HANZKY

HAPPY NEW YEAR yah semuanya.....may you have a prosperous life in 2003 and have a better life than before. Pada kemana nih new years eve??? Gue di rumah aja dong karena emang males banget kemana dan bingung mo kemana juga, tonight is really just another night for me, especially since i'm gonna have what it seems to be the biggest event of my life in a matter of days, jadi new year bener2 biasa banget karena beberapa hari setelah itu bakalan ada event yang jauh lebih penting dari taun baruan. Gila yaa i'm getting married soon, pernikahan itu bener bener transaksi yang paling besar in one's life, lebih besar daripada elo beli rumah seharga 10 milyar kali yaa.


I'm sure everybody has the so called new year resolution, i haven't thought of that myself, entar malem deh gue merenung dulu, hehe..biar tau what are my new year resolutions, so i'll tell ya about that later. On the meantime, Have a wonderful new years eve aja dulu kali yaaaa...go ahead party your ass out but make sure when you wake up tomorrow, promise to yourself that you're gonna try to be a better person each and everyday...=)

tapi gue nggak kemana mana soalnya cape..dan mumpung lagi nggak ada yang harus di kerjain, ya nyantai2 aja lah di rumah, lagian i'll be out all day tomorrow jadinya simpen energi dulu aja kali ya. Besok siang tuh ada kawinan di Balai Sudirman, sebenernya sih gue nggak tau siapa yang kawin tapi gue mo dateng aja...LHO?..gimana sih, hehehe..eh kan suka gitu ya, temen2 cowo gue suka gitu lho dulu waktu sma, kalo misalnya lewat balai kartini misalnya...dan liat banyak mobil parkir, pasti deh ikutan parkir dan masuk aja gitu numpang makan, gila yaaa, anything for a free meal!!. Anyway jadi ceritanya nih photographer yang mau ngeliput acara gue nanti, ngeliput juga besok disana, dan dia juga yang fotoin buat foto foto pranikahnya, jadi gue sekalian mo liat, apalagi dia juga yang bikin video untuk di monitor nya. Kan gue pingin naro foto2 dari waktu kecil, jadi ceritanya perjalanan hidup gue in a nutshell lah, secara garis besarnya aja, yang trusnya di bikin film berdurasi 15 menit, makanya gue pingin dateng, pingin liat kaya apa sih jadinya kalo udah di dalam gedung. Gue udah liat sih portfolio nya, tapi kan di monitor kecil aja biasa, kurang puas lah liatnya. Makanya trus sama dia di suruh dateng aja besok. Ternyata emang gitu sih, kaya waktu catering aja...nyokap gue di suruh dateng ke salah satu kawinan yang cateringnya make dia, biar bisa icip2 makanannya dan liat dekorasi nya secara langsung.


Trus besok malem di rumahnya dendre ada acara halal bihalal temen2 sma nya, jadi gue disana deh dari siang bantu bantuin, kemaren kita udah beli obor obor gitu beberapa biji buat di pasang, lucu kali ya. Anywaaayy, trus apalagi dong? I didn't have lots to do today, cuma pagi2 ke dentist aja, dan sejak gue nyampe sini udah 4 kali gue ke dentist, senen besok juga harus kesana, gile yeee, untung aja gue om gue yang jadi dokter gigi kalo enggak bangkrut aja gue. Trus tadi juga ke salon BLUE, yang di depan RSPP, totally recommend it, ngeblownya canggih bener deh mas mas nya, i also got my nails french manicured..hehehe..i love doing girl things like that, i think that's what makes being a girl is so much fun...iya gak kawan2???


