>> 10 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT NYC

in every relationship, there is not just love floating around. there is a thin line between love and hate. when you have love, pasti diseimbangin dengan 'hate'. nah karena ini ceritanya postingan kolaborasi ama si neng loucee, jadinya kita punya postingan bersambung. loucee posted about the 10 things she loves about nyc. karena gue lagi bosen berat dan pengen vacation dari kota ini.. in spite my true love of this city.. there are things about this city i hate. well maybe gak sampe benci banget.. tapi sebel abiss.. *loh sama aja ya?* so here the list for "10 things i love about nyc"

1. the sound.
brisik banget bo!! sirene ambulance, sirene mobil pemadam kebakaran, belom lagi mobil˛ yang lalu lalang. brisiiikk!! dan ga ada abis˛nya. my office is on the 20th floor of the building.. and even on that high off the ground, i can still hear the sounds on the streets below. orang˛ yang demen banget mencet klakson. udah deh, bikin stress. when you walk on the street of nyc and try to talk with someone on your cellphone.. dueng.. ga kedengeran, soalnya lebih kedengeran suara pemadam kebakaran lewat. ga heran disini banyak banget case orang˛ kehilangan pendengaran. orang˛ tua sih biasanya.. tapi menurut research.. salah satunya karena polusi suara di nyc juga emang tinggi.

2. the tourists.
walopun emang sih nyc ga bakal rame dan bagus kayak gini kalo ga ada turis.. tapinya kadang˛ turis itu suka annoying. ciri˛ turis: jalan rame˛, trus jalannya pelan˛ (maklum ga tau mau kemana), tapi udah gitu berdiri di tengah jalan.. dan seneng banget berenti!!! padahal sidewalk di nyc itu gede gedeee banget.. kadang sama gedenya ama jalanan buat mobil, tapi mereka seneeenng banget brenti di tengah˛ dengan semua rombongan nya yang seabrek˛ gitu. kenapa ga ke pinggiran dikit gitu loh mbak, mas? kan saya mau lewat.. buru˛ pulak, udah telat nih ngantor..

3. parking.
nyari parkir itu susah banget.. nget nget nget!! sekalinya dapet, most likely salah karena rambu buat parkir itu ngebingungin banget! udah gitu kalo sampe dapet parking ticket (bukan parking ticket kayak masuk ke mall loh.. ini parking ticket as in ditilang karena salah parkir) biasanya ticket nya itu muaahaaallnnyaaa nek!! udah setaun ini parking ticket di nyc dinaekin,.. yang tadinya 60-an sekarang jadi 100-an. duh males deh. makanya daripada punya mobil.. mendingan naek subway aja deh!!

4. the weather.
cuaca di nyc itu amat sangat moody. suka suka sendiri. yang pasti gak jelas. kadang˛ bisa ampe dingiiiinn seada˛nya.. trus jadi anget,... eh dingin lagii. contohnya ya sekarang ini. setelah winter yang ga ada abisnya.. eh pas waktunya spring, malah snow. trus balik nih jadi spring.. udara di luar enak. eh malem? langsung drop jadi dingiiiinn banget. sekarang juga jadi dingin lagi. end upnya kita suka salah kostum deh. either kebanyakan pake baju, jadinya kepanasan di jalan, ato gak kedikitan.. yang pasti kalo udah kayak gini banyak orang jadi sakit.

5. small apartments.
karena yang tinggal disini banyak.. space is a luxury for us. nyari apartment yang luas itu.. susah!! sekalipun nemu biasanya mahal sekali ato gak lokasinya yang jauh dari subway. semua apartment, apalagi yang di manhattan, semuanya mini. serba sempit, serba limited. udah kayak tinggal di kloset. tapi itu jadi bikin kita kreatip sih. gimana caranya ngakalin buat bikin apartment kecil jadi enak dan comfy untuk ditinggalin. untung deh ada ikea.. no wonder we have 3 ikeas around us.. ya gak lou?

6. taxi cabs.
well sebenernya sih antara sebel dan seneng. soalnya enak kalo males naek subway, taksi selalu available. tapi kalo elo nyetir di jalanan nyc.. duilaahh itu taksi.. minta di kempesin deh ban nya. mungkin ibaratnya di jakarta tuh.. musuh bebuyutan ama metro mini, di nyc, musuh bebuyutan orang nyetir tuh ama taksi. kalo nyetir heboh banget, dan suka brenti sembarangan ngambil penumpang. trus kalo kita salah dikit mereka paling demen dan paling duluan nglakson˛ gak penting. udah gitu nyetirnya kayak nenek moyang nya yang punya jalan. metro mini banget deh pokoknya. sammaaaa abeeesshhhh!!! on top of that, most cab drivers gak bisa ngomong bahasa inggris karena kebanyakan mereka itu immigrant. jadi kalo nemu cab driver bule.. wah jarang˛ deh!! enaknya jadi ngerti kalo mau ngasih tau kemana.. tapi ga enaknya mereka suka bawel.. jadi yaa love & hate lah..

