"The Sisterhood of The Travelling Pants" ... What's that???? Sure,it has got to be a title of a book or something,but it sounds funny,isn't it? and...WELL,frankly,it sounded childish to me.Though i'm still a child at heart...this sounded waaayyyyy too childish for me...A TRAVELLING PANTS????It sounded like something from Enid Blyton (for the target group of 7-12 years old),at least to me it sounded that way.Of coz, at times i still read that kind of books just to fill my time esp. when i feel the need to be in a "carefree-world full of fantasies"..But i dun actually go ga-ga over it like i did with "Harry Potter" and "LOTR"...That was the case until this morning....

When i first heard of The Sisterhood...my level of curiosity went up a notch...but i didn't really bother to find out bout it.This morning however, i was chatting in YM with a friend and without meaning to, i accidentally click on The Sisterhood IMvironment..Feeling bored at that time with no work to be done, I was attacted to opened the website for The Sisterhood (well, by then i was thinking there was nothing to lose here..if i get bored with it, i could simply shut it down)...But little did I know that the site...-with the heading "LaugH. cRy. ShaRe tHe PantS"-.. is gonna change my life...haha! A bit tragic to say that...not really change my life but more like refreshing my memories of the beautiful friendships i used to have...and still have,only that now -after going through the ups and downs of life- it has risen to a more mature level...

Back to our topic...for those who haven't heard of the story of The Sisterhood..it goes like this...

"Carmen got the jeans at a thrift shop. They didn’t look all that great: they were worn, dirty, and speckled with bleach. On the night before she and her friends part for the summer, Carmen decides to toss them. But Tibby says they’re great. She'd love to have them. Lena and Bridget also think they’re fabulous. Lena decides that they should all try them on. Whoever they fit best will get them. Nobody knows why, but the pants fit everyone perfectly. Even Carmen (who never thinks she looks good in anything) thinks she looks good in the pants. Over a few bags of cheese puffs, they decide to form a sisterhood and take the vow of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants . . . the next morning, they say good-bye. And then the journey of the pants — and the most memorable summer of their lives — begins. "(Taken from the web: http://sisterhoodofthetravelingpants.warnerbros.com/).
The 1st Sisterhood book, which is the The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants are followed by the sequel-->The 2nd sumer of The Sisterhood(2nd) and Girls in Pants: the 3rd summer of the Sisterhood (3rd book).

If truth be told, the main thing that attracts me to the story is the way the girls are close to each other like sisters, how different they are in character; yet able to fit in perfectly, and how they each went on their own, different ways of life but still able to remain the BEST of friends...

All these talks about sisterhood and friendship really reminds me of my own tiny circle of friends i've had since i was in the primary school until i completed my higher education in the uni...Among them all, the ones whom i really cherished the friendship and memories are:

Primary School: SK Kg. Jawa
- Siti Salamah : She was my one and only BEST FRIEND during those years.She was there with me through ups and downs...hehehe, i remember one incident where Ustazah scolded me for always being absent for Puteri Islam, and i cried so hard; i mean she scolded me in front of the whole class-that was sooooo embarassing okay- and Salamah was the one who comforted me while patiently listened to my long-winded protest and critism of the Ustazah (ooops sorry ustazah...i regret my childishness back then. I know now what u did was for my own good).
When friends teased me too much and i couldn't take it no more(i was a lil' bit sensitive back then, but not anymore!)... she was the one who "fired" them back...We shared many, many things together, giggling over cute guys, sharing secrets about our crushes(ha!not a secret anymore!hehe) ..but best of all just being able to sit with her during recess and enjoy the blessfull moments together.
Hmmm...i wonder what happens to her now..the last i heard from her was about 4-5 years back. She wrote me a Raya card, and she sounded sad (what with losing her mom and her dad marrying again)...but there was nothing i could've done...she was far in Kedah i think, and she didn't even enclosed her address..I hope I'll be able to see her again...

My Lower Secondary School : SMKA (P) Al-Mashoor:
1) Amilia binti Mansoor : The girl is among my most favourite friends --> she's cool, she's loud, she's full of fun!(i'm using present tense here as she's still the way she was back then, u really dun change much hah Ami!)...Ami and I used to be very close...sooooo close that we always get jealous whenever one of us befriended some other girls and seemed to forget the the other for a while. Back then, she was like my other half la, since none of us had a boyfriend yet: but mind you!we weren't lesbo!! We had so much in common...one which was our passion for window shopping!hehe...and much, much more...we too shared many special moments together...we talked for hours on the phone(i always got scolded by my parents for this..jahat la hang nih Ami!)..we snail-mailed each other once in a while eventhough we saw lots of each other in school (i still have most of ur letter), we sang(or rather croaked like a toad!haha!) we danced (this gurl was so into dancing..me...i wasn't really passionate bout it but did it just for the fun of doing stuff with her!)..we even performed together (with some other outsiders) for the "jamuan kelas", singing some acapella song(by the Malaysian boyband-Shades) and doing some dance steps...Time spent with her were most memorable...Memories that shall be cherished forever...All Old Times Are Good Times...aitt Ami??!!??