Ya udah deh gitu dulu...more stories coming up, the confession of an upcoming bride...=)

Gila deh, barusan gue udah ngetik panjang beneeerrr, recap of my days since i arrived here, ehh dengan indahnya ilang gitu aja dong....!!!!! SebeL.........anyway, makasih yah buat yang udah ngimel ngasih tau nomer telfonnya, ntar gue sms2 deeh, tapi harap sabar ya soalnya gue ngetiknya masih lama bener, hihihi..gue bingung temen2 gue baru gue pencet SEND aja yang trus gue langsung dapet balesannya within seconds...ck ck ..what is it with orang2 jakarta and sms, semua orang ber sms ria, sambil nyetir, sambil poop, sambil makan, dan yang udah nggak liat keypadnya lagi. Temen gue bayar telfon sebulannya 200 ribu dan 150 nya itu buat sms an, ck ck..kayanya fungsi cellphone disini udah di ganti buat sms, bukan buat telfon telfonan. Ya udah laaaaah, BT nih udah ngetik panjang2 ilang...buat yang blom ngasih nomer telfon nya ke gue ayo doong imel gue, OK?.........deeeeeeeeeH

.gile udah lama banget gue nggak nge blog, kirain udah di delete blog gue sama blogger, tapi ternyata masih ada tooohh….tapi kayanya udah ga ada yang baca kali ya. Anyway, first and foremost…I just want to say Minal Aidzin Wal faidzin, mohon maaf lahir dan batin buat semuanya yah, kali aja gue ada salah2 nulis selama ini.


Sebenernya gue nyampe jakarta baru seminggu lebih dikit siih tapi rasanya udah lamaaa banget, soalnya udah wara wiri kesana kemari, udah ngumpulin stamp coffee bean banyak juga, huehe…! Anyway, jakarta ternyata masih kurang lebih sama aja after 2 years, skarang banyak bangunan baru yang warna warni, miami style kali ya ceritanya, tambah banyak salon salon lucu, dan cewe cewenya pada pake pashmina kemana mana, kebayang nggak siiyy panasnya kaya apa, ada yang pake pashmina beneran ada yang pake pashmina2 an, ..pokonya lagi pada pake syal2 gitu deh kalo ke mall. Ngomong2 panas, jakarta tuh kemaren panas benerr…menurut pengaturan temperature mobil gue siih…cuaca di luar tuh 42 derajat celcius, nah kebayang nggak sih panas nya kaya gimana.


Skarang ini lagi sempet online..soalnya lagi agak2 sakit dan nggak bisa kemana mana. Asli semenjak sampe jakarta langsung yang PPPM gitu alias pergi pagi pulang maleem, I barely stay at home, padahal udah beli trilogy nya Fira Basuki, udah ngebayangin asik2 nyantai baca, eh malah lebih sibuk disini daripada disana. Maklum lah I’m a soon to be bride, banyak bener appointmentnya dari mulai appointment with the caterers, with the photographer, make up artist, belom lagi harus bolak balik fitting setiap hari..blom ngurusin surat surat KUA, mesen cincin kawin, blom lagi hal hal kaya luluran, ceilee..hehehehe, iyah dong harus luluran, mandi susu juga dan segala macem perawatan2 laennya..aduuh pokonya sibuk bener deh, my phone is ringing off the hook, tapi nih telfon gue bunyinya kenceng bener, abis gue nggak sempet ngutak2 settingnya dan gue suka nggak denger kalo pelan…dan temen gue sampe malu gitu jalan ama gue, hahaha..abisnya di liatin orang. Pernah pas bunyi ada temen gue yang baru denger gitu dan bilang” Han, telfon rumah lo bawa ya?”..hahaha..malu maluin emang. Anyway, iya pokonya gitu, sibuk bener dan kalo satu appointment telat then I have to reschedule every appointment I have made for that day, erghh..stress abis deh, but I enjoy it, soalnya gue emang suka nge-organize event dan gue suka banget sama yang namanya process, gimana caranya dari satu point bisa sampe ke point yang laennya dan knowing the ‘behind the scene’ activity of an event.