7. the rudeness & ignorance of new yorkers.
newyorker dari dulu emang ngetop dengan segala rudeness & ignorance nya. suka assalll.. sembarangan, dan kalo ngomong ceplas ceplos kayak petasan tikus. tapi setelah gue tinggal disini, gue jadi terbiasa dan gue tau, you have to be one if you want to live here. akibatnya gue jadi terbiasa untuk ceplas ceplos seadanya. tapi tetep aja.. it's still things that i don't like about this city.. although i have to admit, it does bring color to this city.

8. garbage trucks.
di kota kayak new york city ini.. garbage truck selalu berlalu lalang tiap pagi. subuh˛ gitu sih biasanya. mereka biasanya pick up sampah yang emang udah ditaro di pinggir jalan. masalahnya mereka itu lewatnya biasanya jam 5 -6 pagi... dan brisik!!! udah gitu kalo misalnya pas giliran mereka lewat malem hari, kadang˛ suka bikin macet karena nungguin mereka ngambil sampah.. trus bau. duh.. nah trus bayangin gimana rasanya kalo summer. baunya itu loohhh.. merajalela! apalagi kalo sampahnya belom diambil.. that's why i hate summer di nyc. well i love it.. love it cuz there are so many activities to do besides wondering when the garbage is going to be picked up. tapi duuhh baunya ituuuu loohhh.. apalagi kemaren ini bloomberg sempet mengurangi jadwal ngambil sampah buat budget-cut. yang ada jadwal pick up sampah 4 kali seminggu, jadi 2 kali.. nah bayangin itu sampah numpuk. uuhhh... bauuuu!!!

9. living cost.
resiko tinggal di kota gede dan tinggal di kota yang living cost nya termasuk the top 5 di dunia.. tinggal di new york itu mahaaall sekaliiii.. makanan sih murah. belanja belanji juga reasonable lah.. i mean, if you know where to go, you can always get something half price. yang mahal itu apartemen. udah kecil.. mahal banget!!! it is known that the average of how much new yorkers spend on apartment in a month is a third of the salary they get. a third!! banyak aje. belom lagi tax yang musti dibayar.. udah gitu, karena banyak nya toko˛ di nyc.. ngeluarin duit itu kayak aer. gampaaangg bener. adaaa aja yang mau dibeli. emang sih itu tergantung orangnya, tapi kalo nahan˛ gak beli.. suka beteee!! heueheh.. dan yang bikin nyc jadi the top 5 highest living cost city.. ya itu karena apartment sih sebenenernya.. cuz everything else is pretty reasonable. at least you can find a place to get it at a reasonable price.

10. human traffic jam.
nah loh? pernah denger gak? walopun kadang˛ jalanan juga suka macet. yang paling sebel itu kalo "macet" di sidewalk. manusia itu di nyc banyak banget.. dan kebanyakan mereka jalan kaki di sidewalk instead of inside of a car. no wonder in some parts of the city, sidewalk nya suka lebih gede daripada jalanan buat mobilnya. saking banyaknya manusia.. kalo nyebrang aja udah kayak orang mau tawuran.. rameeee banget!!! nah yang bikin gue sebel itu yaa itu dia.. saking ramenya mau jalan susah. apalagi di daerah turis [ baca turis yang suka brenti di tengah jalan! ]. tapi kadang˛ juga karena emang kebanyakan orang jalan, jadinya mau ga mau mesti ngikutin arus. end upnya suka brenti˛, nunggu orang di depan jalan, baru deh bisa ikutan jalan. and that's what is called 'human traffic jam'

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

although all these things may be annoying, they are part of new york city. it's the things that you hate when you live here, but those are the things you missed when you leave. i honestly can say that there's nothing about new york that you just can't love. you embrace life here.

nah kalo penasaran ttg "10 things i love about nyc", coba aja liat nih list menurut djeng loucee di blognya. walopun rada subjektif, tapi rada mirip lah ama gue. i'll have my list on the next post.


:: sLesTa

>> posted on 3/31/2004 04:08:00 AM | [ ]

>> HOW DO WE AGE?

in the city that never sleeps, here lies the community that embraces singles life and people who enjoys freedom, independence, and parties. never ending parties. people live and feel young here. age was never a problem cuz any sign of it can be erased with the a visit to plastic surgeon. well, especially for those who can afford it.

i'm too 'young' to even have any denial of my own age. the fact that i hang out more with younger people these days, does that mean i'm in denial of my own age? does that mean i'm hiding my age to stay young *heyy.. i AM still young*? how does one should age? is there a certain box for someone to live accordingly to their age? just like one of those boxes you have to check on the survey questionnaire. boxes of age. this is very interesting for me cuz i never have any problem of being the 'oldest' in the crowd.