2) Nurikhwani Idayu : People do say...one of the way to know u is to look at ur friend...this sort of true...coz Ayu sometime reflects my own personality. She's secretive (reflection of me, though maybe i'm not as secretive as she's)...she had an unpredictable mood swing...a bit shy and always had her nose buried in books. But despite her mood swings, i had always been attracted to be friends with her.Maybe because it was a challenge to keep up on friendly terms with her...hehehee...i mean one day she would be full of laughter and smiles...and tup!tup!the next day she would ignore u for no apparent reason, at least none that i could figured out at that time. But now i'm beginning to understand her more...she did what she did because didn't want to burden her friends with her problems...Besides, whenever one of us were in a bad mood or an ugly, sorrowful situations...she was always there to help us through it.
Fortunately, when she was in a cheerful mood, there were many, many exciting things we did together(though now it all seems a bit childish). For instance, back in Form 3, we were sooooo head-over-heels in "lurve" with Yusry KRU..yeah!the two of us did!....hehehe..so, we were always fighting over who will get to win HIS HEART! (hey!it was a friendly contest lar..but unfortunate for us, Erra Fazira won his heart...hahahaha ). Ayu always gave me cute staff on special occasions such as my birthday and on Valentines day (for example the cute and practical plastic folder that i used to store my drawings {it was for my birthday}, the cute heart-shaped container filled with delicious chocolate for Valentine...and many2 cards with beautiful friendship wordings, which i soooo cherished)...She's such a sweet friend, a lil' bit hard to understand....but very understanding and.....very cute too!! (i used to pretend to vomit whenever anyone said ur cute remember Ayu! hahaha)...Friends forever eh Ayu... ;-)

3) Illisriyani : This is another of my fave friend. Not that the others are non-faves...but this gurl here was really fun to be with. It was fun hanging out with her, hard to see her in a dark mood...i dun think i ever see her cried before (unlike me and Ayu who sometimes cried in public!haha). Eventho' on the outside...she seemed like a "gila-gila" gurl, she was sensitive to other person's feeling..she was (still is) a vERy LOYAL friend too. Always stood up for me, couldn't even stand the thought of anyone saying bad things bout me. I'm remembering the incident at her school (CGL-Form4-Form 5) when this gurl was about to say something bad about me. She interrupted her by saying "No!She's nice and she's my BEST FRIEND!"...That really stopped her(the other gurl) cold!!
Illis and I, we had much fun together, sharing many secrets, helping each other out in study and love (hehehe, remember Riza or whatever-his-name?), enjoyed playing pranks on others...everything we did together was fun...even going to the school toilet!hahaha!! i remembered there was one time we were coming back from the toilet (or was it canteen) and we were joking around...she said something to me , i mean like teasing me lar and to get back to her, i pulled off her school tudung. I didn't mean to really pull it off...i just wanted to give it a tug, but i guess the tug was pretty strong...so the whole thing came off!!! And we were in the corridor where everybody could see her!!! Luckily our classroom was nearby so she galloped like a horse into the classroom and hid behind the cupboard. At first i thought she was mad at me, so i begged and begged for her to forgive me. But i saw that after she came out from behind the cupboard, her shoulder shook with laughter! Hahahaha...sori sesangat Illis...but i still LOL when i think bout it. Anyway,the friendship i shared with her is priceless...Even up to today...she's still a loyal friend...always stay close near me and back me up in everything i do...eventhough we are far in distance...but we're close at heart....Luv ya BuDdY!!!

4) Dayang Zahra : We were quite close in Form 1, and when we entered Form 2, she went to Birmingham with her family. We kept in touch through letters..She came back to school in Form 3. She was a fine friend...always trying to solve our problems for us..always kind to everyone...never boastful though she was from a well-to-do family. We had many, many sleepovers at her house...caved in her pretty-pink bedroom she shared with her sister(or was it purple...i can't remember la), being silly school gurls, gossiping and giggling over cute guys (i had a thing for cute guys back then), and baking brownies-she was a pro! (i tried it at home after that but the brownies i baked turned out as hard as a stone that nobody ate it..hahaha!)...People sometimes mistook us for being sisters...even Ustaz Salleh thought we were sisters...and some teachers called us "Twins"...i guess maybe because we were both chubby and had fair complexion...hehehe...and i always teased her for "copying my face"...it's copyright reserved tau!hehehehe... She's now in UiTM Shah Alam completing her master i think...hope the friendship will remain true...

