>> JANUARY REVIEW

hmm.. udah lama yah gak di update?? hueahhah.. maklum saya orang sibuk *apa sih?* had so many things happened last week. 2 blog friends had baby boys, and 1 baby boy from my real friend here in nyc. congratulations to the proud parents, hanzky & dendre, roby & tika, and ade & basri. cute baby boys!! and guess what? the birthdays were within a week, all of them!! hihi.. lucu nyaaa.. on top of that, sarseh (ade's sister) also delivered her baby boy.. whuaaahh.. full of aquarius babies nih.

mana semua orang ultahnya januari semua pulak. belom lagi yang pada balik for good. there are 4 people leaving this city this month. 3 are gone and one more to go. huhuuuu.. sediiihhhh.. especially the last one's leaving is my bestest buddy.

so the chronology of this month goes like this:

jan 2: my birthday
jan 7: arif's birthday
jan 10: farewell nya rifki, sarah & hara
jan 12: wulan arrived in nyc
jan 16: sarah & hara left nyc
jan 17: jef's birthday (rajata was born in jakarta)
jan 19: hanzky delivered jibran
jan 22: ade delivered raafi
jan 23: went to gore mountain for snowboarding trip
jan 24: came back from gore mountain
jan 25: my bro's birthday
jan 26: jesse's birthday (she's my co-worker), tika delivered toby
jan 30: shawn's birthday, my other co-worker
feb 1: adis is leaving nyc for good.. huwaaahhhh.. *nangis*

what a busy month, isn't it?

i've been spending so much time outside of the house, i hardly do anything at home. visit here, visit there, spend time with this person, that person.. do this do that.. so now you know why i hardly had the time to update my blog, right? huehaha.. i have so many stories, i can't even find the time and sit down to pour it in writing. here's in short, i guess:

on snowboarding trip
fun fun fun!! 17 people went to gore mountain and had fun in the snow. several people are learning how to snowboard *including me! even though this is already my 5th time i think.. * and the weather was sooo cold that when we went on top of the mountain and stayed outside, our snots were frozen inside our nose. heuahah.. it's not as gross as it sounds, but it's definitely weird. on top of that, our face was so numb from the cold we can't even make expression when we talk. hahaha.. but the view was gorgeous, the snow was nice (except it was kinda bad on top with the ice patches and the thinning powder) and the company was definitely fun! pictures will come soon. gak sempet upload nih.

highlight: rizka fell on the snow, hit face first and ripped his lower lip. instead of sympathizing to his misfortune, we couldn't stop laughing cuz he looks as if he just got out of a fighting gig. jontor, nek!

on movies
hmm.. haven't updated movies411 and i've seen at least 4 movies i wanted to review, including the recent ben stiller's movie "along came polly" and several dvd movies. couldn't find the time to go to the theater yet *look up why!* but there's always new dvds lying around in my apartment or new movies on cable.. and that's what i've been watching. i'll try to update it as soon as i can.

on the weather
didn't i say it's freakin' coolllldddd?? it's like the worst winter in 50 years, the coldest ever!! almost the whole month the temperature was never above 32F, that's 0 (zero) celcius. never below it.. so it's always minus celcius every fuckin' day!! i think my fridge is even warmer than that. belom lagi anginnya bikin tambah dingin. and the snow keeps on falling (just yesterday, the snow fell for about 10 inches, dang!) capek deh gue make coat nih!! in times like this, i miss tropical weather. hmm.. maybe not! hehheh..

on music
do anyone know this new band called "maroon 5? they're awesome!! gue lagi suka banget ama mereka and too bad they're not stopping by in new york city (or maybe they did already) anytime soon. as far as i know they were the opening act for john mayer and i missed the concert in december. damn! the band is somewhat funk pop rock, a little like incubus, only with stronger pop influence i think.. but i can't take the songs out of my head, especially the sexy sound from adam levine the singer, and the subtle sexual lyrics. the album is great.. all songs i like.. 2 of them were in the soundtrack for love actually. their current song that's topping the chart is "harder to breathe" while "this love" has been on mtv quite often. but one song i love the most right now is the one called "she will be loved". great lyrics on all the songs. i'm a very verbal person, when i hear a song, aside from the music, the lyrics always drawn on me. and it always gives a big plus in my eyes when i hear a nice song with great lyrics. love 'em!!