Anyway, cuma mo ngasih tau ati2 buat cewe2 jakarta. Soalnya nii, gue udah beberapa kali di samperin gitu dan di tawarin untuk jadi model, tapi I assume pasti lah model2 nggak jelas gitu..gila ya emangnya muka gue mesum apa. Waktu itu gue lagi liat2 majalah dan liat yang namanya majalah EKSEKUTIF, mo beli tapi nggak jadi. Trus pas lagi di food court di samperin orang dan di ajak untuk jadi cover majalah gitu, nama majalahnya EKSKLUSIF, tapi entah kenapa yang di pikiran gue itu EKSEKUTIF…..ngerti kan maksud gue? Mungkin karena beberapa menit yang lalu gue baru liat majalah itu, dan namanya rada2 mirip jadi mikirnya ya kesitu aja gue. And since itu majalah bisnis, ya gue sih nanggepin aja omongannya..omongannya lho bukan ajakannya, hihi..kali aja gue mo di jadiin cover untuk topic wanita eksekutif muda masa kini..huhauahah..Anyway, tapi since gue orangnya cukup kritis, gue tanya lah macem2, gue tanya..”kenapa gue?”..emangnya gue kenapa kok bisa2 nya di tawarin itu, trus katanya cocok banget lah dari segi fisiknya, mukanya lah, senyumnya, ini itu. Trus gue tanya lagi itu buat kapan, katanya buat January and I was like, sekarang kan udah pertengahan december, masa iya buat january belom ada covernya, paling enggak kan 2 or 3 bulan sebelumnya gitu. Pokonya gue tanya2 banyak lah dan dia yang jadi risih di tanya2, trus cuma ngasih kartu nama dan nyuruh dateng besoknya between 10 to 3, suruh ngajak orang banyak2 katanya biar nggak di kira macem2. Setelah dia cabut gue buru2 ke newstand lagi buat nyari majalahnya, nah disitu lah gue baru sadar kalo nama majalahnya beda. Dan setelah gue liat lagi kartu nama nya, ada tulisannya kalo majalahnya tuh nggak di distribusikan kemana mana, di kirim langsung ke customernya, dll dll. Dan nggak ada nomer kantor gitu lhoo…nomer hp nya aja. Gila yaa..udah pasti deh tuh niatnya macem2.


Trus ada lagi pas di Plaza Senayan, di samperin dua orang, satu orang malaysia, doesn’t speak any indonesian. Trus ceritanya mereka itu dari market research dan lagi nyari cewe2 untuk di tanya2 tentang beauty product gitu deh, and since I was waiting for my friend dan karena gue suka menolong, apalagi kalo berhubungan sama market research, I know how hard it is to find respondents..makanya gue dengan suka rela mau mau aja deh. Dan mereka bilang bakalan di rekam gitu, yang di pikiran gue kan cuma di rekam suaranya so I said OK, kita ke nanini…..eh tau2 di rekam pake handycam gitu sampe di tanya2. Pertamanya gue pikir cuek aja kali ya, tapi trus setelah satu menit baru mikir2 gitu trus gue bilang aja kalo nggak jadi deeehhh abisnya gue takut di salah gunakan!!!. Trus mereka ngomong2 lagi, ngeluarin segala macem identitas diri dan business card, katanya sih headquarter company-nya di malaysia dan baru aja buka yang di jakarta, dan gue tanya banyak banget deh segala macem. Trus ya udah sih…kayanya cukup terpercaya juga. Ya udah akhirnya di interview lagi kan, ga lama sih 10 menit. Tapi setelah di pikir2 abis itu, mereka kok nggak focus ke beauty products yah, they didn’t even ask me make up nya pake make up apa, keluaran mana, etc, cuma nanya ritualnya tuh ngapain aja, dan gue juga nggak ngasih tau detil lah..paling cuma “ya gitu gitu aja kok biasa, cuci muka biasa”, malah yang di tanya kebanyakan tentang gue nya, ngapain, skolah dimana, ngambil apa, berapa bersodara, malah di tanya pacar dll. Erghhhhh nyesel deh jadinya, coba waktu itu suruh delete aja yah. Kalo tau tau nanti ada gue bugil di extrajos.com, udah di edit2 kan nggak lucu. Tapi setelah di pikir2 ya udah lah kalo ternyata emang itu di salah gunakan, toh I know it’s not my body, dan orang2 yang tau gue juga bakalan langsung tau cause they know me better than that.


