Bento Making

My parents flew in from Singapore last Friday to spend 19 days with us here in Japan. I will be enjoying time with them so writing on this site will be slow. For now, I will just share a picture of a bento that I made for Aiden recently.



Rice balls with pork nuggets (marinated in sea salt, pepper, sesame oil and coated with breadcrumbs before panfrying in olive oil) and a baby spinach salad on the side.

"Bento (弁当, bentō) is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in japanese cuisine. A traditional bento consists of rice, fish or meat, and one or more pickled or cooked vegetables, usually in a box-shaped container. Containers range from disposable mass produced to hand crafted lacquerware. Although bento are readily available in many places throughout Japan, including convenience stores, bento shops (弁当屋, bentō-ya?), train stations, and department stores, it is still common for Japanese homemakers to spend time and energy for their spouse, child, or themselves producing a carefully prepared lunch box."
- as defined by wikipedia.

Like I have mentioned in an earlier post, I love aesthetics and am quite a sucker for good looking stuff (that explain how I chose my husband - no, just kidding!). Since moving to Japan, I have been very fascinated with all the cute and pretty looking bentos that I keep seeing on the shelves in supermarkets and convenience stores. When Aiden started going to pre-school last September, I was excited not for the extra personal time that I was going to have, but for the opportunity to finally create my own bentos for him. Aiden's school doesn't provide lunch (as with most schools in Japan) and I often hear some of the mothers (mainly foreigners) at his school complaining about having to spend time in the morning preparing food. Cooking is one of my passions so until today, I am still loving the bento-making process. Fortunately, my little boy shows his appreciation of my efforts by finishing his lunch most days!

My relationship with Japan

I have a love hate relationship with Japan.

This is a beautiful country. I love the nature, the climate, and the fact that everything always look so pretty. I am drawn to aesthetics and the japanese are insanely talented in creating all kinds of beauty. This is apparent in the packaging for all their products, the way they display everything in the supermarket, and even the uniforms the garbage collectors wear! I go to the supermarket almost everyday and I enjoy it. When I take Aiden out for our regular walks around the neighbourhood, I find myself taking in everything I see around me, from the trees along the streets, the many kinds of flowers during spring, to the old and tiny looking japanesey houses in the area. Such beauty lift up my spirits.

On the other hand, after living in this country for 17 months, I still cannot comprehend the japanese culture. The people here live by a code of conduct. It's like they have alot of unwritten rules of how one should behave and the whole nation abide by it. They are very polite people and you will always find strangers saying "good day" to you. But I don't think they are sincere because they don't exude much warmth and sometimes not even an eye contact. It is like they say it for the sake of saying. Just because it is the right thing to do. In my opinion, the people are polite but cold. I have also witnessed on a crowded bus, nobody would take an available seat simply because there was a sign that says needy people should be given priority to that seat. There was no pregant woman or elderly people in sight but still, nobody would dare to take the seat despite the fact that the bus was so crowded. And on the other hand, I have also seen a woman struggling to carry her 7 or 8 year old daughter on a crowded bus and nobody offered her a seat. That was because she was standing in the area where there were no signs that said the seats should be given up. WTF right?

The other thing that really, really bug me is how inflexible the people are. Don't expect a japanese to bend the rules for you because it will never happen. For instance, I had to rush off in the middle of my lunch at a restaurant sometime back and since I had barely finished half of my plate of pasta, my husband requested that the restaurant bagged that up for me. But they refused to as the restaurant does not have this practice. No matter how we argued, they just would not bend. Then there was another time when I had lunch at a restaurant and used up my small notes to settle the bill. When I collected my car that was at the carpark right next door to the restaurant, I realised that the payment machine did not accept big notes. So I went back to the restaurant and asked if I could change my big note with them, they flatly declined. Simply because they had a no money exhange policy. Never mind the fact that I was a customer and had paid for my lunch with small notes 5 minutes ago. I argued with the manager but guess what? You can never expect a japanese to bend their rules. So I lost.

