It's a Mystery!!

But, I must admit that I love a good mystery, surprises, and the person who sent me this mystery box!! I was baffled this morning to find a box on our front porch - I was not expecting anything at all. To add to the mystery, the box had a customs declaration form on the front from Japan. I am guessing whoever sent this to us ordered it here in America, but the store was in Japan. My Japanese connections on are not there anymore and haven't been there for (cough, cough) yeaaaarsss!! What was inside? 3 bento boxes!! Wooooo Hoooo!!! Oh, the Okinawa memories these boxes bring! Was it you, Mom? Cindy? Hmmm... It is someone that knows my love of japanese plastic!!

What in the world is a bento box? 'O-bento' is what the Japanese call a packed meal, usually lunch. Bento boxes have internal dividers, and sometimes several stacked layers, so different kinds of food sit in their own little compartments. Bento boxes themselves range from handsome lacquered wood boxes, with which you may be served in a nice Japanese restaurant, to children's plastic lunchboxes decorated with cartoon (anime) character art. In the Japanese culture, presentation is crucial.

I think I have posted about this in the past, but there are flickr groups showcasing bento meals.
LuckySundae and Salsa in China both have some cute pictures. Cute, cute... Not sure how creative we will get as the kids are lucky to get their pb&j sandwiches cut into a triangle rather than their swiftly cut rectangles. We'll have to see what we can do! These will be wonderful for the summer.

Here are some pictures of our mystery box and it's contents!! Thank you, thank you dear Mystery shopper!!