you see, i started school pretty early, a year early to be exact, so most of my time, i would be the youngest in my crowd. i may not act as young since many of my friends think i am pretty mature for my age. but what is the definition of mature anyways? is it because i'm independent, self-supporting and a good listener to everyone's problems? maybe so. but as i get older, most of my friends grow up to the age and behavior they are supposed to be when they reach the next age box in the questionnaires. many are already married or settled down. even when they are still single, they are separating themselves only to their work or the life of a young executive. maybe not all, but most of them are. so when i choose to hangout with people i feel more comfortable with.. which mostly consists of people younger than i am, people starts wonder. being for away from friends my age, i roam around to find a crowd i feel more comfortable to fit in.. and it just so happens it's the crowd of younger people, mostly my brother's age, even younger. a friend asks me if i feel old for hanging out with the young kids. having an advantage of being younger that she was, i simply answer, well, "maybe you feel old, cuz you're even older than i am.. ", in my cynical and jokingly tone. of course, i was just pushing her buttons. and she knows that too.. that i was just joking around. but her question keeps me wondering. how exactly do we suppose to age?

the other day, loucee asked the same question to me. being the two "older" kids among the younger crowd, we feel comfortable to be among them. and even though many of them see us as the "big sisters", they see us as friends too. the same goes from us to them. a week ago, when i went to DC with my bro and his friends, i was approached by a girl who asked me how long i've been staying in the states. when i answered that i've been here for almost ten years, she then asked, "so you've been here since junior high?". listening to that question, i feel funny and flattered at the same time. and then simply answered.. "no, straight from high school". i can see her face started to change subtly and realized that she's talking to someone who's not in the same league as she was. although she still acts as if i was in the same crowd with her cuz her impression stays. maybe the fact that i dressed casually also keeps her impression.

it's funny that when we say don't judge a book by its cover, we cannot avoid that we do that all the time. i'm not the type who go dress up everyday. i do like it, i do enjoy it, only to certain ocassions. my everyday uniform is to dress up casually. t-shirts & jeans and a pair of sneakers. although i can dress up nicely if i wanted to, well.. if i have to, to be exact. in a country where a 13 year old can pass by easily as an 18 year old, asians like us have the advantage of our youth-like appearance. americans have a hard time to guess our age off the bat. that's why sometimes age can be seen from the 'cover', the way we dress. i'm not saying that i have a youthful look, but when i dress down, meaning casually dressed, people would sometimes think i'm underage. just like when i got carded when i was playing slot machine in one of the casinos in atlantic city last summer. while in the meantime i was there with a bunch of girls who are younger than i am but didn't get card because they were dressing up, and i didn't. but when i really dressed 'my age', meaning dressing up in my formal business attire, they can make a pretty accurate guess of how old i am. it's funny, but do we really have to dress our age?

as loucee said to me, when we were young, we saw people who were at our age now and thought, wow they're old! and now we are at their age.. and we don't act it, we wonder if there's something wrong with us. but then again, do we have to act our age? no wait, not act, dress our age? my answer to her was that i'm comfortable of how i am. i don't care what people say that i should behave in a certain way just because that's how people my age do. or should dress a certain way cuz that's how people my age dress. i act my own way just the way i am. it's funny cuz i act too mature sometimes among my own crowd, but at the same time i fit in comfortably among the younger crowd. i don't think anyone would think of me as childish. even though i know it's just a phase, i do know that as we get older, age does not really matter. it's our behavior that counts. it doesn't matter how old or young you are, it's the way you fit in to the crowd that matters the most. in the mean time, i'll stick with the crowd where i can be how i truly am. no dressing up to cover it or dressing down to deny my age. just me.

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 3/30/2004 03:09:00 AM | [ ]

>> CHANGE

when i first came to the united states, just like everyone else who has to adapt to new environment, i struggled to fit in. to fit into the new cultures, the language, the food, even the weather. during those times, i was so grateful that my mom made me took those english courses when i was still 5 years old. language was never really the biggest problem, not even the culture. having to come here during my teenage years.. well, late teenage years, i was still eager to look forward to new challenges, new environment and new different things. adapting to these news stuffs was a breeze. i thought life was good. it was easy.

but the hard part was not in my new 'home'. the hard part came when i went back on vacation a couple of years after. almost as fast as i stepped my feet on my home ground in jakarta.. i can feel people put a magnifying glass on me. all of a sudden i heard people told me i have changed. from the way i dress, the way i carry myself, to the way i talk. wtf? and i wonder what is it exactly that made me change cuz i feel as if how i am before i came to the states.

in my defense, i would say that people change. jangankan gue yang tinggal jauh dari negara sendiri, mesti berbahasa inggris 24 hours a day dan dikelilingi oleh orang˛ yang foreign ama culture gue... temen˛ gue yang cuman pindah dari jakarta ke bandung aja.. bisa pick up bahasa & tingkah laku orang sunda. a friend who never understands sundanese all his life ended up speaking with sundanese accent after just a couple of years living in bandung, in which he goes back to jakarta at least once a month. so don't say i have changed, forget my own language or the attitude of an indonesian.. cuz i don't. i don't forget, i just have to adapt to it again.

