this past weekend, it rained, rained, and rained. non-stop. it got to a point where I couldn't even see the road anymore while driving.

we had planned it to be girls' weekend (still not the same w/o you, Bets!). despite the heavy rain, we still had lotsa fun. we spent time mainly eating (cumi goreng, hehe, ke Grafton St resto, trus makan crepes hr Minggu pagi), and of course, last but not least: shopping. Bets, Jasmine Sola yg di Harvard Sq lg moving sale, everything in the store was 70% off. I bought a couple of pants for a total of $12! I love girls' weekends, but seriously, need to control all these shopping impulses.

so this is what I propose we do for the next girls' weekend:

1. leave ALL but 1 credit card at home.
2. pack bikinis & blanket (to sit on the grass).
3. pack fruit salad for snacks.
4. bring a book to read.
5. laze around by the Charles River esplanade.

of course, we need mister sun to shine ...

masih dlm rangka pembahasan situasi emosi di kantor yg masih agak panas.

tadi sore saya ikutan seminar ttg EMI shielding, how radiation from nearby electronic devices affect us & the performance of other electronic components, yadda yadda yadda. ga usah dijelasin di blog lah, for those of you who don't work in my industry, this is gonna be a super boring topic.

anyhoo, I learnt 2 interesting things:

1) they may have discovered what happened to the mysterious disappearing of honey bees: click here for CNN story. apparently, the poor bees got lost trying to get back to their hives due to the signals emitted by the cellphone towers popping out pretty much every half-a-mile in the U.S. poor bees. it did give me an idea to combat my problem of having bees sunbathing in my front porch: will put a radio (or better yet, a microwave) on the porch and watch the bees get confused, dizzy and die *insert evil laugh here*.

2) you know the yummy buttery-smell steam that you get everytime you rip open a freshly microwaved-popcorn bag? apparently it was recently discovered that the steam poses serious hazard to our brain, as it may contain trapped radiation from the microwaving process. I am forever doomed from this point on. Given that my daily afternoon snack comprises of a single 100-calorie microwave popcorn bag, Lord knows how much radiation I've exposed myself to. Not that I would stop. Popcorn is critical for getting through my work day, haha.

udah ga gitu kesel sama urusan kantor, stlh ber-curhat ria sama bos-nya bos saya. told him that I need more visibility! or in Miund's words: banci tampil. bwahahahaha. heran orang2 di kantor pada males bangedd kalo suruh presentasi di depan the 'higher-ups', tapi kok saya malah thrive on it.

hari gini kalo lg be-te sama kantor, I started to follow my own advice yg biasanya gw kasih ke temen2, which is: "just put in the minimum". artinya, ngantor cuma dr jam 8 sampe jam 5, diselingi jogging keliling work campus + mandi di gym for 2 hrs. hehehehehe.

can not wait until this Saturday - mau makan cumi goreng sama Grace + Yuli (Gracie, Yuli dah confirm). kok jd laper yah?

asli .... gw lagi be-te abis hari ini.

gara-garanya, dibilangin bhw proyek gw ga jd ditransfer ke Asia, due to the fact that the quality of their current product is not good enough. dan karna proyek gw lbh risky, the "higher-ups" decided that they're not gonna take the quality risk.

sebel abis gara2 I've been re-arranging my personal vacations and whatnot to sync with the planned Asia travel. tp ternyata ngga jadi .

I am so restless. pengen jalan-jalan, udah mehe-mehe benerr hari ini di kantor, pengennya marah ajah. I hate work. This is one of the rare instances when I'd rather be unemployed, seriously.

yessssss, sodara2 sekalian, I'm proud to announce that my company softball team beat Schlumberger team yesterday with a score of 17-6! YAY!!!!

the thing is, I don't have very good experience with playing softball. so much that I started to think that I really suck at it.

you see, when I was in high school, it was mandatory that we had to pick an extra-curricular activity. being the over-achiever-wanna-be, I signed up to join the famed Korps Putri Tarakanita, the marching band. after only the 1st week of "introduction" or shall we say "HAZING" period, I quit before even making an official member, due to the fact that I hated begging for my seniors' signatures. yes, I even cried at the end of that 1st week, prompting my Dad to tease me of having "mental tempe".

