>> UNDER THE KNIFE

akhir² ini stasiun tv di amerika lagi sedang hebohnya menyiarkan show² yang berhubungan dengan "makeover". ketika "the fab five" keluar dengan "queer eyes for the straight guy" show, it was hillarious and well-received and adoringly entertaining. although i'm not exactly a fan of a reality show, from time to time i always hear the hype when people talk about it. makeover and finding ways to look better always a good catchy way to gain audience's attention. dan kesuksesan "fab five" ini ternyata bikin ide macem² buat producer laennya. seperti show kayak "i want a famous body" di mtv sampe "the swan" on nbc. the only different is, when the fab five is doing a makeover by emphasizing one's strength, other recent shows are doing makeover by using one answer. plastic surgery! the catch.. turning an ugly duckling to a beauty pageant... and yes, through plastic surgery. face lift, botox, tummy tuck, liposuction, nose job, boob job, nose-tip refining, and so on and so forth. and people are actually pay good money and eager to be able to get these surgeries. they thought that they are not happy with what they have so let the knife speaks it for them. oh what a painful transformation.

our society are so obsessed with image. gue selalu protes betapa jaim nya orang² jakarta. yang penting gaya, masalah duit ada apa engga itu belakangan. pake barang mesti bermerek karena biar orang² respek. in a way i understand karena lingkungan kita penuh dengan orang yang selalu mau tau urusan orang laen. bukan berarti itu jelek, hanya saja itu sudah mendarah daging dan bagian hidup bangsa asia seperti kita. gue inget waktu gue masih sma.. nyokap gue selalu wanti² setiap gue pergi keluar malem.. "kamu pulangnya jangan malem² ya.. ga enak ama tetangga, kok anak perempuan pulang malem².." waktu itu sih gue masih ngikutin. ya kan kasian orang tua gue, nanti disangka ga bisa ngedidik anak yang baek. lama kelamaan gue suka mikir.. eh itu orang² urusan amat sih? lagian kok mereka bisa tauan anak tetangga pulangnya malem.. ngapain mereka nungguin di luar malem²? besides just because i go home late at night berarti gue melakukan hal yang enggak²? toh ga juga. gue akhirnya jadi suka berselisih ama nyokap.. gue bilang, "ngapain sih mama mikirin apa kata orang? kan selama mama tau aku gak ngapa²in, bukankah itu sudah cukup?" pikiran gue.. buat apa kita mencoba menutup²i hal yang tidak salah? toh begini adanya, buat apa dibikin bagus.. terima aja.. as long as we're happy with ourselves, why bother with what people say?

now.. back to the tv shows... makeover and plastic surgery are somewhat similar with what we have in life. when we want to make ourselves look better, we do a makeover. in life, it's like doing an introspection. you look at yourself, think what you do best, and what you do less and improve on those. come to terms of who you are and be happy with what you've got as others will see it too. on the other hand, plastic surgery only to erase what you don't like because you can't come to terms with what you have and no matter how many transformation you make, you won't be happy inside, when you can't accept the person you are.

i wonder if those "swans" are happy with their transformation. i mean i'm sure they're happy that they're not an "ugly duckling" as they would call themselves. but would they come peacefully with who they are? would big boobs, smaller nose, fat lip, flat tummy or a face lift make them better? i know they'd say it'll make them more confidence. well, if that's what they need, then maybe it's not so much of a problem, as long as they know that beauty comes from the inside.

but how would you go about the world, and show your pretty face, when deep inside it's all fake? in life, we always come to a crossroad where we don't know which road to take. but i believe that whichever direction you finally chose, it's the one that you have to stick with. be true. be you.

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 4/28/2004 04:28:00 AM | [ ]

>> HAY FEVER ATTACK

sejak dari 4 tahun yang lalu, setiap pergantian cuaca gue selalu suffer ama penyakit yang lebih sering disebut "seasonal allergy". penyakit ini, sesuai dengan namanya dateng nya tuh seasonal. biasanya karena pergantian cuaca dari musim dingin ke musim semi. the times when i enjoy the most, but also when i suffer the most because of this damn allergy. waktu kemaren gue naro di status YM gue "seasonal allergy.. nyebelin deh!, pada negor dan nanya gue sakit apa. trus karena gue nyebutin gue kena allergi, the first thought pasti kalo gara² sakit itu, badan gue gatel². one person even told me that he got the allergy too last year and had his whole body itched. he even told me that maybe i should bathed in warm water. heheheh.. although everyone gives kind remarks.. i can't help but laugh at all the comments. ternyata ini salah satu misperception ttg allergy dan seasonal allergy, which i totally understand, karena di indonesia gak ada namanya seasonal allergy.. gue aja totally clueless about this, until i experience it myself.

