>> URBAN LIFE

what type of person are you on this earth? are you a closed-to-nature person? an urban kid? a village kid? or just undecided? i just thought about it, cuz i thought of myself as an urban kid. let's face it, most of my living years, i always lived in a big city, well since i was 11 years old to be exact. and i am living in one of the biggest and most hectic city in the world.. the city where the urban life goes extended beyond the bridges. but am i really a "city kid"? what makes you labeled as a "city kid" anyways? personally, i'm not really fond of labeling a person or a group of people, but in this case, i'm ignoring that, cuz this is interesting.

at this day and age, the term "urban" goes beyond the skycrapers, hectic streets, traffic jam, or even department stores. it also effects the way of one lives, dresses, even shoewear. it's not uncommon to hear the term "urban style" and you automatically think.. "oh it must be cool!. i love those urban style shoes or bags or whatever...". living in the metropolitan city is considered as one who has colorful, more advance life. the newer and higher technology is being adapted, people walk, drive, live with advance technology stuff around them. subway cars, the newest wireless gadgets, computers, cellphones, laptops, fast cars, anything.. you name it! we have it all in the metropolitan cities. sometimes those who live there, proud to be able to experience these advance technologies much faster than anyone else.

look at new york city or even jakarta. almost everyone carries a cellphone. people walk on fifth avenue with white-cabled earphones, or talking (even screaming) on the phone, punching the keypads on their blackberry, playing games on the newest game gadgets, PDAs, or even the smalles laptop you've ever seen. or maybe you see kids with the newest cellular phones at the malls of jakarta, dialing and sending sms or even mms to their friends. these are the common scenes in the city.

being a part of those scenes everyday, i thought of myself as one city kid. i got pampered with all of these high-tech gadgets. however, i'm a nature kid, by heart. for the first ten years of my life i grew up with nature surrounded me. those were the days when i step on soil on the streets, not those asphalt or blocked streets. those were the days when my "playing" time does not mean sitting in front of the tv and work my fingers to make the characters on the tv moves. my playing time means staying outside of the house, climbing trees, enjoying the afternoon breeze, playing the actual games with friends. i even once grew up in a place somewhat reserved from the city that we have to take a small boat along the river to get to the nearest city. or when my weekend was to pick fruits from its trees, or even took a ride to hunt for deers. really, i did, although those are somewhat blurry now. this was in borneo.

i miss those days. the days when i spend time with nature. when the night is spent quietly. when you can enjoy and appreciate everything around you for its organic reason of being on this earth. no injections, no msg, no chemicals. living in the city that never sleeps literally mean that it does not sleep. hardly i ever find a quiet and empty sound around me. i think i'd find it eerie if it does happen. but living in the city means that you kinda appreciate the nature. i guess it's probably just me cuz i can't seem to find my friends who do, well, i find a few but not most. i long for those quiet, relaxing days when i can just enjoy the time around nature. or spend days just staying and sitting on the beach. but let's admit it, i am an urban kid. being back-to-nature is my idea of vacation cuz i don't think i'd survive for doing that everyday, although it seems like quite a proposition.

but for now,.. i'll take it as my vacation. it's a long weekend for memorial day this weekend. and i'm off on my camping and rafting trip. lemme enjoy the quiet and peaceful time, away from the crowded and noisy streets for 3 days. so long!

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 5/29/2004 12:53:00 AM | [ ]

>> THIS AND THAT

hmm.. i feel like i need to do an update for the past week. just because i've had some interesting things i want to share with ya.. okay, here goes..


» BOSTON TRIP



eight of us went to boston to attend the indo night presented by permias mass. six of us, including me, came to perform a dance, called petik teh, a contemporary sundanese dance. we've been practicing for quite sometime, not particularly for the event, but because we want to have a sunday afternoon activity. dancing, especially traditional dance, is pretty tiring. performing a 6-minute dance that doesn't look as hard can develop enough sweat as if i go to the gym. i actually suspend my gym account cuz i've been so active outside these days. i might as well.. i got my work out from walking along the streets taking pictures or our regular 3 hour practice, once a week.

anyways.. the event was a success and we had a great time in boston. the audience really like our dance, so they say.. and we're glad to finally able to perform our hardwork.. hehe.. i actually got to see her in the crowds and we said "hi" briefly at the end of the show. too bad i didn't see her again afterwards cuz we had to take off our costumes and prepared our trip back to new york. maybe next time ya, des? so next project? well, we're still continue practicing although we don't really know if we ever going to perform in the near future .. but hey, why not? i love to dance anyways.



