Mothering Corner

 I should stop checking out bento tools, the more I see, the more I feel like buying. LOL! Maybe some guys don’t get it, but it’s like you see any auto accessories, or a high tech gadget, or a nice set of golf clubs which you just got to have one, or else you can’t sleep tight at night. Got it now? LOL!

I’ve always loved this webstore, which has a lot of nice things to offer. But I haven’t bought from it directly as most bento stores will get the items and sell in local market. What we need to do is just wait for them to “import” the stuffs.

So, I wonder if these nori punchers will hit some online bento stores soon…

They are really cute! But I guess I can imitate these facial expressions with my existing punchers, or just cut with exacto knife. But if you have only started collecting bento tools, maybe you can give them a try.

Here are my new bento gadgets…

Hello Kitty and Tomica Sandwich Moulds!

Yeap, I got the tools in my bento wish list, yippie! They are from Bento Craft (thanks Carmen!) and my kids love them the moment they saw it. My boy already used the Tomica set this morning for his breakfast, but the bread was too small for the mould. So, he suggested that we use the milk bread next time, which is slightly bigger. My boy is very interested to play with most of my bento tools, and luckily, these tools are not as “dangerous” as electrical supplies. So far, I haven’t let him try my exacto knife, maybe only when he’s older.

And thanks to Carmen again for the pack of autumn leaf picks. They are so pretty for an autumn theme bento.

I should stop checking out online bento stores. The more I visit, the more I feel like buying. LOL! It’s an addiction, and a very bad one.

There are some of the cute lunch boxes which I found online, and they are listed in my bento wish list too.

Care bears! Do you still remember them? I used to love watching the cartoons when I was young. I found them here. Ah….I’m resisting the urge of buying the pink and blue bears.

BTW, if you prefer an even shape bento box, but with a fancy cover such as Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma, you can get them from Bento Craft.

Just in case you are wondering, NO, I’m NOT being paid for posting about these bento boxes!

I’m not ordering any of them yet. I’m out of space of storing the existing bento boxes, and if I can find a way of maximizing the storage space, maybe I will grab a few more bentos. Gee…I feel like I’m buying too many tools and bento boxes, I can forget about getting the new iPhone and iphone accessories already.

Yeap! I got the parcel from Bento Craft! Yippie! I didn’t buy a lot since it’s my first purchase from this online store, but the store owner is very nice to ship out my order ASAP because I got my flight date messed up. I thought I will be leaving soon but it is a week later from now. LOL!

Besides that, the items in my bento wish list are coming soon to Bento Craft, so I might get them if the price is reasonable. Maybe some other bento stores are getting the same products too, thus I can make a price comparison.

On top of that, I won’t be spending a lot of time blogging or doing “tag” or accepting awards, but thanks to those bloggers who linked to my blog and passed me the awards. I don’t have a stable internet line here, and I’m SOooooooooo lazy on my holiday back home. I just spend my days eating, sleeping, knitting, visiting my grandpa and nothing much. I might need the best colon cleanse to clear out my body system or sign up a body slimming program if I stay here another month longer. LOL!

I am still enjoying my bento break here in Malaysia, so I won’t be fixing any bentos for some time. Anyway, my kids won’t need any bentos, and they are so thrilled to be home and they are having a great time here with our friends and family. Too bad that hubby can’t be here with us now due to work commitment. If not, we will surely have more fun during this term holiday, even if we are not getting any mazatlan vacation packages.

Since there is no bento at the moment, I shall share some of the new tools I’ve received recently…

This puncher is a pressie from Arlene. Thanks ya!!! Those stars are cute for decoration, especially starry eyes. Besides that, I got my orders from Bento Market too.

My boy has finally agreed on having this Cinnamonroll bento box, so I got one for him. Previously, he didn’t like it, but there isn’t a lot of choices for boyish bento boxes either. I got some new Hello Kitty cutters too, but I’m still clueless on what will I do with them. My mind is all about enjoying my holiday and stuffing myself with all the local food that I’ve been craving for a year. Obviously, I’m enjoying this bento break a lot!