allergy itu jenis nya banyak. tapi kebanyakan orang tau kalo allergy itu ada hubungannya ama gatel². contohnya orang allergy seafood, jadinya kalo makan seafood jadinya gatel² trus bengkak either di mulut, di mata, di tangan, atau daerah² laen di sekitar badan. tapi bukan berarti kalo kena allergy laennya, symptomnya bakalan sama. seasonal allergy itu jauh beda sama allergy seafood atau allergy laen²nya. setau gue, seasonal allergy itu adanya hanya di negara² yang punya 4 musim. soalnya seasonal allergy ini biasanya muncul pas musim berganti. some people can suffer this allergy all year long. tiap ganti musim kena ama allergy.

nah, apa sih seasonal allergy itu? pada dasarnya reaksi allergi itu ada ketika immune system kita -- yang gunanya emang untuk melindungan badan kita dari benda² asing yang punya potensi untuk bikin sakit.. (contohnya virus, germs, bakteri, dll) -- terserang, dan bereaksi karena terlalu sensitive sama object2 itu. misalnya immune system kita tuh bereaksi ama seafood atau bulu binatang, jadilah kita terserang allergi. tiap orang ga punya reaksi allergy yang sama cuz any substance can be an allergen to someone, and the number of allergens is limitless. yang paling common itu dari serbuk bunga (pollen), mold (bhs indo nya apa ya?), debu (dust), insect bites (gigitan serangga), dan berbagai macem makanan atau obat²an.

a seasonal allergy, known also as hay fever, is the body's reaction to an airborne particle such as pollen or mold. jenis allergy ini cuman ada pada waktu² tertentu (read: pergantian musim) khususnya ketika pohon² tertentu (yang mostly non-tropical trees), rumput² liar, serbuk bunga, atau jamur yang dilepas dari pori² bunga ke udara. obviously, not everyone gets allergies, although no one is sure why some people get them and some don't. people with hay fever, like me, seem to have a hyper-alert immune system that's always on the lookout against invastion by substances foreign to the body. pollen (serbuk bunga) and mold (sejenis jamur, cmiiw) aren't actually harmful in any way, but when an allergic person breathes in pollen or mold, the body views it as a dangerous invader and releases histamine and other chemicals to fight it off. histame inflames the nose and airways, and the chemicals cause the well-known symptoms of hay fever: runny nose, watery eyes, nosebleed, and frequent sneezing to flush the allergen from the body.

and that's what i usually have. up to the point mata gue bisa gatel² yang saking gatelnya pengen rasanya gue lepas bola matanya trus gue cuci.. heueheh.. the symptoms are just very annoying. belom lagi bersin yang ga brenti².. capek tau gak bersin sampe 10 kali berturut².. cobain aja! ato gak mata gue jadi bengkak, puffy gitu karena hidung gue mampet. untungnya gue cuman allergy ama pollen yang keluar di musim semi.. which usually are pollen & mold from trees.. yang kecil² dan gak terlalu keliatan ama mata kasat. kalo udah mulai masuk summer sih biasanya symptom allergy gue udah ilang. tapi banyak orang yang symptomnya sampe the whole summer.. akibatnya ga bisa keluar rumah. kasian kalo udah kayak gitu. dan seperti halnya flu & cold, hay fever ini ga ada penyembuhnya. paling dikasih obat untuk ngontrol histamine kita. i've been here for almost 10 years, tapi gue gak pernah kena symptom allergy ini. baru 4 tahun terakhir gue mulai parah. once i asked my doctor.. soalnya gue dari kecil kan selalu berada di sekitar pepohonan dan tumbuh²an.. tapi gue gak pernah kena allergy ini. katanya pepohonan di negara² tropical itu beda ama pepohonan disini. bunga² juga beda. cara mereka hidup juga beda. kalo di daerah tropical mereka bisa hidup sepanjang tahun, pohon² disini kebanyakan baru mulai tumbuh di musim semi, dan hibernate di musim dingin. akibatnya ketika musim semi datang.. hebohlah mereka menyebarkan serbuk² bunganya. ibaratnya manusia.. ini saatnya mereka mencari mangsa.. the so-called, spring fling! :D waktu pertama kali gue kesini, badan gue udah punya anti-histamine sendiri, tapi setelah beberapa lama.. karena gue ter-expose ama pepohonan disini, mulai lah badan gue bereaksi, akibatnya histamine gue mulai nyolot kalo ada object² aneh yang masuk ke tubuh gue.. dan jadilah bereaksi setiap ada pollen yang berterbangan dan masuk ke badan.

