I’ve always been a fan of all things Asian, especially Japanese.  I was the weird child, who, growing up, would watch the Asian broadcasts on the cable channels – the soap operas (which were great, because they had English subtitles), the game shows (which I didn’t understand, both language-wise and WTF-is-going-on-wise)…all of it.  I couldn’t tell you what brought it on in me, but I just have always been fascinated by it.

Going to places like Daiso just fills me with joy.  So much cute, nifty, useful and weird stuff.  Stuff like…BENTO BOXES!  I decided to buy one, because I thought it would be a cute way to bring my lunch to work.  I’m notorious for bringing a sandwich or Lean Cuisine to work, and then come lunchtime, I’m all Ehhhhh, no.  And off I go to the food court.  It’s not good for my wallet or my waistline.  So I thought that maybe if I put my lunches in a cute little package, I might be more inclined to actually EAT my lunches.

I got the box, a matching fork, a matching chopstick holder, little sauce holders and a bag to carry it all in while I was in Seattle.  Today, I went to the Daiso here in San Diego and got more accessories:  like little silicone dish cups, food divider sheets, and some rice ball molds.  Granted, I don’t know how to use most of these things, but I think it would be a fun little project for me to learn.

For tomorrow’s lunch, I have packed some sliced mushrooms and soy sauce, a small cup of hummus, 1/2 of a turkey, cheese and lettuce wrap sandwich.  These boxes are SMALL, so that’s about all that fits in there.  I also tucked into the bag a yogurt, a 100-calorie snack pack, and a banana.

So, obviously, my bento box is not up to the epic level of awesome as is illustrated in this photo set.  But maybe it’s something I can strive for.  Get myself a little rice cooker and make little rice ball characters.  Get an egg mold and make cute shapes out of hard boiled eggs.  All while saving myself some money and controlling my portion sizes.

I’ve found a couple links as resources for bento box related things:

Lunch In A Box

Just Bento

J-List Bento Products

And of course, the previously linked Daiso listings and Flickr photo set.

If I ever get good at bento box making, I’ll post pictures.  But that probably won’t happen for a long time.