Ah udah ah, udah panjang juga……daaah semuanyaaaa………..I’ll blog again soon. OH iyaa, buat yang di jakarta, yang tau gue dan gue tau, hihi..pokonya yang sering mampir and komen2 disini, imel me your phone number dong di hanifa@azalia.org ..okeh? Siapa tau bisa ketemuan dan gue juga mo ngundang2 nih, jadi di tunggu yah, bye bye…

Happy Thanksgiving everyone *i know..telat sehari*..but it still not too late to be thankful for your loved ones and for every single thing you have. Anywayss....thanksgiving reminds me of the first time I went to the US embassy in Jakarta to apply for a visa a couple of years back, 4 years ago to be exact. It was on november 28 and i went to the embassy bright and early in the morning, i remember my dad dropped me off there on his way to the office. Seperti biasa, banyak satpam satpamnya di depan embassy dan pas baru turun mobil tuh satpamnya nanya..."mau bikin visa ya mbak?", then i said yes, trus katanya "wah kedutaannya tutup mbak"...of course i was like.."heh? kok tutup? Dalam rangka apa?'....trus satpamnya bilang.."ini..katanya di Amerika hari ini hari terima kasih"...bingung lah gue...hari terima kasih??..apaan tuuh...and I kept thinking about it on the way home then it sudently hit me that what he meant was Thanksgiving Day, huehehehe..ya emang sih kalo di Indonesiain bisa juga di bilang hari terima kasih kali yaa...tapi aneh aja dengernya and it confused me a little there...haha...


Ergghh..i am still struggling with my assignment and i'm 4 days behind, i mean i have set up what i have to do and what i have to accomplish each day tapi yang ada mundur terus and it's near the deadline now.....huhu..


Ya sudah lah, i'm going out for shopping now..hehehe...abis mumpung lagi ada Thanksgiving Sale kan..toko2 udah pada buka dari jam 7 pagi..malah ada yang jam 5 pagi. I usually don't really care about thanksgiving sale, but since i need to do some shopping anyway, i might as well take advantages of the special ocassion...and check to see if there are some good deals i can't live without...teehee.......

Finally Shaq made his return to the court last night, just in the right time cause Kobe needs a major help, the rest of the guys couldn't even make an open shoot. So (hopefully) Lakers will get back on track pretty soon, before last night game, the Lakers was the last in the pacific division, but now they the 5th (out of 8), not good but at least there’s progress there.


What else is new now??..I am now officially unemployed, yesterday was my last day as an Old Navy employee..*sigh* there goes my discount card. I’ll have to find a new job as soon as I get back here…….ooh how I wish I could go back to my previous employer. So much thoughts swimming around my mind about jobs related things lately, I feel like jotting them down here but if I do that it’s gonna take a while and I can’t waste my time just like that cause my assignments are waiting for me…..boohooooo…!