» THE STROKES IN CONCERT



went to see julian, nick, nikolai, albert, and of course, the fabulous fab moretti known better as the strokes. it was wednesday night at central park summer stage. the concert was the kick off for this season's schedule for all benefit concerts in central park. sean lennon opened with his band, then the beautiful-music-with-funny-lyrics adam greene and band (i think that's what they're called).. known for their song, "jessica simpson". kocak banget lirik2nya.. dan lagunya mayan bagus sih sebenernya.. cuman aduh yang nyanyi gayanya pengen gue timpuk dah.

the day starts pretty bad cuz it was raining here and there the whole day. i thought the sun was just never gonna show up. but hey.. thank God for weather channel, turns out their forecast was right on the dot. when i stepped out from my office a little before 6pm, the sun came out and straight i went to meet up with owob & den in front of the central park entrance near the plaza. the crowd starts filling up after the second opening act and man.. there were just too many "ABG". kenapa ya? padahal the strokes is not exactly "ABG" kinda of music. maybe because they're playing hometown and their neigborhood, the upper east side kids? the spoiled brats from the wealthy family. i don't know.... tapi lucu juga sih liat mereka. pada iseng² bandel, nyundutin orang², and they tried to smoke up cuz it looks cool or so they thought.. and then when a guy passed by with 4 glasses of beer, one of them begged for him to sell a glass and shoved 10bux in his pocket. hueheh.. it's ironic that they can smoke but can't buy beer yet.

anyways.. so the band came out 15-to-9. the crowd started to move further up and we kept on hearing these "ABG" girls behind us singing all of their songs. man.. those girls were L-O-U-D. one thing for sure, my eyes focused only on fab. he came out with a shaved head and looked good on his red t-shirt. untungnya gue berdiri looking straight to him behind his drum set, so i can get a clearer picture of him. they're playing good and relaxed that night .. i can tell, cuz julian keeps saying how good it is to be at home. they smoked and drank champagne in between songs. i tried to get a good picture of the band, but with people keep moving around me, it's pretty hard and came out blurry. but anyways, you can check 'em out here

they played most of their songs.. and at one point i think they ran out of songs to play cuz their songs are relatively short. from "the end has no end", "12:51", "is this it", "reptilia", "the modern age", "soma", well just pretty much all of the songs they have on their 2 albums. so it was all good. they sound exactly how they do on the record.. i guess it's due to their simple song writing. and the funny thing is.. i always wonder if they use something to make julian's voice sound like a recording or somewhat.. it turns out.. that's just how he sounds like, even when he's not singing. weird, huh?



» MORE WEB?



since i came back from boston, i've been staying up really late after work. well, yeah.. one of the night because i had that "date" with fab.. hihi.. the others were because i was fixing permias nyc's website. these active kids are planning to have another "movie nite". and the movie? ARISAN!. if you live around nyc and want to come by to see the movie.. just visit the site.

too bad i still haven't received a copy you sent me. kemana ya?

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 5/21/2004 11:57:00 PM | [ ]

>> READY FOR SUMMER?

the past few days the weather has been freaking hot. hot.. hot.. hot and very humid. well it also comes along with few showers and thunderstorms, but hey, at least i got to come to the office on my sandals and skirts and t-shirts (thank God for casual dress code!). no more heavy jackets. finally, the summer is just right around the corner. well, officially .. summer doesn't start until june, but it sure feels like summer when it's 80 degrees outside and people starts wearing flip flops and tank tops on the street.

