>> SEPUTAR LEBARAN

entah kenapa, akhir2 ini mulai males nge-blog lagi. perasaan kayaknya gue bener2 ilang inspirasi mau nulis apa. padahal sebenernya lagi banyak kejadian di sekitar gue. tapi seperti ga punya keinginan dan kemampuan untuk menuangkan nya ke dalam tulisan. walopun sempet update blog ini setiap hari for the last week of ramadhan, karena si empunya blog terkena musibah ketika ayahandanya pulang ke rumah Allah kira2 seminggu sebelum lebaran. tapi tetep aja, gak pengen nulis banyak2.

bulan puasa kali ini adalah bulan puasa kedua gue di jakarta. bulan oktober kemaren juga marks my 2nd year anniversary di jakarta. gak kerasa, gue udah 2 tahun aja di jakarta. tapi kok berasanya gue kayak udah disini lebih lama dari itu deh.. udah bosen? well, gak juga sih.. tapi kayaknya hidup disini monoton banget. gitu2 aja.. ga ada kejadian seru yang bisa dialami sehari2. the only thing exciting mungkin kalo gue pergi cuti jalan2 ke tempat baru.. itu pun ga bisa sesering yang gue mau.

lebaran kali ini juga ngalamin hal yang baru. kalo taun lalu, gue lebaranan hanya dengan keluarga, kali ini bisa lebaranan dengan pacar yang lagi berkunjung seminggu ke jakarta. pulang mudik katanya. dan lebaranannya juga diwarnai dengan ketemu sanak saudara dari pihak si pacar tersayang.

sempet ngerasain macet arus mudik di bandung, hasil dari kunjungan di hari ke-4 lebaran. walopun cuma semalem, tapi sempet ikutan ngejabanin mampir ke FO dari ujung ke ujung, walopun gue sama sekali ga beli apa2. yang ada malah tas prada kesayangan gue di silet ama pencopet-wannabe yang gagal ngambil apa2 dari tas gue. secara ngerobeknya cuma kecil, tapi kebetulan dompet gue gede. alhamdulillah, walopun gue baru nyadar kalo tas gue di robek pas udah di mobil.. tapi gue mayan nyadar juga tiba2 ada orang yang dempet2 gue pas gue lagi liat2 kaos. padahal gue ga niat beli, cuma liat2 aja.. trus ngerasa kok kayak orang2 pada ngedempetin gue. dan gue bukan orang yang seneng belanja desek2an gitu.. jadi langsung cabut aja. dan itu mungkin kunci kegagalan si pencopet, karena sukurnya, ga ada satu pun barang gue yang ilang.

yang pasti, the whole month of bulan puasa.. i was looking forward to the last week, soalnya bakal ketemu ama pacar yang berlibur 9 hari, melepas kangen. tapi ternyata waktu 9 hari itu, cepat sekali deh. gak kerasa, udah saatnya dia pulang kembali ke tanah di sebrang sana. gak perlu sih ada acara tangis2an kayak adegan di akhir film ada apa dengan cinta ketika nganter dia ke airport, karena bukan gue banget! hanya berharap that sooner, we shouldn't be apart for too long.. . mudah2an lebaran tahun depan, do'a itu terkabulkan. amin.

anyways.. walopun udah telat seminggu, gue tetep mengucapkan selamat lebaran buat semuanya. minal aidin wal faidzin, mohon maaf lahir & bathin yah! mudah2an minggu depan gue udah kembali normal untuk mau update dan nulis ini itu, ngebahas hal2 ga penting as if it's the most important thing ever.. hehe.. :)

rgds,
:: sLesTa

>> posted on 10/31/2006 05:18:00 PM | [ ]

>> BRANDED

every morning for the past few days, i would find a day old "herald tribune" newspaper on my desk at work. it has a yellow post-it note on the top, pointing to the pages i should see. since i knew the handwriting right away, that it belongs to my boss and he wants me to flip to the pages he had written. on the first day i received them, i thought he might have given me the newspaper to take a look on some articles that he wants to discuss with me, work-related. surprisingly, i keep getting a fashion page with a huge advertising space on the pages he pointed. valentino, louis vuitton, prada, dior, gucci, ferragamo, mulberry, etc. all different kinds of ads of bags, shoes, and clothes.

i keep wondering what exactly he wants me to see. then i realized it was just his way of sharing them since he keeps making fun of my"exquisite" taste in bags or shoes (doh!), which i disagree, but hey.. thanks, why not? hehehhe.. he would usually comment on my LV bags or my "seven" jeans, or my tag heuer watch, burberry glasses, anything branded i have on. on one hand, he's actually quite an observer. not just towards me, but he would comment and observe any kinds of things people wear or do. i guess that's his trait of being a boss. on the other hand, he knows lots of any kinds of brands, and when someone wears one, he'd notice it right away, even at the subtletest appearance.

he even made fun of it in one of our recent conversation...
him: you know, i saw a nice movie over the weekend
me: yeah?
him: yeah, and the movie was about you.
me: what do you mean about me? what movie is that?
him: the devil wears prada!! ...