everybody changes, whether they like it or not. maybe bad, maybe good. but mostly we change because our environment requires us to, without us even knowing it. we change because we grow older, we experienced things, we learned from the mistakes we made. clothes may change, looks may differ, language may foreign, but the being is still the same. the core of your self will stay the same as how you were born with.

as i grow older .. and hopefully wiser, i learn to find my identity. someone who may not be so vocal when i was young, but very much so now. cuz i learned that noone listens to me if i don't open my mouth. i learned that life is not something you can take for granted, you have to make it happen. it forms my personality to become what i am now. does that make me a changed person? well, maybe. but why would i stay the same as i was 10-15 years ago when everything around me has changed? it's a matter of picking up the goods rather than the bads.. and i'm contend with myself.

yes i have changed. but that does not change the fact that i am still the same person, just with upgraded minds, attitudes and way of thinking towards life. that's not so bad, is it?

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 3/26/2004 05:04:00 AM | [ ]

>> NEW YORK CITY BLOGGER

ternyata blogging udah menjadi wabah juga nih among the indonesian in new york city. for a while this blog used to be my sanctuary and a place to interact with other fellow bloggers who i only know in virtual life. now i get more and more real-life friends who become bloggers. i've been blogging for almost 3 years now and i always heard about the gathering this or that in indonesia. something that i would never think would happen here. turns out there are quite many of them now that i think we can start having a so-called 'gathering' just like blogbugs community, bbv in bandung or angkringan in yogya. who knows mungkin aja jadi ada "indonesian in nyc bloggers" community. plenty of them are still fresh to this blogging thing.. several have been known in the virtual world for a while. mau tau sapa aja nih yang fellow indonesian bloggers in nyc? here they are...

[axlandra]. or simply known as aXL. i came in contact with her through email which she sent to me.. well, maybe about a year or two ago. she stumbled upon my blog while looking for information about the then recently-opened warteg in nyc. she emailed me, told me she liked my blog, and finally she became one. if she didn't email me, i would know nothing about her.. but it turns out she was going out with a guy i know *her hubby now*.. who happens to be one of my ex-boyfriend's friend in high school, my senior in high school, and an ex-roommate of my ex-roommate's boyfriend. complicated? well.. it is.. that's just how small world is. i met her after swapping emails for a while.. it turned out she was pregnant with dylan at the time. sayang ampe sekarang gue belom sempet nengokin dylan. sorii yaa taaa.. but i will i will...!! :)

[denny]. nope, not my brother denny. it's the other denny, dridza that is. he's a fresh blogger. liat aja entry nya baru 3 biji tuh. hehehe.. tapi sepertinya dia udah lama juga ngamatin blog nih. he's a programmer who's currently looking for a job. in the meantime, he's the current webmaster for the recently refreshed PERMIAS NYC after its 3 years of idle status. gue kenal ama denny udah lamaaa... maybe one of the first folks i know when i first came to nyc. dia ini bisa dibilang "sesepuhnya" nyc.. soalnya udah lama banget disini.. ya kan den?

[mr. dxpx] aka mr. d aka darius trucker aka d.Lo aka .. all other name starts with D. i simply call him by his real name, daniel. he's the one who introduced me to this blog thing. it starts when he created a blog called "manhattan corporate slaves" for everyone to enter about their days in the office. tapi ternyata gatot berat karena yang ngisi cuman gue ama dia. so after a while, he closed it down and created his own page... and i followed him soon after. he's a talented film maker who actually holds his degree in business. a good friend, selalu rame, dan the other person i know with tons of supply of one of those crunchy jokes. a true character. sayang dia udah ga tinggal di new york lagi, walopun masih sekolah disini. dan juga jarang update blog nya lagi, walopun kadang˛ suka nongol dengan sepatah ato dua kata. danieelll.. kemana aja sih dese neeikk?? eke kangen niihhhh... kapan mau ketemuan kitaaa??

[jm3]. known to me as jamie. the youngest blogger i know in nyc so far. i first met her when in december 2002 when i first met up with finia. temen nya finia ini ternyata emang udah lama disini. she's a musician as she'd like to be known. she has great voice, writes great lyrics, plays guitar .. dan ruaammmee banget deh anaknya!

[jeki]. jeki is actually his nick name. sebenernya gue baru tau kalo dia yang namanya jeki. hueheheheh padahal namanya sering banget gue denger soalnya dia sering hangout ama adek gue juga.

[lanterna]. the most bachelor blogger in nyc. heuheheh.. known to me as kemal who also happens to be the president of PERMIAS NYC for 2004-2005 term. dia ini ternyata stalker nya sLesTa.com. hihihi.. soalnya diem˛ sejak dia tau gue punya blog, dia sering baca postingan gue.. trus setiap ketemu pasti ngebahas. dan ampe hapal gue nulis apa aja. heuahahah.. ampe akhirnya punya blog sendiri. i've known him for a while now. walopun kayaknya baru sekarang lebih sering komunikasi.. sayang nih kayaknya dia sibuk banget *apa sok sibuk ya?* soalnya blog nya jarang banget di apdet. yah maklum lah.. pak ketu sih.. hihihi.. *peace mal, i'm just bustin' ur chops here!*

[lina]. i bet you all know this girl. cuz she's been a blogger for a while too. i can't even remember how i stumbled upon her blog. yang pasti kita jadi sering mengunjungin blog masing2 for more than a year now. sayangnya kita belom pernah ketemu. padahal udah sering janjian mau ketemu tapi ga jadi˛ terus nih. even when wulan was here. kapan dong nih liiinnn kita ketemuan??

