Bento Miffy Sandwich Nijntje Boterham

Today's bento features Nijntje, also known as Miffy internationally, which is one of my favourite characters when I was growing up. When I was young, I remember my mom reading the books to me. Sometimes we would go to the library and I would pick out the books by the basket, literally begging her to bring all of them home. hahaha!
Many people might not know, but this little rabbit has Dutch origins and goes by her Dutch name Nijntje. Her creator Dick Bruna created this character in 1955 after telling his grandson stories about a little rabbit they had seen in the woods in Utrecht. Nijntje (pronounced roughly as "NAI-n-je" in the English way) was the typical child's pronunciation for Konijntje which means little rabbit in Dutch.

Although Nijntje is drawn with barely a few lines, it is instantly recognisable as a rabbit. Soon the character Nijntje becomes an instant hit internationally. Dick design his Nijntje books with minimal dialogues (some even without dialogues) because he thinks that the illustrations should speak for themselves and also because the books were also meant for children as learner books. Nijntje's books soon got translated into many languages and exported into many countries in the world, including Japan. But there was a big problem because not many people can pronounce Nijntje's dutch name. Soon, Nijntje got another name that is easier to pronounce, MIFFY. This is why all translations of Nijntje referred to her as Miffy, or at least with a phonetic translation that sounds like Miffy.

Bento Miffy Sandwich Nijntje Boterham

Many think that Miffy is Japanese, because Sanrio's Hello Kitty and friends are drawn using a similar line style. In addition, the Miffy brand is popular in Japan and there is a lot of Japanese-made Miffy merchandise. To complicate things a little more, Hello Kitty found a friend called Cathy in 1976. Just like Miffy, Cathy is also a rabbit who doesn't talk much and is drawned in a similar fashion. Of course Dick Bruna wasn't very happy about it and there was a long love/hate relationship between the company that owns Miffy, namely Mercis BV and Sanrio. On November 2, 2010, a Dutch court ruled against Sanrio and ordered the company to stop marketing Cathy products in Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Sanrio raised an appeal soon after.

Following the 2011 March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Sanrio and Mercis BV settled the lawsuit out of court under the condition that Sanrio must stop worldwide production of merchandise that feature Cathy. Instead of continuing the court battle like most big companies are likely to do, the two companies will donate the legal fees to help the earthquake victims, which I thought was rather sweet of both of them.

Ok, I think this post is getting rather long. Sorry I got carried away, hahaha, because I really love Nijntje / Miffy a lot and she reminds me a lot of my childhood. I hope you like this Miffy Sandwich Bento or should I say Nijntje Boterham Bento as much as I do :)

Bento Healthy Grapefruit Bunnies Salad

After binge-eating with Mr Bear last night, I woke up feeling like I had a food hangover. So I decided to go super healthy with this salad bento : Grapefruit Bunny Bento with lettuce. Detox!

First I put a few layers of lettuce and then the grapefruit. Not only does the lettuce looks pretty with the grapefruit, I've discovered by chance that the lettuce have an extra function. The lettuce layers "lift" the juicy bits of the grapefruit and I got to enjoy the texture of the grapefruit without them swimming in the juice. So I get to eat the grapefruit, then the lettuce and finally slurp up all the remaining juice that had collected at the bottom. What a nice discovery!

Healthy Meat-free bento featuring Grapefruit Bunnies

Close up of bento Grapefruit Bunnies

I used 2 large pieces of lettuce and 1 whole grapefruit. Just like the honeydew bunnies, I used the seed as eyes for the Grapefruit Bunnies. The bento box I used here is a 200ml air tight box I bought from Hema. Hope you like this healthy meat-free bento salad : Bento Grapefruit Bunnies :D

Cute miniature Curry Pot from Swiedebie

Some of you might have remembered the big buzz on Singapore's Cook-a-pot-of-Curry Day in August. Coincidentally at the Facebook event page I stumbled upon an independent designer Swee from Swiedebie who designed and handmade this super cute miniature Curry Pot. Its really tiny and everything was so carefully hand stitched. This Curry Pot measures about 3.5cm across and comes with a removable lid. Can you imagine how tiny those little pieces of ingredients in the curry are?

Miniature Curry Pot from Swiedebie

Super cute right? I just had to order it right away the moment I saw Swee's pictures! To tell the truth, this picture of mine (which I took immediately when I received it ) doesn't do it justice - It looked waaaaay better in real :D Check out her website and much better pictures here

Based in the Netherlands, Swiedebie is a regular participant in craft fairs all over the country, from Amsterdam to Utrecht and much more. For international customers, Swiedebie can also be found in Etsy. Everything in the shop is so sweet and cute, right up to the packaging and the tiniest details. Here is how my packaged arrived:

Handmade Packaging from Swiedebie

Swiedebie - handmade cuteness

Handmade cuteness! How true is it! Right up to the smallest detail!

SweeTreats a sweet jewelry collection by Swiedebie

Here's where you can find Swiedebie: http://swiedebie.blogspot.com/ . More projects can also be found at http://www.etsy.com/shop/swiedebie. Do check for updates because collections from her etsy shop changes very regularly. Happy Shopping!

Bento Singapore Chicken Curry Amsterdam - Cook a Pot of Curry Day

As a finale for the now famous facebook event Cook a Pot of Curry Day in Singapore (you can read more here), I made a bento with the rest of the chicken curry I cooked on Sunday 21 August. As with many types of curry around the South East Asia regions, this dish taste even better on the second day. Here is my take on a very Asian dish in a very Amsterdam setting. The roof, big open windows and not forgetting the typical Amsterdammetjes were made from nori seaweed.

Amsterdammetjes (Literal translation: little one from Amsterdam) in real life are little red-brown poles that can be found along sidewalks of Amsterdam. All of them bear the sign XXX, which is the coat of arms of Amsterdam. Interestingly, there is never a really straight Amsterdammetje, they are always slanting someway or another, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right, sometimes with a dent here and there, which I like, because I think each of them tells a story.

The same goes for the buildings, especially the older buildings along the canals. I think this has got to do with the soft soil foundation under the buildings. My apartment is also severely slanted. But I really don't mind it nowadays (after taking out the wheels from the computer chair, that is. hahahaha!)

Singapore Chicken Curry Bento from Amsterdam

Cook a Pot of Curry from Singapore to Amsterdam

So this is my take on the Cook a Pot of Curry event which was created to promote harmony, respect and tolerance for each other's culture. Oh yes, and in case you are wondering where's the chicken in this Chicken Curry Bento.... there is only 1 little piece left tucked under all the potatoes and the rest of the chicken was already eaten up because I couldn't resist it :D