nah kalo udah mulai kena hay fever, biasanya ga bakal berenti. semuanya tergantung juga dengan cuaca. kalo udara di luar pollen countnya tinggi (which means, the weather is windy, hot, and dry), symptoms nya bisa parah banget. tapi kalo pollen count nya rendah, apalagi kalo udara nya basah, cloudy, or windless, pastinya symptomnya berkurang. pokoknya selama udaranya bikin pollen ga berterbangan kemana².. i'll be fine. untungnya sih sejak taun lalu gue nemu obat yang pas buat menanggulangi allergy gue, itu juga setelah nyobain obat² ini itu for the previous 2 years dan gak ngaruh² juga. masalahnya.. obatnya udah abis nih!! jadi gue mesti minta dokter gue buat ngasih resep lagi... uuhhh.. beli obat dulu yak!!

*sneeze* - *sneeze* - *sneeze* - sroooott! heehh... untung hari ini rada mendung, jadi pollen countnya gak tinggi dan gue ga terlalu banyak bersin kayak kemaren.. huu uuhh...

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 4/21/2004 09:58:00 PM | [ ]

>> MY 'OTHER HALF'

she was a friendly face i saw when i stepped foot on to my new class, 12 years ago. the first time i was ever to enter a school whose entire 10th grade has more students than my entire junior high school. during junior year i was stuck with only 35 same faces from 7th grade to 9th grade (kelas 1-3 smp). it's fresh to see unfamiliar faces, bigger class rooms, hectic classmates.. and it's pretty scary alright. so when i first saw her round face, with big round eyes and pretty smile... i just knew that we would be friends. she came up to me and asked me if i want to sit with her. and so we did. and since then, we were together everywhere. people raised their eyebrows on us cuz we're two completely different individuals. i was quiet, she was loud. i was a nerd, she was a socialite. i was shy, she was far more than shy. i was calm, she was wild. with all of our differences, poetry and english was our glue. she becomes my other half, the one personality that i could never have, and so was mine to her.

after a year, she left jakarta to new zealand. she got accepted in an exchange student program. so the whole year of my 11th grade, i had to make do with my other friends. but we kept in touch. we wrote many pages of letters. email was not an option back then. the letter usually contains of our daily activities in a week.. how we felt on such and such day and every entry was written as per date.. (imagine how easy it is if blog was already invented back then). they were long mails alright.. but that was the only way we know how to keep in touch with each other. by the time she came back from new zealand, she had to redo the 11th grade she left behind for that whole year, while i was already in 12th grade. being in my last year of high school, my agenda was packed. not to mention i was already living by myself while my parents were transferred to another city. so i had to take care of myself.. and my brother, on top of preparing for exams, softball practices (i was drafted for jakarta's junior softball team, in which i resigned when i found i couldn't find the time to study), looked for colleges to go to and so on and so forth. so we still hung out, but we didn't see as much as we'd like to. but at least, we're in the same school, same city and same area code.

after i graduated high school, i left to come to the states. it gave a further distance on us. but i used to call her a lot. she was the only person that was constant in my life. whenever i need someone to cheer me up, when i need someone to listen to me, i call her up. sometimes.. when i was bothered and couldn't find a way to tell people.. i just call her up to tell her i miss her.. and she would always felt that something's bothering me. she's the only person who knows me inside out. the only person who would listen without being judgemental, the only person who's happy for me and support me in whatever i do, and scream at me when i complain too much.

then one day, i lost touch of her. couldn't seem to get in touch with her. my mails were no longer answered, she moved to bali. then i couldn't just get in touch with her by phone cuz no one knows her cell phone number. then her family moved from the house she used to live and i used to come for a visit. and i don't know where they went or their new phone number. so she just vanished. and when i found out her numbers, it's so hard to get in touch with her. so i only talked to her once in a blue moon.

i would hear about her from time to time from my other high school friends. but never talked to her directly anymore, hardly. when i went home to jakarta, she wasn't there.. cuz she'd be in bali. and so the last vacation i had in 2002, i decided, i'm gonna go and visit her to bali. and i did. it was the most wonderful time i had with her. and the first thing she said after spending a whole day with me.. "i'm sorry for being wrong all these times. people say you've changed since you lived in new york. but i don't see that.. cuz you're still the same person i know when i first saw you back in our first day in high school". it was the sweetest thing.. and she promised to keep in touch with me no matter what.

from her, i truly understand the value of friendship. they say a real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out. a friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back you when you have forgotten the words. a true friend is someone who can accept you just the way you are, understand you before you even open your mouth, and always be there no matter how bad or good your moods are. it sounds like a lot of work. but friends are the one thing you don't look for but the one thing that comes to you when you least expect it. friendship does not come in a blink of an eye.. it takes years to nurture. and my friendship with her is the one i always cherish. i'm lucky to have her in my life.

happy birthday ake! thank you for being my "other half".

