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Pittsburgh

Well guys, I owe you a story about Pittsburgh :), terutama utang ke Shannon, hehehe

Kendaraan yang menjemput saya berjalan perlahan, membawa saya ke apartment yang akan menjadi rumah saya. Sekilas saya melihat ke luar, sepi sekali. Satu dua kendaraan melintas, selebihnya tak ada keramaian. Layaknya di belahan dunia dengan empat musim, saya melihat sisa sisa salju di tepi jalan mulai meleleh, pohon-pohon meranggas tak berdaun, suram sekali rasanya. Untunglah di beberapa sudut jalan lampu-lampu natal menyala terang, menyisakan sedikit semangat dan kegembiraan natal. Tak terbayang rasanya musim dingin tanpa adanya natal. Dingin, beku, dan suram. Christmas is absolutely needed to cheer up the winter :)!

Sepintas, kota ini mirip Bandung. Kesan ini saya dapatkan ketika saya berjalan-jalan sendirian menyasarkan diri saya kemarin, hehehe. Jalanannya naik turun, kotanya sejuk (baca: sangat-sangat dingin), dan orang-orangnya ramah. When you go to a shop buying something, the cashier usually says "Have a good day", when people get off a bus, they usually say "Thank you" to the driver. From this side, I think I will like this city, as a remembrance of Bandung, hahaha.

Selama ini, saya pergi ke luar dari Indonesia (cuma ke Singapore n Hongkong sih :p) untuk business trip, training. Maka saya selalu berada di kota besar, pusat-pusat bisnis dan keramaian. Mau ke mana-mana gampang. Berbeda sekali dengan kota ini. Walking down the street, I see nobody. At that time I haven't got a map, so it's difficult to find someone to ask for direction. Nyasar dah *seperti biasanya*, hahaha. Lima tahun tinggal di Jakarta yang tidak pernah tidur, dengan shock saya bertanya kepada teman saya : "Ini baru jam 9 malam, kok sudah sepi sekali?" Juga tidak terlihat taksi-taksi berseliweran. Accessibility kota ini hanya melalui bus, tidak ada kereta macam MRT di sini. Karena belum terbiasa dengan kota ini, rasanya saya tidak terlalu menyukai hal ini. Saya jadi susah menjelajah sudut-sudut kota yang perlu saya kenal. Dalam hal ini, saya lebih suka di Singapore atau Hongkong. Atau Jakarta dengan kenek metromini yang sangar-sangar itu, hahaha.

Dua hari yang lalu, I had dinner with my academic supervisor and all the team that will work together with me. After dinner, they took me to a place with a great sightseeing, the city light, the whole view of Pittsburgh. There are some parts of this city that laid in the hill, people go to the top using a kind of train called Incline, seperti cable car di Sentosa Island. The sight seeing is great, really great. Unfortunatelly I didn't bring my camera :(

Oh ya, di dekat apartment ada pusat keramaian yang lumayan lengkap (sebenarnya mah gak ramai-ramai amat, cuma satu potong jalan). Ada public library yang nyamaaaan banget (dan gratis tis tis tis), bookstore yang lumayan bagus (Lus, kamu pasti suka banget :), ada bioskop (Gak mahal Yo, kalau siang cuma $5), beberapa tempat ngopi, supermarket (temans, jangan bayangkan kayak Carrefour, ini cuma kayak Hero, lebih lengkap Hero malah). Tapi lumayanlah, aku bisa jalan kaki sekitar 15 menit ke situ.

Belum ada foto yang bisa diupload, ntar aku upload ke sini kalo dah ada poto-poto.

Well Shannon, I think Paris is much more interesting :)

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