Ride on Time

Chapter 53

Shree frowned at the sunny sky. Bright as it was, angry clouds still loomed up. It was definitely going to rain. She sighed since her event was that night, and she was planning on painting her face too.
All she hoped was that her makeup won't be ruined.
Speaking of which, she had to start getting ready for work. The event would take place afterwards, at night, and she had to be home before six to get ready for the event which took place at seven-thirty.
Shree quickly got dressed in a loose black shirt and leggings before packing a change of clothes in a tote bag. She bade farewell to her mom and grandma before making her way to work in her mother's old orange Perodua Viva. It was a hand-me-down but she didn't care. She loved the car, anyway, and practically grew up with it.
The Sheralbon Hotel's gym was spacious, offering Zumba, Pilates, and yoga classes to not only the guests staying at the hotel but also provided membership to the public. Helping people feel and look good was one of the main reasons Shree took this job, loving every bit of it.
Hanis took over her shift, even coming in with a bag of makeup since she was planning to get ready at the hotel itself to save herself some time before the gala.
"What are you gonna wear?" Hanis asked. "I'm just planning to wear the Kebaya Nyonya that I got from Malacca. What about you?"
Shree smirked. "You're gonna see it later."
"La..." Hanis frowned.
"Just see it later lah, aiyo," Shree chuckled, collecting her things. "Anyway, bye. I need to pick up my brother."
Hanis waved at her, wondering what she was going to wear for the event later.

Shree tied her yukata on and looked at herself in the mirror, making sure that she did it correctly. Everything seemed fine, she even draped the left flap over the right just as she was supposed to. Her hair was elaborately done in the Japanese Wagami hairdo, which she managed to do by painstakingly following a video of a Japanese man demonstrating said do on a mannequin head. The coiffure was adorned by the turquoise cloth flowers that her mother made a few days prior.
First Light by Makoto Matsushita played from a small but powerful Bluetooth speaker on the dressing table as she sat down and began painting her face in white.
Shree sang to herself just as Makoto did, applying the the face paint as though it was foundation. She smiled too, seeing how the costume she was putting on was also from the east brought to the west since Malaysia was to the west of Japan.
When the makeup dried, she started applying red to her eyebrows and eyelids, followed by thick red lipstick to her lips. Shree added a light blush to her cheeks and studied herself in the mirror.
Her makeup and hair were done correctly but her silver hoop nose ring and triple piercing on each ear didn't really sit right with the look, together with the Chinese-style Huadian she wore to replace her bindi. That actually went well since the Chinese wore very similar makeup to oshiroi as well.

Just pretend that her hair is done in maiko style and her eyebrows are red. I tried really hard to find the custom hairstyle for the Sims 3 but nope. Also, for some reason the eyebrows in this oshiroi template I got didn't wanna turn red no matter how I tried. I even tried dyeing her eyebrows red but nope.

Shree turned the music off and got up, making her way towards the door. She hoped her family wouldn't mock her or anything, especially since she took a long time readying herself.
The first person she saw when she left the room was her brother, making his way to the kitchen to put a cup away. Vasu gasped and the next thing they both knew, a loud clang came when the stainless steel cup clashed with the ground.
"Aaaah! What happened to you?!" Vasu exclaimed, pointing at her. "Mom! Got ghost!"
Shree groaned and turned around, covering her face with her hands. Chandrika and Devi soon came running and saw Vasu pointing at his older sister for some reason.
"What happened lah?" Chandrika asked.
Vasu pointed at Shree, trying to hide a grin. "Look at Akka lah."
"Turn lah," Devi piped up. "Show your face!" She added in Tamil.
Shree gulped and took a deep breath, taking her hands off her face before turning around. The two older women gasped.
"Fuiyo!" Chandrika remarked. "How you put the makeup? Where you get the paint?"
"I think she use flour and make," Devi guessed.
"Maybe she use poster colour or acrylic paint," Vasu smirked.
"I bought face paint online, idiot," Shree grumbled. "Is it good?"
"Very nice lah you did," Chandrika complimented. "Your hair how you did lah? Really like Japanese hairstyle."
Shree let out an exaggerated sigh. "It was very hard. I had to use so much of hairspray and mousse to make it look neat."
"Why never call me, I would've helped you, right?" Chandrika pointed out.
"Maybe you were born Japanese in your past life," Devi remarked, examining her face.
Shree just chuckled. "I look good, right? They said the theme was diversity so I chose Japanese."
"You look very nice," Chandrika smiled.
"She look like ghost," Vasu snorted.
"Oi!" Shree exclaimed.
Vasu started laughing uncontrollably as he left.
"Come, I'll drop you in my car," Chandrika said, ignoring him. She turned to her mother and addressed her in Tamil. "Amma, let's go."
Devi smiled and followed her to the living room, getting her sunglasses which she wore to protect her eyes from the sun's glare. It wasn't even that dark since it only rained an hour ago, and it was getting close to sunset.
Shree smiled to herself and got her things before following them to the Volkswagen Arteon in the porch.

Shree entered the hotel, holding a fan to her face as she made her way to the banquet hall. Hanis was seemingly waiting for her, wearing a colourful Baju Kebaya that she got from Malacca. The Indian girl smirked and went over, quietly perching herself beside her friend, the fan still held to her face.
"I'm sorry, but there's someone else sitting here," Hanis suddenly said.
"Really? Who?" Shree closed her fan and grinned.
Hanis's eyes widened in surprise. "Oi! It's you?"
"The one and only," Shree said in English.
Hanis grinned and started analysing her costume. Her elaborately done coiffure, white-painted face, green yukata, and red Huadian markings on her forehead.
"Wait, I didn't know that Japanese people wore those red markings on their foreheads too?" Hanis said, pointing to her forehead in surprise. "I only see them on Indians and on Chinese New Year banners."
Shree shrugged. "I don't think they wore it. I'm just wearing it as a suitable substitute for my bindi."
"Oh, that makes sense," Hanis nodded. She gave her a nudge on the arm. "Oi, you never told me you were coming in a Geisha getup."
Shree chuckled sheepishly. "I was afraid I might fail and have to carry out Plan B instead."
"What's Plan B?"
"Wear my mother's saree."
Hanis snorted and looked around, her smile slowly faltering. "Wearing a saree might've been a bad idea..."
Shree followed her gaze and saw that many people were wearing a saree, especially those who weren't Indian.
"Hey, is that Syura?" Shree chuckled, seeing how the young Malay woman was wearing a beautiful red saree with a hijab. "Where did she get that saree? It's so pretty!"
"Go ask her lah," Hanis simply said.
Shree chuckled. "Nah. She might've borrowed it from someone instead."
The fashion show was about to start and Shree hoped they used the song that she prepared. If they managed to find it at least.

-fuiyo is an expression used to show that you're impressed or at awe. It can also be used as an exaggerated compliment. Also, an article I found online mentioned that Aiseh and Fuiyo meant the same thing. It's wrong, Aiseh to go express dismay while Fuiyo is to express awe and compliments.