Kingdom of Knuffel

Konnichi wa! Hello and welcome to Bento Box, a hangout where Japanese-lovers come to talk about all things Japanese.

If you have suggestions for this front page, feel free to post.

Members
- [[Ayame]]
- Crewel-Lye
- Tnseukkoi
- Waltz
- Goere
- creampuffy1
- rikuchan
- Meepy
- Mikael Hart
- Alora
- Chibi-Tiffa-Chan
- Sabreisk
- M o i
- Hiper15
- Yue
- Hooseki
- tenshii911
- Ritsuka
- Sarcasm
- Kimbo
- Haimaru
- SerinaNight
- jenifael2007
- Bunniechild
- Fookie
- Ma7TiMuS
- Onee Sama
- rampartte
- Night
- SailorChou
- mochimush
- Telstel
- xll_LIANo7_llx
- Hiyono
- finilain
- Taco Chocobo
- PurpleStarz
- x[S]erena
- gogoteam
- EllyAngelYukizato
- Ha Ru
- manga slayer
- Wind-angel
- Cherry Blossom
- bluejay2000
- thelonebamf
- syus_haleing
- Anjel the Angel
- xCAPSLOCKx
- Salt my Wounds
- Korny Kisses
- Azmodel
- cyan-itchati

Membership Form

Fill out the form and post it in this thread. Be sure to get rid of all the text in the parenthesis, as well as the parenthesis themselves. Please do not alter the coding of this form. That includes color!

Code: Select all

[b][size=170]One bento, please![/size][/b]
[b]What is your favorite manga? Anime?:[/b] (If you don't know what manga or anime is, or you dont have a favorite, just say so. Also, no more than three manga and anime please.) 
[b]Do you know any Japanese?:[/b] (yes, no, a little, etc.)
[b]What would you like/prefer to talk about?:[/b] (Japanese culture, Japanese government, Japanese history, manga, etc.)
[b]What is your favorite part of Japanese culture?:[/b] (Holidays, superstitions, can't decide, etc.)

Example form:

One bento, please!
What is your favorite manga? Anime?: So many, but some of my manga favorites are Madara, The Wallflower, and Petshop of Horrors. For anime, my all-time favorite is
Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Do you know any Japanese?: Some. I'm still learning.
What would you like/prefer to talk about?: I'm open to anything, really, but I guess I'd really enjoy talking about Japanese culture and manga.
What is your favorite part of Japanese culture?: I can't decide! xD

Contests and Events

Phase One: Cooking [This is a bento, isn't it?!]
In the spirit of bento (and because I've recently become very interested in this) I want to encourage you all to try cooking something Japanese! We are a bento box, aren't we?! :] So, if you do cook something, please post a picture(s) of it and I will add it to the newly-made "Pics!" section. Show off your culinary talent! :mccool:

Try to cook something a bit challenging, maybe containing ingredients you wouldn't normally eat. When you post your pic(s), tell us about your cooking experience! Was it fun? Too hard? Did the food taste good?

And for the first three to do this (But it mustn't be something really easy! I may raise or lower your prize based on difficulty; if it's too easy, you will get nothing at all, even if you were one of the first three. You're prize will go to the fourth person, and so on.), I will give them a little reward! :qh:

Entries can be found under Pics!

Note: To receive a prize you must also have been a member before this post was made. If you are not a member, still feel free to cook and take pics! Remember: Even if you don't get a prize, you can still have fun, eat yummy food, and show it off here!

I will keep this event up for a few months, so make sure to pick a challenging recipe! I want it made at least mostly from scratch. Nothing defrosted will be accepted.** If you aren't sure if what you're wanting to make is hard enough to win a prize, ask beforehand.

**To clarify, you can use some frozen ingredients; for example, the gyouza skins I used were frozen (I don't expect you to make something like that from scratch). What I don't want people doing is buying, say, frozen potstickers, boiling/frying/steaming them, and calling it "cooking."

Phase Two: Questions
To get you even more excited for the event, while we wait for people to cook, there will be some questions on Japanese cooking/meals/food in general. I will post the questions individually, and they will be spaced out. The first to PM me the correct answer will get a minor prize. :qh:

(Minor because this is sort of piggy-back to the main part of the event, the cooking.)

If you joined after this post, you can still win in this phase of the event.

If you are the first to PM me the right answer, you have to wait two more questions before you can win again (though feel free to PM me the answer, if you want to show off your knowledge. xD <3).

Question 1: What do Japanese people say before eating? (07.27.10)
Answer: "Itadakimasu"
Winner: EllyAngelYukizato

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Question 2: What do Japanese people say after eating? (08.03.10)
Answer: "Gochisousama deshita"
Winner: Cherry Blossom

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Feel free to suggest future contests and events!

Our Mascot

Coming some time in the future.

Art!

Tnseukkoi - [ne] [ji] [pronunciation]
Starlight - [nya] [nyu] [a] [i] [u]
chibi_jinyo - [ki]
Katherdante - [ku]
Luipi - [mo]
inarion - [ka] [na]
rikuchan - [sa]
Bunneh Bear - [he] [tsu]

Pics!

Ex. My gyouza (pot stickers): [x] [x] [x] [x]

[[Ayame]] wrote:??????? ? ??????! >w<
This took a long time to make! o.o I used about 40 gyouza skins, and each only had a teaspoon of mixture in it! (The mixture was made out of pork, cabbage, garlic, and onion.) And then I had to pinch the sides together. @.@; I tried three different cooking methods, to see which I liked best: frying, boiling, and steaming. Some of them fell apart when I boiled them (as I suspected they would). I liked them steamed and slightly fried the best, which is the method I found on the back of the gyouza skin package. They tasted good. :)

1. Tnseukkoi's taiyaki: [x] [x] [Recipe]

Tnseukkoi wrote:It was actually quite fun, well cooking is fun for my anywho`s. An the recipe I got was really easy and I didn`t need to buy anything just for it, well cept the been past which was a pain to find >.<
They came out really good and my family ate them up really quick, again the centers were still a little under cooked, but it was my first time.
And for those who don`t want to use oil, cooking spray works just as well, but it does make clean up a pain, cause it does get everywhere.

Link to the recipe! ->http://www.theanimeblog.com/japanese-recipes/taiyaki/ (I added the honey cause I like honey, it just makes em a little sweeter)

Prize:

+ 1k

Common Japanese Phrases
Some words and phrases you may see us use here.

Hajimemashite - Nice to meet you.
Ohayou gozaimasu - Good morning.
Ohayou - A more casual form of ohayougozaimasu.
Konbanwa - Good evening.
Oyasumi nasai - Good night.
Oyasumi - A more casual form of oyasumi nasai.
Arigatou - Thank you.

Tips for Learning Japanese

1. Know the basic pronunciations (a through n) and their romanji equivalents
2. Listen to music in Japanese to get a sense of what the language sounds like
3. Watch movies in Japanese with subtitles in your native language
4. Read and/or create Diglot-weave sentences and stories
5. Read Japanese children's books

6. For more advanced learners: Buy raw manga and check your translations when you're done

Helpful Websites

- Kana Invaders
- Explanation of Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji
- Hiragana and Katakana practice
- Hirgana games
- Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana, and compounds games
- Useful and common Japanese phrases
- Wikipedia's list of legendary creatures from Japan

Recommended Books

Japan Ai: A tall girl's adventures in Japan by Aimee Major Steinberger
Japanese Demystified by Eriko Sato

Youkaiden by Nina Matsumoto

Kingdom of Knuffel

Bento Box { Come back, Aya!!! }

Bento Box { Come back, Aya!!! }