Hi everyone I'm from Baltimore (B-more) and I am joining this challenge because I love food a little too much and want to lose some weight. Love Just Bento and Just Hungry and have found all of the tips Maki has provided beyond useful. I'm a little down because I have gained so much weight during the years I was taking care of my Mom so now I am larger than I ever have been. But I have faith that with time I can change and I will always love food (maybe a little too much) but will keep trying to B-more Healthy (tm).

Hi all I'm from Northern Ireland and I started making bento last year for my daughter, who is 10 and myself. I love cooking and all kitchen things, so it was very easy for me to get into bento. The downside is that bento supplies are hard to come by in NI so I have to buy online which costs soooo much. I'm getting lots of information and new recipes from here so I'm loving it all.

yo. I'm Megan. I'm fluent in french, english, and japanese. And im only fourteen. woo. I make bento (almost...) evry moring for school, and i loves it. Im a octo-lavo, and eat mostly japanese-style. so.......ya. thats it! Peace!

Well, having volunteered to moderate this blog for the New Zealand/Australia time zone, I thought maybe I'd better actually introduce myself so you know who I am when I do terrible things to your entries. Just kidding. I'll try very hard not to.

Hello and hajimemashite. I'm Ame from Chicago and I'm completely new to bento. Um, I'm not really sure what to say here. heh. I got into all of this stuff through manga/anime and I'm trying really hard to learn Japanese. I'm really interested in culinary arts and such, (I'm concidering making it my new major) and Japanese cuisine is just the thing for me. I'm an omnivore, although I cook for a lactoseintolerant vegetarian (which makes this harder), so I want to learn some recipes to please us both!

Hi. So, I'm Sakura from Germany. I'm 25 and an apprentice for IT specialist. Meaning I write programs. :P I got interested in japanese cooking and culture through manga. I bought all Japanese themed cookbooks I could get (not to much at that time), and in one there where some tips for making bentos.I tried it and made one for my boyfriend and he liked it. So it became a weekly thing and I make him one for every meeting of our roll playing group. Besides cooking and baking I like to read a lot, play RPGs (Pc and P&P) as well as other videogames, paint miniatures and do jigsaw puzzles.

Wow, forgot to post here... I'm currently on writing my diploma in control engineering and since I'm going for a career in research I'm basically an university-live-in. I get out only to go to the gym, since I'm an active kick-boxer, training at least 5 times a week. I also do a million of other things, like comic book reviews and (latest hobby addition) a bento blog. Right now, spare time is a great luxury, I hope that this might change one day! Though in academia it probably won't...

Hello everyone! I'm Samantha, and I'm living in beautiful Noe Valley, San Francisco. I'm a transplant, having just moved from the east coast. (Boston/NH seacoast area). My new kitchen is fantastic, with space for my Bento supplies to grow, so I'm supremely excited! And down the street is Omnivore Books on Food (http://www.omnivorebooks.com/), the most amazing food book and cookbook shop, so I felt at home right away. I've been making Bento for several months now, although I grew up bringing my lunches to school, so really it's just full circle.