Bento Boxes

Today I've been browsing the internet for a new lunch box type of thing to take to work with me because my old one is looking and smelling pretty gnarly. Why so gross? Well, one day a few weeks ago, at the beginning of this killer heat wave, Mike had the bright idea of putting his almost-but-not-completely-empty beer cans back in it, zipping it up, throwing it in the trunk of the car, and promptly forgetting about it. I discovered it in the truck and opened it up today and bleeeeeeeh. There's no way I'm taking that baby to school anymore!

So anyways, I was looking around for a new one when a came across these cool little Japanese lunch boxes called bento boxes. It's basically a regular lunch box that has little sectioned off places with lids so that you food doesn't touch... a perfect choice for me because I have a major issue with my foods touching. I try to keep everything separated at all costs, and when they touch, I eat way around it, not letting it get close to my mouth. I don't know why I have such an aversion to it. Always have. I also usually eat my food in clockwise order on my plate, but that's a whole other story...

I looked on ebay to see if I could find a decent one to buy. I wanted one similar to these, but not quite that expensive:

See the cool little compartments? Ahh, no more soggy bread from sweaty ziplock bags or mismatched tupperware! And no food touching!

But what I found was so much better. While I found the expected Hello Kitty and other Japanese anime type cartoons, I found other very interesting examples of these lunch boxes. Take a walk with me through pictures.


What a polite little lunch box!


Either the cat or the bee is saying, "Follow me! Follow me!" I wonder where they are going?


"Orange Boy. Very Juicy." Indeed.


This one says "Little fishes guide you to the land of happiness. Happy Together." Lead the way little fishies!


"When time passes slowly, a heart can be relaxed." Sounds like a fortune cookie on crack.


"So it became large." Elephants and apples? What?


I seriously almost bid on this one, because who wouldn't want to eat their lunch out of something that looked like their lunch? But then I thought about all the attention and awkward lunch conversations that this would cause, so I decided no.

And finally,


"Which seems to be delicious? Son. Mam. Daddy." If I pick one do I have to eat it? I'm not so keen on wiping out a family of bees in one bite.

How strange. I never ended up finding one, but I got a good laugh from some of them. So for now, I will be sticking to my sweaty ziplock bags and mismatched tupperware. But if you desire one of these odd little boxes, search ebay for bento boxes and you could have one of these little gems. A talking point at every meal, I'm sure.