here's some of the lyrics in "she will be loved"

it's not always rainbows and butterflies
it's compromise that moves us along
my heart is full and my door's always open
you can come anytime you want

i don't mind spending everyday
out on your corner in the pouring rain
look for the girl with the broken smile
ask her if she wants to stay awhile
and she will be loved
she will be loved

have a good weekend everyone! i'll come back for more stories!! :D

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 1/31/2004 01:24:00 AM | [ ]

>> THE SELFISH BASTARD

selfˇish pronunciation: 'sel-fish
according to webster, this word means:
1 : concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself : seeking or concentrating on one's own advantage, pleasure, or well-being without regard for others
2 : arising from concern with one's own welfare or advantage in disregard of others (a selfish act)

and what would be a perfect example of a selfish person? A SMOKER!!

alright alright.. calm down, you smokers!! i am pointing finger at you but it's not so much the bad habit that i'm pointing at (although i strongly believe that you should lay off .. but hey, who am i to say?). it's the fact that a smoker would do anything to practice their habit withouth concerning others who would be affected by it whether they like it or not.

the regular reader of this blog knows that i condemn the act of smoking. i don't smoke. never did, never will. but i'd say i'm pretty tolerant with others on regarding this habit of theirs. i hardly complain if someone smokes around me, in fact, i once lived with a bunch of smokers and had to inhale those smokes 24 hours a day, literally. back then, it didn't bother me as much. until i find how lovely it is when noone is smoking around you and how much you appreciate fresh air afterwards.

recently, i have a close friend who is currently pregnant with her first kid. she was a smoker but stopped during her pregnancy of course. during this time, she experienced on hand how it feels like to be the other side of the smoking habit. being the second hand-smoker and being someone who has to give up the fresh air for the sake of other's bad habit. she now realize how selfish smokers are. she becomes my buddy when it comes to complaining people who smoke around us.

now, believe you me, i'm a very tolerant people. i do not complain about people who's smoking around me... if they ask nicely.. heck, if they even just ask. americans and asians have different view about respecting the non-smokers. while americans would very aware about their surroundings, they would ask if they can smoke around strangers, especially in a tight place. while asians (even though they live in the united fuckin' states!) just assume that it's okay to smoke as long as it's in the open air. or even worse, it's okay to smoke when you're in the house of fellow asians, more precisely indonesians. i probably have not yet complained so much in my life until now. i mean.. put your smoker shoes in my non-smoker spot. how would you feel when someone blow a smoke on your face while you're freely breathing the fresh air? even worse, how about when you have allergic reaction to tobacco? or, how about when you're pregnant?

there are many times that my pregnant friend held a gathering at her house. even though her husband smokes, he tries not to smoke around her. but when there's a gathering with a bunch of people would smoke, the fact that there's a pregnant lady around somehow becomes a no-big-deal! they would puff the smoke and light their cigarette as if everyone enjoys the smell of burning tobacco. no, my friend, we don't!! would anyone understand that?

how about when you go to a non-smoking apartment and ask to the host, "can i smoke in here?". the fact that it was freezing cold outside, in the middle of the night.. and it was a girl who asked.. of course put me in the spot that if i answer the question to a plain "no, you cannot smoke here!" would label me the biggest bi*tch ever! so i had to say, "okay!" cuz i feel pity for her. but heyyy.. wait a minute, what about my pity? what about my rights not to have a tobacco-polluted air in my own apartment?? can't you just get the message when i say.. "this is a non-smoking apartment!", better yet even when you know the people who live in the apartment don't smoke.. shouldn't you even be bother to ask?

