Friday afternoon, Augie and I took a field trip down to the Daiso store in Union City. The first time I visited this Daiso I forgot my camera, so this time I was sure to bring it along. I wasn’t actually after bento supplies on this trip (I needed containers to organize our freezer) but I thought I’d take a few photos of the bento shelves to share with all my bento buddies. Daiso is truly a fantasy for the bento obsessed. It’s so cheap (unlike eBay) and the quantity of bento stuff is remarkable.

OK, so here is the front of the store to give you a little context. Just an unassuming store front in a strip mall. “Oh look! There are pink flowers on this building,” you think. “There might be something interesting in there.”

Then, you go inside and spot the large poster board sign with the word “BENTO” spelled out in neon papers. You are drawn like a moth to a flame. And then you spot the piles of bento boxes.

You turn your head to avoid being blinded by the glory of adorable lunch boxes and you are met with the site of even more lunch boxes, some of them fancy enough that they cost $3, $4…even some that are $5. Those are really special.

As you move a few feet down the aisle you spot some cute foil and paper cups. This is perhaps the largest assortment of paper cups you have ever encountered. All the different shapes! All the different patterns! There are pink things!! Oh my!

But then you move along and discover even more paper cups! Yowza!

The next aisle over has picks, silicone cups, little bottles, and more decorative food dividers than you have ever seen in your life. There are chopsticks too, and little forks and spoons but your photographer failed to take a picture of those.

I spent about $25 in the store, but very few of the items I got were bento related. I bought some baskets to organize our freezer, a mini-piggie bank for my desk at work, a calender, plus some other odds and ends. I did end up getting two bento boxes and a couple of little forks though.

When he saw these forks in the case, Wyatt told me, “These cases are here so that if I maybe poke you in the bottom with my forks they don’t get all dirty.” Ha ha. Sheesh.