Ride on Time

Chapter 120

"Finally, we found a good Indian restaurant," Shree sighed after finishing her ghee thosai. "I like the chutney."
"Yeah, the chutney very nice," Devi added too. "The masala thosai also very nice."
"Well, if the meal got a green light from a group of locals, I'm sure it's truly good," Mitsuo chuckled. "But yeah, this thosai was good."
"Where's the Pani Puri?" Vasu piped up. "All of us are done eating but where is it?"
They eventually stopped a turban-clad waiter and asked him. All he had to do was go over to the kitchen window and shout for them to bring the Pani Puri over.
Shree burst into laughter. "Wow, he knows Tamil."
"Why wouldn't he?" Mitsuo asked. "He's Indian."
"Yeah, but he looks Northern, probably from Punjab or Bengal region," Shree said. "People from that region usually don't speak Tamil, they speak Hindi."
"Oh..." Mitsuo nodded understandingly.
Their plates of Pani Puri instantly arrived and they segregated the twelve servings amongst themselves. There was two extra so Devi decided that Mitsuo and Vasu should get an additional one.
"Why, because we're the boys?" Vasu piped up.
Shree hid a smirk and quietly picked up the small ceramic jug of red flavoured water to pour into her Pani Puri. "Just eat lah. You're still the youngest."
Vasu frowned for a moment and shrugged. "Okay. I'm not complaining."
Mitsuo copied the rest as they poured the flavoured water into the crispy balls of Puri. Unlike the others who stuffed the entire thing into their mouths, he took a small bite from the side, causing the sauce to spill onto his plate.
"Put the entire thing in your mouth lah," Shree instructed.
"Yeah, must eat just like that," Devi added, making an eating motion with her hands.
Mitsuo followed and did just that. He was surprised to have the sauce burst out in his mouth. But it was certainly better than taking smaller bites.
"So you guys finally tried the Pani Puri," Mitsuo chuckled when he was done. "So how was it?"
"It was good, this restaurant is nice too," Chandrika smiled. "Now my students can't make fun of me."
"The milk was good too," Vasu added. "Very pure. Not sure how the price is gonna be though..."
"It's on me," Mitsuo offered. "Especially for not telling you guys that I wasn't leaving and made you wait for no reason at KLIA..."
"What? No!" Shree quickly said. "That was nothing, really!"
Mitsuo gave her a knowing look. "It didn't sound like nothing three days ago." He turned to her mother and grandmother. "Seriously, she charged into Ms Shruti's office like a raging bull!"
Shree sighed when the older women chuckled. "I was angry since the first thing that came to your mind after cancelling the flight was Shruti and not us. We only buta.com that day."
"Yeah, and that's why I'm gonna pay for it," Mitsuo grinned taking his card out. "See ya!"
With that, he bolted towards the cashier. Shree gasped and took chase too but Mitsuo was already pressing his card against the reader.
"Hah!" Mitsuo grinned triumphantly.
"Why lah?" Shree sighed and was left to watch as the turban-clad cashier tore the receipt off before handing it to him.
"Come on, you guys take me everywhere for free!" Mitsuo reasoned. "You guys treated me so many times too."
Shree just sighed and followed him back to their spot at the back, rather defeated.
"So, who won?" Vasu asked, a slight smirk playing at his lips. "Either way, it's not me."
Shree pointed a thumb at Mitsuo as she sat down. "So you wanna leave now or what?"
"Wait lah, let me finish this milk first lah," Devi complained as she finished her cup of fresh milk.
They didn't really mind waiting since the restaurant had a very relaxing atmosphere.

Shree and her family dropped Mitsuo off at Sheralbon after the meal since it was quite late. Mitsuo bowed and thanked them for their time.
"And thanks for the food," Shree smiled back. "Wanna go for durian tomorrow? It's public holiday."
Mitsuo shrugged. "Sure. How does it taste like?"
"I'm not really sure how to describe, but one Japanese guy got eat before, he compared the taste to nattō. Apparently, if you like nattō, you like durian and if don't like means... don't like durian."
Mitsuo nodded slowly. "So that means I might like it. I love nattō."
Shree snorted. "You know, the word smelly in Tamil sounds very similar to nattō?"
Mitsuo shrugged. "Well, you said that unmei meant truth in Tamil while it meant destiny in Japanese."
"That's true too," Shree chuckled. "Anyway, I'll pick you up in the afternoon, okay?"
"Sure," Mitsuo nodded and bowed. "Thanks, by the way."
Shree smiled and waved at him and watched him enter before driving off.
"I think we should go buy for him some stuff later," Shree said. "Not nice lah, he spend us so many times already."
Chandrika nodded. "Go lah, buy for him something before seeing him tomorrow."
"Yeah," Shree agreed. "He said he want Malaysian snacks, right? I'll go to Speedmart and buy tomorrow."

Mitsuo changed into his yukata and sat down on the armchair as he scrolled through his social media feed. He suddenly spotted a video, a video of the Thaipusam chariot procession being followed by a lion dance procession that was done for Chap Goh Meh or the end of Chinese New Year season. Mitsuo watched the video in awe, both of the ceremonies took place in the same spot harmoniously. Even the music, both the Chinese rhythmic drums that played for the lion dance and the Indian band that played for the chariot played with full spirit. Mitsuo realised that this was how the diverse cultures in Malaysia lived in peace and harmony.
He copied the link for the video and sent it to Shree.

Shree watched the video in awe. This has never happened before, both Thaipusam and Chap Goh Mei falling on the same day. She immediately ran to show the rest of the family, who also watched in awe.
"Yes, they just put it on the news," Devi said. "It seems, this is the first time Thaipusam and Chap Goh Mei fell on the same day."
Vasu grinned. "Good lah. Double blessings."
"And Ong," Shree added with a smirk.

***

Shree drove over to Speedmart with her brother, who insisted to come upon hearing the word durian, to buy some Malaysian snacks for Mitsuo.
The first thing she took was biskut bijan wangi, or fragrant sesame biscuits. She couldn't resist taking a few packs for herself and her family since they loved it as well. Next, some dried candy plums. She wasn't really sure what they were actually called, but knew they were preserved sour plums. Then some peanut cookies, pickled nutmeg, and more of her favourite childhood snacks.
She asked Vasu to rip off the price tags from whatever she bought, but her brother was more interested in rummaging in the bag to see what she got instead.
"I bought some for us also lah," Shree sighed. "Got two bags there, just put one of each inside for Mitsuo, okay?"
"Okay, okay," Vasu chuckled, doing as she said. He pulled out a pack of the preserved sour plums and gasped. "Ooo sour plum..."
"Yeah, I bought two, one for us," Shree grinned. "So long never eat."
"Should've bought two for us," Vasu remarked as he put the stuff in a separate plastic bag for Mitsuo. He looked up at the road and saw that they were already in Jalan Barat, very close to Sheralbon. "Alright, I already put in the bag for him."