as much as i love going outdoors during summer, i hate how the weather feels. sticky, humid, hot. but i gotta admit, summer time means "play" time. i enjoy my summer here. especially in new york city where you just can't run out of ideas to do. and summer time means, beaches, concerts, picnics, parks, camping, more beaches, more concerts... so far i have 3 concerts i have bought tickets for. the strokes on may 19 at central park summer stage, incubus on june 25 at MSG, and john mayer w/ maroon 5 on august at jones beach theater. i'm still figuring out if i want to see more. actually they have sting & annie lennox performing on july, but the ticket is so damn expensive. besides i've seen them two in the past before, so i guess i can pass and rather use the money to watch other concerts i haven't gone. oz fest is also right around the corner, but i'm not going again. the lineup is too hardcore for my taste. and i've been trying to get tickets to see diana krall too. keep forgetting to stop by at radio city music hall everytime.

summer time also means movie time, except that i'd rather spend my time outside of the movie theaters. troy is coming out this weekend. one of the must-see movie of this year. i've been waited for ths movie since i saw the trailer.. last year! the premiere night was on last monday at ziegfield theater. as much as i want to go there and maybe catch a glimpse of brad pitt or maybe orlando bloom (who turned out didn't come to the premiere), i failed to go. well, despite the fact that i didn't get the tickets, loucee was kinda hesitant to go with me, so we ended up just having dinner at K-town. another must-see movie: shrek 2, spiderman 2, the day after tomorrow, and i'm sure the list will go on .. tribeca film festival was just ended last weekend. again, i didn't get to go. i so wanted to see this movie called "the pornographer" that was showing last saturday at the festival, but i had a bad allergic reaction that i ended up staying at home all day.

the good news is, my allergy is mellowing down due to the hot weather. i may spend more time outdoors as always, and that means, i may not update as much as i'd like to be (well, maybe i am, who knows?). one thing for sure, i got plans lined up for the summer.. including rafting, camping, and hey.. maybe i should plan on going home too since i got my visa revalidated, finally! who knows... ?? till then, lemme enjoy my summer. in the meantime i'm going away to boston this weekend. hope to see you there.. and don't look for me amongst the crowd.. look for me on stage. ;)

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 5/13/2004 12:02:00 AM | [ ]

>> ABOUT MOTHER

a little boy asked his mother, "why are you crying?"

"because i'm a woman," she told him.

"i don't understand," he said. his mom just hugged him and said, "and you never will."

later the little boy asked his father, "why does mother seem to cry for no reason?"

"all women cry for no reason," was all his dad could say.

the little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry. finally he put in a call to God. when God got on the phone, he asked, "God, why do women cry so easily?"

God said:

"when i made the woman she had to be special. i made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world, yet gentle enough to give comfort.

i gave her an inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times comes from her children.

i gave her the hardness that allows her to keep going when everyone else gives up, and take care of her family through sickness and fatigue without complaining.

i gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all circumstances, even when her child has hurt her very badly.

i gave her strength to carry her husband through his faults and fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart.

i have her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife, but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him unfalteringly.

and finally, i gave her a tear to shed. this is hers exclusively to use whenever it is needed."

"you see my son," said God, "the beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. the beauty of a woman must be seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart -- the place where love resides."

happy mother's day, mom! .. and for all the moms i know..

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 5/09/2004 11:06:00 PM | [ ]

>> HAPPILY EVER AFTER ENDING

after a decade of watching six young new yorkers grow close, and six unknown actors become TV's best known faces, "friends" leaves us the ending we've been wanting for and the picture perfect of "friends" we all want to experience, even if it was only on TV.

yet the comedies that have lasted longest, and earned their audience's fiercest loyalty, have been those rooted in character, not gimmick. from its inception, "friends" has followed that path, taking an ensemble cast of relative unknowns to global recognition.. and on a first-name basis.

audience have said goodbyes to many wonderful TV sitcoms there was. our generation grew up with 6 characters that holds dear to our hearts because the characters was so real that they were the "friends" we always wanting to see. this year marks many goodbyes to TV's most adorable shows.. and the two are the pictures of friends live in new york city. 4 girlfriends in "sex and the city" and the six of "friends" who hangs out at central perk.