I briefly contemplated in joining the singing group (Paduan Suara or "PS" for short), given that I had a lot of friends in there already (Yuli, Ditta). I quickly scrapped the idea after finding out that the boys from the adjoining all-boy high school of Pangudi Luhur who joined a similar group were not good-looking. yes, that was a major factor.

so I meandered to the softball team. I loved being outdoors, getting dirty from the red soil on the field, and yes, especially since we got to practice & play at the same time slot with SMA Gonzaga. AND, after the time slot of SMA 3 & SMA 6. asikkk, banyak lah potential gebetan jadinya. was I boy-hungry or what, huh?

tapi apa dinyana, it turned out that I didn't have very good softball skills when compared to the rest of the players on my team. I was so bad that the coach actually had the nerve to "make a deal" with me, that she would only let me play IF my parents agreed to fork out the money to buy new softball equipment & unifom for the entire team! welcome to the Indonesian world of bribery, people.

thus I slunked away from the softball team. it was a good thing that my high school started a new extra-curricular activity known as the "Drill Team", aka Paskibra, Gerak Jalan, what have you. Basically, our group would compete at local/national levels to officially raise the Indonesian national flag during the Flag Ceremonies. Thankfully my skills shone in this activity, nabbing an award of becoming the best Drill Sergeant ever. I guess I'm really good at yelling at people .

in college, I started playing softball catch again with my boyfriend. although I enjoy it, I couldn't help feeling disappointed whenever I failed to catch a ball (which counts for 90% of the time). especially now that we play in our backyard, I have to keep going into the woods to retrieve the balls that escape my glove.

so when I was drafted at work to play at the company softball team, I quickly pulled out the "sorry-I-can't-my-house-is-too-far-from-the-softball-field" excuse card. unfortunately, my boss heard my excuse, to which he yelled back, "oh shush, for crying out loud, I'll drive you home!". this is why, people, I'm telling you to NEVER live within 2 miles of your boss.

needless to say, I dreaded yesterday's game. I was excited when they started to cancel it in the morning (since it was raining at work). but around 2pm, the sky cleared and the game was back on. DAMN.

surprisingly, I did pretty good. I got 3 hits, caught 2 balls during play-time and caused outs for the opposing team, and even managed to score a run! I was THRILLED. apparently, I've been setting my bar too high. I need to realize that my boyfriend is almost twice as tall as me, and much much bigger, too. so no wonder that he's a lot stronger and throws the ball harder! compared to the rest of the people in my team, I am actually OK.

WOOOHOOO!!!

sudah 2 tahun terakhir ini saya resmi ganti radio stations yg didengerin tiap hari.

tadinya switching between KISS 107.9 FM & JAMN 94.5 FM.
sekarang kalo pagi-pagi sambil nyetir ngga nancepin I-Pod di mobil ya switching between WKLB 102.5 FM & WGBH 89.7 FM.

nahh ... WGBH itu siarannya NPR (National Public Radio) di Boston. saya gemar sekali tune-in ke radio ini, karna memang banyak info-info penting & interesting yg kudu didengerin.

yg lucu, barusan mikir bhw kalo di Indonesia NPR itu sama dg RRI (Radio Republik Indonesia), bukan? jd inget jamannya growing up dulu, nyokap tuh ngga cape-capenya maksain saya & adek saya utk ndengerin RRI (instead of the beloved 102.3 FM Prambors Rasisonia). dulu keukeuh bangeddd ga mau nyetel RRI secara ngga cool lahhh ... but yet as I grow old(er), I am now a loyal listener of NPR here in Boston.

I guess that's what we call growing up .... no more hip-hop station, viva public radios!

i wonder whether we can die from eating expired mesyes? hmm? hmm?

hari ini saya bekel lunch roti tawar pake mesyes coklat & blueband. baru nyadar stlh makan bhw mesyesnya udah expired. tp mau dibuang sayang, abis kalo beli disini mahal banget.

oh well, let's see if I write another blog tomorrow that means I'm alive. hahaha.

hampir lupa that I've got this funny story to tell y'all.

skitar seminggu yg lalu, saya berhasil cuti dari kantor 1 hari (it was on a Friday). purely to relax, not because I had to run some stupid errand such as going to Indonesian Consulate in New York to extend my passport expiration date.

