Bento week # 22

Since posted the boys' series of bentos a month ago with the mom ranting & rafting about her discovery of his little boy Scot refusing to eat & rather suffered the hunger pangs, i have sort of figured out the causes/reasons/rationale behind those ' little drama ' !!!

This little boy has, for his life been a more picky eater compared to his kor-kor, Sean. Since he doesn't "LIVE TO EAT", he is obviously LESS appreciative of food or in other words he is not the "wai sik" type!! And his eating patern is base on NEEDS absolutely....yes, he "EAT to LIVE instead".....as opposed to his parents, *wink* !!!

So after into much talks, persuasion, discussion & consultation (wtf..... like big project pulak...), i could sort of grasped the 'root' of the problem. It appears that those short 20 minutes of the recess time was TOO PRECIOUS to him that he was all willing to forgo his food ....... just for the sake of some 'FREE play time' !! Being such a hyper kid that i knew of him, i don't doubt this at all. It must be pretty hard that he has to be confined in the strict class room environment!! Furthermore, it's really shocking to see the teachers walking around in the school compound with a 'CANE' on top of the pile of books that she was carrying ......as if it was one of her 'teaching tool' :( Being the parents, we can only hope that our kids would not often be the victim of the cane!! Having said that, i can sort of relate to the kids' feeling of restriction & the desire for freedom..... yet on the other hand i would very much like to welcome the enforcement of 'discipline' into the boys' life, what a dilemma ehh??

While the boys related their stories to me, i was made to understand that Scot usually refused to remain seated at the allocated seat in the canteen, thus missing his meal (as their meal was served on the canteen table). Instead he prefers to bring his lunch box to other common areas (flag area/pathway/walkway) and join his little cronies that brought their food from home & did not subscribed to the school meal package!! They were as if having a picnic on the floor, an idea which i'm delighted to receive!! But but .....wait, kids being kids, i can truly understand my son who would not be obligated to sit & eat his meal!! This is especially so when he gets extremely excited PLAYING !! His big brother did 'tuk pui chek/poke his gold finger behind Scot's back' and said Scot used to run around during recess time & i can absolutely picture that!!

Run... chat...push...giggle...run again...bull shit...absolute freedom.......there goes his 20 mins easily !!
and i strongly believe that's how he missed his meal !!
the sad part is, being at primary school level, they are suppose to be entrusted with a responsibility of taking care of themselves during meal time, yet my "well-taken-care-of" boy was just not ready for such huge responsibility yet!!
i truly hope that this phase will fade off soon....bcoz that little tummy really needs some food (even if it's not nutritious type....i.e. canteen food) to sustain the long 7 hours of schooling.....my poor boy!!

Anyway, the above scenarios happened more extreme during the 1st 2 months since school started & as time goes on, i began hearing that Scot sometimes would ate either few mouthfuls of his canteen meal or selective dishes in his bento box....depending on what tricks mummy had used !!! Soon.... as he is more & more willing to take canteen meal, i tend to reduce the size of his bento portion too!! Mostly i would slot in some "add-ons" such as fruits, desserts or other side dishes that could go well with or substitute his canteen meal !!

"strawberries, edamame, cheese cube, marshmellows & baked kamaboko with ham & cheese"

"oranges, fried chicken meat balls & french beans"


"ham sandwich, 1/2 egg, banana fritters & green apple slices"

"leftover food (veggies, meat, milk & egg mixture) quiches"

Here are some of the SATURDAY BREAKFAST meals at home :

Yeah....my dearie SCOT... while i was busy snapping his food, he volunteer this pose, paused & insisted that i snap this photo, arghhh.....he just knows his mom well !!

Btw, he eats well at home under our supervision !!!