My Upper Secondary School : St. George Girls School
1) Noor Soraya Ahyaudin a.k.a Mickey : She's the most loyal friend i've ever known...Always tried hard to please people and always very helpful too, has very high dreams...love her family very much, love and appreciate her friends too...she can be obsessed with something if it tickled her fancy, always loved trying out something new...a fast-spender of money(hehehe)..
Mickey and I has a very "special" connection...that is to say...she always knew what was on my mind, and vice versa...We can always detect when one of us had a troubled heart though we tried to hide it by showing a happy face...We went through many ups and downs in life...when people didn't like us being too close and labeled us as "lesbo" (it was this girl who turned out to have some mental problem), when my heart was crushed repetedly by a guy whom i was soooo obsessed about, she was there to help me through it...she gave me encouragement and help me deal with the pain...and I love her for that, and for many, many things she did for me, which i could never repay...Eventho' now she's married and has her own family, we're still the best of friend...and nothing could take away the beautiful friendship we have..Lurve ya gurlie!

2) Nur Hafeezah a.k.a Feezah Microphone : Hahahaha...sorry Feezah...Frankly,this friend of mine is REAL loud! When she's being her LOUD self, u can hear her voice from miles off. She was happy-go-lucky, always had things to laugh about, had massive ideas on how to have fun...hehehe...but she's also sensitive. A simple thing can make her cry (though she seldom showed it, i know u always cried la Feezah)...quite hot-tempered too, simple things could tick her off. Once, this gurl had a crush on my brother..hehehe....so i had to be her postman whenever she was feeling mushy-mushy and wanted to give my bro a love letter. I remember once she bought this gigantic card with a picture of dinosaur in front..to be given to my bro for Valentine. I believe that it was the biggest Valentine card my bro ever received...and imagine me carrying it all the way back home, riding in the school bus with people staring at me and some even giving me funny looks...and the card wasn't even for myself. But of coz i didn't mind...after all it was for my best friend aiiittt...After high school, Feezah and I both got an offer to further our studies in UIA, so our path crossed once again. She was my most trusted and closest friend during the first year i was there...what with me being shy and still missing my friends back home, she was there to ease the pain of separating with friends and family for the first time in my life. She helped me to fit in with the other girls..and she was very patient..Thanx a lot Feezah! Now, we seldom see each other coz she's in KL(wif her husband) while i'm in Penang(without a husband..hehehehe), but whenever she comes over...we definitely won't miss the chance to meet up and update each other on the current happenings in our life....Miss ya Old gurl!

College/University Years :UIA
- Widad Mohd. Ismail : Widad is my only real close friend from the first time i entered the main campus until the end...Not to say that i wuz a loner..(i was not!!! i just couldn't find people i trust enuff in the university ) Of coz i had some good friends scattered here and there in the college...but well, due to the nature of our course...i spend most of my time in the studio and in my room at the college doing works, so i didn't have much time to mingle with friends from other courses. Widad and I was in the same studio from the first year until out final year...we even repeated studio together..hehehehe...Widad was kinda sensitive -maybe because she's the youngest in a family- so we had our own share of fights and quarrels...though it wasn't a wild, shouting match (it was always the cold-treatment with her whenever i did or said things thatt badly hurt her...hehehe...sorry eh Widad!I was soooo thoughtless..)...but being in fight with her sort of tortured me gak la...(hehehe...i'm not gonna let her read this!EVER!!!) coz u see....i was without many good friends then, so losing a friend in fight semmed such a terrible waste...Fortunately, the cold-treatments i got usually didn't last very long. Sometimes, either of us would apologize and sometimes we jez talked again after a few days as if nothing happened....During the final year, we even shared the same cubicle in the studio...so each knew whenever one was feeling sad or down...whenever we got scolded by lecturers or the short guy whom both of us hate soo much said things that made steam flowing out from our ears..we always comforted each other....and she was always full of words of wisdom..we also had our own way of joking that most other people didn't understand..whenever we met, people would shake their heads and "shhhhhhhh"ing us for constantly talking and joking and laughing...just couldn't help it!hehehe...i guess in a way we both needed each other as the campus life was a tough one for us...
Even now, after we've graduated and go our own separate way (she's in Kedah and me in Penang of coz), we still keep in touch, calling each other a few times a month...I guess what made us remain friends is becoz she's a friend that understands me and is always patient in keeping up with my mood swing and my thoughtless actions...You are one helluva gurl la Widad! Hope you'll find ur life partner soon....ble la kita kawin sama2, dapat anak sama2 nanti...hehehehe..

I love all these friends of mine...Though we didn't get the chance to form a sisterhood (like in the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants lar...hehehe) but i know that deep in our hearts each of us appreciate the friendships that we've built....and surely we would cherished it till the end of time...