I never normally go for introductions but here it goes... Hi all, I'm (nearly) 23, I'm from England, and I've been making bentos for...one whole week now! It was a complete accident that I came across all this. Me and my boyfriend spent a week laid up with swine flu (it's not fun!), and his housemates had us quarantined to one room! So with no TV channels, no DVD player, no outside world, and only a Playstation and a semi-functional laptop for entertainment, I planned to use my time to research sakura for a 'project' I'm working on. That...didn't happen. I have a short attention span, found an image of a beautiful bento styled to look like sakura, and that was it. I spent a week, a WEEK, looking at bentos, and taking down recipes, and planning what I would make...and I'm already hooked. Making bentos appeals to me for a couple of reasons. I really like fitting all my lunch into a comparatively tiny box. For me, it helps me realise I don't need to eat so much to fill myself up. It has really helped with my portion control. Another is that I'm able to eat a greater variety of food. I LOVE to cook, and I've been told I'm pretty good at it. But ideas for lunches really stumped me. After visiting Just Bento, it's given me so many great recipes and ideas that I look forward to lunch time! And, for the first time in 23 years, I've found that I don't mind eating rice. Silly I know, but because I have such a distaste for white, long grain, basmati-type rice, I never thought to try anything else. Turns out brown rice is actually quite yummy. Anyway, that's me, I hope to meet a bunch of lovely people here, and get more tips and ideas for my bentos, and maybe even discover and share a few things for myself!