"Pasar Kaget" in America

Who would have thought you can find what so called pasar kaget in America? That's what occurs at Eastern Market every weekend, where the registered early birds gather to sell their products on the sidewalks and streetbetween North Carolina Avenue and 7th in Washington, D.C. Just like a regular pasar kaget, you can find anything from your basic daily needs to tertier needs and unique items from all over the world.

Eastern Market, which is located not far from the place where Presiden Barack Obama took his oath, is divided into several areas. One area that interests me the most is the farmers market, where you can get fresh produce and flowers. Though you can get all of these things at your local grocery stores, the idea of shopping outdoor at a clean, odorless public market is more fascinating than having to wait in line waiting for the cash register person counts how many apples or onions I have in my cart. After wandering around fresh strawberries and tomatoes, you can continue walking to the part where lots of arts and crafts and clothes are displayed. It's the flea market area. This is where knick knack collectors keep continue buying knick knacks to increase their piles and piles of rheir knick knacks at home.

There are lots of talented artists showing off their collection of jewelries, paintings, clothing, and handbags, which I find pretty costly compared with items that you can find in a regular pasar kaget in Indonesia. I once introduced myself to a girl in their late twenties who was sitting on a chair at her clothing stand. A designer from New York, this girl shared some of her life stories on how to survive in the fashion industry in America. Traveling during the weekdays to showcase her works and sitting at her stand at this flea market every weekend has been her day-to-day life for quite some time now.

While walking around the area, you might get tease by the smell of freshly made crepes. I got tempted once to order a hot crepe with freshly cut strawberries, bananas, andpeaches combined with a chocolate hazelnut flavor. Without having to hand the money to the crepe guy, I put a $20 bill inside a wine glass myself and took a $10 and four $1 bills from another wine glass, which was provided by the crepe guy. That's how you buy crepes at the Eastern Market, which I found a bit interesting.

Moving along across the sidewalk you can find an indoor market called the South Hall. This is the place where frugal grocery shoppers would find their needs without having to feel the unnecessary distractions from the candles, soaps, and jewelry vendors who are hoping to sell their stuff to you. Fresh meat, fruits, pies, cookies, cheese, and even blood pudding, whatever that is, are available and showcased inside the glass cases.

The last area I usually visit is the large field where vendors sell their new or used products from all over the world. Made in Tibet and also made in Indonesia furniture displayed and admired by tourists and local people who came to the exhibition to join the crowd. I saw a nicely done piece of small drawer displayed for $240, which turnout to be a made in Indonesia item. I was proud to find a product of my own country here at the market, but gagged at the same time when I looked at the price. Definitely too much, but I didn't say anything though the seller was still trying to sell me his stuff so that he didn't have to unload anything to his parked truck when the day ended.

With a full stomach I walked toward the exit sign and headed back home. Though sometimes you think that there's no place like home, you can still find bits and pieces of it here and there. And one of them is Pasar Kaget in America. At least that's how I define Eastern Market. And that has become my weekend highlights.

Story inspired by recent trips to Eastern Market.

*pasar kaget: short term market (this one happens on the weekend)

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I'm Back

Dear Friends,

I'm back! After a very long hiatus. But guess what? I found my new favorite book, which I'm going to keep and read everyday, all my life. This book is very different than any other books, just like each person has a different path in life. At first I thought I would never find a book this good, but that's because I chose not to look for one. But then I said, "hey, why don't I give it a try?" And when I did, I fell in love right away with the story, just like a dream came true, though it's not a fairy tale. I've tasted happiness, sadness, and love from the book, just like the life in this world. Nothing's perfect of course and I won't mind that. The exciting part is, this book does not have ending, because He and I are going to continue create the story. Good night and don't forget to share your sweet dreams tomorrow ;)

Lost in Translation

I remember when I was younger, I found that it was very easy to say "I love you." The question is, how hard is it to say those three little words? I remembered that people use to say those words all the time, even in their early stage of relationship, means on their first day when they declare their "official relationship!" So what? You care about somebody so that means you also love that person. WRONG!!

I remembered when I started dating him. It took him maybe two months before he actually said it, that I started to wonder if the phrase was so old-fashioned that people didn't even say it anymore. When he finally said it, then I said it back. I mean, what did you want me to say? I wasn't trying to be nice, because I'd always knew that I felt the same way. What's the big deal about it, I wonder? What's so hard about saying it? I guess I was just lost.

I finally asked him what took him so long to say it. He looked at me, puzzled. He thought that it was a bit too fast, though he'd been wanting to say it earlier. And I was like, OK, then why didn't he just say it? I explained about my translation of the famous "I love yous" and he just laughed. I didn't get it.

Just like I said on one of my postssome time ago, people say these three little words all the time that they do not even realize or understand what they actually mean. They just say it because it is a necessity in a relationship not just because they want to take the relationship seriously to the next level...I mean "seriously to the next level."

Just because you kiss somebody, that doesn't mean you love that person. Just because you have a crush on somebody, that doesn't mean that you love that person. Love grows. Just like puzzle, you try to solve it by placing the pieces one by one. And when you finally place that one last piece, you will feel this satisfaction because now it is all clear and you can see the whole picture. It's all complete.

After having a long talk about it, then I realized that, "Oh my God," I've been lost for so long. That is not something that should be easy to say. The meaning is different for each person, but it will always be beautiful if it comes from the heart.

