...and then there were two!

Bonkers over Bento!

For the past few months, I've been avidly following some bento blogs (my fav ones are listed below) when I should really be writing my essays, planning my workshops or taking care of my child and not let him rummage in the fridge, find the bottle of chilli flakes, take out my pots and pans and start sprinkling chilli flakes like snow into all the pots and pans. Er... ooops.

Anyway, I couldn't stand it any longer and finally dragged the 2.5 year old to Daiso with me yesterday. It was such a fruitful, well-planned and well-executed 2.5 hour trip! Excuse me while I inflate my ego and pat myself on the shoulder. *PAT!*

We reached Plaza Singapura at about 11am, which meant 2 things - one, no ERP (awright!) and two, we could hit Daiso before the lunch crowd swarmed the place. And hit it I did. I'm a mature individual with more than 3 decades of life experience and yet, I still get into this oooh-everything-is-only-$2-it's-like-it's-almost-free trance whenever I'm in Daiso. I just dump stuff into my basket with reckless abandon. I don't get it! That's $18 worth of stuff you see down there!


After Daiso, both of us headed to Ichiban Boshi for lunch. Again, the timing worked out perfectly. *PAT!* We got there just before 12pm and got a great booth seat by the conveyor belt which meant 2 things - one, the food rolling past will be a constant source of entertainment for DN and he wouldn't get bored so easily and two, the food rolling past will be a constant source of trouble for me because I have to stop him from piling our table with sushi, or lifting the covers to "wahhh!" at the sushi.

DN just lurves sushi. He finished a plate of vegetable sushi - 2 pieces (fillings included julienne carrots, sea kelp, avocado, cucumber, mayo) and had 3 pieces of california roll with his BARE HANDS. So yes, our table and my son were both covered in orange roe. If I hadn't had that last piece of california roll, he'd probably have eaten it too. I figured he had had enough carbo, so I ordered a teriyaki salmon steak to share. He ate about half of the steak, so *PAT!* I congratulated myself on making the right choice there!

We finished lunch just before 1pm, and we RAN to the car, hoping that we wouldn't cross the hour and have to pay an hour's parking for 2 minutes of lateness. Guess what? We got out within 2 hours and parking was only $1.05 because the first hour is free if you're there from 10am-6pm. Oooooh... *PAT*PAT*PAT*!

While DN was napping at home, I set about making my first bento. After unwrapping all my bento gear, I wiped up the drool on the table and set about happily washing all my paraphernalia. Then I dug out my cookie cutters and made apple stars and flowers. (I dipped the apples in diluted lemon juice to slow down the browning.) Grapes went into a soft little cup and I added 2 picks and 2 dividers of smiling vegetables for colour. Ta-da! The bottom layer of DN's snack bento. :)

The upper layer was the dry layer. Here we have baby ball cookies, banana chips and some dried fruits (apricot, cranberries, blueberries and raisins). Another pick and 2 more dividers for colour.

When DN woke up, I couldn't wait for him to see his afternoon snack bento. When he first saw it, he said "wahhh!" very loudly as his mother beamed from the corner. *PAT!* (Okay okay... I made him show me the 'good' sign here.)

This is what he ate - he finished all the grapes and the baby ball cookies. He ate half of the banana chips and later finished all the dried fruits. He only ate ONE piece of apple. ARGH! And those were the ones that caused me the most grief! Inside I was shouting, "EAT MY LABOUR OF LOVE! EAT!" but of course I didn't. I ate my labour of love instead.

I'm going to try another bento tomorrow. This time, a lunch one. ;)