My name is Lin Ye. I come from Shenyang, China
I work in the painting and designing industry
my hobby is making bento box
I started painting at the age of 3
When I started my high school
I was convinced that I was born to paint
so I put all my efforts on painting
Then I was admitted by the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts
I studied design
I came to Japan because I liked the atmosphere here
Bentox box is a very important part of Japanese food culture
In Chinese life, we have something similar
but we simply call it lunch box
and it gives an impression of being a very simple meal
People put in some staple food, and put in some entree dishes and that's it
But in Japan, I found that I could pack so many varieties of dishes into a bento box
and the taste of dishes might vary a lot
some had strong tastes yet others were milder
I could even put fruits together with the dishes
The bento box were very beautifully packed
On seeing the bento boxes, I thought they were just like paintings
so I became very interested in this bento box culture
In the beginning, I was busy with work
I wasn't very good at preparing bento box
After I gave birth to my kids
I started to put more efforts into preparing bento boxes
They are twins
and they turns 11 this year, and are grade 6 now
Starting when they went to pre-school, I began preparing bento boxes for them
some families made all five meals every week
but I was only asked to make them four meals a week
Nevertheless, I believed I should learn something about preparing bento box
so I started to read extensively about dietary nutrition for kids
I tried to prepare a few meals for the kids
but out of curiosity,
I participated in a bento box contest
To my surprise, I won a prize
I was very satisfied
I tried my best to make the bento boxes as good-looking as possible
People around me also agreed they were was beautiful
At the time, as I was only cook by myself
and that the kids were too young
I didn't give much thought about it (being nutritious)
but when the kids began to attend pre-school and take bento boxes with them
I realized
that I shouldn't really focusing on
making the food as good-looking as possible
I needed to think about making the meals nutritious
Being good-looking only served to prevent the kids from being picky about food
because all the food looked appealing
Starting from then, I put more effort in making the food nutritious as well as good looking
I also avoid using ingredients that are hard for the kids to eat
In the process of learning to make bento box
I thought I also need to share my experience with other moms
Some of the issues are very common among moms
In 2009, I started a blog on Sina.com
to write about living in japan
I wrote things about kids' dietary needs, and how I making bento box
Then a few groups came to me
asking if I can share my experience with them
In this way, I shared my experience with moms
pinch it together
you can put something of another color here to cover it
In my classroom, there are young moms
and there are older moms
Some moms aren't confident
because they don't know how to cook or how to paint
It's actually only a matter of experience
As you learn you will know how to make the bento boxes
If I remember and do everything she teaches
I really learnt a lot today
they are very beautiful. I couldn't believe it
I will come here to learn the next time
I have never learnt to make a bento box
with this amount of details
This is something I've never done before
I feel really happy
I am a Chinese
I studied design
but I am also very interested in Japanese cuisine
so I tried to put Japanese and Chinese elements together
I tend to put in more Chinese vegetables
I want to let the children become familiar with Chinese taste
The kids are like godsent gifts to me
Preparing bento box is a connection between me and the kids
I began to think about what truly makes them happy
and see things from this new angle.
We get up at 7:00 am in the morning
but mom gets up at 5:00 am
From 5:00 am to 7:00 am
She not only prepares bento boxes for us
she also cooks us breakfast
She is amazing
The kids are actually my teacher
After having them, I lived my life again