"a piece of sushi rice, some pesimmon & dark berries"

OOH ya....i think this was the last meal in these 2 TOMICA CAR lunch boxes before SEAN LOST his box.......this poor boy got nagged by his mom for a whole week, i tell you !!!
I was damn pissed, upset & heartache that i ended up writing a long letter (together with the photo of the lunch box in colour) to the school principal seeking his kind help to locate it back....i know i was betting with luck.....boo hoo!! And I clearly known that i'm super 'kiasu'....so damn petty but ....what to do, that was what my mind wanted to do at that very moment!! But actually i was putting this request as a secondary point in my letter that has other primary issues to attend lar !! Anyhow, i'm glad that the assistant principal did entertained my request & personally gave me a phone call to talk about it.....then i forget about losing the 30ringgit, **grin** !!! Since then i never let the boy use the box & let it collect dust!!
"spit on those parents that allow their kid to bring home things that don't belong to them"

"various pasta meals as it was one of Scot favourite"



Soba mee but it was clearly a wrong idea as i don't have sauce bottle in proper size so the soba soup got spilled & dirty his bag & books!! ** no next time **



"mini sausages & crabsticks pizza with grapes & baby mandarin oranges"

That's some of the boys' bentos recently !!
Hope you don't get too bored with my rantings.....LOL !!

Btw, we survived our EARTH HOUR tonite (back home around 8:45 after dinner & had a night stroll around our 'taman'....the 30-45min went past so fast) !!

Have a good Sunday tomorrow!!

Bento week # 20

Some asked if i no longer doing bento
Some commented so long never see my bento updates

i'm drowning in guiltiness !!!

The answer is of course i'm still doing bento but it has obviously gone a different direction now with the transition the boys faced from attending kindy to the primary school since beginning of the year. Time was also trying very hard on me lately bcoz i had a super paranoid huby that 'forced' me into spending more time on the boys' homework & studies!! As much as he was happy with my blogging & bento life, he has no choice but to pressure me in foregoing my precious time spent on these 2 hobbies, as his boys' education is above anything !!! To a certain extend, i even felt 'stress' from the pressure he enforced albeit in an indirect mode!!!

I wasn't sure if it was officially a 'problem' but Scot has been reluctant to eat in school, for reason i've yet to ascertain despite much effort!! The same problem was not heard during his time in the kindy. His teacher as well as the 'cook' aunty used to tell me & my mom how many bowls of noodles/porridge both my boys ate. So meal time was never a worry.

Now that in their primary school, we enrolled the boys in the school meal for RM40 per month. With the school preparing meals to them (same way like in their kindy), apart from not wanting them to face much different from their life in kindy, i also do not want the boys to feel left out if they see their friends eating school foods & they are not.

At the same time, i would also prepared a light bento (mostly snack) :

- just as "add-on" should the school meal is too light or;

- serve as an "option" should the food on that particular day is rejected by their taste bud or;

- serve as "tummy-filler" during the 30-45mins after school
(with the traffic congestion during dismissal time, plus extra time spent searching for the boys who would run around & the journey travelling back home, my mom said it could easily takes this long to reach home before the lunch is serve) By then, it could already be 2pm or later.

I thought in that way, i need not have to worry about their meal. However, my recent discoveries proved me wrong. For the past whole month, everyday after work without fail, i would diligently question my boys separately what was the food served on that day. When both boys told the same answer, it means there was no lie. Next, i would asked if they finish the canteen food. Luckily my boys were franked in this regards (much to my surprise), they would tell how they disliked the food hence, did not eat them. Sometimes, there were also other excuses/answers provided. Then obviously i expected them to have eaten their bento instead but to my SHOCK, Scot DID NOT also touch his bento !!! It means this fella has been starving his little tummy from 7 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon, a time when he would whacked a whole big plate of rice !!!

I'm fine if the bento came back intact but they finished the canteen food. But it was not so in my little Scot's case!! My heart really broke into pieces when again & again i came home to receive the same news. Sometimes i would rather he be not so frank....sigh!!! Kakak has been assigned the critical task of checking their lunch box first thing upon reaching home. Anyway, his big brother Sean would there to protest should he hears any lies from his little brother!!

Usually i would check Sean's comment & most of the time he would says:
" Neh Scot lar, he said he is full so he push his plate of food to me " and Sean whalloped them at times, slaphead!!