how about when we're in the restaurant? bloomberg had passed the law since last year to ban smoking in restaurants, clubs, bars, and so on in nyc. a good thing for a non-smoker like me, but not necessarily for the business and the smokers. so now there's an annoying act of having a "smoke break" in the middle of dinner. the smokers would get up and leave the table to go outside and smoke during dinner time, sometimes would leave the table almost empty. how long do you usually have dinner anyways? an hour? an hour and a half? can't you just wait for a fucking hour to light the cigarette? gosh! but then again, it's an addiction that i can't relate to cuz i've never been one.

i condemn the act of smoking but i have high tolerance to those who practice their smoking habit. i can't change people although it's for their own better health. it's the risk they take and i'm not one to judge. but all i ask.. just be tolerant to others, us the non-smokers. be aware of your surroundings when you want to smoke. we breath the same air.. and it's fair to say that you are a selfish person to have taken my fresh air for the sake of your addiction. i think we deserve to breathe some fresh air every now and then, don't you?

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 1/22/2004 05:42:00 AM | [ ]

>> LORD OF THE RINGS WEEKEND

it was muthafuckin' cold. but it didn't stop us to leave the apartment as early as 9am. as i looked today's temperature on tv, it shows that it was 1F outside. damn. gotta bundle up. and we did.

by 10.05am we reached alice tully hall in lincoln square. we rushed in to our seats as we heard people already clapping their hands inside. as we walked in, elijah wood and sean astin were already on stage and talked to us about their experiences during the filming of this movie. after several minutes, the movie starts. apparently, we were not able to take pictures although i managed to take the pics while they were on stage. too bad it wasn't clear enough. so sorry, can't share any pictures here..

yes, it was saturday, january 10 when i got the opportunity to meet and greet the cast of the lord of the rings. i found out the event from one of the mailing list i joined and tried to get the tickets. it was sold out at first. and i lost all hope. especially that viggo mortensen *sluurrp* and peter jackson were scheduled to appear. after a week, one afternoon.. i tried to call the box office and got the tickets for the first two shows. unfortunately, i found out later that viggo and peter won't be able to appear. viggo was definitely a no-show while peter would only appear via satellite as he was in his hometown, new zealand. oh well.. at least the ensemble to appear is getting bigger. liv tyler (arwen), elijah wood (frodo), sean astin (sam), andy serkis (gollum), and bernard hill (theoden) will be there.

the fact that saturday was the coldest day for the past 5 years didn't bother us to go (the temperature was never more than a single digit for the whole day!!). me & dis excitedly went and met them. and saw the movies that we have seen for god-knows-how-many among the hardcore fans of the trilogy (i've seen rotk 3 times in theater already! hihi). and it was fun and totally different when you are watching it among the fans. besides, they were showing the extended version of the first two sequels which is even better.

too bad we couldn't get any pictures. we didn't get to see liv tyler either cuz we couldn't get the ticket for the last screening in which she's scheduled to appear. on top of that, we have to leave cuz we have to go to a farewell party of 3 of our friends who will be leaving this city for good within a week or two. and it just completes our whole day in the cold as we didn't get out of the club until around 4am.

my friends are already tired listening to me talking about lord of the fucking rings .. as they would call it. hahhaah.. but i surely can't stop. as you all know, i love movies. but i love literature even more. the fact that this movie is based on a literary novel.. the most popular novel of the 20th century.. just gives a big plus in my eyes. and the fact that the director and the whole cast ensemble give a good translation to whatever details tolkien wrote in the book.. i just had to tip my hats off. it's been a while that i've seen such a quality movie, especially adapted from a book (well, cold mountain is also based on a book and a good adaptation on a movie... but LOTR is a very complicated book, i must say). and this would be a special one on my page. the fact that the academy doesn't recognize a blockbuster & a fantasy movie comes the awards time.. well, it's their lost. i do believe that this trilogy is one of the best since star wars and the godfather trilogies. i know people still couldn't get the grandness of LOTR trilogy. well, you have to know tolkien and literature to understand how someone can create such a fantasy and in such details (even to create a language entirely in the book). and the fact that peter jackson has transformed it to movies, it's not an easy task.. especially when he does it down to a tiny detail in every screen .. that's a good directing and he deserves the recognition for it.

anyways.. what am i yabbering about? hihih.. sorry, i just can't seem to stop talking when it comes to LOTR. so i'll stop now.

