participant. as the ny post had quoted.. think monica lewinsky with no body fat. hihi.. she is, (and it is), without a doubt, a parent's worst nightmare. well, unless of course you are paris' parents, kathy and rick hilton - then maybe you're living the dream. i mean, let's be honest, the naked, probably drunk, 19-year-old sexed-up girl in the most talked about video is everything they raised her to be - and is playing exactly the role they raised her to play. what are they so suddenly shocked and angry about? was it because they found out she was having unprotected sex in a Marriott and not a Hilton hotel? come on!

most of the newspapers blame the parents. questions like.. where the hell have you been since your two daughters were running wild at 14? how did you allow them out to go clubbing and looking all sexed-up at an age when they should have been home with you having dinner and doing homework? are asked to put the blame on the parents even more.

they could have stopped it - fast. but then again, they grew up in the pampered rich life where paris is known to say ... "i can buy anything in the world, and i don't have to work for it". so exactly who's to blame? society? the family's wealth? who, exactly?

the thing is, paris is also known to run around town wildly, sometimes along with her younger sister, nicki hilton. they were both famously known as the hilton sisters. they may be spoiled brats and they may be wild, but the two are totally different. when paris is sexing-up on the video and trying to fix her life by modeling, running around partying, and hooking up with guys, nicki on the other hand, goes to school at fashion institute of technology in nyc and a successfull handbag designer these days. she is settled with a steady boyfriend and always looks shy to the cameras. so, family's influence and wealth may not be the only one to blame for the behaviour of these young heiress.

and who are the parents mad at now? solomon! - not even at their daughter for participating, nor themselves for letting it get this far. right. according to the report on the news, pathetic paris stays true to her true calling, getting her face, and every other part of her, in front of the camera in that sex videotape. in fact at one point, she even pushes her, er..., pumped up paramour out of the picture altogether - and almost off the bed.

it is just mind-boggling at the thought that any 19-year-old girl could turn out this way not because she was denied everything in life - but because she was given everything in life. just a perfect example that money does not buy everything.

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 11/14/2003 02:12:00 AM | [ ]

>> BU-BER & HOUSEWARMING PARTY

jadi juga acara buka puasa di apartment gue hari sabtu kemaren. mayan rame, sempet pake acara nyanyi² segala, mentang² anak² band pada ngumpul. jadi aja dim maenin keyboard dan har showing off his beautiful voice. dim emang jago banget maen keyboard nya.. gak heran dia dulu katanya sering dipake buat maenin piano bareng artis² ngetop di indo, gosipnya sih waktu itu suka nemenin KD. setelah denger langsung.. gue sih percayaaa lah!! dari iseng² maenin game theme song nya mario bros *berasa kayak maen game, tapi dengerin song nya live* ampe beethoven, ampe lagu² dewa ampe ke coldplay, semua dimaenin ama dia. cewe² jadi pada panik gak kuat pengen nyanyi dan teriak² udah kayak konser waktu dengerin har nyanyiin 2 lagu ciptaannya bareng dim hasil kunjungan ke philly buat berkarya bareng dim huihihiehehe.. ada² aja. sempet di komplen ama tetangga, walopun menurut gue komplennya gak valid. lah wong masih belom jam 9 malem, dan malem minggu pulak!! .. udah gitu orang dari apartment di atas lagi.. kalo dari apartment di bawah sih gpp, ini kok bisa²nya orang dari atas komplen..

anyways, as per food wise.. it was overwhelmed, walopun makanan 'besar'nya cepet abis. gue bikin udang belado ama soto jakarta (beda ama soto betawi) dan az bikin rendang salmon. laku keras.. by the time gue mo ngambil makan, udang beladonya dah abis. gue sempet kuatir soto nya bakalan kurang .. jadinya aja gue bagiin dagingnya satu² di mangkok, jadi kalo yang mau soto tinggal nuangin kuahnya. hehehe.. rada dijatahin gitu sih, tapi malah lebih pas. justru yang berlimpah ruah makanan buat buka & dessert nya. gue bikin bakwan goreng ama kolak campur (pisang, singkong & ubi). may ngebawain bubur ketan item, mar nitipin bubur kacang ijo nya.. dis bawa puding coklatnya yang laku keras, apalagi dipakein strawberries.. wuiihh, enak banget!! dan den bikin spritzer yang dipakein lychee & nata de coco (sari kelapa) karena rif nelpon at the last minute gak bisa dateng. padahal dia janji mo bawa es duren.

sayang nya banyak juga yang gak dateng. khususnya temen² deket gue. kayak han ama ri yang musti nemenin ortu mereka yang lagi disini, kebetulan pas hari terakhir sebelom pulang, jadi gak bisa ditinggal. sar, nad, ad, rif & nash juga gak dateng karena musti ngebantuin nash pindahan yang ternyata gak selse on time. defit & bas juga gak jadi dateng karena perutnya defit yang kram, gara² bayinya aktif banget di perutnya (lagi hamil 7 bulan) dan bas musti nemenin padahal harusnya dia jadi imam buat shalat jamaah. dan bintang tamu yang ditunggu² juga gak nongolin batangnya.. eh, batang idungya.. dan gak jelas kenapa, karena bapak itu gak menghubungi kita juga.. *ih*... untungnya banyak temen² gue yang gak diduga dateng, malah pada nongol, jadi ya mayan rame.

