"He who finds a true friend, finds a treasure"

My very good friend and breakfast buddy Deanna is emigrating to Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirate's capital.

Her husband started working there last month and Deanna and her 4 children will be moving to Abu Dhabi early next month.

On one hand I am happy that this wonderful friend of mine is moving to new horizons but on the other hand I am saddened by the distance put between us.

Sure there is the Internet, and communication has no limits via the PC but the old fashioned fellowship over a cuppa will never the same.

I met Deanna many moons ago at Ballet school where our girls were twirling and tapping their very young toes. We clicked right away and had much in common - love for good food, love for God (although we were of different denominations, it was never an issue), Youth ministry, collecting stuff, the list is endless.

Just one phone call and we'd re-adjust our schedule to meet for breakfast. When hand phones became a necessity, our breakfast rendezvous would only one SMS away. It was important for us to eat well and enjoy our time together because we had endless stories to share.

Good coffee was always the criteria for a good meeting place and so was our short and meaningful prayer to thank God for our chance to fellowship which was fundamental to our friendship.

We decided to meet at her house this morning. I offered to bring breakfast so I made another bento after I finished with the bentos for my girls.

In the back left box I did the same gourmet roll up sandwich which I did for the girls except that for this one I added a fried omelet.

On it's right, I had Babybel cheese, crackers, marshmallows, raisins and some Japanese rice crackers.

In front is a mixed salad and Japanese sushi ingredients chopped and topped with Kew pie mayonnaise. I cut up two Kiwi's to fill the box. Of course, I made a flask of my 'powderful' coffee! Yeah!

We had a wonderful time as usual, amidst the sadness was also a sense of joy, excitement and anticipation for greater things to come. We parted with the promise that we would meet again for breakfast next week.

Bento #13

This morning was a very busy morning. I made three bentos because Dn 1 had choir practice up to 3.30p.m and asked for two bentos.

I made a gourmet roll up sandwich with Lebanese bread. Spread it with butter, cream cheese, salad/greens, turkey ham, cucumber sticks, crab stick (left over from the sushi) and another slice of Cheddar cheese. Top with Kewpie mayonnaise and tomato sauce. Roll up and wrap with cling wrap to keep the shape.

Behind the roll up sandwich is the top layer of the bento. It contains blanched cauliflowers, raisins and a pair of bunny carrots. I used a plastic grass divider and filled the other side with fried tofu fishcake and some more left over crab sticks.

In the orange bento, I had two types of rice crispies for snacking and a packet of Indo Miegoreng asli with fishballs. Dn 1 complain after school that she preferred my 'one ton mee'. Okay I said. Indo Mie goreng asli is on the '-ve food list'!

Dn 2 was happy with her roll up sandwich and veggies, so no complains.

[Bento box]

On a Bento frenzy makeover

I asked Dn 2 for assistance to add some features to my blog. She suggested that I change my template and I agreed. We agreed on the layout and color together. Dn 2 is very good at the PC and has been a great help in upgrading my 'scene'.

I'd like to apologize to those of you who visited my site today and found it in a chaotic state. I think the term the IT people use is 'under construction'.

Already past my forties, I like to view my fonts several sizes larger so that it's easy on my eyes. In doing so, I found my blog layout in a topsy turvy state. I spent hours 'repairing' my blog. I hope my site is not deemed as 'loud' because of it's font size because it's for very practical reasons that I like to maintain it this way.

I hope you continue to visit my site and if you have any specific requests for recipes or tips on Japanese cooking, I will do my best to provide. I am not an expert but I have had many years of experience cooking Japanese food on a regular basis for my family and friends and I'd like to share this passionate journey with you.