[loucee]. the story how i met her is a funny one. in the real life, i just know her for ony several months now. but i've heard about her waaayyy before we finally met face-to-face. i even had an entry about her in october 2002. it's a letter from her close friend in jakarta that was written to her in their almamater mailing list. how i got this letter? well.. the person wants to remain anonymous *you know who you are*. yang pasti ternyata loucee ini satu almamater ama ex-boyfriend gue and that friend of hers? i ended up chatted with him online from time to time.. and turns out to be an ex-boyfriend of a fellow blogger yang mayan "ngetop" di dunia maya ini. i shoulda met her a while ago, cuz when i first met her.. it only took us a cup of coffee, desserts and 3-hour convo to keep us wonder if maybe.. juustt maybe we were friends in our past life before. cuz we just clicked. hence, she's now my in-house designer *huehehehe* and i help her with blogging.. even hosting her blog.

[mar]. well, actually she's not exactly a blogger. but she maintains a website that gives info about the underground asian musician in nyc. a funky gal. she's one of my oldest & dearest friend here. and she has maintained the site for a while now.

[roby]. nah ini blogger lama juga. tapi gue belom pernah ketemu juga. padahal dia kenal ama beberapa temen yang gue udah kenal lama, including denny dan loucee, even kemal. roby ini baru aja jadi bapak buat si kecil toby dan dia lagi ngambil phd di columbia university. thesis nya dia ttg "small world" bener˛ interesting banget.. dia ini juga mayan ngetop loh. heheh.. gara˛ thesisnya ampe di wawancara di cnn dan masuk bermacem˛ koran di indonesia.

[tika]. nah tika ini ga laen dan ga bukan adalah istrinya roby, mamanya toby. kalo gue aja blom pernah ketemu ama roby, berarti ama tika juga belom. heheheh..

[taufik]. another new blogger. gue sih baru aja kenal ama dia. maybe even less than a month. tapi ternyata asik juga anaknya. yang pasti he has interest in books. a trait i rarely find in indonesian kids in nyc, well, indonesian kids in general, maybe. cuman sayang.. udah dua kali ke rumah gue minggu ini.. dia lupa mulu mau minjem buku katanya. padahal my book case stands tall in the living room. huehehhe.. next time ya fik!

whooohh... *ngusep keringet* ternyata mayan banyak juga nih. harusnya pasti ada lagi beberapa orang laen.. maybe! who knows. kan lebih seru ya kalo rame. we don't really need gathering i guess.. cuz we meet each other almost every week.. at least for those whom i already know. sebenernya ada 2 orang yang mesti gue mention juga nih. dian pras yang tadinya tinggal di upstate new york (well, not exactly new york city.. but still anak new york laahhh). gue udah pernah ketemu ama dia waktu dia sempet jalan˛ ke nyc summer kemaren. tapi dian ini udah balik ke jakarta. begitu juga dengan thalia. she's a one hell of a talented designer. i haven't met her soalnya sebelom gue sempet ketemuan dia udah keburu ninggalin nyc. maybe someday we'll meet in jakarta.

so far tinggal 3 orang blogger yang disini yang gue belom ketemu nih.. gimana kalo kita janjian ketemu bareng?? .. itung˛ gathering pas acara movie night di KJRI tanggal 27 maret ini. *tuh mal acaranya udah ke promosi ama gue!* ini acara fund-raising PERMIAS NYC dan acara pertama mereka sejak terbentuknya kepengurusan baru. yuk dateng yuukkk.. biar saling kenalan and won't be strangers no more. who knows we may have passed each other on the streets before. just go to permias' site for more info..

horeee.. yuk gathering yuuukkk.. biar ga kalah ama anak˛ blogger di indo. *wink wink* well, guys.. welcome to the virtual world of blogging.