I have 2 final exams next Monday, well not this coming Monday but the following Monday, I have two 7 pages research papers and I have two presentations as well, and one assignment, and ooh I have to watch the 12 monkeys DVD for my class assignment. Ergh, mana lagi puasa lagi…well don’t get me wrong, I love the fact that it’s Ramadhan month but it seems that studying and fasting don’t go along together, hehe..especially when I couldn’t get my daily dose of coffee. Anyway, yea there’s just so many assignments that need to be done and sadly at the same time I have to take care of a lot of other things too since I’m going home in a matter of 10 days. I basically spent the whole day on Thursday confirming every single thing that I need to bring. I went to school to get my I-20 signed and picked up my spring class registration print out, I called my previous schools for transcript request, made a reservation for hotel in Singapore, called the airline to just re-confirm everything, etc, etc. I also called the US embassy in Jakarta just to make sure that no appointment is needed for returning students, and this stupid operator said that I do need to make an appointment and the earliest appointment I could get is end of February 2003……..wtf?????..Oh my god I hate the Indonesian stuff in US embassy in Jakarta….semuanya udah pada berasa di atas angin banget like we need them so bad we would kiss their asses if we have to…heh, rese banget kan? Udah ngasih informasi nya salah lagi cause after that I emailed the embassy and asked the same question, and turned out that it’s walk-in only for all returning students…*sigh* lega bener deh…cause believe it or not, I almost throw in garage sale to sell all of my house ware..he he..

I had been dreaming about snakes these past two days...and that scares the hell out of me cause I'm petrified of snakes I can't even stand to look at it even in the pictures or on television. Dream usually don't bother me at all but for some reason, I just felt the urge to check what's the meaning of this particular dream, so I looked it up on the net and here's the result:


To see a snake or be bitten by one in your dream, signifies hidden fears and worries that are threatening you. Your dream may be alerting you to something in your waking life that you are not aware of or that has not yet surfaced. The snake may also be seen as phallic and thus symbolize dangerous and forbidden sexuality. The snake may also refer to a person around you who is callous, ruthless, and can't be trusted. As a positive symbol, snakes represent knowledge and wisdom. To dream that you escape from or kill a snake, denotes that you will overcome your struggles and come out a blazing winner. This is a great opportunity for renewal and to make changes.


The bolded sentence is VERY TRUE and it's exactly what I feel lately....it's the same fears and worries that I've been experiencing for the last 3 years and it's always arise whenever I'm going home for holiday.....argghhh I'm all depressed!!!

enggak terasa kalo December tuh sebentar lagi, sekarang udah mid-november aja ternyata yaa and in a matter of three weeks, I’ll be winding down at coffee bean in PS chatting over a cup of coffee with my girls…woohoo..how bout that??. I have started packing my things since last week cause I will have a very hectic schedule on the week that I am leaving so therefore I better not procrastinate or else I’m gonna go insane by then.


I haven’t put all my things that I want to bring home but already my suitcase is overloeaded to the point where I can’t squeeze anymore items and mind you, it’s a big suitcase…..and I just remember that my mom used my other suitcase the last time she visited me and took it home with her..meaning I have no choice but to get a new one..cause I am planning to bring lotsa stuff, mau nyicil buku buku gue juga yang ternyata udah lumayan banyak. But most of the items that in the suitcase are not even mine, tapi titipan orang orang disini untuk keluarga nya di Jakarta, that’s perfectly okay with me, providing there’s still space to hold their stuff in.


Yang gue sebel, justru orang orang Jakarta yang pada nitip macem macem. It happened to me quite a few times, bilangnya sih nanti di ganti pas di Jakarta but you know what, once they received the items, the first thing that came out of their mouth was “eh ini jadinya oleh oleh apa harus di ganti nih?”..or “Eh gue harus bayar nggak? Anggep aja hadiah graduation gue aja yaa??” atau yang lain lainnya yang bikin gue jadi nggak enak karena kalo di bilang tetep harus di ganti kok kayanya gue PELIT banget, jadi akhirnya dengan nggak rela gue ngikhlasin juga tu barang nggak di ganti. Kesel?? Iya laah..kok bisa bisa nya gitu lho, kok udah bilang bilang kalo bakalan ganti tapi terakhirnya malah ngarepin supaya gratis sih..lagian jelas jelas udah gue kasih receipt nya disitu "D'oh..don't you get the hint??". Padahal kan mereka bisa aja langsung ngasih uangnya dan kalo akhirnya gue emang nggak mau di ganti kan pasti gue bakalan bilang “enggak usah di ganti lah, nggak pa pa anggep aja itu oleh oleh dari gue”…Makanya, dari kemaren ini gue udah bilang sama yang mau nitip, nitip is nitip ya..nggak ada deh nanti tau tau pas sampe Jakarta ceritanya lain lagi.