Seriously, I can go on and on about how weird the culture here is and how it drives me crazy. But at the end of the day, when you are living here, you learn to accept things the way they are. This is a country with many years of history. The people are not going to change the way they do things just because of foreigners like us. Now, I laugh it off whenever I am at the brink of being really pissed off. Looking at the pretty packaging of everything here helps since I am such a sucker for aesthetics. And I try to avoid having anything to do with japanese organizations or the local authority!

My son's playful tummy

After a lazy morning at home today, I decided to take my boy to his favourite indoor play area (Jackmall) in town and drain off some of his excessive energy. We left home just before noon and since we had a late breakfast, I wasn't sure if he was hungry enough to have lunch before going to Jackmall, or if I should let him play and then have a late lunch. As we were driving into town, we had the following conversation.

Me : aiden, are you hungry enough to eat?

Aiden : no, mummy.

Me : are you sure? maybe we should ask your tummy. Does your tummy want food?

Aiden : no. my tummy wants to play.

Me : ................ wow, you have a clever tummy (I was at a loss for words actually)

Aiden : yes mummy. So can we go to Jackmall now??

Thankful

Last night, I watched the finale of The Celebrity Apprentice where Bret Michaels (a Rockstar) beat Holly-Robinson Peete (an actress) to win the title. Bret Michaels has been dealing with a lifelong illness of diabetes since he fell very ill at the age of 6. Recently, he suffered from a brain haemorrhage and was in critical condition. But he made it to the finale of Celebrity Apprentice and I read that he will soon be going for a heart surgery.

I feel for people who have to battle with illnesses, especially lifelong or terminal ones. Perhaps it has a lot to do with my year working for the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) in Singapore many years ago before I ventured into the hospitality industry and made that my career. At the NKF, my job was to organise marketing campaigns to garner donations and raise funds for the needy patients. A big part of the funds that were raised went towards the Children's Medical Fund for the Children's Kidney Centre - CKC (alright, this may be debatable as NKF was involved in some highly publicised scandal where the CEO was found guilty of cheating of the public funds a few years ago. But this happened long after I left the organization and is not for me to comment on).

So anyway, as a result of my responsibilities at the foundation, I often had to work with young patients, some as little as 2 years old. I had to visit them at the hospitals, chat with the doctors and their parents, and understand their condition. It was very tough. i remember some of those kids were battling with diabetes and had to face the possibility of a kidney failure. Some suffered strokes when they were only toddlers. And even for those that were lucky enough to receive kidney transplant, had to be on medication for life that would stunt their growth and hamper their development. Even though I was young, single, and had no children, I felt a lot of those kids. And I told myself to never take good health for granted.

There was this particular girl that I remember very well. She was about 5 or 6 at that time (about 10 years ago) and had kidney disease. Because of her condition, she had to be attached to the dialysis machine for 10 to 12 hours on a daily basis. She was a trooper though. I once asked her if she was in pain and she said no with a smile. I remember that face. And when I asked what her wish was, she said to me all she wanted was to be able to go to the beach with her dad and play. Such a simple wish, yet unachievable for someone like her.

Today, I am a mother. Everytime I watch my son running around the playground and screaming with joy, I am so thankful. And I remind myself to never take this for granted.

Chilling out

This is what I like to have after my son goes to bed at night.

Cocktail hour!

Ok, I have to clarify. I'm not an alcoholic. But I do enjoy a drink occasionally. This is what I had the other night. A glass of champagne beautified by an edible hibiscus while watching SATC series for the 10,001 times. Bliss!

Happiness is....

when your husband fixes every problem that you encounter.

Isn't this pretty?

Cherry blossom is a celebrated event in Japan. It marks the beginning of spring and last merely 7 to 10 days before the petals fall and scatter all over the ground. Although shortlived, cherry blossom is part of Japan's national identity. Japanese do not feel sad over these sakuras short lifespan. Instead, they embrace and celebrate them while they last. And why wouldn't you? These flowers are so beautiful.

Note: These pictures were taken in Yokohama, Japan.