Japan (關東), 6/2007, Day 3

Getting up early isn't our thing, but this certainly woke us up. I mean, we surely didn't expect having breakfast at a banquet hall!










This morning was a bit more relaxed, because our hotel is located at the foot of the mountain and close to our destination, so we're leaving half an hour later. The New Akao staff was something special -- when each tour bus took off, a few of them would line up next to the bus, bow, smile and wave until the bus was out of sight. Ours was no exception, too bad I couldn't take any pictures because of the reflections in my window.

After snaking up some winding mountain roads, we arrived at Hakone (箱根), or more specifically, Sounzan (早雲山) station of Hakone Ropeway.













許純美有在日本做飲料廣告?!







Views from the cable car.






















Owakudani (大涌谷) station. On a clear day you can see Mount Fuji, but as you can tell from the pictures we didn't. We stopped here to check out souvenir shops and sample local specialties.













Mmm... 好多種不同口味的魚乾, 而且每一種都好吃...









Jacky 也不放過試吃的機會.











哇哩! 連導遊也來湊一腳!!












Jacky found this little gem.









Hello Kitty in a black egg shell.





We took our bus down from Owakudani to Lake Ashi (芦ノ湖) to ride the pirate ship.









































Arriving on the other end of the Lake.





















We had a great buffet lunch at Hakone Hotel, and the food was so good I didn't have time to take a picture of it. Its western style food and decor was a nice contrast to our stay at New Akao the night before, which was all Japanese.










On the long drive back to Tokyo, we stretched our legs at a "rest stop", which is a total understatement, because it's more like a local shopping center with a rest stop included.



















Japanese people just love fish.








Yum...





Ah... Back to civilization at last! After checking into our rooms at Keio Plaza Hotel, our guides took us on a walking tour around the hotel.



Shouldn't you girls go home and study instead of hanging out at the JR station?




Some girl handing out tissue packs with advertising for HUSTLE (Japanese wrestling promoter) on it. See the weirdos sitting around the tree? They're leering at her the whole time, trying to get a glimpse of her ass. Get a life, people!!













Walking through inconspicuous alleys lined with restaurants and bars. Normally these places would be packed with people who just got off from work, but we're early that day (around 5pm) so it looked deserted.

































Pachinko and 麻將: what a great combination...








Yodobashi, a large electronic chain store.





Heading back to the hotel.