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 4/20/2004 12:16:00 AM | [ ]

>> DEBUNKING MYTHS

so they say spring has come. usually when spring comes it means changes of weather, how undecided it is.. just like the 4-days of april showers we've been having. and with it, it means flood season, and worst of all ... flu and allergy season. but does the weather really the trigger for the cold season? when it comes to health, we came across so many medical myths that sometimes those myths are so believable. so don't be a fool when it comes to your health.. i found the article with the actual answers for some of the myths we grew up to believe. it's pretty interesting to find the right answer to those myths.

true or false?

chewing gum takes seven years to pass through your digestive system.

FALSE!! the gum component itself is pretty indigestible, but will "pass" in a mass and will not stick your insides together, either. this one probably got going when exasperated parents tired of buying more gum after half an hour because their kids had chomped, then swallowed, their allotment. also, swallowing gum was seen as ignorant and lower class.

incidentally, the desire to chew for chewing's sake is quite ancient. our ancestors used to chap away at tree resin. did you know that santa anna of alamo fame first turned gum manufacturers onto the gum resin? he thought it would be a good substitute for rubber. it's OK to swallow the occasional watermelon seed, too, unless you suffer from intestinal inflammation. doctors are pretty sure watermelon seeds do not grow into full-fledged watermelons.


cracking your knuckles will cause arthritis in later life.

FALSE!! depending on your point of view, knuckle-popping sounds disgusting or cool (i myself think it's cool!). there is no evidence that cracking your knuckles inflames the joints and leads to arthritis. the cracking causes the bones to pull apart, forming a gas bubble and breaking the adhesive seal in the joint. crack! about a quarter of the people in the U.S. and probably more in the world, cuz many indonesians i know like to crack their knuckles and might begin to lose their grip a little. constant cracking can weaken the fingers. oops!


staring at an eclipse can blind you.

TRUE!! this is an old myth, which happens to be a fact. the only way anyone could stare directly at the sun with the naked eye would be if the sun were totally obscured, as in a total eclipse (reports in the 70s of feckless youth on LSD staring at the sun until their retinas fried are legend).

as sunlight enters the eye it can damage the light-sensitive nerve endings in the back of the eye -- known as the retin -- causing vision loss. a partial eclipse can lead to serious damage if precautions are not taken to prevent blindness. this is why there are only a few safe ways to view an eclipse such as with a referred image. a referred image can be a pinhole in a cardboard sheet that allows the sunlight to pass through. regular sunglasses, exposed film, and even a welder's helmet -- are not safe.


staying out in the cold and wind will give you a cold.

FALSE!! colds are caused by viruses, with enough variations to give you a choice of 200 versions of a cold (which is why you get them over and over again). because viruses get into healthy cells, it's difficult to kill them without knocking off the good cells. this is the job of your immune system, which usually clears out cold viruses in a week or two. you can get the virus through inhaling infected air droplets sneezed or coughed by an infected person, or by touching something that an infected person has touched and then transferring the germs to your mouth or nose. you don't get it from cold air, slush, wind, or other wintry conditions. so what's the best way to ward off this miserable virus? wash your hands often.

so i guess giving an excuse not to come to work because the weather is too cold and give you a "cold" is one lame excuse, my friend! hehehhe


you can catch a sexually transmitted disease (STD) from a toilet seat.

FALSE!! thank God! it's scary to think the idea that you could get an STD from a toilet seat. it "sounds believeable," but is highly unlikely. hard surfaces such as toilet seats are not conducive to STDs. incidentally, there is rumor that the toilet seat myth got started by men who wanted their wives to think a public restroom, not their mates' adulterous ways, had given them an STD. awww, men!


feeding kids sugar causes hyperactivity.

FALSE!! don't go buy the cake icing kids eat. you may notice a correlation between sugar intake and romping or grumping in the short-term, but not as a cause of chronic hyperactivity.


drinking warm milk can put you to sleep.

TRUE!! hm.. i think i should try doing this to kill my insomnia. turns out milk contains chemical known as tryptophan. however, some foods, such as cheddar, avocados, some imported beers, and bologna or salami, can keep you awake. other sleep tips include never oversleeping. get up about the same time everyday even if you had trouble sleeping. and try to get to bed at around the same time every evening.


chocolate causes acne.