damn.

despite his mockery, i never and do not consider myself as someone who's into brand. i only buy things that i like, that looks good on me.. at a competitive price. i can't say they are cheap, cuz cheap is relative. but i usually try not to buy things at full price, though i find it hard to find things i like at a thrift store too, :D but i still like to browse them, just in case.

at first, with all the ads that my boss gave me, i would just nod and smile. make comments that i like this one better than that. but at the end, i told him that just because i like them, doesn't mean i'd buy them.. cuz i couldn't afford to buy them at a regular basis or even at the hillarious full price they charge. things i wear, i buy them at discounted price.. and most of them, i bought when i was still in new york. when i was still earning dollars!! a 500 bucks worth of LV wallet can still consider affordable, especially when you're making 1500bucks a week, right? but when you're making 5mill of rups, it's a month salary!! so, i guess it should be the perfect time to ask for a raise, right? hehhe..

well, that's not the point. what i'm saying is that we should spend on things that we can afford to buy, cuz the price is reasonable to how much we earn. if i'm making 100mill rups a month, buying an LV or gucci bag, is definitely not going to do any damage to my bank account, heck.. i probably buy two every month, just for the sake of the argument. when i was in NY, buying branded things like zara sweater or banana republic pant are not considered as a "buy". i mean it doesn't really do damage to my wallet. i remember, i used to pass by zara store every day and when they are having a good sale, i'd buy one or two things in a week. but here? damn, 600thou for a piece of shirt or sweater!! i would only buy them at discounted price... 70% discount that is! heheheh..

you see, it's not so much about the brand that we should look at, but more on one's power of buying, at reasonable price that one afford, and in the end, it's because it looks good on you, regardless how much it costs. nothing's wrong with an unbranded item as long as it's nice and wearable. so why not? that's why sometimes i wonder how one person can buy a gucci bag or prada shoes every other month? well, especially if this one person only works as a staff in a bank, for example. i'm not saying that she cannot afford it, but it sure raise questions. but who knows, she probably comes for a wealthy family that working was just her way to kill time.. who knows, right? ;)

if you ask me.. for now, i'd rather use my money to travel rather than buying branded stuff.. or stuffs for that matter. well, once a year, if i find something i really like which happens to carry a famous brand and i can actually afford it, why not? but not so much that it's a must, cuz i don't want to be trapped in debt just because the person next to me wears one branded item that's a must-have. i wouldn't mind buying one or two if it's reasonably priced, and i have the money for it.. if not, i'd rather save it and buy me an apartment somewhere.. hehehe.. *not helping?* .. well, you got my point! i hope...

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 10/11/2006 03:04:00 PM | [ ]

>> CURVY IS IN

so, tell us what you don't like about yourself..

ever heard that famous line? this line is usually used in every opening of each episode of an tv series nip/tuck, which originally airs from FX networks in the US. i've been addicted to the series for the last month. i heard about it a few years back when i was still in the US and heard the good reviews. but i never had a chance to see it.

not until i find myself in the heaven of pirated dvds.. :) where i can go and buy the dvd for every season at a good price and wouldn't miss the hype of the show. it is indeed hillarious. but yeah, i know it's a bit late actually, since i just watched the first season a month ago (though i'm now at the 3rd season episodes.. ) it's a good thing that i watched it rather late, so now i don't have to wait to watch three seasons series all in one shot.

anyways, my point is .. that famous opening line may seem like a regular thing when asked to someone, especially in the consultation room between plastic surgeon(s) and patient. but what does it really ask? by the growing business of the plastic surgeons, we can say that the growing trend of people choose to change what they don't like about themselves cuz it's easy to do. it's an available option, and so why not?

but the movie really shows it, comicly, that people would ask such a ridiculous request to change what they don't like about themselves. the fact that they had to go through a painful operation doesn't bother them, as long as they can look good as they picture themselves to be. a picture they see in magazines, movies, tvs, etc.

i know this is old news. people keep blaming the media for the ideal stereotype of someone should look like, is just ridiculous. the idea of sexy has shifted. waif thin is in. being curvy is not sexy, and equals fat. and fat is not accepted. where does that come from?? and where do you come off with that?

so when i read the news about scarlett johannson last week on her defense that she likes her curvaceous body and she'd leave it at that... i'm glad to hear that. cuz i think she's one of the most beautiful actress in hollywood. i love her skin and the classic look she always carry. yes, she's not waif thin, but she looks good. confidence is the key. she knows that she looks good without being boney thin. i'm not saying that thin is not good, cuz i know some people just born that way... it's their blessing, i guess. but everyone should know.. no matter what shape or curve you are in.. it should be a blessing to you. it's what you do to take care of it and present it to the world with confidence, that's more important.

we need to defy the media for the streotype they created... cuz they've been asking all the wrong question. for once, why not ask..

so, what do you LIKE about yourself?

:: sLesTa

>> posted on 10/04/2006 02:34:00 PM | [ ]