Yes, nitip menitip is a problem but that’s not it…..there’s another problem, yaitu oleh oleh. Oleh2 itu apa sih sebenernya? Kalo menurut gue sih oleh2 ya barang yang pingin elo beliin buat nyokap bokap, ade or temen kan? Kebanyakan sih oleh2 itu sesuatu yang nggak ada di Jakarta or souvenir lucu2 khas dari kota/negaranya, atau ya banyak juga sih barang barang kaya t-shirt or or maybe tas or perfume ato apa lah, pokonya basically ya namanya juga oleh2 kan jadi terserah kita dong mau beliin apaan...iya nggak? Udah bagus juga di kasih, jadi jangan ngerasa kalo kita itu berkewajiban untuk bawain mereka sesuatu…..heh..ade ape..


Contohnya nih yah…ada lho orang yang maksa untuk di bawain oleh2, udah gitu milih lagi minta di bawainnya apaan. Jadi gini, ceritanya nih dia pake product Clinique's 3-Step skin system, persediaannya dia udah mau abis dan karena pas kebetulan gue mau pulang…dia mau gue ngoleh ngolehin dia itu. Yeeeee…..itu sih namanya bukan oleh oleh, tapi dia minta gue untuk men-supply kebutuhannya dia!!. Orang itu sesuatu yang dia pake sehari hari kok dan memang dengan pulang/enggaknya gue dia tetep bakalan beli sendiri di Jakarta ehh kok sekarang malah aji mumpung gitu jadinya..*nyolot*


Tapi jangan salah dulu sih, masih ada juga kok orang orang yang walopun udah gue tanya mau di bawain apa dari sini, mereka tetep nggak mau apa apa, malah cuma bilang..”aduh udah deh, nggak penting tau nggak sih oleh2..disini juga barang banyak, mendingan lo cepetan balik aja deh cause that’s all that matters to me..”..awww….tso tweeeeeet..


Yah begitu lah kira kira dilemma nya orang yang mau mudik, people think you are living large since you get paid in $$, well..that’s true you get paid in dollar but don't forget the fact that everything is priced in dollar too in here, not in rupiah and certainly not in argentina’s pesos, and there are a gazillion expenses that you have to take care here, you have to pay the rent, the phone bills, the electricity, water and sewer, insurance, you have to buy grocery and all those things that at the end of the month, when you look at your bank statement, you realized that your paycheck goes there for transit purposes only…..*sigh*..

Just like in any other busy downtown, downtown Chicago has its own street performers that can be found up and down Michigan Avenue, you’ll see one in every few steps. The performers provide a variety of form of entertainment, some play brass instrument, saxophone, some paints, some sing gospel songs or dance like the guy in Dirty Vegas Video. There’s also the street magician and the silver statue man. Pokonya banyak lah, basically they are there of course for the money, judging from the piles of dollar bills in their buckets, I guess they make pretty good money. But some of them are also art students who go there solely for practice or for school assignments.


Anyway, there is this group of street performers that caught my attention (click the image above). I saw them a couple of months ago when I went there, they are three black kids who play instrument with the use of buckets and sticks as if they are striking drums or something, but they play really good, pedestrians love it, they form a circle to see the kids perform and give them a loud of applause, take pictures of them and throw some money into their money box with such enthusiasm


I walked pass them again after a few hours of tearing up the downtown, and then I saw one of the kids was crying..sambil cerita ke polisi. Turned out that somebody stole their money box… Man, that is the nastiest thing you could do, if you wanna be a thief, steal it from people who are loaded with money, not from innocent kids who are just trying to earn money from their own sweat..