"friends" is one of the shows i know that can really make me laugh out loud even after watching the re-runs over and over again. the characters are so rooted to each one of them that we all can just relate to. there's no other shows where the ensemble are so equal to each other that we cannot say that one is better than the other. they managed to stick with the original casts for the whole decade, and got the same amount of zeros in their paycheck, equally. their chemistry on TV was just as good as how their chemistry off screen, they have become the real "friends" and the picture perfect relationship we all want to have. well, maybe not picture perfect.. but their friendship is the kind that touches all of us and set the example of how life is with "friends".

the show finale was one hour long, and it was okay. i thought it was funny with few punch lines here and there. not exactly one of their best shows but i love how the writer really puts it all the way to the end to finally reunite the most wanted ending scenes audience wanted. and the small surprise on the twins. it was a goodbye.. with a happy feeling.

just a little known fact about the show:

although it was set in new york city, the show was actually taped in LA.

there is no coffee shop called "central perk" in new york city, although central park is in new york city. it's that huge park in the middle of the city.

in the pilot, the center love attraction was meant for monica and joey, but the chemistry was not exactly what they were looking for, so it moves to the next couple.. yeah, ross and rachel

i find it interesting to see that the writer maintained every little detail of the character to be consistent from the beginning to the end. except i found one little flaw. remember in the beginning when rachel came in the picture in a wedding gown and saw chandler? both rachel and chandler did not recognize each other and had to be introduced by monica, but then in the next season, the flashback shows that they have met because ross have mentioned chandler as the "love of his life" during college and they even met during the thanksgiving dinner at the gellers. i always wonder why they dont' recognize each other in the beginning.

monica's apartment is a nice big apartment and definitely not the case when you live in new york living with a chef's salary, well unless if you're a big-shot chef. however, it was explained over and over again that the apartment was a rent-controlled, which means it was priced cheaper because it was their nana's apartment. too bad ross didn't take the apartment at the end. that's a waste of a nice big apartment with rent-controlled..

do you know that joey is the only character who has kissed everyone, even the boys?

last but not least, while monica & chandler finally moved to their new house with their newly adopted babies, ross & rachel back together, phoebe married to mike, joey is the only one left without someone in his arms. so what happen to joey? well.. he's going hollywood and you can see more of him in his own TV show, conveniently called.. JOEY. we'll see him on the next season, david schwimmer even directed a couple of episodes.

have you got more interesting facts on "friends"? please do.. share!

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 5/07/2004 10:39:00 PM | [ ]

>> FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY

when i was young, i always dreamed to become someone who can travel all over the world. just like any other kid in the universe.. i want to be successfull and a wealthy person when i grow up. simply, i want to be rich, i want to have lotsa money and buy anything i want. the society stirs us to that exact idealism. having nice cars, big house, fancy clothes, designer bags, and so on and so forth. we are expected to have a nice steady job when we grow up. we were tampered to study and learn because we'll be working our ass off and earn our living to live happily with our nice car, big house and fancy clothes.

when i move to the center of capitalism country, this idea of becoming rich and reaching that "american dream" is the only thing that my finance professors taught me (well maybe something else too, but i don't seem quite to grasp it as strong as the idea of "getting rich" .. hihi.. or maybe i fell asleep during the other lecture.. ). how to get rich by legally "gamble" the money in the stock market. or how to make the good business decision to earn the money and profits from the stuff we got from the street, as long as we find the right marketing, we'll be swimming in dollars. however, i always thought that there is something wrong with this idea. well, at least for me. although i do want to have lotsa money (who doesn't?), i search more for the true meaning of happiness. my parents never spoiled me and my brother with brands. i remember when i was young, i had to cry my eyes out so my mom would buy me a nike shoes. although i didn't know what nike was and how big of a brand it was, i just wanted a pair cuz my friends were wearing it. but i had to be disappointed cuz my mom did not want me to follow the crowd. just because my friends wear them, does not mean i have to. she says, "just because their parents can afford it, does not mean your parents have to afford to buy you a pair too". i know they can afford to buy me a pair, but they taught me to appreciate the value of money and the hardwork to earn them. they taught me and my brother the joy of saving money for the rainy days. it is so rooted in us that we were never concern about money, branded stuff, and anything alike until now. well, yeah... i gotta admit, now that i earn my own money, i do like to buy branded stuff now and then.. but not because it's for the image i'm trying to send out, but it's for the quality and whether it looks good on me or not. i do have a louis vuitton wallet, i do have prada, christian dior, anya or kate spade bags, but i also have those bags i bought at chinatown that i wear consecutively or a jacket from a vintage store or a pair of sandals for 5 bucks i bought from the street vendors, or even a 5 dollars sunglasses i bought on sale from american eagle. and i would rather buy those branded stuff at a half price during the sample sale then go to the boutique and buy them at full price. sayang duitnyaa.. mendingan gue beli something more useful.. like a laptop that i desperately need, maybe?

