Bento Art - Motherly Love in a Box

I remember when i was young, my mom will wake up early every morning to make breakfast and pack lunches for me, my brother and my dad. Most of the time it'll be sandwiches or fried rice...and on certain occasions, noodles (with little treats like jelly or honeystars ^_^).

There were times when she had other priorities and couldn't get the packed lunches done in time for me to bring it to school. I recall vividly one of those occasions when i was in primary school.

Did she leave me to the mercy of the loud cafeteria ladies? ...Nope.

Mom actually went all the way to McDonalds (quite a distance away) to get chicken nuggets and brought it to me during my lunch break at school. I recall it happened about say 2 or more times during life in primary. And i must say, I'm really really proud of my mom and love it whenever she comes to visit me or pick me up at school.

Why? Because ever since I was small, I had always thought she was the most beautiful lady i've ever seen in my life. (No kidding, some ppl think she's japanese...and we all know how graceful japanese ladies are =D)
Anyways, this is not a post on my mom but about lunch boxes...with love. Yes, LUNCH BOXES with MUCH LOVE. =D

In Japan, it is common for japanese mothers to wake up in the wee hours of morning to make and pack lunch boxes for their family every day. In recent years, the modern mums have found a way to encourage their children (especially picky ones) to lick clean their lunch boxes which are packed with a balanced portion of veg, meat and other necessities. How? With ART!

Creative bento (lunch-box) competitions are held often throughout Japan and the craze is still on-going with more companies producing specially designed lunch-boxes and food decorations!

Here's some of the many creative bentos i've found over the net:

(Pokemon...maybe)

(I'm pretty sure this is Studio Ghibli related)

(i dunno the name...but I have this character on my bedroom slippers!)

(zomg...Windows?!)


That's it for now folks...
You want more pics?
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Go browse them yourself. =P

Here are the best links from which you can learn how to make your own creative bento:

Just Bento
(great recipes and arrangement ideas)

Just Hungry
(learn how to cook japanese food)

Bento Products
(equipment for making the purrrfect bento!)

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