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 3/19/2004 05:05:00 AM | [ ]

>> IBA AWARD

a lovely suprise in the middle of my "i-hate-monday" syndrome. didn't expect it at all. in fact, i don't even remember that this award still exists. i've taken the participation banner off a while ago from this site thinking that they might have discontinue this award since the winner was never announced way after the deadline. it's indeed nice to know that it still exists. i know it must be hard to make this a reality since this is the first award, isn't it?

makasih buat yang ngasih selamat buat gue. yes, my site has been awarded as the runner up for IBA Award, dalam kategori khusus. terus terang gue kurang ngerti ini pemilihan pemenangnya berdasarkan apa. dan kenapa juga site gue masuk dalam "kategori khusus". maaf, soalnya yang daftarin gue ikutan lomba ini bukan gue.. tapi si aban yang sekarang udah entah dimana. jadi ya makasih juga deh buat aban yang udah daftarin dan manas˛in gue buat ikutan ampe akhirnya dia yang daftarin. but of course, i am very much grateful to have been given the runner up for the award.

makasih buat semua pemenang yaa.. anda anda memang layak dapat bintang!! hehhe..

makasih juga buat panitia yang memberikan penghargaan buat website gue ini. you guys rock!!

apa sih IBA? buat yang gak tau... IBA itu singkatan dari indonesian blog award yang diadain olah "anak˛ yogya" yang bergerak dalam naungan angkringan.or.id. lomba yang diadakan sejak akhir summer kemaren ini sebenernya lomba pertama kali yang diadakan setelah idenya kalo gak salah terlahir hasil dari gathering akbar anak˛ blogbugs may 2002 lalu, ketika blogbugs merayakan ultah pertamanya.

sukses buat panitia, semoga ajang IBA Award ini bisa menjadi ajang bergengsi buat para blogger indonesia.

thank you again for the award. and congrats to the winners once again.

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 3/16/2004 05:41:00 AM | [ ]

>> GARING DEH KAYAK KRUPUK!

kadang˛ gue suka mikir.. seberapa jayus nya sih si jayusman ampe orang˛ bikin kata dari namanya. kalian tentunya tau dong cerita ttg si jayusman yang katanya saking garing kalo nge-joke sampe akhirnya dibikinlah kata˛ jayus untuk mendekripsikan kegaringan orang kalo lagi berusaha ngelucu. nah gue jadi mikir begini.. soalnya gue tinggal ama orang yang menurut gue paling jayus sedunia... my one and only brother!!!

dari dulu sebenernya gue tau dia itu anaknya sangat analitik banget. kalo nanya kayak wartawan, ampe detail.. kadang˛ gue bingung.. dia itu emang pengen tau apa cuman ngerjain orang. tapi semakin kita gede.. walopun gue banyakan ngomong serius ama dia.. gue jadi makin mengenal adek gue as a "friend". temen hangout gue, roommate gue, dan temen jayus gue. temen˛ maennya juga temen˛ gue disini.. ya walopun kayaknya mereka suka rada segen maen ama gue.. hihi.. mungkin faktor umur. tapi setelah beberapa lama sering maen.. mereka akhirnya pada ngaku, kalo ternyataa.. gue sama jayusnya ama adek gue, walopun piala jayus tetep dipegang ama adek gue sih. heuahah.. ternyata oh ternyata.

dan semakin sering gue hangout ama adek gue, semakin gue liat emang tu anak jayus abis. tapi lucu, dan ga ada abisnya deh tuh joke˛ garing nya keluar, ato keusilan˛nya dia pengen ngerjain orang. it's just cool to see another side of my brother that i don't see much when we're at home. especially to find out that we have almost the same trait. dan akibatnya.. temen˛ adek gue jadi mayan comfy untuk hangout ama gue.. mungkin karena walopun dari luaran gue suka serius.. apalagi sebagai yang paling tua di antara anak bawang, ternyata mereka suka terheran˛ dengan ceplosan gue yang rada˛ garing. hihihi..

kemaren ini gue ama adek gue jalan seharian ama arif dan loucee.. and ohmigod adek gue jayus seharian ampe gue terbengong˛. yang pasti mulut gue capek ngakak terus. arif udah geleng˛ kepala aja.. pusing ngeliat denny. dan loucee? dia ampe nonjok denny saking ga kuatnya dengerin adek gue garing banget. sayang gue ga bawa tape recorder.. soalnya gue jadi lupa apa aja sih joke2 jayus nya yang bikin kita ketawa..

jadi gue kasih highlights aja.. dari ceplosan garing gue & adek gue yang gue inget.. hihhi..


[+] sikat gigi

den: "yul.. sikat gigi gue yang mana ya?"
yul: "yang reach [ merek sikat gigi ] punya gue den, punya lo yang crest [ merek sikat gigi juga.. baca: kres ]"
den: "oh jadi yang kres punya gue ya.. punya lo yang lembek?"

*gubrak*


[+] fani

den: "eh tadi sapa nama ceweknya si e**?"
gue: "fani"
den: "oh berarti lucu gitu dong anaknya?"
rif: "huh?"
lou: "kok lo tau?"
gue: "iyah.. lucu gimana maksud loe?"
den: "iyah.. fani kan namanya.. lucu brarti"
kita: "oh deenn tolong deennnn...!! kriuks abis!"

* fani as in funny [doh!!]