I came accross this quote that I really like:

"Find a guy who calls you beautiful instead of hot, who calls you back when you hang up on him, who will lie under the stars and listen to your heartbeat, or will stay awake just to watch you sleep... wait for the boy who kisses your forehead, who wants to show you off to the world when you are in sweats, who holds your hand in front of his friends, who thinks you're just as pretty without makeup on. One who is constantly reminding you of how much he cares and how lucky his is to have you.... The one who turns to his friends and says, 'that's her.'”

My puzzle is finally complete!

Life in DC

It's been a while since I wrote my last post. Some things have changed. Aside from graduating from school, moving for a job, being away from him, reuniting with my bestfriend (though only for a couple of months), life's been pretty interesting, I must say. Loaded with ups and downs, but hey, that's life I guess.

I moved to DC last February to work as a contractor at a broadcasting agency. I do a lot of work, it's ridiculuous. If I have a weekly task list, it will have:

1. 15 news translations
2. daily news reading (15x a week, three ore more times a day, every half an hour)
3. three shows to host
4. one music/movie report (started with script writing, voicing, and developing)
5. one english program
6. another script to write (which include calling people for interviews)
7. two inserts (which include script writing, voicing, and developing)
8. one discussion program
9. two weekly program reports
10. and the list goes on and on and on

Yes, that's what I pretty much do every week among other things. I work in a cubicle, where you can sort of see half of people's head in the other cubicles when you lift your head up a bit. My cubicle belongs at this corner where all the young people work. It is so much fun but there is also a twist for that. Unfortunately, my cubicle is right in front of the entrance, which makes me look like a receptionist. Everyday, I will be the first one to say and answer good morning or goodbye to everyone with a little smile on my face, though my brain's tired. I'm getting good at feeling them, cause now I can tell when they're having their Monday blues or when they haven't had their morning coffee. Not only that, though we have two entrances, random people, including the UPS guys or other delivery people always enter from the entrance right in front of my cubicle and ask me questions that I can't answer, like where the Korean service is or whether they should exchange 5,000 rups into US dollar (which equals less than 50 cents)! That's why sometimes I pretend that I don't see them when they walk in, though it's a little hard sometimes.

Plus, people who walk behind me, including my boss, can actually see what I'm doing or what I'm browsing on the net! Don't worry it's not what you think, but checking my personal e-mails, friendster, and gossip blogs every 15 minutes can help you go through the day. Thanks to that little minimize button on the corner of a browser page and also my "sensitivity," cause now I can feel when people are walking to my cubicle and with my skilled finger, I can just hide those unwork related pages and back to work.

My cubicle is also used as a meeting point for everybody. For some reasons, they just love to talk and loll on the cubicle, or just stand there to see whether my boss or the other colleagues are at their office or cubicles. It is always fun to see everybody, though there have been a lot of awkward moments, lol. My friend who sits in the cubicle next to me loves to play with knives and other interesting "toys." He loves to throw knives to the wall or ceiling, which scares me at first, but now I'm used to it and I look at it as the amusement of the day.

There are lots of other fun stuff at the office, such as having a "lunch party" or coffee time together. That's pretty much how I describe work.

Through work and interviews I got to know a lot of new people from aroud the states. This week I' m doing a story about this talented bass player, Reza Saleh, from Fullerton, CA. After talking and chatting with him a couple of time, it turns out that he's my brother's in law "uncle" (they're actually the same age). What a small world, I must say.

That's pretty much how I live my life here in D.C. More stories and thoughts coming, cause I'm going to continue watching "Three's Company" Marathon on TV!! Have a great one peop!

The Path Less Traveled

Someone offered me to take the path less traveled. I said, "No, thank you," because I can feel happiness at the end of the path that I'm going through right now.

when things do not fall exactly where you want them to fall. when everything's going well but you still feel there's something missing. when home is not as friendly as you think it is. when you feel like saying more things but your heart is telling you not to. when your blue is stronger than your other colors. it's just one of those days. what would you do to fix me?

"Is True Love Fact, Fiction, or Something in Between?"

What is true love? And does it really exist?

You fall in love too many times without knowing which one is the actual true love. You keep saying, "this is the one" every time you fall in love, without actually feeling the true love itself. After a while you're getting tired of it, because you realize that every time you fall in love, your relationship never lasts.

And why is that? Is there really such a thing as true love? Or is that just something that we create, like a fiction book? Or is it just something in between?

To me, true love does exist. True love is to love and to be loved very deeply. True love is the reason why you cry happily when you think about it. True love doesn't cause pain, because the love connection that you and your partner have can turn into a healer every time the pain emerges.

True love is when you feel like you can never get enough of your partner. True love is when your mind is actually telling you that you have finally met the person that you can't live without. The idea of falling in true love makes you cry because you feel like you never love somebody this much, it's amazing. True love makes you believe without a doubt that your partner's the one. True love is never perfect and never a fiction, but one thing I know about true love is it can make your life complete, which is perfectly enough for me.

Quotes from the movie "Guess Who:"

Simon Green: "That's just it, she's everything I'm not. You know, she's my other half. Without her I'm not whole. You know the thing about meeting your other half is you're walking around, you think you're happy, you think you're whole, then you realize you ain't shit without her. Then you can't go back to being just a half 'cause you know what it's like to be whole."