shopping

Two quick bits of news:

  • monbento is releasing a mobile app soon, and to commemorate they are giving away an iPad and 100 bento boxes.. No purchase necessary to enter.
  • Rakuten Global, the international part of the Japanese online shopping mall giant Rakuten, is holding a free global shipping campaign until May 17th. If you buy at least 10,000 yen worth of products from a participating merchant, up to 5,000 yen of your international shipping cost will be free (you'd pay for any extra shipping). This doesn't just apply to bento box sellers of course so if you are a figure collector or a hobbyist or a Japanese fashion fan and so forth you could use this offer too. (I see one of my favorite craft supply stores there...) (Via @saraosenton - thanks Sara!) - this one is over now.

xmas-onigiri.pngFor some reason I've only done this every couple of years on JustBento, but to celebrate my Return To Blogging, I thought I'd put together a short list of bento related goodies that have caught my eye.

I've even hauled out Christmas Santa Sideburns Onigiri-man to bring in the cheer. Onigiri-man has evolved over the years that he's been the JustBento mascot, and now he has a goatee instead of sideburns. But originally, he was firmly stuck in the '70s.

There should still be plenty of time to order any of the items mentioned, although in some cases you may need to choose express shipping.

But enough with the preamble: here we go.


Making bento lunches in a dorm room

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[It's back-to-school time! This article was originally posted in September 2008, and revised several times since. There are lots of great ideas in the comments, so be sure to check them out! ]

Here's a great question from reader Jan:

I live in a college dorm, and I only have a microwave, water kettle and George Foreman-style grill (we aren’t allowed to have hotplates in here). Is it an option to grill tofu? And do you have any other suggestions for cooking with my limited resources?

Eating healthy in a dorm room can be a challenge indeed, especially without a fully equipped kitchen. I actually lived in a dorm-like setting (it was off-campus housing but set up like a dorm) for a few months during my early days in college. We had access to an ancient refrigerator, which was compartmentalized inside into lockable litle safe-like boxes with nameplates and keys (!). Each box was about the size of a hotel room safe, so there was barely enough space there for each person to store an apple and a can of soda. We could have a water heater in our rooms, but that was about it (though there were suspiciousl smells periodically wafting about the place from various rooms). I did move to a better place as soon as I could, but here's what I remember doing from those days, plus some ideas about using those luxury items, a grill and a microwave!

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Ladies and gentlemen, start up your bento-making engines. The Bento&co contest is back!

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A quick note to let you know that the top 20 finalists in the Bento&co Contest 2011 (announced here previously) has started! Check out the entries on their blog.

Great bento box makers: A visit to Hakoya in Ishikawa, Japan

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In April, I had the opportunity to pay a visit to one of my favorite Japanese bento box makers, Hakoya. Here's my report, with lots of eye candy for bento box lovers!

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