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 1/13/2004 06:07:00 AM | [ ]

>> WOULD I, I WONDER.. ??

every beginning of the year, most of us compile what we did and have accomplished by year end. then we make a list of what we want to accomplish for the next year. this so-called "new year" resolution differs among us. sometimes we don't even think about it, some of us do. personally, i never really make my list.. but i always have priorities and goals in life. i have a master plan since i was young that i want to accomplish in life. over the years, the plan modified. changed here and there to fit my current status and lifestyle. simply, it was a flexible plan.

new year has always been a hard time for me.. especially for the past 3-4 years, cuz new year means birthday. and as the only girl and the oldest kid in the family, my parents would start questioning me about my "private" life. who i'm going out with, when i would start thinking to settle down and so on and so forth. a typical question. typical within the environment i grew up with. not so much around my current one. being away from my family and this typical environment, the question of "marriage" is not that hard of a pressure for me. i see people around me happy with what they have, with the life they currently live with.. and they're way much older than me. but apparently, not so much so back home. it becomes such a big deal. i don't feel the spotlight hit me as much as i am here.. but i bet you if i were back home, i would feel it shining on top of my head all the time.

honestly, it's not a big of a deal for me. well, maybe it is, but it's not something that i'd be desperately try to have. i mean.. i believe on kismet, destiny and whatever you wanna call it. i believe that there is someone out there that i would spend the rest of my life with. and i'm not looking for him. cuz i know one day my destiny will take a hold of the moment and it would just happen. sooner or later it will happen but it's not something to think so strongly about. i have other priorities. but at the same time.. i'm running out of priorities. all my top priorities are crossed out.. and the time is running out.. ironic? it is.

but i don't have deadline. as a woman, i do want to have those things. fall in love with my other half, and spend the rest of my life with him. have family, settle down. but i can't force it. it will have to come naturally. away from my own culture and environment, i adapt myself to think like the locals. enough to still hold those i feel as my roots. being independent, reach for things they have to offer, raise my standards in life (even maybe in men!), i feel comfortable with my own lifestyle. but i just can't help but wonder.. would i still be single and independent if i were living back home and never see all these opportunities to accomplish?? would my own enviroment betray me of who i am? would i settle down for whoever i'm with the longest cuz the pressure comes directly from people around me? would i feel so pressurized for the constant reminder? would i be happy? would i? ... i just wonder.

maybe this is what he calls as "quarter life crisis". funny, eh? it is for me.. cuz i'm totally clueless.

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 1/08/2004 07:54:00 PM | [ ]

>> BEGGINING OF THE YEAR

so how was my new year? it was good. lotsa fun, lotsa things changed. what i mean by that was that because for once i didn't make any plan at all this new year. well, i did have a plan before.. to celebrate new year's eve in bali, but then it got canceled cuz i can't go home. and the fact that i couldn't celebrate my new year's in bali just took me in a deep hole that i was not thinking of making any other plan. i simply have no plan.

then i had an idea to spend my new year's in times square. i've been living in this city for a while but i've never seen the ball dropped ever!!! the fact that my best friend is leaving new york city for good and she also has not seen the ball dropped in times square sparked the idea of just spending our new year's there. and we did. we got there by 5.30pm. the weather was definitely much better than the past few years. the security was tight. it was crowded. and by 6pm we got in to one of the blocks in the middle of the street that was meant to view the ball drop. i wanted to get the spot in front of MTV, but we came in too late, so we got the one in 49th street instead, which was fine and the view was nonetheless good. unfortunately... we could only stayed for an hour.. especially that i was only wearing my converse and my feet gets cold easily... so after almost two hours outside in the freakin' cold.. i couldn't feel my toes no more. after making some phone calls.. we got a ticket to go to spirit, a club that was known as twilo before. we heard that many of our friends would be there.. and many from out of states. personally, i never like welcoming the new year with partying. i just don't think that's a good way to celebrate a new year. but heck.. i got no place to go. so why not?