FALSE!! the link between chocolate intake and acne outbreaks has been broken. another study, however, showed that stress can cause outbreaks. acne forms when the oil glands make too much sebum, a waxy substance that along with dead skin cells can clog pores. bacteria grow and irritate the blocked pore given the red and swollen look to them. too much harsh washing can further inflame the area. doctors have many tools to attack and control acne these days. some birth control pills even promise to improve acne. not that i need to take one.. besides my safe bet is to always blame it on pms. hehehe...


teething causes a fever.

FALSE!! studies have shown that symptoms such as fever and diarrhea may make teething babies more miserable but have not been triggered by the teething. "no correlation with tooth eruption". in fact, if the teething baby has a fever, you might want to look for another cause in addition to adding choppers.


feeling a little bit clever? well, at least i know that i can't always blame the weather. i just hope it'll get sunny soon.

[info taken from msn health]

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 4/15/2004 03:15:00 AM | [ ]

>> SEX TALK

when i was young, my parents taught me that anything about sex was taboo. sex is something you talk about when you grow up and only when you're married and old. i always taught that the subject of sex is not something that we should think about, let alone know what it is. the reason being that if we know about it, we might want to try it. however, without our parents' consent, sooner or later, kids know what sex is and curious why it's so taboo in our society. sometimes it leads to wanting to find out more about it... hence, the unsafe practice of it cuz they do not know which is the limit to the curiosity. before we know it, we know our friends, somebody's girlfriend, a cousin, someone's daughter, even maybe a sister got themselves pregnant. the so-called term "marriage by accident" becomes the common "secret" in our society. people know about it, just don't talk about it. along with the rise of the early marriage due to "accident", another alternative rises among the young indonesians... abortion. in indonesia, abortion becomes a solution instead of a problem. cases of young girls who are no longer a virgin sets an example. many of them have done the abortion procedure. eventhough it's illegal to do, quietly abortion becomes the common practice in everyday basis.

abortion maybe a problem, because unwanted pregnancy between an unwed couple keeps rising, while there is no law to forbid it. do you know that up until now, indonesian government does not yet have the exact number of abortion cases in indonesia? due to its secrecity and inside-the-closet practices, there was never an accurate number to record these cases. however, some research in several cities find surprising number.

due to the illegality of abortion in indonesian law, there is a concern of teenagers requesting an illegal abortion. and most of the abortion were done in an unsafe way, causing further issues to the health of the teenage girls. the knowledge of sex are very limited even among the married couple. padahal di jaman sekarang ini, we are exposed to sex in any way we can possibly think of. through advertisements, magazine articles, pop stars, even all the celebrities issues. sayang nya, ternyata itu tidak saja cukup karena kita tidak pernah diajarkan untuk mengerti apa sex itu sebenarnya. i remember, i've heard some friends and teenagers would discuss it and naively said, "if i only do it once, i won't get pregnant, right?" or "if i wear my undies, i shouldn't get me pregnant, correct?". oh how naive!! that's just a little proove how little we know about sex when we were younger. kebutaan seksualitas akibatnya jadi kehamilan di masa muda.

ketakutan orang tua bahwa pendidikan seks berakibat "karena tau menjadi mau" kayaknya ga beralasan kalo konsep pelajaran nya bukan praktek seks yang seperti orang² pikir. baru² ini gue baca artikel yang ditulis oleh dr. hendrawan nadesul di gatra berjudul "aborsi jadi solusi?". artikel ini sebenernya udah lama, but i just stumbled upon it recently and i found it very interesting. he discusses how indonesian teenagers are totally blinded about the subject of sex that it leads to early marriage, abortion, and eventually sexually transmitted diseases, divorces, and so on and so forth. konsep pendidikan seks yang selama ini ditentang oleh orang tua, sebenarnya amatlah penting, tanpa memberikan konsep yang mesti dipraktekkan. menurut pak hendrawan, konsep pendidikan seks di dunia sebenernya internalisasi nilai² pergaulan sehat, dan sama sekali bukan praktek seks sebagaimana lazim diberkan buat konseling perkawinan dan bina pranikah. selain unsur biologi, agama, psikologi, dan penyakit kelamin, pendidikan seks membawa pesan moral: bagaimana setiap remaja pandai menjaga diri sebagai pria dan wanita dewasa matang, sampai hari malam pengantin.