gara2 kesibukan kantor yg ngga ada habis-habisnya, my face became the victim of all the repressed stress. all of a sudden, pimples started to pop up left & right all over the face. there's even a part of my face that was turning blue. ok, I'll stop the disgusting description here.

so I thought: OK, time to take care of me. my face became a 1st priority, I needed a facial.

now I'm not the type of a girl who likes to go for any kind of beauty treatments. saya nyalon biasanya cuma karna rambut udah kepanjangan and filled with split ends. selalu dicemberutin sama mbak-mbak orang Morocco yg langganan motong rambut saya, because I am supposed to get a trim every 8 weeks, instead of coming to see her only twice a year.

ngga tau kenapa, I'm not good in going to salons or spas for beauty treatments. whenever I sit in the hair-cutting chair, I'm always at loss for words of what I should chat with my hairstylist. saya yg biasanya ceriwis kalo sama temen2 (or in my blog), tiba2 jd silent statue during my haircut. I'm just never comfy of chatting with hairstylists. not to mention that my hairstylist is very expensive, so I can't afford paying her fee every 8 weeks. Although I keep going to her since I like the way she cuts my hair.

potong rambut aja ngga konsisten, apalagi facial ke spa. tapi apa daya, this time I had to do it for the sake of my volcano-eruption-like face (yes, my face did resemble the surface of the moon a week ago).

this was not my 1st time getting a facial. I got one maybe, ugh, 2-3 yrs ago? I don't remember. I did vaguely recall that I decided not to get another facial because it hurt. should've really dug into this memory.

so there I went, strolling down Copley Square towards Newbury St, where the spa is located. it was an early appointment (10:30am) and I couldn't help feeling guilty that I was to spend the day getting a facial rather than rushing to work like the people around me.

I got there with 5 minutes to spare, my esthetician introduced herself to me (she happens to also be the spa director) and we started talking about my "objective" of getting a facial that day.

at this point I wondered, how the heck can she make that conclusion? did she use to work for that cosmetic company or something?

anyway. I chose to not say anything. now she started to examine my (then)pimply face.

wait a minute. committed??? I understand if someone's committed to their career, or education, or family. but their face??

geez.

so up we went to the treatment area. she told me to turn-off my cellphone (I already did), and then she said, "Please remove all your clothing, place your head on the pillow and cover yourself with this towel-dress, I'll be back in a bit".

hang on a sec, here. Remove my clothes??? I am here for a facial! Face-i-al. You'd think that the only exposed area should be my face, not my entire body!

but again, I was too timid to say anything. so off goes my tshirt & jeans.

as I lay in wait there for my doom, I thought that it couldn't be that bad. after all, many people get facials regularly. and if I could breeze through Brazillian wax practically painless, facial should be a piece of cake.

boy, was I wrong. Now I remember why I don't get facials regularly. I hate the feelings of the esthetician's gloved fingers piercing my skins, ugh! all the time during the facial I kept thinking over & over: I can't believe that I'm actually paying for this.

when the ordeal was over, the esthetician sat me down again to go through the recommended beauty products. I thought: here we go, this is the part that I hate the most, when they start pushing products towards you.

it wasn't that bad, though. in the end, she recommended a new face wash & moisturizer for me - and the best part is that those are products that I could buy at the regular drug store, instead of the typical beauty-salon-$60-per-tube type.

one thing for sure, though: from now on, I'm only going to go to any spa for massage only!

happy belated Easter first of all for those of you who celebrate. one thing occurred to me during this Easter holiday: apa hubungannya Easter bunny dengan Easter eggs? baru kepikiran bhw rabbits don't lay eggs, toh? kelinci itu beranak, bukan? so how is it that kids hunt for eggs that were dropped-off by the bunny during Easter? anyway, maybe it's just an American tradition thing.

ok, let's start my original blog thought. pake bahasa Indonesia aja lah for this posting, in case yg diomongin baca . not likely, but who knows.

ini bermula dr kejadian hari Sabtu kemarin. dlm rangka ulangtahun saya yg semakin dekat, calon adik ipar (let's refer to her as CAI for short) berinisiatif nraktir saya dinner this past weekend. this is my favorite American birthday tradition. kalo di Indo kan biasanya malah yg ulangtahun yg nraktir, hehehe.

