Hi all~ I have joined this forum for about 2 weeks and have been lurking JustHungry and JustBento for more than a year. I frequent Maki-san's sites for recipes and tips, they're wonderful and revolve around my daily situations quite a bit :] I am 20, female, over-aged international student who is doing advanced diploma in design, and looking forward to do interior and/or communications design next year in uni. I have not created any online portfolios to showcase my works, but I will.. soon? Maybe via something like myspace or something.. Prior to this, I was a studying business (banking and finance) for 2 years. However, I had much difficulties doing it and decided to stop last year and do what I have always wanted to do most -- art. Why bento? Eating out is much less economical for my case. My art materials are very expensive, let alone having to buy a tripod and a new lens for my camera.. I need to save money since my parents do not allow me to work. I mean, although I know that they are more than able to provide for me. Still, current economic conditions make me weep when I look at my expenses here when I convert them to my home currency. And also, recalling the fact that I just transferred from business school -- which means that I have wasted everything that I learn there since they do not really apply to what I am doing now. In addition, I have piled on too much bulk since 2007. It bothers me so this year (after receiving all sorts of remarks from my mother's friends), I want to lose them all. So far, I've lost a bit, but I still have about 10 more kgs to go. I have tried all sorts of ways to lose them but they bounce back soo easily. Now that I start bento-ing, the excess bulk are now slowly falling off. I am aiming for healthy weight loss through bento and I hope it stays. Due to my busy and intensive routine, I never find the time to exercise nor cook something proper. I always end up snacking. Thanks to portion control and bento-ing, I am now getting all these under control. @ Maki-san: Thank you for creating such a wonderful site!! I enjoy reading your posts as I get to learn from them. And also, thank you for this link