Waktu gue ke Chicago lagi 2 weekends ago dan baru aja hit downtown and there they were again, ternyata mereka masih ada dan malah member nya nambah jadi 6 orang. Still in the same spot, in front of Ann Taylor shop in North Michigan Avenue. Tapi nggak tau kenapa pas mereka lagi main tau tau mereka langsung kabur, ngibrit sekenceng kencengnya……I looked around..thinking kenapa niih, kok langsung kabur aja, ternyata ada mobil polisi yang baru parkir di pinggir jalan and I was like..sooo? It’s legal to be street performers kan..? But then I found out that street performers have to ask for license from the city council, dan mungkin karena mereka masih kecil kecil banget jadi nggak di kasih ijin kali ya.


Karena mereka kabur, ya udah gue juga cabut and went to Marshalls which just located behind the Ann Taylor shop (haha..jauh jauh ke Chicago mampirnya ke marshall juga). Trus ternyata those lil kids ada disana in the shoe department, lagi nyoba nyobain sepatu sambil ngitung uangnya. Ealah, ternyata uangnya langsung di belanjain..kirain buat bantuin bokap nyokapnya or something, but that’s alright though, at least mereka usaha untuk cari uang sendiri. I wanted to talk to them actually, pingin nanya nanya tentang mereka, tapi gue nya malu malu siih… Trus ya udah, pas gue mau balik dan lewat situ lagi…..mereka udah main lagi disitu, tapi salah satu dari mereka nggak main dan cuma berdiri aja ngeliatin sekeliling, just in case ada polisi yang lewat lagi.


Anyway, setelah itu, sometimes they just appear in my mind, and I was watching the Chicago Bulls and the New Jersey Nets game last Saturday night. Pas half time kan selalu ada atraksi atraksi kayak modern dance or something, and you know what, I saw those kids in the middle of the floors, doing their usual things, working their sticks and buckets, only this time, it takes place in the United Center, they are invited to watch the NBA live and perform in front of over twenty thousands audiences. Wow..I was speechless, surprised and impressed...and of course..I'm happy for them...=) I guess they are going somewhere heh??…keep doing your thang lil boyz!

I adore this city so much and no matter how many times I’ve been there, the city never fails to struck me in amazement whenever I spot the stunning skyline. I think It’s a cosmopolitan, elegant and sophisticated city that has a lot of things to offer from sports *Home of Chicago Bulls..go Jay William..home of Chicago bears, Chicago white sox, Chicago Cubs and Chicago Blackhawks*, it’s also the Mecca of arts and home of over hundreds festivals held each year. Too bad I have never been to the Taste of Chicago. For the Jazz lovers, you need to stop by at the Jazz Record Mart for the world’s largest selections of vintage and modern jazz and blues music on vinyl and CD! . Trus kotanya juga banyak museumnya, If i'm not mistaken it has over 200 museums, dan juga ada the world’s largest library, ada three of the world’s tallest building (Sears tower, John Hancock and Amoco building).


The thing I like the most about Chicago is its cultural mix that makes it even more exciting to explore. Ada Greektown, Ukrainian Village, Andersonville (Swedish neighborhood and home to a large gay community), Chinatown, Mexican barrio and so many others. Makanya banyak bener stylish gorgeous girls here and there… running around with their dressy Gucci boots and Prada bags..makes me feel so unstylish. Anyways, for all of you who claim yourself as a shopaholic, you can’t miss Chicago as it’s the place to be, lots of upscale fashion store from Water Tower Place, Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus to fancy boutiques featuring the latest fashions from Paris, London and Milan at the Oak Street. Michigan Avenue, State St, Ohio St and so many other streets are lines up with loft stores buildings.