to bring everyone up to speed, tadinya saya ngga gitu deket sama CAI ini. semasa awal-awal saya pacaran sama kakaknya, si CAI ngga setuju sama hubungan kita, karna saya bukan orang Cina. sempet dimusuhin segala. tapi begitu si CAI merit thn 2002 dan gantian dimusuhin sama ibu mertuanya, barulah dia minta maaf ke saya, baru nyadar bhw dimusuhin sama in-law itu ngga enak .

sejak itu saya & CAI jd lumayan dekat. apalagi skitar 2 thn yg lalu dia hampir cerai sama suaminya, dan cuma saya yg bisa diajak curhat. calon adik ipar saya ini  seumuran dg saya (dia 5 bulan lebih muda), tapi merit sama cowok yg jauh lebih tua (beda 27 thn). yg kebetulan sempet sekantor sama saya. di kantor suaminya ini terkenal sbg org yg susah bangedd diajak kerjasama (makanya dipecat dr kantor saya thn lalu). so I kinda know how to deal with him.

well, sehabis dinner & ngobrol2 kemarin, si CAI minta ditemenin shopping. saya pikir halah, paling kita muter2 Gap, Banana Republic & chain stores lain-lainnya. basic shopping lah. wrong guess. kita cuma masuk 2 toko: Gucci (ga beli apa-apa), and Louis Vuitton - yg mana dia beli tas, dompet & jepit rambut, total 1700 dollar. iya lah, lha wong jepitan rambut di LV kan ya harganya $300, ga murah.

saya tertegun in disbelief begitu liat the total figure in the cash register.

bukan apa-apa, tp calon adik ipar saya ini ngga kerja. full-time ibu rumah tangga, ngurusin 2 keponakan pacar saya yg masih kecil-kecil. dan sejak suaminya diberhentikan dr kantor saya last year, sampai skrg dia masih nganggur.

dasar saya cenderung ngomong dulu sebelum berpikir panjang (typical Aries!), I said out loud what was on my mind:

hmmmmmmmmmmm. I thought long & hard about this. Is it always true?

Saya punya tante yg juga menikah dg laki-laki yg jauh lebih tua. when my aunt discovered that I'm dating a guy my age, her comments were: "I can't believe that you want to struggle like that. Cari yg lebih tua lah, 'Nne. Mereka jauh lebih mapan. Kamu ngga usah mikir beli rumah, beli mobil. Dibellin semua. Mau shopping kayak apa juga ngga pusing".

Hiyyyyyyyyy ......

Memang ada benernya. Pacar saya yg seumuran masih bersusah-payah melunasi his tuition loan. Setelah hampir 8 tahun bekerja di bidang yg sama, gaji saya masih jauh lebih tinggi drpd dia, putting me in the category of being the "breadwinner", the one "bringing home the bacon". You wonder why we're still not married yet? Masih dlm rangka menabung, soalnya. Buying a house became our priority rather than formally tying the knot. When are we having kids, you ask? Considering that we can't really afford to eat out every night, let alone buying milk & diapers for our kids, so let's scrap that idea for now.

Tapi apakah terus "keuangan yg lebih mapan" harus jadi kriteria lelaki idaman (minjem judul blog entry-nya neng Wenni)?

Enak sih memang kalo our significant other also functions as a wealthy sugar daddy. Ngga usah bangun pagi-pagi berangkat ngantor, ngga usah stress mikirin politics at work. Seharian bisa nyalon. Mau shopping tinggal sliding his credit card. Bisa nge-hire personal trainer, biar gampang kurus. Ngga usah masak, bisa makan diluar tiap hari.

Maybe for a short period of time.

I don't think it fits me, though. I'm certainly gonna go bonkers without having a career. Plus how do you know that a more-financially-secure man is guaranteed to make you happy? I love being the breadwinner as it proves that I'm gonna be okay on my own, and that I don't need a man to provide a financial support for me.

Having a significant other sugar daddy will make my life easier, no doubt. But it will make it less fun, too .

Although now I feel like buying something from Louis Vuitton, not that I have the money ... I wonder if I can ask my friends to give me an LV bag for my 30th birthday? Bwahahahahahaha, bercanda kok ..... !