kita semakin melihat betapa anak² indonesia.. dari anak ABG ampe anak² yang udah beneran gede, makin terpengaruh dengan cara gaul orang amerika, typically orang "barat". for me, this is concerning. yes, i do live in a country where most of the influences come from them. just imagine how bad it is when it comes to us who live in this country. we can access everything as easily without worrying about censorship or anything else. i was here when i was still a teenager, and got exposed to many of them as fast. but knowing about this first hand, i became aware and know what is right and what is wrong and what is safe and what not. unfortunately, indonesian teenagers with the censorship and limited information about sex got exposed to all sensuality and sexual issues subtly from the movies, television, and the internet. shows like "the bachelor" or "the bachelorette" that are merely talking subtly about sexuality are becoming a big hit in indonesia [ something i find it amusing ], while sex is still taboo to talk about. isn't that kinda confusing?

it is just ironic, ketika angka "kecelakaan seks" semakin tinggi, it also raises the numbers for abortion procedure. on the other hand, it cries for the un-virginity of girls -- "nona-bukan-nyonya-bukan". and it's more ironic, research shows that many students and male in general still cannot accept if their bride is no longer a virgin. i do agree that our country prouds to its religious heritage.. but regarding the religious education to teach the morals to the kids, things are still happening behind the closet. hal² yang terus ditutupi demi image keluarga but keeps happening everyday. we all know about it, just don't talk about it.

are we a nation that has not come out of the "closet"? is abortion really a solution? does sex should be hidden and tabooed and only talked about when kids are getting married? isn't that a little too late while kids are finding out about all of these from different things and the worst part is, when practice kills curiousity, they have to learn the hard way.

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 4/12/2004 11:10:00 AM | [ ]

>> 10 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT NYC

falling in love is the greatest feeling in the world. to fall in love with the perfect one is even greater. how about falling in love with 8 million other people to compete with? impossible? unknown? well, in the case of a city called manhattan.. it is very much possible to fall in love with it all over again, along with the rest of the 8 million people other new yorkers. and in spite of its flawness, you just can't help but falling in love with this city as you know how. even those you hate, you missed ... as it is a part of this city.

i have my first date with this city in december 1997. experienced the night life and stayed for two weeks to find that it's not enough. i ended up wanting for more. within less than a year, i came back and stayed for the summer. it then became my ritual to appear everytime i have free time, holidays, or vacations.. which was most likely.. every weekend! we became steady when i moved to nyc in spring 1999. as part of the "I [heart] NY" moment loucee and i were doing .. here's my list to 10 things i LOVE about NYC. *beware, some of my list may be redundant with hers*



1. the view.
breathtaking view that you just can't never get enough of. setiap hari gue jalan² di antara gedung² pencakar langit ini, ga ada abisnya gue berdecak kagum. selalu ada saja hal² baru yang gue senangi dan kagumi. kalo diliat dari jauh, terkadang gedung² ini seperti maenan anak², but it's very real.

2. the beat of nyc.
the phrase of "the city tht never sleeps" is taken literally by new yorkers. cuz obviously this city never does sleep. jam berapapun dan kapanpun juga, gak mungkin ga ngeliat orang lewat, mobil lewat, bus, ato apapun lah. you will never feel alone, even when you're walking by yourself down on fifth avenue, or any street for that matter. nyc beats faster than any city. jadi semua orang disini bergerak cepat. buat orang yang kayak gue ga bisa diem.. seneng banget ngikutinnya. another phrase that is so true here.. "time is money". ga ada waktu untuk nunggu.

3. the subway.
i fall in love with this city because of its convenient. the only place i know yang kayaknya elo ga perlu punya mobil ato alat transportasi laennya. dengan subway, dari ujung borough ke ujung laennya lo bisa datengin hanya berbekal metrocard. subway jalan 24 jam, so you will always have a way to find home. selain itu subway ini bisa dibilang sumber inspirasi gue. ngeliat orang² yang terkadang suka aneh², kejadian² lucu, disgusting, semuanya ada. sampe mau ngeliat pengamen pun di subway² juga ada. kata sapa kota di amerika ga ada tukang minta²? liat aja di subway.. ada juga. tapi tentunya minta²nya juga beda. dan semua ini jadi inspirasi kehidupan di new york. part of life in new york city.

4. the melting pot.
you will never be a foreigner in this city. cuz everyone is. semua orang yang tinggal di new york city adalah pendatang. even the ones who's been here the longest.. they are either second, third, or maybe fourth generations or more of an immigrant. be it from ireland, italy, china, philippines, mexico, greece, and you just name it, they have it. karena berbeda² culture tinggal disini.. no one say that they're irish or italian or chinese anymore.. they are simply.. new yorkers!