however, there are some of us whose mindset is all about brands and the image they deliver with those stuff. i don't blame them, if they have the money to spare, hey good for them! why not? i do admit that those brands have a high standards of quality. however i do not want to be too dependent on money and the needs to buy those stuff. just like chris rock says on his recent stand-up comedy tour i saw last january, "americans, whether we know it or not, have one religion. we all have just one religion. MO-NEY! just look at it, the only place they actually use the word "God" is when you open you dollar bill and there it says.. in God we trust!"

sometimes i wonder, when we're working our ass of, we spend our days sitting in a box with only computers sitting in front of us, or travel around, far from family in the name of business. we spend our days and only have little time in the evening for ourselves. is that what we're supposed to become when we grow up? becoming a robot and a corporate slave ready to serve the "master" disguised in a sheet of paper with old presidents' face and numbers on the edges. arent's we suppose to enjoy life? live life to the fullest. but how would we go about doing this when we don't even have time to do what we like anymore, when our time is consume with work, work, work... for what? to get more and more and more money..

i love to travel and see places, and that's what i've always wanted to do since i was young. i love taking pictures, meet new people, learning new language, learning arts and spend time reading books on the beach. but i can't afford it. all of those stuff are quite expensive to do and needs lotsa time to spare. spare time, a luxury i don't have much of since i spend most of my time in front of the computers crunching numbers that i don't have. i want to have enough free time for all my interests, creativity and hobbies. on the other hand, i can't afford quitting my job cuz that means i have to live on the streets, or dependent from others and that's not something one look forward to. i found it interesting that you normally only can have one or the other, much time or much money. if only i could find a way to have both...

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 5/04/2004 11:15:00 PM | [ ]

>> HOME FROM WORK

a while ago, a friend have asked me to take pictures around my work area. i thought it was a great idea but i never get to do it. till on the last day of april, i was trying out my camera with its manual set-up.. and the weather was just perfect, so i took the picture along the way on my home from work. it was 6.30 pm on a thursday and i took the longer route, passing by empire state building and walk along 34th street to the subway train on herald square. and here's the chronology....

(1) fifth avenue. the cross street of fifth ave & 32nd street. 32nd street is also known as the K-town, short for korean town where most of the korean restaurants, bakery, and grocery store are. and also where i usually have my lunch at. cheap asian food fit more to my asian tongue. (2) and hey,.. whaddaya know?? ada becak di pinggir jalan lagi nunggu penumpang.. who are mostly the tourists, of course.

(3) this is the view on fifth ave. and 34th street. i took it standing right in front of empire state building. (4) look! shrek is sneaking-in at empire state building.

the busy intersection of herald square where they have all the stores along 34th street and broadway, and macy's headquarter, the biggest macy's store in the US, which took the whole block from 34th to 35th street, crossing broadway and 7th avenue. i don't know how many stories the building is exactly, but i'm sure it's more than 20 floors up.

i took the subway train. the V or R train that goes local to my neighborhood. or F for the express line.


... so 40 minutes later.

i've arrived in my neighborhood and found the lovely sky above. when the sun sets on the west. and so i walked till i arrived in front of my building. and waited in front of the elevator that'll take me to my 6th floor apartment.

opened my apartment door and i'm home. home sweet home.


complete pictures of my "trip home" are here

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 5/03/2004 01:12:00 AM | [ ]