[+] sambel cap djempol

gue: "sambel djempol itu pedes juga ya?"
yul: "iya emang. udah ga seenak dulu tapi"
lou: "iya.. kalo ga salah sih ada tuh yang lebih enak dari sambel cap djempol, kalah deh sambel cap djempol ama sambel itu.. tapi lupa gue namanya apa"
gue: "sambel cap kelingking ya?"
lou: "gak tau.. iya emang ada?"
yul: "cap kelingking?.. emang ada?"
gue: "loh kan katanya sambel cap djempol kalah.. ya pake kelingking dong.. heheheh"

*krompyang*


duh.. sayang gue lupa semua.. it's not something we remember, at least not for me .. semuanya asli yang ceplosan tanpa dipikir.. hihih... anyways.. ini kok ngomong˛ postingannya jadi garing juga yah? hmmm.. untung dah weekend. happy weekend, then!

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 3/13/2004 02:38:00 AM | [ ]

>> THE RED-HOT NUMBER

new yorkers just love to gripe wrote stephanie gaskell in the recent article on new york post. what does she mean by that? well, she wrote this article titled "red-hot number" referring to the most popular non-emergency number 311. new york city's government has set up this number so that people can call and complain about what's going on in the city for the 'less' emergency problems. we used to hear those announcement not to call 911 if your problem does not consider an emergency where life is at stake. so, now, all calls go to 311.

since it was first setup a year ago, new yorkers have made more than 6.5 million calls to 311. new yorkers have called the hot line for all kinds of reasons, from trying to get someone to pick up an old refrigerator to complain about illegal smoking in a bingo hall or even to report a chicken lurking on a stoop. mayor bloombert believes that those three numbers have revolutionized the way new yorkers interact with city government. the hot line receives about 30,000 calls a day. it's open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and operators can take calls in 170 languages.

it is believed that these calls reveal a lot what's on new yorkers' minds. the most common calls are noise complaints. if you live in new york city, you know exactly what i mean. this city has this blaring sirens every half an hour *i can hear it clearly when i sit on my 20th floor office.. imagine if you live in the first floor!*, be it from the police cars, fire hydrants to ambulances. it's just one of the soundtracks of the city. not to mention the cars, the subways, or sometimes the chopper among the skylines. the second complaint that follows is landlord complaints. ranging from heat problem in the building during the recent cold snap, fire hazard, or just about noisy neighbors. the hot line came in handy during the blackout last summer, when more than 175 thousand people called asking for .. well, anything.

living in a metropolitan like new york city, it is daunting to find a city service where the yellow pages are 2 inches thick with close to 4000 entries in it. we usually get two books every year. the 2-inches yellow pages and another one for the white pages.. and believe me, they're heavy as hell! it's always amazing to find that yellow pages in other cities are like pocket books compared to what we have. therefore, the idea of creating the hot-line service are so convenient for us. new yorkers can just remember the three numbers to ask about what's going on in our city. and indeed, it is very helpful.

during the hot-line's birthday on march 9, 2004, even the mayor claims to have called 311 "all the time" to report potholes and trash on the street. but of course, he used fictitious name so he can make sure that people do something about it not because of his last name [ and position? ]. over a year, 311 has helped many new yorkers. city officials are trying to improve it even further. there are many 'less' emergency cases being solved due to the help of 311. the chicken on the stoop is a good example of how the system works. in another case, a bronx woman called 311 after she realized she left her groceries on the bus. the operator promptly called the MTA's (metropolitan transportation authority) bus dispatcher in the bronx and tracked down the driver.

it's nice to know that the high tax we have paid actually resulted in something useful for us. the 311 number just another feature the city have done to serve a better purpose to its residents. i myself have tried this number several times, mostly to find out about the parking rules on my street. and if you've driven a car in nyc ... well, you know what it means to get a parking spot right.

who says new yorkers are ignorant? i guess they do care, in their ignorant way. :)

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 3/11/2004 05:51:00 AM | [ ]

>> NET PAYPHONES UPDATED

on november, i posted this entry about the "net pay phones" that were being installed on the streets of new york city. since then i have only seen it but never really got a chance to use it. well, got no use for it when i can always access to the internet using my computer at home or at work.

but the cool thing about this net pay phones is that you can take pictures and send them to your email address or even your friends'. definitely a big plus for tourists who come to this city. some nights ago me and a bunch of my friends tried to take the postcard email. and we tried them again last nite. we took it from the same spot on st. marks & 2nd ave .. and here are the pictures ..

the picture above was taken on feb. 14, 2004 @ 3.37 AM. from left to right is rif, jef, me, mar, and yul (or to be exact, yul's eye).

on the second picture, it was taken last nite, on mar 7, 2004 @ 10.42 PM, again with rif, my bro den, loucee and me.

.. isn't it a cool thing? too bad the camera is waaay too high.. especially for asian people like us.. oops, i mean, a small people like me? *hey i'm not that small!* we have to stand on our toes and lift our chin so we can be in the picture.. heheh.. it's fun though! i tell you.. when you come to this city, you should try it out. it only costs us 50 cents for 3 minutes of use..

cool, eh?