5. the streets, avenues, and boulevards.
biasanya kalo tinggal di kota metropolitan.. salah satu yang pasti kejadian ama semua orang adalah.. kesasar!! unfortunately, di new york (manhattan).. kemanapun elo pergi.. gak bakalan nyasar!! jalanan dinamain pake nomer yang beraturan. dari utara ke selatan dipakein nomer beraturan. dan di crossed oleh avenue dari barat ke timur. kalo dari atas tuh udah kayak kotak kotak yang elo tinggal cari nomernya kalo mau nyari di peta. jadi kalo gue bilang.. kita ketemuan di 43 dan 5, it means.. it's on 43rd street & fifth avenue. tinggal jalan ke 43 street dan cari 5 avenue.. bam!! ketemu deh. selama bisa ngitung gak bakalan deh nyasar.

6. restaurants & cafes & street vendors.
satu hal yang pasti di nyc.. you will never run out of places to go eat. di setiap block pasti ada restoran yang nyediain makanan. kadang di jalanan ada vendor² yang emang jualan makanan, minuman, snack, buah²an, dan laen laen nya. saking banyaknya restoran di nyc, kita punya list yang dinamain zagat yang basically nge-list semua resto & cafe di nyc termasuk rating tempatnya. rating dari rasa makanan, harga, service, dll. tinggal nyari mau yang kayak gimana. dan yang pasti, enak² karena persaingan tinggi. supaya bisa tetep nongol di kalangan restauranteur, musti punya kualitas & service yang bagus juga.

7. the fashion & shopping spree.
sebagai salah satu mekkah nya dunia fesyen.. tentunya bisa ngeliat semua ini on the streets of nyc. sayang nya orang² suka salah tanggep. jangan kira orang² di new york berdandan ala carrie di "sex & the city" karena itu ga mungkiiinnnnn... in the city where you go everywhere by foot, attribute paling penting adalah make sendal ato sepatu yang se-comfortable mungkin. sneakers ada lah hal nomer satu di list itu. biasanya jadinya designer sneakers. new yorkers looooveeee to get sneakers dengan model macem². kalo ngeliat fashion as in clothes.. itu tergantung daerahnya. di daerah uptown yang terkenal dengan resident area nya, biasanya gayanya tipe² klasik gitu. maklum, living cost di nyc itu mahal, jadi biasanya yang bisa tinggal di manhattan adalah orang² yang berduit, atauuu.. yang udah lama tinggal di nyc. jadi gaya mereka biasanya vintage yang asik² gitu. sementara di midtown & daerah wall street yang penuh dengan perkantoran, gayanya yaa gaya formal business attire.. in other words, people wear mostly black. new yorkers looove black. any shades of it. sementara di daerah downtown biasanya sih gaya² anak muda. funky, casual, sporty dan yang pasti asik banget. the one thing i love about new yorkers, they don't follow other's fashion, they all create their own fashion to match to their personality. to the rest of the world.. this is the most misconception thing. the fashion is created from the people not us to follow the fashion given by the standards of the designers. i'm just glad i live in this city so i can be who i am without giving a rat's ass about what people think of my fashion. it's common to see someone with a totally weird combination and it's still look cool on them.. for one thing, because they're in new york city. and come along with the fashion it means.. stores!! shopping di new york city means, you can find any store with any brands you can think of here. dan shopping in nyc is heaven.. well if you have the mullah to spend. but if you've been here long enough as i am, you'll know where and when to get the designer brands on sale, half even three quarter of the original price. let me give you a secret... new yorkers don't buy stuff when it's still full price. well at least you're a billionnaire. cuz every now and then there's always a sale or a sample sale of anything you can think of.

8. the art galleries, the museums, the library & the public parks.
gara² kota ini, gue jadi punya high appreciation of art. gue mulai ngerti apa sih "art" itu? kenapa ini bagus kenapa itu engga. walopun masih belajar.. gue mulai seneng merhatiin dan terus pengen tau ttg art. untungnya disini semuanya ada. museum dari guggenheim, moma, met, cloisters, semuanya ada dan keren². ditata rapi dan amat sangat menyenangkan untuk didatengi. ga ada bosen²nya. selalu ada exhibition baru. ato kalo mau lebih detail, kadang² suka ada art exhibition in many art galleries yang tersebar di kota ini. and the library? well.. it's so damn complete, the public library in bryant park (yang ada di film spiderman) is so big, you can get lost in it. and last but not least.. new york city is full of parks. the mother of all.. central park!! bagus, nyaman, dan jadi paru² kota karena letaknya di tengah² yang bikin seimbang gerak kota ini. ironis karena di kota metropolitan yang penuh dengan gedung² tinggi ada taman guedeeee banget (about 50-60 blocks long) di tengah² kota buat beraktifitas apa aja. jogging, concerts, picnic, softball, soccer.. anything.. you can do.. and it's free.

