ABOUT ME
Who are you?
My name is Jeff.
Where do you live?
Tokyo, Japan
Where are you from?
Cupertino, California, USA
Are you edumacated?
Well, that's debatable, but I did manage to graduate from Brandeis University with a degree in Economics with minors in International Business and East Asian Studies. I also spent some time at San Diego State University and the University of British Columbia.
What is your job?
I'm a translator/proofreader/English-speaking monkey for a Japanese automotive parts manufacturer.
Where can I send you a job offer/marriage proposal/naked pictures of myself/etc.?
email at conbinibento dot com. Feedback is always welcome. As is money.
ABOUT THIS SITE
What the heck is a conbinibento?
Well, conbini is the abbreviation of conbiniensu sutoa, which is the Japanese transliteration of convenience store. A bento is a kind of boxed meal, sometimes referred to as a boxed lunch, since they are commonly eaten at... well, lunchtime. Thus, a conbinibento is a kind of boxed meal sold at convenience stores. Loaded with fried greasy goodness and devoid of any real nutritional value, conbinibento's are a staple for the single and culinary-challenged in Japan.
Isn't it proper to spell it with a "k"?
Why yes, my pedantic friend, it is. However, many people spell it with a "c" and I happen to like that way better. So there.
Do you like conbinibento's, then?
Actually, no. I quite dislike them, in fact. Try as I might, I just can't force myself to enjoy cold, soggy food that is meant to be served hot.
Why, then, did you choose conbinibento.com as the name of your website?
Well, I could try to provide some kind of profound allegorical explanation likening the contents of a conbinibento to little nuggets of insight into life in Japan that I hope to provide through this site (or something to that effect), but to be honest, I would be pulling it entirely out of my ass. Let's just say that the supply of available domain names is sparse these days and leave it at that.
Where did you get those cute little food icons?
As much as I would like to claim that I made them myself (and I would), they were created by Mr. Hide Itoh of Pixture Studio. He is da icon masta!
Can you please bore me with some technical details of the site?
Gladly. I'm using the WordPress publishing platform with a custom layout designed by yours truly (hence its utter crappiness). For the gallery, I'm using the Singapore PHP gallery web application.
What kind of camera are you using to take those abysmal photos?
I have a Canon Powershot S400. For the record, the poor quality of the photos is not the fault of the camera, but rather is due to my ineptitude at using it.