Huhu, I can go on and on praising Chicago, nggak ada abisnya deh..! Anyway, so I went there last weekend, nothing extraordinary, just strolling down the avenue feeling like Chicagoans and cursing at pedestrian and the careless cab drivers..ahaha already I felt like I belonged there. Stopped by to eat at portillos , nggak pernah ketinggalan buat mampir ke portillos kalo kesana. Chicago banyak juga yah indonesianya..I saw a group of Indonesians in like every few blocks, lucu aja denger ada yang ngomong indonesia gitu, I usually just looking around tracing where it comes from whenever I hear it, hihi..mungkin buat yang laen udah biasa yah, but hey I went to college and spend the last 3.5 years *well up until last summerr* of my life in a remote lil town where the Indonesian population can be counted with my fingers, itu pun jarang ketemu. Kalo sekarang disini lumayan banyak, but still everybody is busy with their own things and plus this area is very dispersed jadi jarang ketemu, kecuali anak anak yang pada kerja di mall dan kalo nawarin sample dengan seenaknya tereak..”Ayam ayaaaaaam, siapa mo nyobain ayam kecap”..hihi….katanya sih biar ketemu orang Indonesia, ada ada aja deh.


Went to Ikea also, planning to buy lots of things but it’s so fucking crowded, jadi yang ada baru jalan beberapa langkah udah opps sorry, oppss excuse me….oppss bla bla bla, ribet and beside I think I have everything I need in my apt anyways and almost all of the stuff are Ikeas, so..no need to buy lots of unnecessary thing. Kenapa ya, orang orang Indonesia disini kalo beli2 home furniture pasti di IKEA?..every time I go to an Indonesian's house, pasti deh..barangnya familiar semua dan malah sering punya barang samaan, ck ck


Well, that’s it about my Chicago report, I don’t feel really well today, been sneezing the whole time and shiiiitt it’s only 11.20 now and I am thirsty and I need my daily dose of ice coffee -sobs- There are construction workers working at the top of my roof since this morning and the constant bang-bang is giving me a pounding headache.

Happy Ramadhan ya semuanya, this is the holliest month of the year, hope we can get the sins out of our system and start all over again with a clean slate, amin. Mohon maaf lahir batin...buat yang nggak puasa.....jangan nyetanin yeee...huehe..

Unlike the previous weeks that had been quite hectic, this week is menyenangkan sekali...=). First of all, i'm happy to see all of my old friends from high school since I created the mailing list, yah belom banyak sih baru ada 16 orang..but it feels so fucking awesome to hear from the people who once a big part of your daily life..i mean, i got to see them everyday for 3 fucking years back in high school kan....banyak lah pasti kenangan2 nya, dan karena udah lama banget nggak pernah ketemu..jadi ya lagi semangat semangatnya nih, we have a lot of catching up to do. Trus, selaen itu.....I'm also happy because i get quite a lot of new things. I went to Rag-O-rama a couple of days ago, it's a used clothing store.....ceritanya mo jual baju2 gue. I usually just donated them to goodwill tapi nggak tau kenapa kepikiran aja untung nyoba jual kesana. They bought most of the clothes and they gave me a choice to either take the cash for $35 or get a store credit for $50.....setelah liat liat ternyata banyak juga yang lucu lucu so i decided to take the store credit, so i got me some cool vintage stuff. So there..i got to shop without spending any money. The next day, Dina got back from phoenix and she brought me a cute denim clutch from there...uhuyy another free stuff. Of course i was happy..And it didn't end there, cause the next day after that, I got a package from my uncle and untie, turned out it's the stuff for me to bring back home...oleh2 dari mereka buat yang di jakarta..dan ternyata ada juga yang buat gue doong, woohoo..a gift certificate from banana republic and victoria secret. I also just got another gift certificate from sephora, clinique and nordstrom..ahaha..isn't that so cool?? To be able to go shopping without even spending a penny of your money..gosh i can live like this forever. I'm planning to use all of the gift certificates this weekend, and to top it off..i'm going to Chicago first thing in the morning tomorrow. so, bye peeps..i'm on my way to a HAPPY WEEKEND, hope you have a good one too......