I felt extremely bad with what Scot has been enduring, i wonder if the food by the canteen COOK was really that SUCKS !! I wonder if Scot was not feeling easy with the adjustments he has to endure!! See the poor fella is getting more & more skinny as compare to that MEATY Sean !!!
I need not have to tell who has rounder face, do I??

Anyway, with the restrictions faced in the current situation, i don't have many choices in the selection of food for the boys' bento!! Anything too cheesy, too milky would not be tolerable. Anything is to be consumed fresh is totally out. Time endurance is an important factor. That maybe why my bento also sucks in taste lately.....

To combat his recent problem, during bedtime, i would even threaten them & began telling 'liar stories' on how his stomach would be visited by all the worms & insects if there are no nutrients, and how his stomach would started to break if there are no food for it to work which leads to gastric and such....LOL LOL, terrible liar mom !!!

Anyhow, as a mother, i can only try, try & try again....giving him a simple bento to encourage Scot to eat. I'm going to show a whole list of the simple bento for the boys & you tell me if they r really such dampening to the appetite !!??

Chocolate bread slice alternating with butterscotch bread tied up in a gift with cheese slice, with quill eggs & baby mandarin oranges!! **too bad untouched too **
Btw, i bought these 2 TOMICA lunch boxes recently from NST's booth at Desa park city Waterfront....that was a lovely place to stay man ....!!

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Fried rice la

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Sweet French toast, gummy sweets, almond chocolate & baby mandarin orange!!

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The above green box was obviously for SCOT as i've purposely slipped in 2 bbq driedmeat sandwiches for him with loads of other tummy fillers!!

Unlike the below blue box which was meant for SEAN, i didn't gave him the sandwich as i knew he eats canteen food, just some 'extras' !!!


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more snacks here

sausage, kiwis, fried fillet & car shaped rice

dipping biscuit sticks, seaweed rice crackers & edamame

yoghurt drink, grapes, fried fillet & macademia nuts

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At one point, i felt so unmotivated until i had to resort to making SUPER MINI SANDWICHES like the below.....it was only a triangle sushi mould (now....am sure u know how small it is)

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Even, yummillicious cakes like the below also were not appreciated. A customer bought them to our office last Thursday & each of us had 3 pieces. I only dare to take a bite of each, can die if i eat them all. So i cute them into smaller pieces for the boys but also untouched. They were only whacked after their piano & drama _ speech class which ended at 9:15 on Friday night. The class started at 7:30 pm, a time their stomachs said too early for dinner so they went to the class empty stomach too (as they ate their lunch quite late)


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That's THE END of the snack bentos for the boys !!!

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I'm sorry if i had already blurred your vision with the bento marathon above!!
But i'm not about to finish yet. As i really dunno when i would have time & energy to post these if i don't skali do it now.....continue posting more bentos photos for you to drool.....

I'm way far out from calling myself a bentoist as i don't follow the rules at all.
No recipes, no instructions .....no tutorials!!
All i mind was to make FUN with bento then post them up here (lest there are ppl who appreciate them)

Again, these are ADULTS BENTO (not for my kids, ok!!!)


Easy peasy LYCHEE Fried rice with "Ah Pek" & "Ah Moi" (fishballs & taufu skin) sitting on a pool of ladies fingers


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Yam rice with sweet & sour meat ball, some filamen sticks & flower egg sheets!!
Some macademia nuts (thks unc.Bob for this) & raisins as appetizer!!



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Sweet potatoe rice, weiners with brocollis!!
a buffalo wings & some curry potatoes on a pool of stir fried cabbage!!

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Macademia nuts + raisins + lettuce = GREAT SALAD
Bitterguard chickens to go with the moulded rice
I was clearly seen clearing off my DENBU (the pinkish thingy on the pooh cheeks)

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On days i needed more GREENS .....

This time, i'm really ending this super long bento post !!!
Hope i've contributed some ideas there.....

Happy Bentoing !!!