A birthday gift

I made these two bentos for a friend's kids. It was meant to be a birthday gift for her girl, but I didn't get to meet her till a week after the day. I'm glad the kids were thrilled with them.

For CJ, I coloured her rice a shade of pink. The seaweed stood out against the light background and you can actually see it looked like an elephant. There were cherry tomatoes, a piece of seaweed chicken, baby corn, and some edamame on a pick resting on a bed of lettuce.

In the bottom compartment, there is broccoli, a fierce-looking Doraemon fishcake, and a lobster fishball. To finish off the meal, there was a packet of chocolate, a gummy worm, and some sweets.

JD had the same things except that his rice was coloured a greenish shade (I was going for a grey look but did not have the appropriate seasoning). JD's little elephant didn't stand out that well.

These were made in February but I had forgotten all about them till I was transferring photos out this morning. Stay tuned for another bento post coming right up.

An early birthday present

Look what I found at Kinokuniya! Akinoichigo's bento book. So so happy to spy that there.

While out shopping with the princess for erasers last Friday, I was admiring the many varieties of cute collectible erasers available at Takashimaya. She was looking specifically for a dog one and I was commenting on how cute they were. She told me I could pick a set and she'd get me for my present. I told her I didn't want erasers hahaha. She said I could buy anything I liked, so I asked her for a budget. She told me $20, and that really caught me by surprise. Firstly, I wasn't expecting anything from her and secondly I was surprised by the amount she quoted. It touched me that she was so generous. I tried to bargain it down to $10 as I didn't want her to spend so much. But she was adamant and stuck to the budget, and told me I could buy anything, even clothing hahaha.

In the end, I let her buy me Akinoichigo's bento book since it was my intent to get it. I paid the difference of about $3 for it. Am indeed very happy with the book and princess' sweet gesture. It follows me everywhere I go in the house, haha. It is such a precious gift and I couldn't wait to get to work on my bentos, and this below is one of the few that I just had to do.

I love the little octopus but am very sad that we can't get the wieners that they have in Japan, those two tone ones. The effect of mine is very different from hers but still happy with it. I used leftover rice and meatballs from dinner the night before, from Tori Q. I boiled some young corn and strung them in skewers with the chicken meatballs that the princess loves. There was also golden kiwi and a strawberry. She loved her dinner very much and was very glad to see that I had re-created something from the new book she bought me.

Thank you darling, and I do love my present very much. :D

Gifts galore

In the past 2 weeks, I've been given lots of gifts. I wasn't expecting them so it was a real pleasant surprise. Thanks to you gals for your thoughtfulness. I will treasure them. :)

First gift was from Australia; little decorations for cuppies. Thanks KY for so kindly asking your aunt to bring them over for me. You notice something missing from the collection? ;)

Gift No.2 came from USA. Before I could even get over the shock that she was in town, she was already leaving. Thanks V for thinking of me when you got these. I love them and would absolutely not use the cupcake boxes. Hehe. Hope to meet up with you the next time you are home.

Gift No. 3 from SS, mainly from Japan. Can you see the Disney gang in kimonos on the cover of the photo album? How cute. And I love the bento bag.