malah akhirnya pada rame bergeletakan di hardwood floor gue yang udah gue pakein karpet buat acara ini. gara²nya den masangin dvd "the phone". berhubungan udara udah makin dingin, jadinya pada tiduran di lantai (berkarpet, of course). gue keluarin comforter yang tebel ama selimut² buat yang pada nonton sambil tiduran di karpet & couch. bantal² juga pada bertebaran dimana². asli udah kayak slumber party instead of housewarming. abis "the phone" selse.. ada yang pada pulang, ada yang gak mau pulang karena takut abis nonton horror .. hihi.. , only to have some more people coming and the second dvd "a man apart" started right after. hiheihei... you will never short of movies to play if you're in my house. by 2am, gue udah gak kuat, akhirnya gue cabut ke kamar dan tidur, sementara di luar masih pada nonton. hihihi..

pagi²nya gue bangun jam 10 pagi karena dis mau pulang. di living room pada tiduran di lantai, walopun tinggal dim & arf yang emang nginep di rumah gue, tamu khusus dari philly. karena gue lagi gak puasa, gue beberes dapur sambil ngemilin makanan yang masih pada sisa. sementara setelah pada bangun, mereka ngebantuin ngeraphin living room, ngelipetin karpet ama buang² sampah. jam 1 siang, anak² cowo itu pada cabut soalnya janjian mo nge-band bareng har. mereka balik pas waktu buka puasa dan pada sibuk memasak ria sambil makanin sisa soto gue. dim bikin sate ayam sementara gue *satu²nya cewek di rumah* malah nonton dvd di living room. it's nice to sit and relax and have someone cooks for me, for a change. cheers..

sekian & terima kasih *peace out*

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 11/11/2003 02:03:00 AM | [ ]

>> RANDOM RAMPANTS IN EARLY NOVEMBER

oh gosh, it's been a week i haven't updated this blog. been busy. work has been like hell especially during the ramadhan and at this time of the year. october & november have always been the busiest months of the year at work and i'm starting to feel it. and the fact that i'm fasting doesn't help either. the weather is also confusing as ever. as i have posted before, it was down to almost at freezing point about two weeks ago. since then the weather has become a bit better and warmer. in fact the past two days, it was at almost 80F. and then.. it dropped at almost 30F below. i mean, i don't mind the colder weather as long as it stays that way without any surprise. this temperature rollercoaster just makes everyone sick. i don't know why, weather in new york city is always like this.. it could dropped so much at one point that you can literally feel how your body adjusts to it.. and it usually means you're getting sick.

anyways, i'm just happy that it was a perfect weather on halloween night. not to mention that it was on a weekend, so i can spend time with my friends outside, down to the greenwich village along with the other halloween buffs. especially it's going to be dis's last halloween night in new york since she'll be leaving by end of january next year.... :( my weekend was great. spent quite alotta time with my friends.

gak kerasa udah seminggu lebih nih puasa. so far so good. i've always enjoyed fasting during ramadhan. i've been fasting since i was really really young and i never missed any day since, except for when i'm having my you-know-what. heheh.. but for some reason, i find the ramadhan this year quite a bit hard to follow. i wonder why. cuz last year should be my hardest. i was doing this fasting thing while going to work and going to school at the same time. not to mention it was my busiest semester. but i was quite okay with everything. well, yeah aside from not being able to go to the mosque to do shalat tarawih or even woke up for sahur, but i managed to do good and enjoyed my fasting. weirdly, this year is totally different. i tried to spend my ramadhan just how my family always do. i make food for iftar and dinner, and i wake up for sahur every morning. but i just don't feel good when i'm at work. it seems like my mind just couldn't focus at work. i think it's because the lack of sleep i've been having from waking up at 4 o'clock in the morning and had to get up early for work by 7am.

i don't get home by 7-8pm so it means i break my fast at work everyday. sometimes i can only manage to drink a cup of water in between my tasks since i can't get up and look for food. i'm glad i have a muslim co-worker *who happens to share the same room with me*. so sometimes we take turns bringing food but most of the times we both are overwhelmed with work that we can't avoid. cuz 5 o'clock is usually the times when we get the most stuff to do, mostly coming from the shipping department that's trying to get some shipments out. i usually have to transmit some invoices of all these shipments via EDI (electronic data interface) before they drop them with UPS or FedEx guy.. unfortunately, it usually happens at around 5 o'clock. so it's always a mess then. one will be shouting that the UPS guy hasn't come in yet, the other would ask to get the packing slips ready while i usually yelling making sure they get the quantities of every purchase order correct.

although i'm not usually involved with it these days.. i'm doing so many accounts analysis now that the end of the year is almost up. i've been receiving so many research audits from our customers that it just took most of my time to do analysis on them. and being hungry and thirsty just sometimes don't help, especially when your head hurts from crunching these numbers all day. oh my..

i need sleep. that's all i care about. at least a lil' bit more of it.

i'm having a get together at my apartment this weekend. a small housewarming party with a cover of inviting my friends for iftar at my apartment. i figure that it's better to do this shindig along with praying together than just partying. i'm already making plans of what i'm gonna make and i heard a certain someone will be make an appearance as my guest of honor. so we'll see :D

can't wait for this weekend, especially that matrix revolutions is already out, i really really gotta see it soon!! ooh.. gotta buy the tickets now. in fact, they have been selling the tickets since two weeks ago.. and as i'm writing this post, most of the theaters are already having the sold-out shows for tonite, its premier night. so wait for the review, peeps!!

that's it for now.. have a good weekend, cuz i don't think i'll post anything before the weekend.. see ya in the next posting!!

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 11/06/2003 06:15:00 AM | [ ]