by 7pm, we ditched times square, went to have dinner in chinatown then went to the club. it was hillariously fun. 'nuff said. let memories stay in my head. :D

as always.. the next day people are still having their hangover. went to have dim sum in the morning then just spent the rest of the day at home. by midnight, i was already on my way to bed when i heard my brother came in the house. he called out if i was still awake or not then i heard people singing "happy birthday" and my closest friends came in with a chocolate cake and candles. awww... they remember!!! hahah.. you know, i'm so used to have people forget about my birthday since it's the day after new year's day.. when most people are still recovering from their hangover. i'm so used to it that i never plan to do anything on the day of my birthday cuz it's no use. most people are not even in town. only when i'm back home people would somewhat remember, particularly because my family's there.. and they of course remember my birthday and we usually have dinner together.

the actual "surprise" came at night when a bunch of people came in with cake & candles and sang happy birthday on their way in to the apartment. they brought food and we had a lovely night. but the most surprise moment was when i opened the gift... and i got this! my friends are so sweet. the thing is i've been playing around and told them i want an ipod for my birthday.. but i was just kidding cuz i know how much it is. i never expected them to actually buy me one. i was gonna buy it myself that weekend and i've been doing research on where i should buy it the cheapest. and i totally didn't expect them to get me such a grand gift cuz that's exactly what i wanted for my birthday.. at least what i want to treat myself with .. on top of that they wrapped it in a big box so i'd never thought it was what it was.. left me speechless. thank youuuu guys..... !!

pictures can be seen here.

as for my blog.. i still don't have the urge to write anything useful here. i think it's gonna take a while until you'll see something useful and better quality writing to read here. hihihi..

and last but not least.. thanks for everyone who sms-ed me on my birthday.. even those who called me. this guy surprised me when he called right in the middle of the surprise party to wish me a happy birthday. sorry if i didn't reply to each one of you one by one.. but i know who you are.. and i truly thank you for taking the time to sms or call me. i am blessed with good company and i'm gonna keep it that way. and also for my newest friend.. lou, who i met through blog and have become an instant good friend of mine. thanks for the sweater and the lovely card. hope to see you enter the blog world soon.. :D

till the next post... !!

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 1/07/2004 06:09:00 AM | [ ]

>> OLD & NEW

new things come, old things go
may we not forget the old
for the olds have crafted us
to become a better new

2003 has become the most intense year for me. many things happen, the good and the bad. an optimistic person that i am, i'm just looking forward to the better year in 2004.

i've accomplished so much this year that when a good friend asked me what my new year's resolutions are.. it took me a while to answer. i've finished my school this year, the last journey of my academic education but not life education, i hope. i did better at work and my life has never been more prosperous. i expected so much in the beginning of 2003. spent my first day in orlando, had an unforgettable road trips with friends & family, got my own domain, got my MBA degree (finally!), had my parents stayed over for the whole month and saw many places, moved to a better and bigger apartment... and i am so thankful for all of those. on the other hand, my personal issue was not as happy as my accomplishments. in year 2003, i have lost many friends. when i said lost means that many people have moved on to their further journey. many good friends have chosen to live in other places or went back home. one of my bestest is leaving soon too..

as of my expectations of the new year.. i just hope that i can be more acceptable of who i am. be a better person. start my own company (crossing my fingers!). read more literature books. see more movies (ha!). explore more of new york city. explore arts. go to museums and art exhibitions. travel to different places, hopefully to jakarta and backpacking through europe. .. and last but not least... punya pacar yang kayak orlando bloom ... aiihh kapan ya bisa punya pacar kayak dia?? *sigh*

have a safe party everyone!! happy new year 2004!!

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 1/01/2004 12:24:00 AM | [ ]