9. the night life, the broadway shows & the concerts.
being in new york city is not complete if you have not experienced the night life. clubs and lounges are everywhere. back from the days of studio 54, lalu legendnya tunnel, sampe club yang dibikin di gedung yang bekas gereja.. semuanya disini ada dengan segala keajaibannya. ato lounge yang kamar mandinya punya kaca bening tapi setelah dikunci langsung berubah dan gak bisa ngeliat keluar. semua ide² yang aneh² dan lucu selalu inovatif dan bener² fresh. ga ada matinya deh pokoknya. belom lagi segala macem entertainment, dari broadway shows, opera di metropolitan opera house sampe berbagai macem concerts. dari yang underground sampe main stream, semuanya ada dan bisa di access setiap hari, asal tau mau yang mana. venues buat acara aja banyak banget and always happening everyday. belom lagi acara talk shows & tv shows yang emang pusatnya disini. david letterman, conan o'brien, good morning america, mtv trl, last call with carson daly, saturday night live, and so on and so forth. as long as you have the time, you will never run out of ideas and places to have fun.

10. the beautiful people.
kayaknya ga ada deh orang yang jelek di nyc. kalo jalan² ke soho apalagi. terkadang saking banyaknya orang yang lalu lalang dan saking banyaknya orang cakep, gue suka bingung if in fact i just bumped in with a famous person or not. well if you're not into celebrities, sometimes you can be totally clueless that the person next to you is somebody famous. gue sering banget ketemu ama seleb disini sampe lupa ama sapa aja. i even met wesley snipes dua kali within 2 days in a row. once in times square, once on the streets of soho. met joaquin phoenix having dinner in the same restaurant, or tyson (the model) at a sports bar watching NBA playoffs, partying with marcus shankenberg (model), sat next to tori spelling at a new hot spot bar, saw matthew broderick going in to the backstage of david letterman show, norah jones smoking cigarette at backstage door before starting her concert uptown, helen hunt running around in her towel while filming the last episode of "mad about you" in front of empire state building during my lunch time, stephanie march (law & order) having a picnic next to mine during a movie show in bryant park, vincent d'onofrio (the fat kid in kubrick's "full metal jacket") while filming an episode of "law & order: ci" next to my work building, i even once partied with stephen baldwin in his club. gara² dia ketemu ama temen gue trus ngajak party bareng.. just like that! and many more i can't even remember. malah pernah ngeliat orang kok kayaknya familiar banget.. i smiled, he smiled.. i know i've seen him somewhere.. then two days later i realized he's a movie star when i saw him in a movie i was watching on dvd. isn't that the coolest?

sebenernya bikin list cuman 10 biji tuh kurang banget. i haven't included things like the best schools that are spreading around the city (columbia, pratt, parson, nyu, fit, pace, julliard, baruch, and so on and so forth), most of the headquarters of big companies are here, lowongan kerja untuk perusahaan gede itu juga banyak (as long as you have the permit to work), independence & individuality yang bikin elo jadi mandiri, convenient, dan laen sebagainya. all i know i've loved this city very much that i consider this my 'home'. unfortunately, my definition of home have changed over the years. no matter how much i am in love with this city, it is not a 'home' without people you love in it. while most of my friends and family are in jakarta, home is where my heart is.

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 4/05/2004 10:06:00 PM | [ ]

>> SEPOTONG CERITA DI AKHIR PEKAN

aku turun dari mobilnya. hari sudah malam.. dan dia harus menempuh jalan panjang kembali ke rumah. terjadi sepotong pendek percakapan untuk mengucapkan kata perpisahan dengan bahasa singkatan slank tipikal anak jakarta..

aku: titi dj yaa..
dia: dedi dores!
aku: rhoma iramaaa.... *sambil melambaikan tangan*
dia: eh apa tuh rhoma irama?
aku: penyanyi dangdut!!!



*gubraks* aku pun langsung ditinggalkan di pinggir jalan. uuhhh...

*****

sepotong cerita jayus di akhir pekan. happy weekend!! be safe.. postingan "10 things i love about nyc" versi sLesTa ditunda sampe next posting yaa...


:: sLesTa

>> posted on 4/03/2004 01:41:00 AM | [ ]