I found 2 new items which I wish to have…

They are pre-order items by NST.  Check them out if you are interested! Mmm…should I order too? LOL! I’m tempted, but I shall put them in my bento wish list first. I won’t be fixing bento for some time, I guess. So I won’t need any bento tools yet. Nonetheless, these pre-order items take a while to reach you once your payment is made, so check out the details from NST blog.

Ok, I shall stop looking at bento stuffs and go enjoy my “char tua pan”. Gosh, I might need to get something like puristat after my stay here for a month, if I eat like I’ve never eaten before. LOL!

Ya, I have some new tools arrived yesterday. Some are from NST.my and some from bentomarket.com. I haven’t used any of them yet, obviously, and maybe I will try them out soon. As you can see, I didn’t buy a lot this time. LOL! I have to be frugal in collecting tools as I’ve spent quite a lot, even if it’s not as close as a nice trip to any Florida vacations. But then, the amount of $$$ on this hobby is quite significant now.

Nonetheless, as long as I try to use most of them, the “investment” made is not a big waste huh?

Remember my bento corner, where I place most of my tools? Some of you have been asking me where I got my bento tools from, so here’s a summary of the suppliers:

•  Daiso: It’s a nice place to get some tools for a start, and the price is reasonable.
• 100Yen: I can’t find 100Yen in Bangkok, but a lot of bento bloggers will drop by 100Yen outlets to grab the tools.
• Bento Market: My favorite online store for bento tools! I know most of the items are out of stocks, and that’s because they are selling like hot cakes! So, make sure you sign up as member and be notified about the latest arrivals.
• NST: I shopped here too, but not a lot.

As for seaweed punchers, I have always prefered the shoe punchers (check Bento Market) and those from Carl’s.

Some of my punchers

But if you can’t find these Carl’s punchers at your local bookstores:

My friend Arlene might be able to help you to get the designs, directly from Carl’s supplier. So, if you are interested, please drop by her blog, or drop her an email at aloke28@yahoo.com. Bear in mind that she’s not satellite radios so please specify which design of facial punchers, like row #, which color and which expression as shown in the photo above when you are ordering to avoid any confusion. I’m not sure about the selling price, so please find out more from Arlene.

Don’t miss out the facial punchers ya? They are truly useful in bento-ing.

I fixed something simple today because my boy is starting to show some flu symptoms. Thus, I thought of giving him more fruits, and cut down on bread. So, I used the Rilakkuma cutters again to fix mini sandwiches, and packed some corn, sweet potato (for my boy) and more fresh fruits. But now, I realized that I should not have packed rambutans because it’s too “heaty”! I will probably remove the rambutans if he’s still not feeling well after school.

My boy’s bento with more fruits today.

I omitted sweet potato from my gal’s bento due to her smaller appetite.

Tools for today’s bento

 BTW, my friend Arlene said Carl’s replaced some punchers, and if you are looking for one, please go to your nearest bookstores. She’s so sweet to get another puncher for my collection. It’s the one with – . – expression, and I’ve been waiting for it for so long. Thanks for sending it all over from Malaysia to me, Arlene!!!

I hardly pack rice for my kids as most of the bentos are meant for after school tea. Thus, most of my rice molds are kept in the box, and I hardly use them. But today, I decided to use one of the rice molds as a bread cutter, and I picked the triangular onigiri mold, which I bought from Daiso.

Tools for today’s speedy bento

It’s quite easy to cut the bread with the mold as the edges are rather sharp. After some simple decoration, here’s how the bentos looked like:

My boy’s onigiri sandwich bento, with mini cheese wieners and lots of cherries.

And my gal’s onigiri sandwiches, decorated as a chick. She will have papaya and kiwi, instead of cherry.

Coincidentally, I found a cute chick bento by R’s mama this morning. Do check it out!