The Creation

LENNY MESHI レニメシ

Living alone in Tokyo made me tough in many ways. I am able to do a bunch of things by myself that I was never able to do before…

1. Waking up early in the morning. Back then, I considered 10am early… To be honest, I still do have a hard time waking up early, cuz I LOVE SLEEPING. 

2. Cleaning up for myself. I never start cleaning until I decide that it's too dirty in my room. I hated vacuum cleaners… 

3. Cooking. The microwave was my best friend. I never had to cook anyways, cuz my mother and grandmother cooked for the family. 

One day back in 2010, my professor Shinya-san said to me, "Are you okay Lena? Are you eating well?". I answered, "Um… yeah…?" but thought about it for a second. I realised all I've been eating was mainly food from the convenience store. Shinya-san said I need to eat more green stuff. I started to worry about my food consumption and decided to cook.

Cooking was probably one of the most difficult thing to do. It was something I had to practice and practice to become better. I realised that it’s similar to playing an instrument. However, you don’t get to retry much. Once you cook it, you can’t un-cook it. There were many occasions where I forcefully made myself eat my failure, disgusting dish, since I didn't want to throw it away because it was a waste of food. I guess there were other easy ways such as buying obento or pre made food. Plus, I felt unhealthy and heavy in my stomach after eating them.

What made me enjoy cooking even more is to cook for somebody else. Ryan Faw was the one who inspired me to cook more. When I knew that I was the only one who was going to eat it, I didn’t care how it looked or tasted as much. I would just throw the food on the plate and just eat it. I was very nervous my very first time I cooked for someone else. I was very careful with the presentation and the seasoning. I felt accomplished when they told me it tastes great. I prepared food for Ryan one day. I honestly don't remember what I cooked. I only remember that I was pretty dang nervous. When he said "Oishii!", I was super happy and relieved. It made me want to cook more for him! 

So this is where the origin of LENNY MESHI came from… I can say that I am still an amateur at cooking (baking for example, I seriously cannot bake to save my life!). However, finding new recipes and making new food is one of my most favourite things to do!