UPDATE:

since i know most of you won't even click on the link i put above, i should've put the picture of the phone here.. just so you can see how the net pay phones look like. it's cool right? those black circles on top of the screen is where the camera sits.. and that would be in the middle circle. the right one is to put your coins in, and the left one is to slide your credit card if you decide to take longer than usual *of if you just don't have enough coins to put in*. the keyboard is just like any other keyboard except that it is harder to touch. you really have to press it .. i guess it's more of like a regular pay phone's dial pad. the whole thing actually sits low on the phone booth, but the only problem is that the camera sits way up high on the phone so that when you take the picture, it only takes the part where the camera lays. they should've put the camera in panoramic mode or something.. *whatever they call it*. but all and all.. it's a pretty cool thing happening around the streets of nyc, aint' it?

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 3/09/2004 04:33:00 AM | [ ]

>> ETIQUETTE IN STREETS OF NEW YORK CITY

living in new york city means living life the hard way. well, that is, of course, if you're a working class individual. it may be different if you're one of the top notch person like many other newyorkers, like bloomberg, trump, clinton, etc. although one thing for sure, new york city does not exploit the differentiation between its classes. you can earn a six-digit figure and work in a wall street and still ride the subway like many others. you'll never know who would be sitting next to you on the subway ride to work. it could be a VP of such and such company or it could as well be a busboy in a restaurant. and that's the beauty of new york city life.

new yorkers also known for its rough, i-do-what-i-want-so-get-out-of-my-way manner. but what people don't know is that new yorkers are soft at heart. and no matter how bad our manners are.. we have etiquette in our everyday life.. well, at least some of those that we tried to follow ... and who said gallantry is dead? every day you see courteous people holding a door or saying "please" and "thank you." at least if i have to compare with our culture, the so-called friendly culture, i found it amazing how courteous people are here. they would say "thank you" in everything they do or when you do something for them.. even if it was only to let them walk before you. ironically, it's not something i often find these days back home. i mean, when i went home in 2002, i found it weird that people don't say "thank you" in jakarta, not as often as we do here. especially when it comes to the older generation.

etiquette is something that we believe as doing good manners .. an appropriate manner that we assume to be originated from a much advance culture like european, per say. but in these days and age, etiquette is needed in our daily life, whether we like it or not. one simple example.. queueing! etiquette sometimes connected to the level of education one has, even back to the upbringing that someone grew up with. whether it's true or not, these days etiquette is a significant indication of how our society made of.

this morning, i watched a small excerpts in local tv news (ny1) about etiquette in new york's daily life. ms. rae bianco, an etiquette expert, helped to point out the points. they are pretty interesting. here they are:

>> doors/elevators/escalators

a man should hold the door for a lady, whether for going into a room or in and out of an elevator.

a man should stand behind a woman going up an escalator and in front of her going down an escalator. this way if she should fall, he can catch her in either case.

a man should go first in a revolving door, so as to push the heavy door for the lady.

>> walking on the street

a man should walk on the outside of the curb so as to protect the lady from any splashes from cars, unless it is a dark night and you are on a quiet street, then the man should walk on the inside where it is darker.

>> dating

on a first date, a woman should agree to meet the man at the place. it is nice if he offers to pick her up, but she should decline.

when the bill arrives, assuming the man has arranged the date, the woman should offer to contribute to the bill. he should not accept on the first date.

>> subway

you should never try to hold subway doors for oncoming passengers.

if you would like to read a newspaper or magazine on the subway, make sure to fold the item up so that you are not in anyone else's space.

if you have a backpack or large bag, hold it in front of you so you do not hit others.

you should always get up and offer your seat to an elderly person or a pregnant woman. it does not matter if you are a man or a woman!

notice how women are always the one being the protectee and men as the protector. what a double standard!! hehehehe... i guess that's why men are being real for not giving up seats in subways anymore.. and believe it or not, i don't mind at all!! how about the first date or paying bill? i agree on the first date, but i think going 'dutch' is always the right way to go.

one of the etiquette that was also mentioned is how men would react after they hailed a cab in busy manhattan streets. if he was on a date, should the guy go first or the girl? well, according to the etiquette expert, there are two ways of doing this. first, the guy opened the door for the girl and let her sit and then walk around to the other side to get in. second, to go in first and slide then let the girl follow after you. the second sounds insensitive but i think it's the more practical way, especially when you're on a date or wearing dress or a skirt, cuz when a girl goes in first and has to slide.. well, if you're a woman and have tried those nyc cab's backseat.. you know that it's an irritating thing to do. well not to the extreme, but it's just nice that a guy would think such a thing to make us, women, feel comfortable.

[ps: on my last post, i found that many readers think that i am annoyed for being known outside of my cyber life. well, just to keep the record straight. no i don't. it's nice to meet someone who reads my blog in the real life, let alone to be recognized for what i write. it's just a new thing to me, cuz i never take notice before. and about that privacy thing? well, i've always keep it and i made vow that i wouldn't share anything about my life, unless i have met the person face-to-face. and believe me.. there is people out there who knows about me from the blog and have become the good of friends in my life. you know who you are. ;)]

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 3/03/2004 05:14:00 AM | [ ]